Heavy BB .357 through LCR

Hello All,

So, my LGS had a buy 3 get 1 free deal after black friday and I like supporting them, so I spent a few bucks there. I was headed to the range later, so I bought some .357 Mag ammo for my Ruger LCR. All they had was high priced specialty defense ammo for like $40 a box, and I saw Buffalo Bore priced at $30 a box of 25, so I bought 2 boxes, thinking nothing of it.

I was at the range with two of my Soldiers and after showing off my 1911, 8mm mauser, and shotgun, I handed them my LCR loaded with the BB without thinking or reading the box. One of them shoots it and mentions how much recoil there was. I usually shoot Golden Sabers through it for SD training, and while theres kick, the Hogue grips absorb the recoil, so I just called him a pansy and told him to finish the cylinder up. Then I shot it...

Ho-lee-SMOKES that hurt! Dang thing nearly jumped sideways out of my hand!

Apparently I bought HEAVY .357 mag. 180 grain, hard cast, gas-checked bullet estimated at 1400 FPS...
I shot it over my chrono later (3 rounds of it...I'm not he-man here) and it clocked 1310 FPS out of my snubby LCR.

So, my question is, did I just cut the life expectancy of my LCR by any by shooting these heavy loads?

I made up some loads with Zip powder (forget the grains, but it was mid-range data, 158 grain LSWC clocked at 1000 FPS) and they shot fine, as well as my standard Golden Saber SD loads, so the gun still functions fine and accuracy is about where it shoudl be. Anywhere I can look for possible damage? Would gas cutting of the top strap be an issue? I havn't looked too hard but I'll be giving it a better look see tonight.

I'm asking here because I'm a total newbie when it comes to wheel guns. I can BS with the best about semi-autos, but I've just recently gotten bit by the wheelgun bug. Thanks!

-SSG John V.

Thanks, RC. I was kind of hoping you would post here.

By habit of it what would you say the cut off should be? I'm thinking of keeping the other 30+ rounds of it in safe keeping for those friends who say they're not afraid of recoil. I don't plan on buying it again, but it's nice to know that my snubby is going to live.

Thanks, again, RC. My Soldier shot the whole cylinder without any noticeable side effects, and the roll crimp on these rounds is TIGHT. I'm almost afraid to resize the cases because of how hard the crimp is. I have yet to reload any of the brass, so we shall see.

Ha! Yeah, you have a point. It was for fun on the civvie range off-duty hours. Hell, I've been shooting since I was 8 years old and that ammo dang-near gave ME a flinch. Shooting it over my chronograph was not enjoyable, as I couldn't flinch for fear of shooting my brand new chrony.

We spent a good 20 minutes target shooting with my .45 plinking loads as well, and he was putting most of the rounds in the target at 10 yards, so I don't think I did any permanent damage. Good to keep in mind, though.

...Although the 3" magnum slug I got him to shoot after that might have been bad too...hmmm.

The LCR is a steel revolver. All of the firing components (cylinder, barrel, barrel shroud, upper part of the frame) are stainless steel. It is the grip that is polymer. The .38 special LCR is partly aluminum, but I have the heavier .357 LCR. That is what I am tracking at least.