[Tropical Z]

and how does it affect the health and well being of your revolver?

[glockten]

Flame cutting occurs when hot gas from the barrel/cylinder gap eats into the top strap.

A friend of mine has a Blackhawk in .357 Maximum. There is a conspicuous notch in the top strap of that gun, which is why he no longer shoots Maximum loads, only Magnums and .38 Specials. The .357 Maximum Blackhawk was discontinued because of this problem.

[HSMITH]

The forcing cone is the real problem area. The topstrap will be cut and will stop at a certain point, early S&W revolvers were actually relieved where the erosion would take place at the factory. If the cut is already there and never gets bigger the owner would not be concerned with it. It was eliminated as a cost cutting measure.

The forcing cone is the real victim, it will take the brunt of the damage. The good news is it can be repaired and the gun restored to full function, I believe S&W charges less than $75 to set the barrel back and recut the forcing cone, add shipping to that and it still is not a big deal at all.

Flame cutting is one of those vastly overstated "problems" that you have to be pretty fortunate to encounter, fortunate in having been able to shoot that much. 99.9% of revolvers made will never even come close to needing repairs from flame cutting, it is the product of tens of thousands of rounds in standard chamberings. Even the hottest loads in the Max were taking many thousands of rounds to hurt the guns, but the silhouette shooters the gun was built for were shooting that in a very short period of time.

Don't worry, be happy and SHOOT MORE!!!!!

[J Miller]

HSMITH said:
"99.9% of revolvers made will never even come close to needing repairs from flame cutting, it is the product of tens of thousands of rounds in standard chamberings."

Wow, I guess I'm fortunate then :rolleyes: .
I had to have the barrel set back and the forcing cone recut on my S&W Mdl 28 (no dash), after only about 7000 rounds of standard 158-160 gr .357 mag loads. The top strap shows the scars too, but the forcing cone got so eroded it was spitting lead fragments, powder, and who knows what.

I have a OM Ruger BH .45 that has the beginnings of flame cutting at the edges of the forcing cone. I shoot +P loads only rarely in this one. The barrel needs to be squared and the forcing cone recut anyway, it's factory crooked, so I'm not too woried about it.

HSMITH also said"
" Flame cutting is one of those vastly overstated "problems" that you have to be pretty fortunate to encounter, fortunate in having been able to shoot that much."

Double WOW, I guess I am fortunate :D .

All silliness aside, flame cutting, or erosion is a problem usually found in revolvers chambered for magnum rounds. More so I think in the earlier versions that didn't have up to date steels. Like my Mdl 28, a late 50's vintage gun.
Modern magnums, and especially those of stainless steel should be less prone to this problem. But unless you shoot A LOT you'll never see any.


Joe

[Jim K]

It is also a factor of the size of the barrel cylinder gap. If the gap is big, there is no problem; if it is very small, there is no problem. The trouble is that the best gap for functioning is just at the point where its size causes maximum speed up of the gas and maximum cutting. Like a lot of other things, it is a trade-off. Or buy a Russian Nagant.

Jim