Bounty Hunter 22 flame cutting

L

LazyGunGuy

Inactive
So I got this new EAA Bounty Hunter in 22LR/22Magnum combo about 2 months ago, only have a little over 200 rounds (less than 30 of those are magnums) through it and just recently noticed some deep flame cutting in it.. I mean scary deep, wondering if I should be as alarmed as I am about it. Here is a link to a picture of it. http://i1190.photobucket.com/albums/z453/LazyGunGuy/008.jpg?t=1348994163 I will take more photos if needed, just ask. Sorry about the simple MS paint edits :P
 
Even if it is flame cutting, revolvers are prone for it. Nature of the beast. Even with magnum handguns it goes so far and then eventually stops. I have yet to see a topstrap even close to being damaged to the point of being unsafe by flame cutting except in the case of lightweight alloy or polymer framed guns with a separate flame shield. This is not the case here.
 
I agree some of it might be lead but it goes down pretty deep into the top strap, not just some surface deposit, just seems unusually deep, especially for a 22 revolver.
 
The picture is misleading. I don't think it's actually that deep. The lead is built up. The cutting appears to be into the lead deposited there and not the top strap itself. I bet most of it could be easily scraped away.
 
Take a spent shell casing and pinch the case neck flat. It makes a good scraper and the brass won't scratch your bluing.

As to why your gun is doing that, it could be that your barrel-to-cylinder gap is too wide.
 
I think its a problem either way. If its actual flame cutting, the metal used in the revolver is poor. If its lead? Well IMO the barrel cylinder gap is too great allowing the lead to get up there.

I have never owned one of these or a Heritage Arms or a FIE, and when I read stuff like this, I will stick to Colt and Ruger for a SA 22. A revolver with a problem like that should not have left the factory.
 
I wish it was just lead build up and the cutting was in that, But if you look at it from the side the top strap all around the cut is flat and over top of it, nothing sticks up. The cutting is going deep into the top strap, just hard to tell from that photo. Only lead I have fired from it is super low velocity stuff, rest is all copper plated. Looking like the frame is just made out of crap metal, time to contact EAA about it.
 
i have a taurus 22 revolver that builds up lead like that....its nomal because of the many rounds normally fired using .22 ammo...
 
now that i look closer that is some pretty good flame cutting.....i have a 22 magnum revolver and it does not have a sign of flame cutting which is strange...
 
I heard from an old revolver guy about flame cutting.....when a flame groove gets to a certain point, it will stop propagating because the flame channel will become rounded and let a version of laminar flow out either side of the newly created flame channel. Also, has anyone here ever seen a top strap cut all they way through? I have not......with the Internet as it is I have never seen one that has become even dangerous.
 
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The guns have a zinc frame.
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Looking like the frame is just made out of crap metal, time to contact EAA about it.
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...... so they can tell you, "What did you expect from a zinc gun? Shoot it till it breaks, and we'll see about replacing it."

....and then we all get to test the veracity of this statement:

I heard from an old revolver guy about flame cutting.....when a flame grove gets to a certain point, it will stop propagating because the flame channel will become rounded and let a version of laminar flow out either side of the newly created flame channel.
Click to expand...
 
Definitely some lead deposits there. Have you actually measured the depth of the cut or are you panicking over the fact that it is there at all? Reminds me of how the .357Max fell out early in its career because of top strap cutting which was soon proved to stop on its own and cause no further damage. GW
 
Thats only lead, you need to clean that ASAP. You will need to becareful not to scratch the top finish off or the bottom frame.....:rolleyes: Don't scrub too hard, you will need a brass brush, lots of oil to remove that caked on stuff. I try to wipe mine down before I leave the range, if not its very hard to remove. I usually use a knife to pull/push/pry the caked stuff off.

When I used to go through a whole box of 550 in my Taurus 94 in 5 hour range session, the lead build up was more than that. :D
 
Perhaps I'm blind, but I don't see any cutting at all. All I see is a lie of lead deposit across the top strap. Where is the cutting some folks are seeing?

Edit: Ok, I am blind and I see it now, I think that is just two ridges of deposits making it look like it is cut. I could be wrong though.
 
It's difficult to show that it is a cut into the frame, I have taken several pictures, none of them really show what I am seeing, like I said, look at the frame from the side, there is no deposit sticking up, it's going down into the frame quite a ways! I don't know how I can measure how deep it is? But hopefully it won't go any deeper, hopefully it is self limited like I have read so I will keep shooting it and hope it does not cut itself in half :P If it gets noticeably worse I will take more pictures.
 
I'm more than a bit surprised a .22 has enough oomph to do that....Would have thought a .22 wasn't capable of such carnage to that material there.
 
I was just wondering something: In this EXACT scenario, assuming the gun locks up well, and that the cylinder aligns properly, how could the lead even get there? I never saw this exact phenomenon before. I would say that if its lead, might the cylinder be out of alignment or something else be wrong?
 
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