Ammo for .357

Question
I am looking for clarification as to what ammunition I can use in a S&W .357Magnum revolver. Obviously .357, but I am not clear whether I can also use .38's or .38 Specials, or both. Guess I don't know the difference between .38's and .38 Special ammunition.  Thanks.

Answer
Ray,

No ammunition will be marked merely ".38" It will either be .38 Special (if it's a revolver cartridge) or .38 Super if it's an auto cartridge.

Yes, you can use .38 Special in a .357 Magnum revolver. The .38 Special was originally developed as a black powder cartridge. The .357 was developed by Elmer Keith and guns for it went into production somewhere around 1934.

A .357 is identical in size to a .38, but the pressures are much higher, and to keep a .357 magnum round from being used in a .38 revolver (and blowing it up), the cartridge case of the .357 was made 1/10" longer. Therefore, a .357 will not fit in a .38, but a .38 will fit in a .357, and using .38's will greatly increase the life of the gun, as the .38 Spec. cartridge is much lower pressure than the .357 (also quieter and more pleasant to shoot).

One word of caution - if you shoot .38's in your .357 clean out the chambers with a good carbon emulsifier a couple of times a year. Because the .38 is 1/10" shorter, you will get carbon build-up in that 1/10" area in the chamber - if you do that for long enough, you won't be able to fit a .357 cartridge into the chamber any more!  This is a temporary condition, and can be fixed by cleaning, but carbon is hard stuff, and the longer you let it build up, the more elbow grease it will take to get ride of it.