[Romac]

I'm about to purchase an LCR, and pretty much have my mind made up on getting the .38 for lighter carry use and better recoil management. That being said however, if you shoot a .38 out of a .357 LCR, is the. 38 less accurate because the bullet has to 'jump' the extra length from cylinder to barrel?

It may be a stupid question but I'm fairly new to revolvers and I'm curious about it. I never would have thought of it except for reading about accuracy issues with say, the Taurus Judge, because the .45 Colts are so much shorter than the .410 shells the jump to barrel throws it off.

Edited because autocorrect screwed this post

 

[LimaCharlie]

Typically they are slightly less accurate, but the LCR is not a target gun. It is intended for close up personal protection.

 

[ikar]

You're not going to be trying to achieve micro precision, just good target impact. When I use my 101 I shoot .38 ammo.

I'm not figuring on hitting a small spot at 25 yards, just what I'm aiming at.

 

[bearcatter]

The extra distance is small and just before the cylinder throats, so I feel the throats and forcing cone pretty much take care of it. I'm getting 4 inch groups at 12 yards out of my LCR-357, shooting .38s (130 gr FMJ). I'm not a very good shot, so I'm satisfied. In a SD situation, that should put me somewhere between the bad guy's armpits.

 

[ijustdontknow]

I am more accurate shooting 38 out of my LCR-357. Partly because the recoil of 357 is enough to make me flinch as I pull the trigger. I'm working on it. If you can put all your shots in an 8" circle at 10-12 yards, I think you are accurate enough to hit what you are aiming at.

 

[andybothel]

I don't feel you'll see any loss of accuracy, like others have said, you'll probably see an increase because of the recoil, unless you are really good at your trigger control.

I carry 38+p in mine. A little more power than standard 38's but no where near a 357 in terms of recoil, noise, and blast.

 

[TMan51]

Brian Pearce ran a in-depth article on .38's in a .357 just recently, well worth the read.

Shooting from a bagged rest, some .38's don't shoot as well as .357's at 50yds. Most are not measurably different at <25yds, and unless Brian is fudging data and photo shopping pictures, he's a heck of a good shot.

I shoot .38's in my SP101/4", and it's very good out to 50yds.

To me, use of .38/.38+P in your LCR is a way to extend the life of the revolver. DAO requires practice, and practicing with full power .357's drops the life of a revolver by thousands of rounds. And you need to practice once in a while to be effective.

Just clean the cylinder carefully after each session, as the residue in front of the .38 case tends to harden with time. Won't actually damage anything, but cleaning is way more of a chore, and some .357 loads will not chamber due to the buildup.

 

[Lead Slanger]

You won't notice any difference in accuracy and recoil is more manageable with .38+p's in the .357 than they are in the .38 version. Four ounces makes more of a difference than you think.

 

[14186]

The .38s are just as accurate out of my .357 LCR as the .357.
With the .38 Speer +P short barrel are awesome!

 

[chup]

I have shot both rounds from my LCR357. I never noticed any accuracy difference. Some 357 ammo is brutal and some is a lot of fun. 38+P is very nice. You just have to clean the Chambers in the Cylinder really well after shooting the shorter 38.

 

[DetroitFD]

I've been experimenting with 38, 38+p and 357 out of my lcr. I would say that hands down the heavier the bullet, the more accurate. Let me admit that I am by far a gun guru, but I am a fairly good shot. At 15 yards I shoot less than 6" groups rapid fire with my laser lcr, rapid fire with 110-125 grain 357s. I don't find the recoil on these bad at all. I did just order 2 boxes of speer gold dot short barrel 357, so ill report on those soon.
The 38s and +p rounds are still decent at that distance, but slightly larger groups. At 5 yards the isn't much difference, at least for me.
The only round ie tried so far that I don't especially like is hornady critical defense 140 grain 357s. Wit my crimson trace grips, they just plain hurt. Especially when I do one handed shots, which to me is more likely is self defense situations. They are very accurate though.
Again, not a gun expert here, but with a stainless steel gun designed to shoot 357, I wouldn't think that you are reducing your guns longevity by thousands of rounds. Especially when you keep them at 135 grain or less usually. Plus, so long as I like the results, I plan on using the short barrel speer rounds at 13 grain mostly anyway
Best of luck!

 

[pgeobc]

If you want some real life experience, rather than opinion, try looking at the Colt Pythons. Colt made them in .357 Magnum and they were shot in competition with .38 Special loads. They were legendary for their accuracy.

Colt then made some in .38 Special, just to suit the people who were finicky, but they did not shoot any better than the .357s.