38 Ballard/357 Max Same Caliber?

44mag

I see "chancey hope" has a rolling block for sale (auction #29124808) that is chambered for a 38 Ex long Ballard/357 Max. (Closes in one day 2-28) I wrote him for a clarifaction on this and he won`t respond. Wonder why? Could it be that the Ballard is .375 in dia and has a 1 in 36 twist and the 357 Max is .357 in dia and has a 1 in 14 twist and that the two won`t mix? Why advertize something that cannot be?

heavyiron

Both the 38 Ballard Extra Long and the 357 use the same diameter bullet of 0.358-inches.

Cases for the 38 Ballard Extra Long can be converted from 357 Maximum cases.

Regards,

Heavyiron


"If I don't see you nomore on this world, I'll meet you on the next one, and don't be late!" - Jimi Hendrix

mazo kid

Loren, I have a Ballard in .38XL and made cases from 357 Max brass. It is just a tad short, but works just fine. I just looked in Buffalo Arms catalog, but they don't make it.....yet. You can also solder an extension on 38 Spl brass as detailed in Nonte's book on cartridge conversions, but it is a lot of work. Emery

"Well done is better than well said"
Ben Franklin

44mag

I realize that cases can be made to interchange but, according to "Cartridges of the World", the Ballard is a .375 dia. and a .357 would rattle down the bore something terrible. The twists are also different. What am I missing?

joel_black

Cartridges of the World is not an unimpeachable source. I've never owned a gun in .38 extra long, but I am willing to bet like so many early cartridges it started out using a heel based bullet and then the manufacturers went to a normal inside the case bullet. If I had one and found the bore to be .375, I would either use a .375 cast gas check bullet without the gas check or a hollow base .357 bullet.

heavyiron

The 38 Ballard Extra Long is not .375 diameter.

The 38 Ballard Extra Long and the 357 Maximum are both 0.358 diameter using lead bullets according to Cartridges of the World, 10th edition, page 132.

There are serveral types of .38 Ballard and Bullard cartridges. It may be that the wrong one was used as a reference.

Recheck your source.

Regards,

Heavyiron


"If I don't see you nomore on this world, I'll meet you on the next one, and don't be late!" - Jimi Hendrix

Iconoclast

44mag, CotW is an excellent basic reference for identifying cartridges and despite having a hundred plus other specialized cartridge references I still use it routinely. It is, however, rife with technical errors which are often perpetuated from one edition to the next.

This is the CF version of the earlier .38 XL Ballard RF - Ballard called it the .38-30, but that name never took. As Joel noted, the RF version used a heeled bullet - which was .375" - .379" nominal! - and the CF the modern design. Two different animals although the cartridge names are essentially identical. If there is a discrepancy in the CotW details, I suspect it springs from this source.

Volume IV of George Hoyem's The History and Development of Small Arms Ammunition gives the nominal bullet diameter as .363" and I would give far more credence to his data than CotW's. I just measured a CF specimen I have at hand and it mikes .346" at the case mouth . . . but the ogive continues a short way into the case so it could well be in the region of .358" or possibly somewhat larger.





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