Use of 357 brass for DR

Is it allowable to use 357 brass in distinguished revolver matches?  I have yet to shoot in the program but have recently gotten a S+W 686 which is chambered for 357.   My read of the rules (3.3.e) suggests it would be OK provided the bullet is either a 158 gr RN or SWC.  My interpretation is that both 38 spl and 357 chamberings are "38 caliber" and can shoot the allowable projectiles.   I also understand previous versions of the rules specifically specified 38 spl and that reference was removed.  However, I'd like to be reasonably sure.  I will need to work up loads for my revolver and it seems no point looking at 357 options if it is DQ.  A gray area perhaps?

I’m a huge fan of the DR stuff. All we can do is follow the printed rule. If we start trying to “interpret” what is trying to be said or what was meant to be said, then what we are actually doing is writing the rules on the spot as we see it. It’s best to take the rules for as simple and straight forward as they are. 

Yes the rules used to say we had to shoot a .38 Special cartridge. But look at them now. Rule 3.3e as follows:

“(e) Ammunition- Any safe .38 caliber ammunition using the 158 grain round nose or Semi-Wadcutter bullet only.”

It does not say anywhere we have to use a .38 Special cartridge casing or that we can’t use a 357 Magnum casing. In fact the only mention of the 38 special casing is that the revolver has to be capable of firing that cartridge, and not that we have to actually use that cartridge. 

Personally I feel the spirit of it all is to use .38 Special cartridges but we can’t enforce that or make any legitimate claim as to that being the written rule. What we feel might be the intent or the spirit of the rule has no legal standing. Only what’s printed counts. 

So having said all that.. as a competitor, if we were shooting next to each other and I noticed it, I wouldn’t be bent out of shape or challenge the situation if you happened to be using 357 mag casings in a DR match. I’d be a little personally disappointed to see it because like I said I feel the challenge is to use a 38 Special cartridge. But the printed rules don’t prohibit it.

Even if it is, why bother when you can just run .38spl in your 686? I'd worry the lighter powder charges you'd want to load for DR in the larger .357 case might lead to inefficient and/or inconsistent burning of the powder, leading to possibly reduced accuracy. 

It's been a while since I did it, but I recall my dad and I working up some .38spl and .357 loads for Bianchi Cup, with everything identical except the brass, and the .357 loads had a significantly larger standard deviation and extreme spread in velocity when chronographed (admittedly, after seeing the numbers, we didn't bother with accuracy testing and we didn't try a bunch of different powders to see if we'd get different results). 

Ultimately, we ended up with him shooting some puff ball 148gr hbwc .38spl loads, and me shooting faster 110gr jhp .357 loads (he had a dot that could compensate for lead on the Mover, I didn't, and didn't want to have to lead as much).

The rules:  

First the revolver:

"3.3 Distinguished Revolver - The revolver must be capable of chambering and firing a 158-grain round nose or Semi-Wadcutter .38 Special cartridge. It must be a factory manufactured revolver with no external modifications except..."

Second the ammunition:

"(e) Ammunition- Any safe .38 caliber ammunition using the 158 grain round nose or Semi-Wadcutter bullet only."

So it would seem that according to the rules: 

If your gun can chamber a .38 Special cartridge and the ammunition is .38 caliber and meets the weight and bullet type, then you are OK.  

But you can't shoot a .38 Smith & Wesson revolver since it would not chamber a .38 Special cartridge.  

But you can shoot any .38 caliber cartridge such as a .38 Special or even a .38 Smith & Wesson cartridge in a .357 revolver or even .357 Maximum revolver (which are .38 caliber) if the revolver meets the rest of the revolver rules and the cartridge meets the caliber, bullet weight and design requirements.  

Funny how that works out.

CR

Thanks for the perspectives.  Since I just got my 686 I'm not sure yet what will shoot best at the long line especially.  The accuracy testing I've done so far has been limited to my Ruger Blackhawk (bench rest with optic).  I found with that gun it was consistently albeit only slightly more accurate using 357 brass than 38 spl brass.  I had attributed that to jumping the gap.  That's why I was curious about its use for DR.  This was with powder slightly increased by about 10% to achieve similar velocity with the same bullets.  But, every gun is different and I may just find that with the 686 it doesn't matter.   With irons involved perhaps the little bit of accuracy improvement would be lost.  So, I think I'd be using 38 spl brass at the short line and perhaps 357 brass at the long line without advertising it if I found it was significantly better for my gun.

The main reason I got the 686 was to use it to train a better trigger pull with the DA but do have some aspirations to trying DR one day.

Food for thought, I know someone who shoots a 686 for DR and he uses 38 Special cartridges loaded with 158gr LSWC bullets. He is very competitive. Regularly shoots high 270's and low 280's.

I shoot a 586 for DR, never had any issues that I could attribute to 38spl brass. If 357 brass is "more accurate" at 50yd I doubt it would be enough so to matter too much

That's encouraging about the other positive 586/686 experiences using 38 spl loads.  So far I've only shot 38 spl short line loads through it and it seems to shoot fine.  I'm also inclined to think the shorter brass probably won't matter much given larger fundamental shooter variables involved with DR shooting.  I've just started shooting the 686 and trying to learn the DA pull.  I think it has helped my 1911 dot shooting since it seems to train a deliberate and long trigger press.