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Is .357 = 9mm (European load)?

jsergovic
Is there any connection between the American .357 and .38 bullet and a comparable European (or otherwise) metric bullet?

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REPHRASE - I've heard of 6mm, 7mm, and 8mm bullets. A 40S&W is a 10mm.

Is there a currently used European equivalent to the .357? Did America come up with this size all by itself or did it evolve from a European caliber?
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Comments

8 comments

Date Votes
  • Sunray
    Eh? Can you re-phrase that? It doesn't make much sense. Are you asking what the metric diameter of a .357 bullet is? Or is there a metric calibre that's close to the .357 in power etc.?
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  • p3skyking
    No, not with the .357 Magnum. They use that designation. The British have a cartridge, 380/3000 or some such designation that is actually interchangable with the 38 S&W if that is your question.

    What men call a hero...is merely a man who is seen doing what a brave man does as a matter of course.
    A man who is in love with learning is a man who is never without a bride, for there is always more. L'Amour
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  • p3skyking
    REANSWER: No. America came up with it herself.

    What men call a hero...is merely a man who is seen doing what a brave man does as a matter of course.
    A man who is in love with learning is a man who is never without a bride, for there is always more. L'Amour
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  • hksrule
    What? Maybe you were asking if the .357 an .38 were the same as a 9mm. I have done the conversion and the .357 is slightly wider than a 9mm bullet. The .38 is obviously larger in diameter than the 9mm. However, several magazines have tested both .38 special rounds vs. the 9mm rounds and the 9's tend to expand more as well as penetrate further, depending on the manufacture of the round. Maybe next time you should state your question with more clarity.


    WordBorn!!
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  • Tailgunner1954
    Not sure if this is what you mean, but the standard 9mm bullet is .355 in diameter, while the standard 38/357 bullet is .357 in diameter.
    Standard in this case means "most common" as there are plenty of examples that don't "meet" the standard.

    Whittemore
    Some guys like a mag full of lead, I still prefer one round to the head.
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  • Iconoclast
    Jim,

    Our .38 / .357 family of cartridges *is* "comparable" to the European 9mm family, but they are distant & comparatively wimpy cousins, not identical twins. There are the differences in bullet diameter, as TG noted. Actually, our ".38" caliber cartridges (most of them) are *really* .36 caliber - descendents of the .36 Colt Navy! The very first S&W was called the .36/.38 . . . with the nomenclature changed soon after (note the .38 S&W is a .360 bullet!).

    Also, historically, the Europeans tended to favor smaller rounds and to embrace semi-automatics earlier and more enthusiastically than us crude Colonials. There was no legacy of Remington / Colt / etc. cap & ball revolvers on the "frontiers" of the Seine or Thames, no cavalry riding out to fight the Indians with their trusty Colts & Schofields. Handguns were largely for officers, gentry and the police.

    Like the .30 (+/-) caliber, the 9mm (+/-) caliber is just a diameter which lends itself to many useful configurations in firearms. Some cartridges have been embraced in different names on both sides of the Atlantic (.380 - 9mm Kurz comes to mind), but - JMHO - the correlation depends more on a common caliber utility than a common heritage.



    "There is nothing lower than the human race - except the French." (Mark Twain) ". . . And DemoCraps" (me)
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  • Mobuck
    I've seen the 38/200 or 380/200 mentioned. It is the 38 S&W with a 200 grain bullet.

    Mobuck
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  • jsergovic
    quote: No. America came up with it herself.

    I think this was generally what I was asking, or more specifically, this is what I was asking. And Teak put on the finishing touches on it.

    Thanks, all!

    P.S. Got the scale, carbide dies on the way (.357/.38) and Lee Anniversary (used, 98%), on it's way. Now I just gotta shoot up some of my .357 and make some empty brass! (Have a few hundred .38 brass, which I'll nudge into +P loads)
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