TOTALLY the last word on .38 and .357 rounds and guns (from a reader in

Natchez): “Derb: Your friend of firearms expertise is only ‘almost’

correct. True there are essentially no modern .38 specials that will admit a

.357 mag case. This is because the cylinder is not bored through to the same

dimension in both, the .357 case being just a tad (1/10 in. I think) longer

than the .38 special, this being incorporated into the cartridge design back

in the days when it may have been a critical issue. Thus, a .357 round can

almost never be fully seated into the chamber of a revolver designed for the

.38 special. However some of the earlier S&W and Colt copies (mostly made in

Spain) in .38 special, had the cylinder bored clear through in the same

diameter (diminishing accuracy, of course, as the lead missile would expand

to fill the front of the cylinder, only to have to be squeezed down

immediately in the forcing cone at the beginning of the barrel). This was of

little consequence at usual pistol ranges back then. However there was no

restriction on the length of the cartridge case other than the cylinder

length, and a .357 can be loaded into these revolvers, and fired, if you

wish to tempt the devil. While you shouldn’t try this at home, I once

inherited one of these old Spanish counterfeits, and did my best to blow it

up (experimentally, of course, in the interest of science, and my

inquisitive young mind), by progressively increasing the powder charges of

Hercules Unique power in increments, in reloaded .38 special cases. I would

tie it to a small oak tree on the edge of a gravel pit, tie a string to the

trigger, hide behind another tree and touch it off. I had no success with

almost double charges of that powder. I could have accomplished my objective

by using a faster burning powder such as ‘Bullseye,’ but I had already seen

that done by accident in a more modern revolver and so there was no

incentive to try it. The old revolver survived the ‘proof testing’ to my

amazement, and I still have it in my gun safe, cleaned and oiled though

never fired again. I figured it deserved retirement.”