Federal American Eagle 38 Special Ammunition - 50 Rounds of 130 Grain FMJ

Product Question and Answer

• Q: in rifles that are made for the 5.56 round, when firing the .223 round can you use the same magazine or one that is made for the .223?

  Posted On: 8/11/2021 By: John Himmelsbach

  A: Hello John! The 5.56 and 223 have virtually identical dimensions. Any magazine that is made for one is necessarily made for the other as well. Just take care: A rifle chambered for 5.56 can also safely fire 223, but a rifle that is chambered solely for 223 may become damaged when it fires 5.56.

• Q: does the same hold true with the .44 mag. and the .44 spl.as with the .357 and .38 spl. being fired from the same gun?

  Posted On: 8/10/2021 By: John Himmelsbach

  A: Yes sir! A 44 Magnum firearm can fire any 44 Special ammunition, just like a 357 Magnum firearm can fire any 38 Special ammunition. (But not vice versa, and with the same exception for semi-autos that I touched on earlier.) You see, there was a famous hunter, writer and gunsmith named Elmer Keith back in the day. He believed he could make the 38 Special cartridge a lot more powerful, and he did – and in doing so he made it SO MUCH more powerful that it now qualified as an altogether different cartridge: the 357 Magnum. The cartridges have extremely similar physical dimensions; the 357 Mag is just loaded to a substantially higher chamber pressure. Mr. Keith did the same exact thing with the 44 Special as well, turning it into the 44 Magnum by the time he was finished supercharging it.
  
  A 38 Special is not as powerful as a 357 Magnum load, but its lower price and lower recoil both make it an attractive alternative to the more powerful cartridge when you have a 357 Mag revolver that can fire either.

• Q: what is the differance between a .357 mag. ammo and a.357 sig. ammo?

  Posted On: 8/10/2021 By: John Himmelsbach

  A: The 357 Magnum is a revolver cartridge with a rimmed case. The 357 SIG, which has a rimless case that enhances functionality in a semi-automatic, was developed much more recently. It's named that way because the designer was trying to create a semi-auto cartridge that replicated the performance of the 357 Mag. To be sure, the 357 SIG will not work in a 357 Mag firearm – and vice versa.

• Q: why are the frames of some revolvers so big reguardless of caliber?

  Posted On: 8/10/2021 By: John Himmelsbach

  A: Well, in general smaller cartridges permit the design of smaller revolvers. That said, a larger frame is able to have a larger cylinder. Take the S&W Model 442 chambered for 38 Special, for example: it has a small frame, but its cylinder only stores five rounds. A Taurus 856 has a larger frame, but in return its cylinder can hold six rounds instead. A larger frame also tends to have a larger grip, which shooters with larger hands will have an easier time handling. Finally, a larger frame cancels out more recoil. The heavier the firearm is, the less recoil energy it's able to transmit back to the shooter.

• Q: why can't you shoot a .38 from some .357s and not all?

  Posted On: 8/10/2021 By: John Himmelsbach

  A: Thanks for reaching out John! If a firearm is chambered for 357 Magnum, then it can fire 38 Special as well. The only exception would be semi-automatic 357 Magnum firearms, which are relatively rare, and which are tuned to the specific recoil impulse of the more powerful cartridge.