.357 Mag Ammo won't seat properly

[sarmstrong806]

I bought some Winchester 110 gr. JHP the other day.

When I loaded my GP-100 some of the rounds would not sit flush. Then it was unusually hard to push the ejector rod. No matter what I couldn't get them all flush to close the cylinder.

Do I need to clean the cylinder better or does my gun not like the ammo?

 

[Capt. Charlie]

Have you by any chance been shooting .38 spl out of it prior to the .357's?

 

[flycaster]

Listen to Capt Charlie. If you've been shooting .38 specials for a while, there could be a crud ring near the front of each chamber. That would keep the .357's from going fully to place.

Chuck (never called Charlie)

 

[Sir William]

Maybe. GP-100s are known for tight chambers. I have reloaded ammunition that fits my S&Ws, Colts, Ubertis and even my old Hawes/Sauer 357 Magnums. That same 357 Magnum would not chamber in my Rugers, GP-100 or Vaqueros.

 

[sarmstrong806]

I've never fired .357's out of this gun come to think of it.

How do I get rid of the crud rings, I guess time to buy a wire brush?

 

[Sgt127]

Get ahold of a few fired .357 cases. Push them in and tap them in the rest of the way with the handle of a plastic screwdriver or something. That should scrape away some of the ring. Then, get a bronze brush and Hoppes and start scrubbing...alot. When you wear out the brush, wrap Choreboy around whats left of it and keep scrubbing. I have also used a slightly oversized rifle bore brush, can't remember the caliber, chucked it up in a cordless drill and slowly (!) scrubbed it that way, again, with lots of solvent. A friends PPC 686 had thousands of .38's in it and you would swear the gun had been chambered for .38. It took forever to get that crud ring out. I've also made a scraper with a piece of brass strip stock and used it like a dental scraper to attack each ring. Or try a Lead Away cloth. Remember, a .38 caliber bore brush is undersized in the chamber, so find a good fitting brush and get after it. Yes, its a pain.

 

[JohnKSa]

Since you reload, you might want to reload .38 level loads in .357 cases to avoid this in the future.

 

[Majic]

Buy a large container of cleaner/solvent. Remove the cylinder/crane assembly. Place assembly in the smallest container it will fit in. Pour in cleaner/solvent to submerge cylinder. Let soak a day or two.
Best done after the chambers have been scraped with fired .357mag case.
The soaking will make the scrubbing a lot easier and quicker.