[shamus]

I've scrubbed the bejeebus out of my sp101. Believ me, I've scrubbed this thing.

The problem is that on magnum rounds usually one or two don't fully seat in the cylinder. I drop in 5 rounds into the cylinder, letting them fall in. The I turn the cylinder upside down and three rounds will drop out but the same two always stick.

Is this a problem?

a picture of a round that "sticks", it's the one that is not fully seated:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v222/shamus005/cylnder.jpg

[fletcher]

I'm assuming those are .357s. Have you put some .38s in there just to check? Can you see any difference in the surface of the holes/bores?

Also, is this a new problem, or has it always been this way?

[mnrivrat]

Sometimes you have to not only scrub the bugger, but have to use a good solvent and a brass brush to cut the fouling from shooting the .38's in the gun. I chuck up a brass brush to a drill sometimes to get the job done.

And yes - it is a problem, and likely still fouling in the chambers. Now if you haven't been shooting .38's ? then you might have another problem.

[jfh]

I just went through this with my S&W 640. However, it was after I fired five overpressure loads--big time: there was about 17-18 grains of AA#7 under a LRN140 in a 38SPL case. I continued to shoot it until I got to my gunsmith--put another 75 or so light-to-medium .357 reloads through it. However, with increasing load recipes the same two-three chambers would be sticky.

If you want to read the whole story, follow it out from this thread.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/570103904/m/7831034932

That link is the precis of the incident; as you can see, you can find it here, too, with more detail.

This was a new 640--it arrived at S&W yesterday, and I am waiting to hear what they say--and the price.

What turned up on mine was a damaged cylinder: If you know what to look for, you can tell this way:

1. Holding the cylinder open and up to the light, look at the reflections in those two chambers--there might be some relfective 'ovals' showing the distortion.

2. However, the clincher was when the 'smith got out his loupe and examined the cylinder--right at the thin spot over those sticky chambers, one could see metal stretching. (see the link to the pic within the link above.)

He advised me to fire it no more, and to send it in.

Given the ruggedness of SP101s (I've owned one), it may be that a damaged cylinder is not the problem. However, I would have a gunsmith check it over--and based on my experience, I probably wouldn't shoot it again until it was.

This is assuming, of course, that those chambers are scrupulously clean--you have done that, haven't you?

Jim H.

[shamus]

I mostly shot .38s through it.

I dropped some .38s in there and they fit fine. The .357s get sticky.

the only thing I see in the cylinders are those damnable black rings about 2/3 the way down. I figure that's the problem.

How about using bore cleaner on it? I've been using breakfree and a copper bore brush.

[Trebor]

Use an oversize brush, solvent, and some elbow grease. I use a .45 ACP bronze brush when my .357's get this bad.

Once you get the chambers clean enough to chamber .357 again, the trick is to clean them after every time you shoot .38's. If you can run a brush through right away it will save you a lot of time later.

[Hunter0924]

I would try Hopps #9 and a brass brush, that is how I clean my Ruger Revolvers and it gets the cylinder clean.
When shooting mostly .38 Specials through .357 Magnum you should pay close attention to the end of the cylinder.

[skarpenz]

I noticed this problem once on my SP101 with a few .357 rds. They were handloads so I figured the brass might be dirty and the gun being fouled up on top of that? I cleaned it meticulously and have had no problem since. Good luck on that.

[fletcher]

Yep, sounds to me like there's some buildup in there your current solvent just isn't eating through. Try the Hoppes like Hunter mentioned and see what happens.

[GrandmasterB]

Hoppes and a brass brush should do it. If you get tired of the "elbbow grease" part, just chuck a cleaning rod in your cordless drill and let it do the work for you. :D It really works!

[gandog56]

I probably shoot 3 boxes of .38 for every box of .357. But I ALWAYS clean my guns after every range session, so I don't get that big a buildup in the cylinder end. And once a year she gets an ultrasonic cleaning and lube.

[rxraptor02]

Try a lead-a-way cloth.

I start with the hoppes #9 and let it soak. Then I use a larger brass bore brush. Patch to clean out the hoppes after the brush.

I then hit it with a lead-a-way cloth and polish the innards really well.

When I am at the point of the lead-a-way I move infront of the TV.(It helps to pass the time)

[crankshop1000]

You need a stainless chamber brush. The buildup from shooting the .38's is the problem.Been there.Chuck.

[foghornl]

I had this issue with my .357Mag Vaquero after blasting away with some .38Spl "Cowboy Action Loads".

Seems those Cowboy Loads with their very soft lead bullets and heavy amounts of bullet lube gunked up the cylinder A LOT. I couldn't get the .357 ammo into the cylinder far enough to spin the cylinder around to the next empty hole.

One other thing you can try is to take an empty .357 case, and use it as a crud cutter. I have one that I have notched, and expoxied a small rod into the primer socket. Can put this into the low-speed battery drill, and clean cylinder that way.

[OBXMIKE]

Yup, those rings are a pain. Get a "tornado" brush (stainless steel, looks kinda odd, like a tornado.....go figure:rolleyes:). Only use it when you HAVE to, cause it will damage your chambers if you use it too frequently. Metal is quite a bit harder than bronze/brass. Soak a patch (or two) in solvent and let it sit in the chambers for several minutes, brush with the "tornado" brush until it's gone. Follow with regular brush, patches, lead away cloth and lightly oil. I am a firm believer in the powers of the lead-away cloths. They are the bomb. Cut a patch of this thing and run it through the chambers and the barrel, cyclinder face.........amazing stuff.

