S&W calls them cylinders. Right off their website.......
"Smith & Wesson L-Frame revolvers are built to suit the demands of the most serious firearms enthusiast. Available in six and seven shot cylinders,"
Revolvers and sticking rounds in chamber?
- Thread starter platnumbob
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"Smith & Wesson L-Frame revolvers are built to suit the demands of the most serious firearms enthusiast. Available in six and seven shot cylinders,"
BattleRife
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They are calling their cylinders "cylinders". They are not calling their chambers "cylinders".
A chamber can hold only one shot, by definition. Smith & Wesson cylinders can have six or seven chambers.
A chamber can hold only one shot, by definition. Smith & Wesson cylinders can have six or seven chambers.
platnumbob, what Atlas Arms 357 ammo did you shoot? I could only see 125gr 1225fps stuff on their website - so ~ 153 power factor. American Eagle lists their 158gr 357 ammo at 1240fps so ~196 power factor. If that is the Atlas Arms ammo you are shooting, it's strange that their brass is sticking in your cylinder chambers while the American Eagle stuff is not.
Can you run some test loads through a chrono? Maybe you got some extra extra hot loads? Would also be good to inspector your chambers. If they are rough, brass from extremely hot loads will tend to stick more.
Can you run some test loads through a chrono? Maybe you got some extra extra hot loads? Would also be good to inspector your chambers. If they are rough, brass from extremely hot loads will tend to stick more.
Ok I have an update on this one as I had a chance to again visit the range. Before I went I did a good scrub of the chambers to make sure that was not a problem. They have some ring marks inside but I believe that to be common - they are clean and smooth.
I bought some PMC bronze .357 158 Gr jsp to add into the mix (it was very accurate so it's my new preference out of this gun). Alongside the PMC I was testing American Eagle 158 gr .357, the Atlanta Arms 158 gr .357 factory reloads, and western metal .38 spl 158 gr factory reloads.
All ammo types performed well in ejection except the Atlanta Arms, I only shot 6 rounds and 2 out of 6 had to be mashed out with a screwdriver again. Also, I did notice the recoil to be a bit more violent and it appeared as if one round keyholed at 7 yards as well. Further, there was a small little hole on the paper possibly caused by Unburnt powder or sparks spewing from the muzzle - accuracy suffered this time out.
In short I won't be shooting this Atlanta Arms ammo anymore and I don't recommend it to others either. It is 158 gr ball for those interested. I have included a pic of the box, as well as the two cases that stuck. The primers did not seem overly flattend compared to the brass from other brands. I do notice a slight ridge that formed near the base of one of the brass pieces. It is noticeable when running a finger over it.
I bought some PMC bronze .357 158 Gr jsp to add into the mix (it was very accurate so it's my new preference out of this gun). Alongside the PMC I was testing American Eagle 158 gr .357, the Atlanta Arms 158 gr .357 factory reloads, and western metal .38 spl 158 gr factory reloads.
All ammo types performed well in ejection except the Atlanta Arms, I only shot 6 rounds and 2 out of 6 had to be mashed out with a screwdriver again. Also, I did notice the recoil to be a bit more violent and it appeared as if one round keyholed at 7 yards as well. Further, there was a small little hole on the paper possibly caused by Unburnt powder or sparks spewing from the muzzle - accuracy suffered this time out.
In short I won't be shooting this Atlanta Arms ammo anymore and I don't recommend it to others either. It is 158 gr ball for those interested. I have included a pic of the box, as well as the two cases that stuck. The primers did not seem overly flattend compared to the brass from other brands. I do notice a slight ridge that formed near the base of one of the brass pieces. It is noticeable when running a finger over it.
I am not sure what this ammo is rated as for specs, it does not say on the box. I let Atlanta know by email that there ammo appears to be over pressure. Just glad it did not harm my gun.
How was the PMC? I just fired a box in my Taurus 608 on Friday. It shot fine, but it was tight to eject spent casings from the cylinder. Not hard, but not as easy as normal. I was happy with the PMC because it, like the Remington ammo, does not cause cylinder lock-up for me like American Eagle does.
Cannon
Cannon
Shot lots of AE in my 686, never heard of lockups.
Silly donkey needs to play/enjoy the wonderful world of Revolvers.
Silly donkey needs to play/enjoy the wonderful world of Revolvers.
This is a common issue with reloaded ammo. The ammo you used wasn't resized properly. That's it. I had the same issue with my 686. The round would be hard to fit in and hard to extract. SW has very tight tolerances. The same ammo would fit well in my Alfa-Project and all my rifles. Get a Lee factory die and problem solved.
Well, I suspect there's a big difference between a Smith revolver and my Taurus lol. I bought the Taurus because I couldn't afford a Smith. It was half the price. However, with American Eagle ammo, I get lock up. With PMC and Remington, I don't.
