.38 S&W

Revolver cartridge .38 Smith & Wesson .38 Smith & Wesson.jpg 300px A box of modern .38 S&W rounds United States Revolver 1922–1963 United Kingdom *World War II Korean War Smith & Wesson 1877 Smith & Wesson 1877–present .38/200, .380 Rim, .38 Colt New Police, .38 S&W Super Police, MKE 9.65 mm Normal Rimmed straight .361 .350 .3855 .3865 .440 .055 .775 1.240 Small pistol 14500 158 LSWC 767 206 195 LRN 653 185 200 LRN 620 176 The .38 S&W, also commonly known as .38 S&W Short (referred to as such to differentiate it from .38 Long Colt and .38 Special), 9×20mmR, .38 Colt NP (New Police), or .38/200, is a rimmed, centerfire revolver cartridge developed by Smith & Wesson in 1877. Versions of the cartridge were the standard revolver cartridges of the British military from 1922 to 1963, in Webley, Enfield, and Smith & Wesson revolvers.Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson Gun Digest Books Supica, Jim 2016 Iola, WI 165 978-1440245633The Webley Service Revolver Osprey Publishing Maze, Robert 2012 58 9781780968865 Though similar in name, it is not interchangeable with the later .38 Special due to a different case shape and slightly larger bullet diameter.Barnes Frank C. Cartridges of the World: A Complete Illustrated Reference for More Than 1,500 Cartridges Gun Digest Books 978-1-4402-3059-2 Iola, Wisconsin 349 History thumb|left|Revolvers chambered for .38 S&W (Colt New Police). Colt Police Positives L&R- Iver Johnson Hammerless Safety Front. thumb|right|British Enfield No.2 Mk I* DA-only service revolver in .38/200 thumb|left|A box of WWII-dated .380" Revolver Mk IIz cartridges (and separate cartridges) The round was first introduced in 1877 for use in the S&W .38 Single Action. As standard for the era, it featured heeled bullet with the same diameter of bullet and case neck equal to .38 inch; later versions discarded the feature and downsized the bullet, but the designation did not change. After World War I, the British military sought to replace pre-war revolvers with easier-to-handle weapons. Webley demonstrated a lighter version of their Mk III revolver with modified .38 S&W ammunition, firing a heavy 200 gr on bullet. It received favorable reports, and the revolver was accepted in principle. As Webley had used the .38 S&W cartridge dimensions for their revolver, and the cartridge length was fixed by the size of the cylinder of the revolver (the same as for the wider .455), Kynoch produced a cartridge with the same dimensions as the .38 S&W but with 2.8 grains (0.18 g) of "Neonite" nitrocellulose powder and a 200 grain (13.0 g) bullet. In tests performed on cadavers and live animals, it was found that the lead bullet, being overly long and heavy for its calibre, become unstable after penetrating the target, somewhat increasing target effect. The relatively low velocity allowed all of the energy of the cartridge to be spent inside the human target, rather than the bullet passing through. This was deemed satisfactory and the design for the cartridge was accepted as the ".38/200 Cartridge, Revolver Mk I". After a period of service, it was realized that the 200 gr on soft lead bullet could arguably contravene the Hague Conventions, which outlawed the use of bullets designed so as to "expand or flatten easily in the human body". A new cartridge was therefore adopted as "Cartridge, Pistol, .380 Mk II" or ".380 Mk IIz", firing a 180 gr (11.7 g) full metal jacket bullet. The .38/200 Mk I loading was retained in service for marksmanship and training purposes. However, after the outbreak of war, supply exigencies and the need to order readily available and compatible ammunition, such as the .38 S&W Super Police, from U.S. sources forced British authorities to issue both the .38/200 Mk I and MkII/IIz cartridges interchangeably to forces deploying for combat.Shore, C. (Capt), With British Snipers to the Reich, Paladin Press (1988), pp. 201, 224–225 The Cartridge S.A. Ball Revolver .380 inch Mark II and Cartridge S.A. Ball Revolver .380 inch Mark IIz cartridge were theoretically phased out of British service in 1963, when the 9×19mm semi-automatic Browning Hi-Power pistol was finally issued to most British and Commonwealth forces. Variants The .38 Colt New Police was Colt's Manufacturing Company's proprietary name for what was essentially the .38 S&W with a flat-nosed bullet. The U.S. .38 S&W Super Police cartridge was nearly identical to the British .38/200 Mk I, using a 200 gr g on lead alloy bullet with a muzzle velocity of 630 ft/s m/s on and a muzzle energy of 176 ftlbf J on, and was supplied by several U.S. manufacturers to the British government as equivalent to the Mk I loading. MKE 9.65 mm Normal (9.2×23mmR (.38 Smith & Wesson)) cartridge has a 177 gr g on lead-antimony alloy bullet with a gilding-metal full metal jacket and a Boxer-primed brass case. The "normal" designation differentiates it from their 9.65mm Special (9.1×29mmR (.38 Special)) round. It uses the 9.65mm (.38-caliber) nominal bore rather than its 9.2mm (.361-caliber) actual bore. It has a muzzle velocity of 590 ft/s m/s on. Current status The .380 Mk IIz is still produced by the Ordnance Factory Board in India, for use in revolvers.http://ofbindia.gov.in/products/data/ammunition/sc/10.htm Ordnance Factory Board Commercially, only Ruger makes limited runs of revolvers (e.g., Service Six) in this caliber for overseas sales, and only a few companies still manufacture ammunition. Most of those that do so offer it in only a 145 gr g on lead round-nose bullet, though Fiocchi still markets full metal jacket bullet rounds. Some companies, such as Buffalo Bore, manufacture several different types of ammunition for self-defense and/or hunting. Buffalo Bore 38 S&W (New Colt Police ) - 125 gr. Hard Cast FN 1,000 fps. Retrieved 16 August 2013. See also Colt Official Police Revolver Colt Police Positive Revolver Enfield No. 2 revolver List of rimmed cartridges Smith & Wesson Model 10 Table of handgun and rifle cartridges Webley revolver References Robert J. Maze Howdad to High Power, a Century of British Breechloading Service Pistols 2002-03-01 978-1-880677-17-9 Clifford Shore With British Snipers to the Reich May 2011 Literary Licensing, LLC 978-1-258-00891-8 Mark Stamps Ian D. Skennerton 380 Enfield No. 2 Revolver 1993-01-01 978-1-85367-139-5 Category:Pistol and rifle cartridges Category:Rimmed cartridges Category:Smith & Wesson cartridges