[Snapping Twig]

Do they still make Gold Medallion?

If so, then get some - it's made for this.

You take a bore brush, wrap it with a patch and apply the Gold Medallion to the patch and run it through. No harm to the bore, all the shmoots cleaned.

[ArchAngelCD]

Tap an empty .357 Magnum case into the cylinders to "punch" the bulk of the fowling out then clean well with Hoppe's #9 and you should have no problems. If you still have some carbon left over then use a Lead-Away cloth like mentioned above. (but only on Stainless parts, don't use that on Blue parts if you have a Blue finish revolver)

[115grfmj]

Birchwood casey, pack tightly and brush out.

[Coronach]

1. Yeah, if your .38s drop in fine and your .357s hang up, it's probably a buildup of schmutz in the chambers. The one or two that hang up more often are probably either slightly tighter, or have rough spots that allow the schmutz to accumulate in slightly greater amounts.

2. You could also have a burr in chamber that causes the brass to hang up. I have a M15 that had that issue. It is, literally, a 30 second fix.

And yes, 'schmutz' is a technical term.

Mike

[shamus]

would Remington bore cleaner be safe to use in the cylinder?

[Biff]

+1 for Archangel's suggestion. If you handload, you might even flare the case mouth slightly on the .357 case so it is a little tighter in the chamber. Scrapes the ring right out!

[shamus]

I hit it with bore cleaner and scrubbed the cylinder with the 45 cal brush until it wore out.

and then I switched to the 38 bore brush and scrubbed some more.

the rounds are still sticking and there is no carbon in the cylinder that I can see. Noe more gunk, and the rounds are still sticking.

If I move the ejector star out of the way and drop a round in the cylinder, it drops in without a problem.

thoughts?

[Fumbler]

AND THE BIG QUESTION IS...
Exactly what ammo are you using?

Reloads?
If they're reloads then what bullet make, model, and weight?


I've had 180gr lead flat points that wouldn't chamber in my GP-100 because they weren't skinny enough to go into the throats.
It's possible that if they are reloads then the cases weren't sized close enough to the heads making them rub against the ejector.

[sig226]

You may not be able to see the lead build up in the cylinders unless you use a powerful light and a magnifier, especially on a Ruger. They use a dark stainless steel, the lead might blend in. I've had to use a drill press on some .357 chambers.

Another trick is to use pieces of the Hoppes' lead remover cloth as a patch, over a brand new brush. The key to this is time. You have to allow time to allow the chemistry of the cloth to loosen the lead. Football and baseball games are ideal for this. Wet the chambers with the cloth and watch the game for a while. Clean out the lead. Wet them again, watch some more of the game, clean them again. I've had good results that way.

[shamus]

AND THE BIG QUESTION IS...
Exactly what ammo are you using?

bought the gun used, so I'm not sure what the last guy used. I've been using 38 cal Remington UMC metal case and some .357 158 jhps.

[shamus]

Just soaked it in Remington Bore cleaner for an hour.

Scrubbed the jeebus out of it. It. is. clean.

The rounds are still sticking.

So I decided to experiment by dropping three different rounds in the chamber that was sticking:


.357 125 grain winchester jhp sticks about half the time.
.357 158 grain jsp Independence drops about half the time
.38 130 grain metal case drops in just fine.


But "sticking", I mean the round does not freely drop in the chamber and requires a slight nudge to get it to seat.

With the 125 grain Winchesters, usually one-time-in ten it requires a solid push to get seated. The other times it sticks they just require a slight push.

When the 158 grians stick, they just need a slight push.

Once in a blue moon the .38s stcik and a nudge gets them in.

I'm starting to think the the case rim on the .357s are sticking on the ejector star sometimes.

thoughts?

[B. Adams]

This is information from a while ago, so I don't remember everything about the situation, but I'll do my best. I bought an SP101 a while ago, and when I got it home I noticed a repair tag in the box. When I asked the store about it, they said that they'd had a batch of SP101's come from Ruger that accidentally had the cylinder holes slightly under-bored, so they fit 38's fine but .357's wouldn't seat fully. That batch of guns got sent back to Ruger, rebored (maybe new cylinders, I don't know), had some other minor work, and then sent back to the store I got mine from.

I didn't like the fact that I'd bought a remanufactured gun, but beyond that it had some serious play in the cylinder, and chambers didn't quite line up with the forcing cone. The store actually took it back and gave me a full refund (exactly the opposite of the store policy), and I kind of forgot about the whole thing. I have a suspicion that your gun may have a similar issue, possibly from the same batch of guns that mine was from. A call to Ruger would probably clear that up.

I love Ruger revolvers, but it seems like they're in short supply in my area. I plan on buying another SP101, maybe a few, but I carry a flashlight and a gap guage with me whenever I go shopping for one.

[Brian Williams]

Get a Lewis Lead Remover and use it to get rid of the crud, do not use a Stainless brush.
Second get a 357 case and notch it.