Revolver Help

A

alexmc22

Inactive
I had posted this on a previous thread but never got an answer so...
Just bought a Rossi .357 revolver. I took it to the range and bought a box of cheaper target ammo. 4 times in 50 rounds the cylinder locked up after firing 2-3 rounds. Each time a little peice of brass about the size of a fingernail clipping fell out of the action when I opened it, which required a more than normal amount of force to open. The brass peices looked like
they had been cut off the casing with a pair of snips or something. I just closed it again and continued firing. Seemed to happen randomly. Any idea what could be happening? The guy at the range said it probobly had something to do with the crimping. Though I do not believe it is due to the bullet coming loose because the first 2 of the 4 times it happened I unloaded the gun completley to check it and the ammo was intact. I loaded it back in the gun, replaced the spent casings with new ones and continued firing. Can't tell if it was the ammo or the gun... :confused: anybody know what the issue could be?
 
Sounds to me like your gun's got something funky going on with it. I'm no expert though - I just tinker around with my guns.

I'd check the casings - mainly the rims. Are they chewed up? Cut? Crimped? If so there's something seriously wrong with the way your cylinder is lined up in your gun.
 
I'd check the casings - mainly the rims. Are they chewed up? Cut? Crimped? If so there's something seriously wrong with the way your cylinder is lined up in your gun.
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unfortunatley i forgot to grab any casings. I had the little brass clippings but left them on the bench. I will go to the range again and if it happens I'll save them and post pics. I'm going to try that same ammo and some different ammo as well to see if it helps. I'm new to pistols so thanks for the advice.
 
Considering that a revolver retains the casings in the cylinder I would say it's a defect in the ammo. You said it was some cheaper targer ammo so I would personally quit using that particular brand and go with something else. I had a similar issue this past saturday with using a cheaper .45 ACP in my ruger. I had 5 rounds that loaded really hard into the cylinder and two that almost had to be pried out of the cylinder after firing. That's the last time I use that particular brand. The ammo I was using for the .45 colt had no issues, it was a different brand that was a bit more expensive. I think it had to do with the fact that the Colt ammo had actual brass casings where the ACP casings were polymer coated steel.
 
I took it to the range and bought a box of cheaper target ammo.
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Cheap, cheaper, cheapest, or just crap reload's?

Sound's like ammo related. If not Rossi has a $80 life time Warranty.:D

FYI, Rossi 461 .357mag for sale $375 w/shipping.LOL
 
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I'm guessing that would be reload's? From who?
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Actually I cant rtemeber the brand, it was an off brand in a hardly labeled box, not federal, remington or any other major brand. I'm assuming that it was remanufactured/reloaded ammo. I'll have to check to make sure of the details when I go back to the range. Also some of the spent casings were really stuck in there and took some effort to remove.
 
I'd try two or three brands of ammunition, and carefully inspect each cartridge case removed after firing. Do any resist being inserted into chambers before firing? I'd number the chambers and see whether any give you repeated problems. If you come up with chewed brass again, try to take some close, clear photographs and post them here. The more data you've got, the better.
 
Thanks Standing wolf I will do exactly that. None of the rounds resisted being loaded into any of the chambers however some did resist coming out after being fired. this gun did come with a lot of grease on/in it. Of course I cleaned it before firing it, however, this being my first revolver I think I forgot to clean under the star and I didn't take out the ejector rod and clean that either. When I went to clean it today i did notice some grease under the star and on the ejector rod. Don't know if that could cause the chewing of the casing though...
 
Just got back from the range. I tried 3 different brands of ammo. 50 rounds of Remington .357 magnum 125 gr. JSP, 25 rounds of Hornady .357 magnum 140gr FTX, and 50 rounds of Independence .357 magnum 158gr JSP.

For now I am going to chalk this up to the ammo...Everything function flawlessly EXCEPT the independence (says blazer on the cartridge) actually made by federal I think. 3 out of 50 rounds I had the same problem I descibed above, which is the same ammo that gave me trouble before. Same thing, cylinder locked up and I opend the action and found a little clipping of the casing...the weird thing is that I've inspected the casings and can't find where the clipping comes from, they all seem undamaged. I will post pics when I find my camera.

For now I will stick to Remington for targets and Hornady FTX for home defense, though my main go to gun is my 12ga mossy.

I have taking a liking to the .357 though and am scoping out a higher quality revolver chambered in .357. Maybe a ruger or S&W.

Pics coming soon.
 
Is the clipping from the case, or is it from the bullet?

If it's locking up the cylinder, I'm wondering if the clipping is stopping between the cylinder and forcing cone. If so, it may be a piece of the bullet, which might indicate that the cylinder and forcing cone aren't lining up correctly for the shot.

Might want to check the timing, or have it checked by a gunsmith.

Daryl
 
Since all other brands of ammunition worked fine and it only happened with that one brand I am going to say that the bullets are not seated properly in the casings and are jumping the crimp, or are not seated deep enough.
 
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