Just got a new revolver. Report

4

454me

New member
I have been wanting a small gun that my wife could shoot and take with her when she goes on trips.

I bought a Ruger sp101.

On shooting my hand load 38 specials it shoots fine and she can handle it fine.

On shooting my hand loaded 357 mags, which are loaded 1/2 grain under max with 158 grain bullets the cases are stuck so tight you have to use a dowel to push them out. I tried these in a Taurus 357 and they stick there also. I then tried them in my Ruger blackhawk and no stuck cases. I have been loading this round for 30 years and never a problem with the last gun. I guess the cylinder is thick enough on the Blackhawk to take the pressure.

I next went and bought some Hornady 125 gr. XTP in 357's and they are tight but you can eject them.

Next I went and bought a box of American Eagle 158 gr 357,s And again they are stuck so tight you need a dowel to get them out.

My conclusion is that the 158 grain must create so much pressure that they stick where as the 125 grains move out of the barrel easier.

And by the way you can tell no difference of felt recoil with any of the 3 357 rounds.

Now for the rest of the story.


I thought that the trigger pull was too hard and my wife couldn't even pull it double action. She had to fire every round single action.

I ordered a set of Wilson combat custom tune springs from Midway and replaced them last night. My trigger pull gauge only goes to 12 pounds. So here are the results from before to after I did them sever times to try to get an accurate reading.

before after
Double action too high to read 10lb 4 oz
11lb 1 oz
11lb 1 oz

Single action 6lb 2oz 4lb 13oz
5lb 10oz 4lb 9oz
6lb 5oz 4lb 12oz
6lb 8oz 4lb 11oz

I took it to my wife and she was able to pull it double action with no problem. I used the 8 pound trigger spring which they said could cause malfunctions with the 357 thicker primers. She will only use it with 38 specials since she does not like the 4 foot of flame from the 357's

By the way for the people that ask I did no polishing of any kind while I had it apart. I thought the parts were smooth enough.
 
I have an SP101 and love it. I assume yours is the 2.25" barrel. Mine prefers the 158 grain. All others impact low at 7 yards. I mainly shoot .38 special. Sometimes +P. Shooting .357 is just no fun at the range. 5 rounds and my hand goes numb. I never noticed a case sticking issue. Mine is an older production model. I did buy a new LCR and those chambers were tight. Ruger replaced the original cylinder.
 
Clean the cylinders better after shooting the specials. The carbon ring while it may not prevent the magnum rounds from chambering it could make them more prone to sticking.
 
I'd check the machining in each cylinder hole for burring. You're looking for a mirror smooth surface. If you find a less than acceptable machining job, the manuf. may cover the fix under warranty. If they won't honor it under warranty, you can try a cleaning patch wrapped on a cleaning brush and coated with JB Bore paste or some other fine particle rubbing compound to smooth them up. This method has worked well for me on rough cylinders...machining errors and rust too.

I use an electric drill, at very low speed to do this, making sure that I do not allow the patch/brush to extend past the tapering end of the cylinder hole. Allowing the brush to over-extend may result in an oblong cylinder throat or a rounded off cylinder throat/face angle, both of which are detrimental to gilt edge accuracy.

I'd also re-examine my loads, both factory and especially your own handloads for proper powder charges. Your write-up makes me suspicious of an overload. Any significant flattening of primers or difficulty in extraction is cause for instant alarm. I'd stop right there and determine the cause before firing any add'l rounds.

Too, I'd check to see if you're using mag primers when standard ones are called for in the manuals you're using. Additionally, seating depth has a marked effect on pressure and velocity. And finally as noted by another poster, extended use of .38 special ammunition in a .357 Magnum length cylinder, will build up a carbon/lube/debris ring in the cylinder, making use of the longer .357 ammunition difficult.

Generally, a thorough hand cleaning with a bronze brush and a good powder solvent will suffice, though you may have to resort to a copper removal solvent. In any event, I'd not ever use a stainless steel brush of any kind; this bit of wisdom comes from the USMC pistol and rifle armorers at Camp Perry many years ago. It's advice you can take to the bank.

HTH's, Rod
 
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I have a SRH in 454 Casull which will also fire 45Colts. I was told that the 45 Colt powder ring could cause case problems when firing the very hi pressure longer 454 Casull. I don't shoot the long Colts and hand load the 454 mild to wild.

I've never heard of this problem in a 357/38 and have never had this problem. I have had some stuck cases on very light revolvers.
 
Did you shoot the .357's the same range trip after shooting the .38's?

