This is a cautionary tale for the members of this forum that are new to guns and shooting, or those just venturing into unknown territory; i.e. Buying a revolver after shooting nothing but semi-autos.
Make sure that the ammunition that you buy is the correct ammunition for the gun. Check in the owner’s manual (if you have one, if not, either download one from the net or contact the manufacturer and they will send you one for free) to make sure that the ammo you are buying is appropriate for the gun.
The impetus for this post is a situation that has presented itself twice to me in the process of selling some ammunition. The first time at a gun show several months ago and, most recently, on here, yesterday.
The ammunition in question is for .38 Super caliber guns. I was overjoyed at the gun show when somebody came to the table, saw my ammo displayed, and told me that they wanted to buy it all. .38 Super is a somewhat obscure caliber, but one that is coveted by a cadre of 1911 enthusiasts. I’m a good guy, so I inquired of my potential buyer what gun he had chambered for .38 Super? He responded that it was for his buddy that had a revolver, for which it was hard to find ammo. That was the first red flag, for AFAIK, there are only about 900 revolvers extant, that are factory chambered for this round. So I pressed further. In the end, it turns out that the revolver was a S&W Victory model chambered for .38 S&W or, as the British called it .38/200.
Yesterday, I got a response to my current ad, here on the forum. Again, someone wanting to buy the entire lot. In our back and forth communication, I got the impression that he was new to either shooting in general or this caliber specifically. I queried if he realized that this was .38 Super, not .38 Special, to which he asked if I thought this ammo would give his Ruger .357 Mag “issues”.
What should be taken away from these two scenarios is that you need to be careful what you’re buying. Not everybody is a nice guy like me – LOL. If you inadvertently buy the wrong ammo at a retail store, or the counter guy gives you the wrong ammo (it happens), it is incumbent on the buyer to know what they have and whether they’ve been handed the correct ammo. At a retail outlet there are no refunds or exchanges on ammunition. If your/their mistake goes unnoticed, at best, it could result in ammo that just plain does not fit or function in the intended firearm or performs sub-optimally, or at worst, do grievous damage to the firearm, or even worse yet, to you.
There are many, many calibers that either sound very similar – because most have some relationship to bullet diameter – or, have multiple designations for the same caliber. So caveat emptor.
Adios,
Pizza Bob