The .38 Special was a round brought to life by Smith & Wesson, hence the name 38 S&W Special. Eventually other companies like Colt got hacked off at having to mark THEIR weapons with "38 S&W Special" and came out with the .38 COLT Special- which was identical except for a flat tipped bullet. Eventually, everyone shortened the name to .38 Special- except S&W Company- who wanted to keep the name. 38 S&W Special and .38 Special are one and the same. 38 S&W (no special) IS a different round, and does not interchange. Make sense? so special refers to the round