I had a similar problem when I did that. It was residue from the .38's at the end of the cylinder. Since the .38 cases are shorter than the .357 the bullet actually leaves the case inside the cylinder and powder residue builds up. Then the .357 case goes in all the way and gets stuck.

Have you tried cleaning the gun well and shooting the .357's before the .38's?
 
A good tip I received years ago was to use a 10mm/.40 cal brush for the cylinders, and also run a lightly oiled patch through each cylinder prior to shooting. This should help both with carbon build-up and sticky extractions.
 
I use only 357mag bass with non-mag primers, 6.0 gr. 700X powder, 125 gr. Speer SJHP. Load listed by IMR. Hotter than 38 +P, recoil is stout yet comfortable for 100+ rnds. No stuck cases in S&W 66 4" and Python 6".
 
My SP101 2.25" is a few years old, but new enough that the lawyer label is on the underside of the barrel (used to be on the side). I've never had any brass stick in my cylinder, be it .38 sp or .357 mag. Even shooting both on the same trip. I found that my SP101 actually prefers 158 gr .357 mags, as they are more accurate in my gun.
 
You may have a variety of things going on.
As already mentioned . . . if you were shooting 38 special and then switched to 357, you may have had some carbon build-up in the chambers. You mention they were your reloads . . . I only shoot reloads as well and I also shoot 38 special out of my 357s . . as well as 38 Colt Short and Longs so we are talking all different lengths. If I am going to shoot a combination of cartridges at the same range session . . . I start out with the longest cartridge and then work my way down. i.e. 357, the 38 Special and then perhaps 38 Colt Long or Short . .. depends on what I feel like shooting.

I don't have experience with the revolver you have but I do have Ruger revolvers. Ruger is notorious for tight cylinder throats. Have you checked to see what diameter your revolver has? What boolet diameter were you shooting and what are they in diameter in comparison to your cylinder throats? I only shoot cast that I cast up. If you are using say a .357 diameter bullet but trying to put it through a tight cylinder throat - say .356 . . then you are going to have increased pressure as the larger bullet is pushed through the smaller throat.

You say that you were loading "1/2 grain below max" on your powder charge. My question ould be "why"?. First . . . if that load works good in your BH and gives good accuracy . . . fine. But to expect the same load to work equally as well out of a "new to you " revolver is probably not the best path to follow. First place, the 101 is a lot smaller size than your BH. Why are you starting out "1/2 grain below max" and not following the golden rule of reloading - "starting low and working up" to find out what load works best out of your new pistol? If you are loading that high and have a number of things that might add to increased pressure . . i.e. throat size, too much crimp, etc. . . then you can expect that yu very well might have problems with "sticky" casings. Other than your "stuck" casings, were there any other indications of over pressure?

I'm not trying to be "critical" . . but the first thing I would do is start "working up" a load for the revolver . . . start at the minimum and work up in say .2 grain increments until you found what worked best. But even before that, I'd be measuring all the throats . . and they can vary from one chamber to another due to the way Ruger reams them . . . and make sure that they are the correct size. If your bore slugs out at say .357 but your throats are undersize . . . what good is it to try to push a fat object through a small hole and then expect it to expand to fit the bore after it leaves the throats? A good gunsmith should be able to measure your throats with pin gauges and then ream them if necessary.

If your throats check out fine and you work up a load that shoots well and you still have sticking cases, then it's pretty easy to polish the chambers with a bore mop and some very fine polishing compound. And one thing to remember when you clean . . . if you are oiling your cylinder chambers and there is any great amount of oil left on the chamber walls, that can also make a casing stick.

Good luck and enjoy! :)
 
I will try to answer a few of the questions I have gotten on this thread.

Mine is the 2.25 inch barrel.

I did shoot the 38 specials first but only 10 of them and then tried the 357's

I checked the machined holes for burring and found none. the rear of the cylinder holes measure 380 thousands and the front of the holes measure 356 thousands. the factory bullets measure 356.5 thousands. My cast bullets measure 357 thousands.

The barrel end measures 354 thousands. I cant get the instrument in to the back of the barrel to measure it.

I do use magnum primers in the magnum loads and regular primers in the 38 specials.

And for working up the load these were 357's that I loaded about 20 years ago and I did work up to this load in my blackhawk. Jujst didnt think they would be too much for a new gun. I also stated that the factory loaded 357's stuck in the gun to. If it was just my loads I could see a problem. I am going to let the wife shoot this gun mostly and she will only use 38 specials. so its not a big problem. When I want to use 357's I will use the 125 grain bullets as they don't stick.

Thanks for all the replies. I really do love this gun. I can pocket carry or if wearing carpenter jeans it will carry in the watch pocket.
 
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