Lend-Lease S&W 38 - Enfield No. 2 MK1

otter6412

I have a vintage Lend-Lease S&W 38 revolver that, according to the barrel is chambered in 38 S&W. I also have an Enfield NO.2 Mk1 revolver that is chambered in 38-200. From what I can find out that is the same round, only with different military loads. Both rounds appear to be very close in length. My question is: Why is the cylinder length different for each gun? The rounds fit the Enfield cylinder nice, but are way short in the S&W cylinder. Maybe that's OK. Just wondering before I go out and shoot the S&W.

Thanks in advance.

-Otter

11b6r

Your Victory model S&W would later be known as a K frame. Longer cylinder, since it was also used for the longer .38 Special. yes, .38 S&W is shorter and fatter, and did not use the 200 grain bullet (in most loadings) but is otherwise same cartridge.

Hawk Carse

As an economy measure, S&W just used the M&P with cylinder long enough for .38 Special to fill British orders for .38/200 which is the same chamber as .38 S&W.

The .38/200 is based on the Western Cartridge Co. .38 S&W Super Police with 200 grain roundnose bullet. The British got worried that the Germans would spank them for using lead bullets so they soon went to a 178 grain jacketed bullet.

The British used their regulation Enfield, Webleys, and Smiths in the caliber. After the war, Webley would sell you a replacement front sight of the right height for commercial 146 grain .38 S&W instead of the issue 200-178.

beantownshootah

quote:Originally posted by otter6412
I have a vintage Lend-Lease S&W 38 revolver that, according to the barrel is chambered in 38 S&W. I also have an Enfield NO.2 Mk1 revolver that is chambered in 38-200. From what I can find out that is the same round, only with different military loads. Both rounds appear to be very close in length. My question is: Why is the cylinder length different for each gun? The rounds fit the Enfield cylinder nice, but are way short in the S&W cylinder. Maybe that's OK. Just wondering before I go out and shoot the S&W.

Thanks in advance.

-Otter

As you say .38-200 was simply what the British called this cartridge, specifically referring to the standard 200 grain bullet weight bullet that their military used.

The guns themselves should be fine with any other in-spec .38SW load, though as mentioned above, point of impact with fixed sights may be a bit different, especially at distance.

To answer your question, the "lend lease" guns were built by Smith and Wesson on ordinary K-frames, intended originally for .38 special. Since the .38 special is longer, the cylinder on these is longer.

One other point worth mentioning. .38SW uses a nominal .361" diameter bullet. .38 special and .357 magnum take nominal .357" bullets.

In theory if you reload for your Enfield using .38 special bullets, they'll be slightly undersized, and you may not get the full accuracy potential of the gun/cartridge. In practice, these was never really considered a "match" cartridge anyway, and all these mixes are in the "good enough for service use" category.

In contrast, I've heard that the Smith built its "lend lease" guns using "ordinary" .357 diameter barrels out of expedience. While those will still safely accept lead .361" bullets, you shouldn't need the fatter bullets for accuracy purposes. In either case, the longer bullet/forcing cone gap of the longer .38 special cartridges isn't conducive to max accuracy, but again, these are "good enough".