My sincere apologies for the confusion I created. This pistol is a 50+yo Smith & Wesson revolver, maybe never fired. 5 shot, ext hammer sa/da. Black metal frame. On the side of the barrel I misread the print. It says:
38 S&W spl, NOT 380. So my question remains, is the correct ammo 38 special? I see no ammo boxes that say spl and no ammo boxes with S&W except for 38 S&W without the spl designation. I understand from reading that 38 S&W is a different cartridge.

This is a revolver, 5 round capacity, external hammer, sa/da. The barrel says 38 S&W spl. Is this standard 38 special ammo. Is the S&W irrelevant, so that any 38 special will work, but not 38 S&W that is not designated as special?