Is this a thing with 357 in Revolvers?

I have a couple revolvers stick spent cases for several powders. Is this normal?

For example, with 158 JHP at table maximums for powders Accurate #9, Alliant 2400 and HS-6 it’s pretty difficult to work the ejector rod having started with a clean revolver. After shooting these powders in the same shooting session, now a dirty revolver, I shoot 10 rounds with maximum H110 and the spent cases drop out.

I’ve never experienced this in 45 Colt at some high “Ruger Only” pressures.

Is it the smaller 357 case diameter combined with higher pressures and cylinder wall flex?

Catpop said:

How do those cases that stuck in chambers function on the second reloading? Do they freely drop into chambers or are they tight?

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Don’t know, haven’t reloaded those cases yet.

murf said:

what revolvers?

murf

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New S&W 586 w/6” barrel and 0.357” throats
New Kimber K6S w/4” barrel and 0.361” throats

View attachment 949712

buck460XVR said:

Could be your gun has tight chambers and is prone to sticky extraction for various reasons. Max loads of faster powders generally create sharper pressure curves and thus may expand the brass a hair more. Could be your source for max H110 loads is not creating the same max pressure as your other max loads.

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That’s what I was thinking, spike, even though the tables show about same max pressure for loads at max.

But really, I just beginning with 357, so I’m pretty dumb right now.

UncleEd said:

OP seems to be loading at max for the
reloading tables. Not always a good idea
before working up loads with lesser power.

Guns of the same brand and type and year
can vary. Also same brands of brass can
vary from lot to lot as to how much expansion
occurs.

Also, since he's loading at max, I believe, he
should keep an eye on the shape of fired primers.
Rounded ones, OK. Flattened or flatter ones,
beware.

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I did work up. And at max, primers look like it, also.

Sneakshot92 said:

Ok. I gotta ask.. How does that 586 shoot? She's awful purdy! Hopefully she shoots as good as she looks.

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I handled a new 586 two years ago. I shouldn’t have waited two years to buy one because it shoots pretty good. Right out of the box it’s good.

But...I tinker, so you’ll notice I modified the factory stocks for one finger groove to keep my grip the same, shot to shot, with heavy loads. I’ve also had it apart and polished the internals and lightened the trigger pull. This one (maybe all L frames?) needs the trigger spring tight (factory setting) for CCI primers.

I’ve seen a few new 586’s and in my opinion, this new generation as are as nice as the 586 no dash, circa early 1980’s. Every new 586 I’ve seen has been absolutely beautiful with beautiful stocks. Will this one shoot as well as the reputation of a 586 no dash? Well maybe, maybe not. Out of the box, it’s looking like NO. I was bidding on 586 no dashs’ when I bought this one and they were selling for $100 to $300 more.

murf said:

is there any black soot on the fired cases (the stuck ones)? other than sooty cases, the only other reason for stuck cases is high pressure, imo. can you charge some loads with powder from the middle of the powder range and see if the problem goes away? i would suggest running a few factory rounds through the guns if you have access to factory rounds.

murf

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Cases at max are clean. Cases at less than max, especially for HS-6, are sooty.

My first hundred or so rounds were 158 grain Speer SWC with 5 grains of Tightgroup and WSP primers. Chrono at 900 fps.

Then I worked up middle burn rate powders like Accurate #9 and Hodgdon HS-6 with JHP bullets, magnum primers. Chrono at 1100 fps.

Then I took middle burn powders along with slower powders like H110 and 2400 with JHP bullets, magnum primers up to max current published data (web site loading tables for all three brands). Chrono at 1200 to 1300 fps yesterday. So today I thought I’d ask HighRoaders.

For example, I shot 20 rounds of 2400 at max. One cylinder extracted ok, the rest were pretty stiff. The HS-6 cases were the hardest to extract. All were stiff enough (except the H110 loads) that I thought it would be horrible in a defensive or hunting situation.

I didn’t try Blue Dot, because a 357 shooter gave me a bunch 20 years ago. He said it caused his cases to stick, bad. So when yesterday happened, I started to think, “Is this sticking a normal thing with 357?”

I appreciate all the ideas and insight everyone has provided so far. Thank you!

Maybe to re-ask a different way.

Do your cases extract easily when you use 158gr JHP bullets when loading at current maximum published data for powders Accurate #9, Alliant 2400, Alliant Blue Dot or Hodgdon HS-6?

skeeterfogger said:

Had a revolver do that and I polish chambers with steel wool periodically and it stays smooth.

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Now why didn’t I think of that? Both guns are new, so maybe this is a tweak I will have to do to both revolvers. To the naked eye, the chambers look like mirrors already, but still...

Maybe 357 is more sensitive to imperfections in cylinder wall, compared to a larger caliber like 44 mag or 45 Colt? I’m only guessing here.

Thanks!

UncleEd said:

As .44 mag guru Elmer Keith wrote, when the
extraction gets sticky you've gone too far.

Although he swore by 2400, after a period of
development his loading was always below the
so-called maximum.

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That may be where I end up.
For example, 2400 at 0.7 grains less than maximum was fine for extraction, and accuracy was pretty good, too.