Shooting .380 ACP in a 9mm revolver?

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TruthTellers

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I like revolvers, they're versatile, cool, and reliable. I've been thinking about 9mm revolvers because I think they'd make a good backup gun for a 9mm pistol or just a good concealed carry gun on its own.

In thinking about 9mm revolvers, I thought about if they'd be okay shooting .380 from them as I've seen videos of people shooting .380 from 9mm semi-auto pistols, but they don't cycle the slide so they have to be manually operated.

A .380 in a 9mm pistol, when it basically becomes a single shot, can work, but I don't think it's effective enough for anything other than proof of concept.

But, a 9mm revolver would make more sense to shoot .380 from since all you have to do is pull the trigger.

Anybody here ever shot a 9mm revolver with .380? I know that the Phillips and Rodgers M47 Medusa was able to fire a lot of different 9mm calibers and they all headspaced off the extractor tab in the cylinder, Charter Arms at one point claimed the 9mm Pitbull revolver they make could chamber and fire .380 ACP, but Smith and Ruger don't say that their revolvers can shoot .380.

Am I to assume that's because their moon clips aren't designed to hold .380 ACP and can't headspace in the cylinder without a moon clip or is it because it's not safe to shoot .380 in the 9mm Ruger's and S&W revolvers?

EDIT: And I'm not saying that I plan to carry .380 in a 9mm revolver for defensive use or as a low recoil range ammo, I'm merely asking if the concept is possible and if it's safe.

Moreover, those that have shot .380 in a 9mm revolver, what did you think?
 
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ammo.crafter

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9mm vs 380

Cannot shoot 380 in 9mm gun.

The cases are dissimilar. Check out case dimensions of both cartridges and not merely the length. The case body is completely different.
 
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reddog81

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You might be able to get the round to fire but it's not going to work out very well. Check out the actual dimensions of the 2 rounds. Your linked video has numerous inaccuracies in it. The only dimension that is the same is the bullet diameter.

If you can get the round to fire there is going to be a lot of blow back and the chamber is going to get dirty very quickly. The neck diameters differ by .007, the base diameter differs by .017.

.380 ACP. case sit into 9mm moonclips but they fall out if not held in the correct position. It would not work to load the revolver in a normal manner.

Reduced power 9mm reloads will work just fine but .380 should be considered a no go.
 
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natman

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Maybe. The extractor in a semiauto might keep the cartridge close enough to the breech face that the firing pin could set it off. Unless you have properly fitted moon clips here's no such restriction in a revolver, so I suspect that a 380 might not fire and wouldn't be properly supported by the chamber if it did.

Don't do it.
 
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Rothdel

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I think the previous posters have covered it that Yes it "might" be possible depending on the revolver but the idea and practice ranges from a bad idea to possibly dangerous.

I think the bigger question is why you would even consider it outside of proof of concept? If you want proof of concept I would be willing to bet some aspiring You Touber has already tried it and filmed it. If not that simple fact should give you some pause.

In any practical application there is little to no reason to consider or attempt this so why risk it?
 
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