I've got this pistol that belonged to my Grandpa. He always called it his "38" and kept a box of 38 special ammo around for it. When he passed away and it came to me, I started taking a closer look at it. I noticed that it is stamped 38 S&W. So I did a little research and found out it was a gun that the British ordered for WWII, it has the Commonwealth stamp on the frame and cylinder and was originally chambered for 38 S&W. Somewhere along its journey, the barrel was shortened and front sight reattached, the sling swivel was ground down, the cylinder was re-chambered for 38 special and some of it was re-blued.
A bud of mine has an pistol chambered in 38 S&W and he loaned me a cartridge, which fits perfectly snug in the cylinder.
But, there are dimensional differences between the 38 special and 38 S&W, there's a few mil slop which leaves the 38 special cartridge a little bit loose in the cylinder.
Is it safe to continue to shoot 38 specials in a cylinder that's was originally 38 S&W?
Am I going to run into any pressure issues.?
It's a bastard pistol, but it was my grandpas and I'd like to keep using it if it's safe.
What do you think..?