Taurus Tracker 357 Mag Question

[willow]

I just bought a Taurus Tracker in .357 Mag and I am very happy with it so far. I was looking through the manual again today and noticed that it said the following:
Notice:
You can use .38 Special ammunition in all Taurus revolver chambered for .357 Magnum;

So, I can run up to Wally world and and buy some .38 Special ammo (if I can find any) and fire it safely out of my Tracker .357?

[waterhead]

Yes, in any 357 mag you can run 38spl and 38spl+p. Cheaper and usually easier to find for low recoil practice rounds.

[willow]

Originally Posted by waterhead

Yes, in any 357 mag you can run 38spl and 38spl+p. Cheaper and usually easier to find for low recoil practice rounds.

Awesome, good to know. Thank you.

[waterhead]

No prob.

[Old4Eyes]

Keep an eye on the cylinder lockup on that Taurus. My wife's was bad out of the box and took two trips back to the repair depot in Florida to repair.

As to .357 vs 38 special, here the wikipedia link:
.357 Magnum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The muzzle flip on the Tracker will not be as severe with 357 since it is a ported barrel. It will be louder.

If you shoot a number of 38 special rounds (especially lead nose) then switch to 357, I'd suggest running a brush/bore snake through the cylinder before shooting the 357. You get a bit of carbon/lead buildup in the cylinder and since the 38 special round is shorter than the 357 you run a slight risk of interference and higher pressures. And no one needs higher pressure with a 357 round. You'll also look cool at the range like you know what you are doing.

The chamber pressure for a 357 is 35,000 psi. A 38 special is 17,000 and the 38 Special +P is 18,500, so you can see that a gun that can handle the 357 can handle the pressure of a 38 special / 38 special +P . The reverse is not necessarily true. A revolver designed to handle the 38 special but NOT the 357 would be a disaster waiting to happen, which is why the 357 round is longer. It' not to put in more powder, the extra length is to make it not fit into a cylinder that is designed for 38 special.

[willow]

@Old4Eyes
Thanks for the info on the 357, very interesting.

I have about 200 rounds through it already and haven't had a problem yet. And the muzzle flip isn't that bad compared to my XD40. But, it could be because I am shooting 158 gr in the Magnum and 180 gr in the 40.

[Cuda66]

Originally Posted by willow

@Old4Eyes
Thanks for the info on the 357, very interesting.

I have about 200 rounds through it already and haven't had a problem yet. And the muzzle flip isn't that bad compared to my XD40. But, it could be because I am shooting 158 gr in the Magnum and 180 gr in the 40.

Bullet weight between the two calibers has nothing to do with it.

The porting, pistol design, and a few other factors do.

[Old4Eyes]

Cuda makes a very good point. Check out this discussion on the highroad page, especially the #2 entry:

Auto-loader vs Revolver recoil... - THR

Mr. Humphrey makes some very good points. The two key differences one will encounter in FELT recoil of a revolver vs a pistol are:
1) Not all of the recoil in a pistol occurs at once, some is delayed while the slide is coming back, the energy is spread over a longer time compared to the shorter time frame of the revolver - it happens quicker.
2) If the barrel axis is higher, it will have more mechanical advantage a a lever giving more pronounced muzzle flip.

Add in grips, polymer vs metal frame, weight of the gun etc and you've got a complex equation. Don't forget that recoil is subjective and part of that subjectivity is how loud the weapon sounds.

[scoot611]

I bought a Tracker as well,gotta love 7 rounds of .357.My question is was did your Tracker not seem to have really good workmanship?Such as rough edges ect? I have a hammerless Taurus 5 shot revolver I bought years ago and the craftmanship and look of the gun is as nice as any Smith and Wesson.

[Keltyke]

On a side note, I have a 2" Taurus 617 that's beautifully finished and assembled. Got Tracker grips on it (love those finger grooves for holding the .357 snubbie). It's so pretty I'm not sure I want to carry it.