Revolver chamber demensions

R

RDub

New member
Got a question about .357 revolver chamber dimensions.
As we know, the end of the chambers, or throats should measure something close to caliber (bullet) dimension to create a gas seal as the bullets exits the cylinder and enters the barrel.

As a youngster just starting to shoot cast bullets in handguns, I learned from a gunsmith friend that the ‘tighter’ the fit in the chamber throat the better. The reason being the more gas that is sealed behind the bullet, the less gas blows by causing the outside of the bullet to melt, causing barrel leading.

I noticed over the years that different makes of revolvers seem to vary in throat dimension, some being rather ‘tight’ and some rather ‘generous’. I remember a Blackhawk .357 I had years ago that was most generous in this regard and I could really load it up warm and it leaded badly. Even a .359” bullet passed through the throat easily.

So, can anyone tell me what the present consensus is with .357 revolvers in this regard? Which maker does well and which does not.. I’m looking into buying a new one with a 6” barrel.

Thanks
 
revolver

Sir:
The mouth of the cylinder dimension should perfectly match, or not be more than .001 more than the groove diameter of the bbl. This gives no, or virtually none, defornation of the bullet (cast) and the bbl. cylinder gap should be uniform and, to my mind be no more than .004.
The bbl. cyl. gap is crucial - it keeps noise down and lets gas escape uniformly and channel most pressure down the bbl. This is the cause of much trouble in revolvers - uneven and sharp forcing cones and bbl. gap.
If you have cylinder exit bores greater than groove dia. there is little to do, if you have cyl. bores less than , you can always hone them out to groove dia. and, of course, you can always clean up the bbl. cyl. gap or even set the bbl. back a thread and re-do your forcing cone. Ruger used to be very bad about this, a gap of.004 on one side and up to .015+ on the other.
I've set a bunch of Rugers back.
Harry B.
 
Thanks for the reply
Well thats the way I thought it should be, and as you said Ruger must have been a little sloppy.
So now, if I was to go down and purchase a new Ruger GP100, what would I find?
Thanks.
 
Ruger

Sir;
Ruger has corrected many of their problems. What I always find with Ruger is that if you find a problem it's fixable! They are taking great care in their Q.C. now and I've found a real attention to their quality and their warranty is fabulous.
Harry B.
 
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