Difference Between .38 Special & .38 service

[honey_grewal18]

what is the difference between .38 special & .38 service revolver ammo...

[Sakobav]

"The 38 Special is a low pressure, medium sized cartridge that travels at rather low speeds. The 38 Special is very accurate and produces little recoil making it the most popular revolver cartridge in the world. Because the 38 Special ammunition works in 357 revolvers, more shooters are going with this ammunition due to the cost savings and reduced recoil. We specialize in stocking the most popular 38 Special ammunition on the market such as Federal Ammunition, Corbon Ammunition, Winchester Ammo, Magtech Ammunition and many others."


In my opinion they both are the same in the sense that the gun that fires .38 service revolver will handle .38 special ammo. Dont confuse this with .380 ACP which is NPB in India and is used for pistols.

http://www.federalpremium.com/products/handgun.aspx

best

[Anand]

ngrewal, you said:
"In my opinion they both are the same in the sense that the gun that fires .38 service revolver will handle .38 special ammo."

This is not entirely accurate!

The .38 Service cartridge that is being refered to here in India is the .38-200 British cartridge, which is the same as the .38 S&W albeit with a lighter bullet (178gr?) and is obviously a Prohibited Bore. The .38 Special is a longer version with the same rim diameter but a slightly lesser head diameter.

They are not interchangeable, as the .38-200 British(Service Cartridge)/.38 S&W will not chamber and fire in a .38 Special Revolver as it is too fat, alternately, the .38 Special cartridge is too long to chamber in a .38 S&W Revolver.
There have been attempts at converting war surplus M&P S&W K Frame revolvers from .38 S&W to .38 Special by boring out the cylinder. However, I have heard that the .38 special cases will end up splitting and may case other problems.

The .38 Special cartridge can be fired in a revolver chambered for the .357 magnum cartridge, usually for low power target practice while the opposite is not possible because the .357 Magnum is a longer cartridge and positivley dangerous even if it does chamber. Both these are Non-Prohibited Bores in India.

Regards,
Anand

[mundaire]

Asides from dimensional differences, .38 Special aka .38 S&W Special also makes more pressure than the .38-200 aka .38 S&W...

[Sakobav]

Like always stand correct Abhijeet and Anand..Little knowledge dangerous thing

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[Anand]

ngrewal,
"Like always stand correct Abhijeet and Anand..Little knowledge dangerous thing".
Absolutely correct but I imagine we are all here to learn as much as possible as well as help others as much as possible. No one knows everything! However, sometimes the more inexperienced members/readers may consider our "banter" as gospel and this may lead to problems. I wish all members take these sorts of "corrections" with the grace and humility that you did without making it personal.

Best Regards,
Anand