[virgil283]

"To accommodate such a bullet, the revolver manufacturers had two choices: they could keep the bullet and bore the same diameter, then make the case larger, the chamber larger, the cylinder larger, and the frame larger... or they could simply make the bore and bullet smaller and add a bore-diameter throat in each chamber. The manufacturers chose the latter because it was more work to redesign and manufacture new larger frames"....

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

They don’t call it a .38

They call it a .38 Special.

[T-Bone Texan]

Fascinating!

[rikkir]

Isn’t the .357 a higher grain count than a .38?

Never owned a revolver, so just wondering?

[ConservativeMind]

Interesting article.

[Kirkwood]

Hickok45 discussed this a few weeks ago during his .357 Magnum July 4th tribute.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzBdxsvS-kE

[Blue Collar Christian]

American calibers are as riddled with misnomers as English itself. A neighbor of mine, and Armenian fellow, asked me to help him with learning English, by explaining the rules concerning prepositions. After thinking it through, I told him he actually had to memorize how they are used, there are no “rules”. The 44-40, or 44WCF uses a bullet of .427 inch, the .44 Special and 44 Remington Magnum use .429 inch. The dimension was derived from the diameter of the case if I recall from my reading.

Here’s another twist for you. My .45 caliber Hawken rifle uses a .44 inch ball for a projectile with a cloth patch, and my .44 caliber Colt 1851 revolver uses a .451 ball without a patch. You have to read the history of firearms and memorize, you can’t apply logic.

[doorgunner69]

Oh yeah, like why is a a .44 magnum actually a .429"?

Lots of strangeness in American cartridge naming vs. actual bullet diameters.

[trebb]

Because it’s “Special”....

[gaijin]

Later

[MasterGunner01]

There are lots of calibers with strange names. Some don't reflect the true caliber such as a .38 Special vs a .357 magnum — both bullets are .357-inch in diameter.

How about this one; “a .45 cartridge”. WHICH one do you really mean; a .45 ACP, .45 Long Colt, or .45 Schofield?

What your question tells me is you must do more research and be more precise in your descriptions. In this case, you might specify cartridges in the metric system manner; a .38 Special is a 9x29mmR or .45 ACP is 11.43x23mm. Remember that metric designations specify caliber, case length, and rim type (rimless, semi-rimmed, rebated rimless, or belted).

[ThePatriotsFlag]

The 38 is shorter so the rounded off the number. :-)

[Terry L Smith]

During WW2, Smith and Wesson made a very special revolver which acquired the name ‘Victory’. This revolver, when shipped to England, was chambered in the ‘.38 Smith and Wesson’. The variant issued to American G.I.’s was EITHER a .38 Smith and Wesson, OR, a .38 Special chambering.

The author’s pictures representing a ‘heeled’ bullet, actually show what is called a hollow-based bullet. A heeled bullet has a small conical taper, and is solid-based.