Early American rimfire cartridge for revolvers and pocket pistols; one of the dominant handgun cartridges of the Civil War era before centerfire cartridges took over.
Type: Rimfire
Introduced: 1861, United States
Parent case: Proprietary
Standardization: Proprietary
Bullet diameter: 0.375" (9.52 mm)
Rim type: Rimmed
Primer: Rimfire
Production status: Discontinued
Also known as: .38 Short RF · .38 RF Short
History: The .38 Short Rimfire was introduced during the Civil War era and chambered in a variety of Remington, Smith & Wesson, and National Arms Company revolvers and pocket pistols. It predates all centerfire .38 cartridges and is encountered in antique revolvers of the 1860s–1870s.