9 mm. parabellum ammo in a S & W .38

Sly Old Fox

Sly Old Fox

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In lalaland, that is Ottawa.
Here is another from an old friend, long dead, but who demonstrated it to me first hand.

He was vet from the Italian campaign and he said that when they ran short of .38 ammo for the Lend Lease S & W M & P revolvers, marked "U.S. Property". they would take wire cutters and nip the rimless rim of the case to keep it from going deeper in the cylinder. He had been in Signals and I actually saw him do it here in Canada, no s**t.

This speaks well for the strength of the M & Ps as well as ingenuity.

As Myth Busters say, "don't do this at home'.

SOF
 
Sly Old Fox said:
Here is another from an old friend, long dead, but who demonstrated it to me first hand.

He was vet from the Italian campaign and he said that when they ran short of .38 ammo for the Lend Lease S & W M & P revolvers, marked "U.S. Property". they would take wire cutters and nip the rimless rim of the case to keep it from going deeper in the cylinder. He had been in Signals and I actually saw him do it here in Canada, no s**t.

This speaks well for the strength of the M & Ps as well as ingenuity.

As Myth Busters say, "don't do this at home'.

SOF
Click to expand...

So are we talking about 38 S&W calibre, or 38 Special calibre S&W revolvers?
And are you saying that 9mm was utilized? Rimless rim??

I am not doubting your story, just some details are not fully explained.

Cheers........
 
In WWII it was proposed in Canada to modify the S&W .380" revolver to 9mm. Tests showed that the cylinder bulged at the locking recess and similar results were found in the UK with the .380" Enfield. The 9mm round develops twice the pressure of the .380".
By crimping the 9mm rim it will give enough of a raised area to headspce and fire in a .380". This is NOT a good idea.
 
green said:
In WWII it was proposed in Canada to modify the S&W .380" revolver to 9mm. Tests showed that the cylinder bulged at the locking recess and similar results were found in the UK with the .380" Enfield. The 9mm round develops twice the pressure of the .380".
By crimping the 9mm rim it will give enough of a raised area to headspce and fire in a .380". This is NOT a good idea.
Click to expand...

This sounds more like a war-time expediant, that I would never do without life-threatening peril. Certainly not with my own revolver, just to see if it is possible.
Sorry Sly.....
 
A WWII Spitfire pilot I knew told me about this. He was a real gun guy and knew what he was talking about.

His story was that after they figured out that .380 was such a "sh***y" cartridge and the Enfield MkII a "disposable" gun which as a fighter pilot he would only be able to fire what was in the cylinder anyway, so they loaded 9 Para with a length of string in the extractor groove to aid extraction (if by some miracle they actually needed to).

Not recommended if you expect to fire more than 6 rounds...
 
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