Cannon
Both the PMC and AE shot and ejected fine in my model 669. The PMC had a slight accuracy edge.
This ammo was not hard to fit in though, it went in easily just like all other brands - it was just not able to come out. Still a resizing issue you figure? I was leaning over pressure loads but I can't be sure - either way not worth the risk and hassle in using this stuff.
I've fired at least 20k rounds of 357 over the year's and the only time a round would go in fine and not come out is when the case was cracked or worn out. If it was so over powered as to expand the case the too much you would notice the extra kick when firing. Ranndomly load a few mixed with store brand ammo and see if you notice a difference.
The carbon ring mentioned earlier can also be hellishly durable. I've seen in my own guns where it actually takes a polish from my cleaning efforts and tries to look like the chamber bore itself.
If you have not read about it already a handy tool for both checking for the presence of the ring and for aiding in chipping it away is to flare out a casing and using a knife to cut the mouth on an angle from the inside or use a counter sink bit to form a chisel edge on the outside of the casing mouth. The amount of flare being just enough that it can barely be inserted in the chamber and requires a firm push of the thumb to seat it. As the flared mouth passes along the chamber walls you'll feel any tightening or loosening of the seating pressure. If you feel that it indicates an unwanted variation in the chamber diameter. And for the last 3 or 4 mm's if it tightens up that is typically the carbon ring. Hopefully the brass cuts into it and chips it free from the chamber walls. This may require the preparation of a few casings to perform the checking and cleaning since the brass is a piss poor cutting tool. But if used with a sensitive touch it can tell you a lot about the condition of your chambers as well as chipping away much of that crud ring.
For more casual cleaning I found that a .40S&W bore brush on a short extension and running in my hand drill cleans away the crud rings nicely. I don't run it into the chambers every time I shoot. More like after every 300 to 400 rounds. By that time the guns are generally so fouled up that I can't stand to handle them so they get cleaned and the chambers de-ringed.
Once fully and proven cleaned from the crud ring a flared casing should feel extremely consistent when pushed home from the very start to fully seated. Same when pushed back out. If you get any tightening or loosening that alters the pressure needed by much at all it is too much. Pinched or wallowed out chambers can easily cause the sort of extration issues you found even on regular power magnum loads.
Normally Starline brass is top stuff. So if it is only the Atlanta that is causing the problem I'd say just avoid it.
Flaring the cases is pretty easy if you are a reloader. If you are not a reloader buying a steady supply of magnum ammo will soon encourage you to become one. I can reload a box of 50 Magnums for around 12 dollars even if I have to buy premium jacketed bullets. Less if I can find heavy duty plated that are rated for magnum pressures and speeds. And last I heard a box of .357Mag was up around $40. It doesn't take long at that price to pay back the cost of a reloading setup. And after that you're shooting for a lot less... or shooting more for the same cost.
If you have not read about it already a handy tool for both checking for the presence of the ring and for aiding in chipping it away is to flare out a casing and using a knife to cut the mouth on an angle from the inside or use a counter sink bit to form a chisel edge on the outside of the casing mouth. The amount of flare being just enough that it can barely be inserted in the chamber and requires a firm push of the thumb to seat it. As the flared mouth passes along the chamber walls you'll feel any tightening or loosening of the seating pressure. If you feel that it indicates an unwanted variation in the chamber diameter. And for the last 3 or 4 mm's if it tightens up that is typically the carbon ring. Hopefully the brass cuts into it and chips it free from the chamber walls. This may require the preparation of a few casings to perform the checking and cleaning since the brass is a piss poor cutting tool. But if used with a sensitive touch it can tell you a lot about the condition of your chambers as well as chipping away much of that crud ring.
For more casual cleaning I found that a .40S&W bore brush on a short extension and running in my hand drill cleans away the crud rings nicely. I don't run it into the chambers every time I shoot. More like after every 300 to 400 rounds. By that time the guns are generally so fouled up that I can't stand to handle them so they get cleaned and the chambers de-ringed.
Once fully and proven cleaned from the crud ring a flared casing should feel extremely consistent when pushed home from the very start to fully seated. Same when pushed back out. If you get any tightening or loosening that alters the pressure needed by much at all it is too much. Pinched or wallowed out chambers can easily cause the sort of extration issues you found even on regular power magnum loads.
Normally Starline brass is top stuff. So if it is only the Atlanta that is causing the problem I'd say just avoid it.
Flaring the cases is pretty easy if you are a reloader. If you are not a reloader buying a steady supply of magnum ammo will soon encourage you to become one. I can reload a box of 50 Magnums for around 12 dollars even if I have to buy premium jacketed bullets. Less if I can find heavy duty plated that are rated for magnum pressures and speeds. And last I heard a box of .357Mag was up around $40. It doesn't take long at that price to pay back the cost of a reloading setup. And after that you're shooting for a lot less... or shooting more for the same cost.
