Can you put a .380 or 9mm in a .357?

[ShortMan]

Or would the short round cause a problem in the cylinder?

I dont have a revolver, was just curious.

[kps]

have you looked into owning a Medusa? it was a revolver pistol designed to shoot multiple calibers, 30 different I think.

No I don't own one. but I think they are neat. but the extractor is fragile from what I have read.

Randy

[rromeo]

Or would the short round cause a problem in the cylinder?

I dont have a revolver, was just curious.

Some revolvers are made to shoot 9mm, and they use moonclips to hold the round, since a 9mm case doesn't have the rim like revolver cases do. The cyllinder is machined different to allow the moon clips to sit flush.
Now, I don't know enough about .380 to say if you could use it in a revolver designed for 9mm. Is the .380 case just a shortened 9mm, and all other dimensions are the same?

[ShortMan]

Or would the short round cause a problem in the cylinder?

I dont have a revolver, was just curious.

Some revolvers are made to shoot 9mm, and they use moonclips to hold the round, since a 9mm case doesn't have the rim like revolver cases do. The cyllinder is machined different to allow the moon clips to sit flush.
Now, I don't know enough about .380 to say if you could use it in a revolver designed for 9mm. Is the .380 case just a shortened 9mm, and all other dimensions are the same?

Pretty sure.
And now that you mention it, I have heard of special clip rings to use auto ammo in a revolver.

[Reverenddel]

A .380 is called "9mm Kurz" (Short) in Europe, it's a necked down 9MM Luger/Parabellum.

As to shooting .380/9MM in a .357? I don't think so... the diameter of the 9MM is .355, and those it's very slim in tolerances, it could cause some issues with the throat, and cyclinder.

[jdonovan]

Or would the short round cause a problem in the cylinder?

I dont have a revolver, was just curious.

Most revolver rounds are rimmed cases. The rim prevents the round from going too far into the cylinder, and also provides a surface to use for ejecting the spent cases.

There have been several revolvers over the years that can shoot traditional auto-loading pistol cartridges. 45acp is one of the more common, S&W did a 610, 10mm, and a few 9mm have been made.

In almost all cases they utilize moon clips that the cartridges clip into so they can be ejected. The moon clip doubles as a speed loader in effect, so people shooting revolvers in the handgun sports often use moon clips as it speeds the unload/reload process.

[Reverenddel]

True with the moon clips, but I was speaking more to dimensions...

Even though .002 doesn't seem like alot, after multiple rounds rattling around a bit, it COULD cause some damage more to the throat of the revolver than the cylinder, but it still scores the inside of the cylinder.

[ShortMan]

True with the moon clips, but I was speaking more to dimensions...

Even though .002 doesn't seem like alot, after multiple rounds rattling around a bit, it COULD cause some damage more to the throat of the revolver than the cylinder, but it still scores the inside of the cylinder.

Thats what I was getting at.

Now I know.

[jdonovan]

True with the moon clips, but I was speaking more to dimensions...

Even though .002 doesn't seem like alot, after multiple rounds rattling around a bit, it COULD cause some damage more to the throat of the revolver than the cylinder, but it still scores the inside of the cylinder.

The projectile should not ever touch the sides of the cylinder.

The .357 barrel is generally sized as a grove diameter of .356, with a nominal bore of .347.

The .355 9mm projectile could be forced down the barrel, but would likely not fully engage the rifling and therefore suffer accuracy reduction.

The 9mm case is tapered, and at the head is larger than the .357's straight wall case. From my SAMMI spec's I'm not sure a 9mm case could be placed in a .357 cylinder far enough to permit closing.

[gunderwood]

Or would the short round cause a problem in the cylinder?

I dont have a revolver, was just curious.

Most revolver rounds are rimmed cases. The rim prevents the round from going too far into the cylinder, and also provides a surface to use for ejecting the spent cases.

There have been several revolvers over the years that can shoot traditional auto-loading pistol cartridges. 45acp is one of the more common, S&W did a 610, 10mm, and a few 9mm have been made.

In almost all cases they utilize moon clips that the cartridges clip into so they can be ejected. The moon clip doubles as a speed loader in effect, so people shooting revolvers in the handgun sports often use moon clips as it speeds the unload/reload process.

+1

The short answer is no. Revolvers which shoot "auto-loader" cartridges have special designs to do so. The opposite is true too. You can design a semi-auto to shoot .357Mag (there is 1911 which does that and the DE), but they are not compatible with other cartridges and it is dangerous to do so. .380/9mm are "rimless" cartridges while .357Mag is rimmed cartridge. Besides that, many other dimensions are very different between them.

You wouldn't stick a 9mm in a .45ACP, don't shoot cartridges which your firearm is not designed for. It's dangerous to do otherwise.

[rromeo]

The 9mm case is tapered, and at the head is larger than the .357's straight wall case. From my SAMMI spec's I'm not sure a 9mm case could be placed in a .357 cylinder far enough to permit closing.

True. A 9mm round will load just more than halfway into a .38/.357 cylinder.

[tcmech]

I have a ruger blackhawk convertible 357 / 9mm. I have fired 38spl, 357mag, and 9mm rounds through it with no issues at all. I have never tried a 380 round in it as the 9mm head spaces on the rim so the firing pin probably would not even reach the primer. The 9mm cylinder was however made for the 9mm.

I would not try to load 9mm ammo in a chamber that was not made for it though.

[HighExpert]

You could technically fire any of them in a.357 but why would you want to. The best choice of bullet would be lead which would give you a little better chance of something resembling accuracy. I would want to make sure that the .380 rounds were full power or you might have to worry about squibs in a 6" barrel. You are going to lose a lot of pop because of the excess cylinder length the slug have to travel. I would be kind of like having almost an inch of overbore in a centerfire. Not a good thing. By the way, when you shoot a lot of .38sp in a .357 you may find you need to clean the cylinder before you can even chamber a .357 due to the carbon ring formed by the the cylinder being too long.