[Fuelburns2]

Which bullets are interchangeable? I know a .357 can shoot .38 and .38 Special. A .44 magnum can shoot .44 special but not the other way around. A .22 LR can shoot .22, .22 short and .22CB but I would like to compile a list of calibers that can be switched besides the obvious.

Is it true that a 454 Casull can also chamber a .45acp or .45 long colt? By that I mean a revolver would be .454 or .45lc and a semi would be .454 or .45acp.

I found a lone 9mm Luger at the pistol range the other day, can I shoot it through any 9mm? I'm not advocating experimentation, just a sharing of proven facts. Let's be safe while we enjoy shooting things.

 

[MarlandS]

I think I'd double check on the .38 in a .357 according to my load book the .38 S&W casing is a bit larger.

And I don't think the .45 ACP and .45 colt are interchangeable the colt is bigger around and the .45 ACP is rimless further the rim that is on the .45 ACP is the same diameter as the casing of the Colt so would, in theory fall completely into the chamber. But yes I do believe the .45 Colt will chamber and fire in the .454 Casull safely.

Another set if interchangeables are the .32S&W and .32 S&W long in the .32 H&R Mag.

The 9mm Luger or 9x19 or 9mm Parabellum is the same as the "common" 9mm.

 

[Fuelburns2]

I know the 45 colt and 45 acp are different but I've read in the past that a 454 casull could also shoot 45 and I was wondering which one it was. As far as the .38 having a larger casing I'm assuming you mean the original .38 and not the special, right? I've never heard any warnings about .38 special in a .357 but I also never tried the .38 "regular" and don't really intend to. I made an assumption that it was shorter than a special but the same diameter because I've never seen one in person.

 

[uglydog]

I've got a couple of old charts at home that list cartridge compatability that I'll have to check. It is a bit dated but still accurate. These are what I remember. You can shoot .45 Colt rounds in the 454 Casull and both will work in the .460 S&W. Any gun that will fire .45 Colt rounds will also fire .45 Schofield ammo too but not conversely. .45 ACP can be fired in some .45 Colt revolvers with the use of half or full moon clips or one can use .45 Auto Rim instead. .44 American can be fired in the .44 Russian which can be shot in the .44 Special in turn this can be used in the .44 mag and they all can be fired in the .445 Super Mag. In the .38/.357 rounds, I'd have to check to make sure but I believe the .38 Colts can be fired in the .38 Spl and .357 mag but not the .38 S&W rounds as the later are actually .38" in diameter rather than .357". The .38 Spl, .357 mag, and the .38 Colts can also be fired in the .357 Maximum. .38/44 rounds can also be used in the .38 Spl as these are merely heavy +P loadings which were the forerunners to the .357 mag.
The .32 Short Colt can be fired in the .32 Long Colt but they are not interchangeable with the .32 S&W rounds. .38 Auto can be fired in the .38 Super but not the other way around.
The .300 H&H can be fired in the .300 Weatherby and was a common way of forming the Weatherby case at one time.
Differring names for the same cartridge are plentiful too.
As mentioned, 9mm Luger and 9mm Parabellum are the same as is .380 Auto/9mm Browning Short/Korto/Kurz. .25 Auto/.25 ACP/6.35 Browning are the same cartridge and Colt called their chamberings for the .32 and .38 S&W rounds the New Police. The British loadings of the .38 S&W Long were often marked .380 Webley or .380-200. Remington has had a couple of name changes too, the .244/6mm Remington and the 7mm Express/.280. The .250 Savage is the same as the .250/3000 and there are a whole slew of differing names for the .30/30 Win. And then there is the .22 Savage Hi-Power, known in Europe as the 5.6x52R.
These are what I remember off hand, I'll check my references if I remember and wil post any other cartridge interchangeability if there is anything major/common or if this post wasn't boring enough.

 

[Fuelburns2]

Thanks uglydog, that's exactly what I wanted, not boring at all. Can you tell me if that chart of yours is still available anywhere in some form?

 

[uglydog]

My most easily found reference is out of the 1973 "Shooter's Bible" though Remington had much the same list in their product catalogs as late as the 1990s if I remember correctly. I don't have a Remington catalog at hand so I do not know if they still have this feature in it.
Some other interchangeable cartridges I found or remember are the .458 Win mag in the .458 Lott, the 22 WRF and 22 Remington Specialin the .22 MRF (mag). Different names for the same cartridge are 7mm Mauser/7x57; 32 auto/7.65mm Browning/32 ACP/32 Colt auto; 44-40 Win/44WCF/44 Marlin;44 Remington; and 30 Luger/7.65 Parabellum. One cartridge that bears close examination is the 8mm Mauser/8x57. There are actually two versions, the earlier 8x57J which is of .318" bore and the 8x57 JS which is of the later .323" diameter. One can fire the former in the JS but doing the opposite can lead to serious over pressures which will over stress the gun and cause serious consequences to the shooter. A lesser known version, the 8x57 rimmed also comes in two versions (JR and JRS) and should be looked at closely before firing for all the above reasons.

