[Skeetshooter]

Can anyone tell me why a cartridge with a bullet diameter of .357 is called a .38 Special and a cartridge with a .401 bullet diameter is called a .38-40??

Doug

 

[SidecarFlip]

Close only counts in horse shoes....

 

[Breakaway500]

Why is the 410 bore shotgun not called a 67.5 gauge? There are many oddities in the gun world but they pale in comparison to todays "woke" society nomenclature..

 

[jpr]

Close only counts in horse shoes....

and hand grenades!

 

[Hawg]

Can anyone tell me why a cartridge with a bullet diameter of .357 is called a .38 Special and a cartridge with a .401 bullet diameter is called a .38-40??

Doug

The .38 special is derived from the .38 Long Colt which used a heeled bullet. The .38 special uses the same diameter case but with an inside lubed bullet. Why the 38-40 is called that is anybody's guess.

 

[Waidmann]

Actually take it back to the 1851 Colt where a .36 caliber ball was pressed into a smaller chamber. With the Colt .38 was a "social" promotion. The .38 S&W was originally a .361 externally lubricated bullet..38-40 I have no clue. .303 (.312) was a land-to-land measurement. The .44-40 is .425, later .44's are .429. My .401 Powermag oddly is .401.

 

[LimaCharlie]

Close only counts in horse shoes....

and hand grenades!

and nukes.

 

[memtb]

Actually take it back to the 1851 Colt where a .36 caliber ball was pressed into a smaller chamber. With the Colt .38 was a "social" promotion. The .38 S&W was originally a .361 externally lubricated bullet..38-40 I have no clue. .303 (.312) was a land-to-land measurement. The .44-40 is .425, later .44's are .429. My .401 Powermag oddly is .401.

Much like a 22 rimfire. The bullet shank is reduced in diameter to fit into the case! memtb

 

[BDM1]

One of them has to be wrong, and i am not sure which, so i refuse to buy either.

 

[timetripper]

And then there is the 32-20 Winchester which is .312*. But the 32-40 Winchester is .321", same as the 32 Winchester Special. Let's face it, American cartridge nomenclature is as diverse as our ethnic makeup.

John

 

[jimg11]

With well over 1500 different size cartridges made in the last 170 years we will see a lot of strange measurements and names.

 

[Abby'sDad]

Except for the Europeans who tend to prefer using metric nomenclature - which makes more sense.

 

[sparkyv]

Hey, if you're the guy who develops it, you get to name it, conformity or the metric system be damned!

 

[Skeetshooter]

Does anyone remember the .240 Page Super Pooper, a cartridge developed by gun writer Warren Page which eventually became the .243 Winchester.

Doug

 

[LimaCharlie]

My .338 WinMag is .338 and my .416 Rigby is .416, but my .460 Weatherby magnum is .458.

 

[jonesy814]

I read that in the 1800's as they were moving from cap & ball guns to metallic cartridges, there became the question of caliber designation. A common ball diameter was 38 caliber. When the metallic cartridge was released with a 38 caliber case, but only a .357 bullet, they didnt want it to seem smaller, so they went with the case size of 38, instead of calling it a 35