It's more powerful. As for "better", it really comes down to what your needs are. The lighter recoil of the .38 presents advantages which at time may outweigh the advantages of having the more powerful .357 Magnum.
38 Special and .357 Magnum.
357 case is @ 1/10 of an inch longer.
.429 INCHES A 38 SPECIAL IS .357....
Well, yes and no. Both the .357 Magnum and the earlier .38 Special catridge both use a bullet that is .357 inches in diameter. The .38 Special in not a TRUE .38 caliber cartridge.
The ,357 Magnum is a longer catridge, and is loaded to higher energies- meaning that the bullet is pushed harder, and goes faster. And yes, the typical .357 Magnum handgun is built stronger than the typical .38 Special, to handle the increased forces.
No. However, .38 Special ammo CAN be safely fired in a .357 Magnum firearm. Both cartridges use a bullet that is .357 in diameter- but the .357 magnum is longer, and more powerful.
No, .38 super is a semi automatic round and .357 is a revolver round. While both have a bullet diameter of .355. The case length is different and the the tounds are held in the firearms differntly. Semi automatics have a shoulder in the barrel that holds the round in place. a revolver has a lip on the cartridge that holds it. In 1986 Ed Sanow performed a test using various .38 Super ammo on two different .357 Magnum revolvers, SW and Colt (different twist rates) and he concluded. A. You and safely shoot .38 Super in a .357 Mag revolver. (not in a .38 Special gun even if it is +p). It will fit in both guns. The Super has lower chamber pressure than the .357 Mag but almost double than de .38 Spl +p B. Even thoug the Super is semmi-rimmed it extracted reliably from both revolvers. C. The longer freebore due to the supers shorter case and the different bullet dia. did not affect accuracy. Actually the Winchester .38 Super Silvertip was more accurate through a .357 mag than all the .38 Special and .357 Mag loads shot during the test. He concluded that using a .38 Super through a .357Mag is a better alternative than using a .38spl+p. It has better stopping power. Also it is a good alternative if the muzzle blast and shot to shot times prove hard to handle with the .357.
.357 Magnum and .38 Special (to include +P and +P+ loadings).
No. They both use a different diameter bullet and the case is different. The .357 Sig case is a bottle-necked version of the .40 S&W case. The .357 mag is a longer version of the .38 Special.
yes
Yes. All .357 S&W Magnum firearms are capable of firing .38 Special ammunition. The case of the .357 is just slightly longer.
No, .357 and .38 special are not interchangeable because the .357 cartridge is longer and more powerful than the .38 special cartridge.