 

[Fuelburns2]

I ran into some problems with my 7.92x57 K98 Mauser when I was looking for surplus ammo. Much of what I found would have worked fine but an unscrupulous person tried to sell me the older, larger stuff. If not for their unpleasant demeanor I may have given him my business. :x

 

[uglydog]

The original 7.92 (8x57J) bore diameter was .318", later the bore diameter was changed to .323" and remarked 8x57JS. This is getting into pretty murky waters for me but I believe the bore change came about the same time as the production of the Mauser 98 which allowed for much higher pressures than the older bore. In the early 1900s, the bullet design was changed from a round nose to a spitzer and an I was added to the designation. I believe your gun would work with any of the 8x57 rounds but the older guns require the smaller bore diameter ammo.

 

[MarlandS]

http://yarchive.net/gun/ammo/cartridge_interchange.html

 

[Fuelburns2]

Thanks MarlandS, that's very helpful in that format, I've saved it to my hard drive. The .45 Long Colt in .454 Casull, but not conversely was what I was thinking of earlier. As far as revolvers are concerned, is there any danger in shooting a shorter bullet in a longer cylinder? If I were to shoot .44 special in a .44 magnum or .45lc in a .454 would that cause excessive wear on the cylinder? Is there a good chance of creating a ring inside the cylinder from shooting a shorter cased bullet?

 

[Maser]

iv seen this one revolver in an old gun magazine that had some mechenism with the extractors that allowed the gun to chamber like every 9mm or .38 caliber there is :wink: i may be wrong cuz i aint seen it in a long time and too lazy to dig through my huge magazine collection

 

[Fuelburns2]

i may be wrong cuz i aint seen it in a long time and too lazy to dig through my huge magazine collection

Sounds like a fire hazard! :shock:

Some guns are made with features that make them adjustable but I'm concerned about the diameter of the barrel being too tight or too open for the bullet I shove into the gun. I don't want to buy a gun specifically to interchange bullets or calibers but if something is on sale and my gun will safely spit it out then that would be good knowledge to have. I don't want a barrel rupture or cracked frame because I didn't know what I could feed my gun.

 

[Maser]

well while we are on the subject of interchangable cartridges i was wondering just now if its safe to shoot a .454 casull out of a .45-70 cuz i know that theyr the same caliber but i think i heard somewhere that a .45-70 cartridge has a slight taper to it so therefore so does the chamber so i was wondering if a .454 could be fired safly from it without too much excesive chamber preasure from the taper

 

[Fuelburns2]

In the link MarlandS posted the 45-70 was in a different category. I wouldn't try it if there is a taper.

 

[Maser]

yea im not gonna try but was just wondering cuz an older cousin of mine has a cool lever action .45-70 carbine thats called a "guide gun" or something like that and thought it would be cool to shoot a .454 from it cuz im not quite sure but i think that a .454 shot from a rifle barrel is more powerful than a .45-70

 

[MarlandS]

Thanks MarlandS, that's very helpful in that format, I've saved it to my hard drive. The .45 Long Colt in .454 Casull, but not conversely was what I was thinking of earlier. As far as revolvers are concerned, is there any danger in shooting a shorter bullet in a longer cylinder? If I were to shoot .44 special in a .44 magnum or .45lc in a .454 would that cause excessive wear on the cylinder? Is there a good chance of creating a ring inside the cylinder from shooting a shorter cased bullet?

Won't hurt a thing, if it did then they wouldn't allow interchanging. I know of several .357 mags that shoot .38 Specials almost exclusively, can't tell it by the cylendars

 

[uglydog]

Fuelburns2,
Firing a shorter cartridge in the longer chamber can leave residue in the chamber that needs to be cleaned promptly. If not, this can build up and make chambering and/or extracting the longer rounds difficult. There would generally be less stress on the gun using the shorter rounds as in most cases they are loaded to lower pressures.

Maser,
firing the 454 Casull rounds in a 45/70 would be a good way to ruin your day. The Casull operates at pressures about 3-4 times greater than that of the 45/70. The slight taper would not even matter in this instance. They are not even based on the same case as the 45/70 is a much bigger chamber which would likely cause split cases allowing gases to escape in unwanted directions. These are not the same caliber as the bore diameter of the Casull is .451"-.452" and the .45/70 is of .458".

 

[MarlandS]

the .45-70's rim is .608 in diameter the .454 Casulls is .512 so I
don't think you could fire it anyway. Atleast not without pointing it straight up.

 

[Fuelburns2]

In other words, I don't have to worry about wear but I do need to clean the cylinder better if I shoot short cartridges. That may be what I heard about getting rings in the cylinder, I probably just didn't understand the way it was presented to me.