.38 Special - ORIGINAL AMMUNITION

.38 Special was designed and entered production in 1898 as an improvement over the .38 Long Colt which, as a military service cartridge, was found to have inadequate stopping power against the charges of Filipino Muslim warriors during the Philippine–American War.[9] Upon its introduction, the .38 Special was originally loaded with black powder, but the cartridge's popularity caused manufacturers to offer smokeless powder loadings within a year of its introduction.

Despite its name, the caliber of the .38 Special cartridge is actually .357 inches (36 caliber/9.07 mm), with the ".38" referring to the approximate diameter of the loaded brass case. This came about because the original 38-caliber cartridge, the .38 Short Colt, was designed for use in converted .36-caliber cap-and-ball Navy revolvers, which had untapered cylindrical firing chambers of approximately 0.374-inch (9.5 mm) diameter that required heeled bullets, the exposed portion of which was the same diameter as the cartridge case.

Except for case length, the .38 Special is identical to the .38 Short Colt, .38 Long Colt, and .357 Magnum. This nearly identical nature of the three rounds allows a .38 Special round to be safely fired in revolvers chambered for .357 Magnum. It also allows .38 Short Colt and .38 Long Colt rounds to be safely fired in revolvers chambered for .38 Special. Thus, the .38 Special round and revolvers chambered for it have a unique versatility. However, the longer and more powerful .357 Magnum cartridge will usually not chamber and fire in weapons rated specifically for .38 Special (e.g., all versions of the Smith & Wesson Model 10), which are not designed for the greatly increased pressure of the magnum rounds. Both .38 Special and .357 Magnum will chamber in Colt New Army revolvers in .38 Long Colt due to their straight walled chambers, but this should not be done under any circumstances, due to dangerous pressure levels up to three times what the New Army is designed to withstand.
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##Specifications:

*Parent case .38 Long Colt
*Case type Rimmed, straight
*Bullet diameter .357 in (9.1 mm)
*Land diameter .346 in (8.8 mm)
*Neck diameter .379 in (9.6 mm)
*Base diameter .379 in (9.6 mm)
*Rim diameter .44 in (11 mm)
*Rim thickness .058 in (1.5 mm)
*Case length 1.155 in (29.3 mm)
*Overall length 1.550 in (39.4 mm)
*Case capacity 23.4 gr H2O (1.52 cm3)
*Primer type Small pistol
*Maximum pressure (CIP) 22,000 psi (150 MPa)
*Maximum pressure (SAAMI) 17,500 psi (121 MPa)
*Maximum CUP 15,000 CUP

.38 Special - ORIGINAL AMMUNITION