44 Special, respectively, in these revolvers. 44 Magnum? It means you can safely fire the two shorter and lower-powered cartridges, the. What does this mean for you if you own a revolver that has a barrel marked for either. 44 Magnum, which both fire bullets with diameters measuring. The same is true with two other revolver cartridges, the. 38 Special bullet is, in fact, the same diameter as a. Cartridge nomenclature does not require a bullet’s diameter to match its name. If you’ve learned just a little about cartridge names and calibers since your introduction to firearms, you might think that the bullet of a. 357 Magnum revolver cartridges are an excellent example. The key to cutting through the confusion is in understanding that cartridge names and caliber designation aren’t always as clear cut as they may seem. In fact, it seems more than a little dangerous to fire a projectile that, at first glance, appears to be bigger in caliber than the cartridge the gun for which it’s labeled. This can be confusing, given the emphasis placed in firearms safety training on never using a cartridge in a gun that doesn’t specifically say it can use that cartridge. One piece of information new handgun shooters often hear about is that they can fire.

.38 calibre revolver long barrel