.357/.38 Special at the range

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robctwo

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At the range today with Dad's S&W 10-6, my used 66-2 and the Ruger Black Hawk. Also shooting the Rossi .45 Colt.

My goal was to shoot the Smiths until they quit.

250 rounds of 158 gr gummed up the 10-6. Chambers hard to load and cylinder sticky going into battery. That is probably more than Dad put through the gun in it's life.

175 rounds on the 66-2. The cylinder went from a little sticky to no go in about two cylinders of bullets. Chambering was fine after my polish. The cylinder gap on this gun is tight. It had zero trouble during the first 125 or so, I would carry it without any qualms. I did not take any cleaning products, just had a few hours and thought I'd run them until they quit or I ran out of ammo. My ammo cans were still heavy going back to the car.

4 light primer strikes with the 66-2. The Ruger ignited them fine.

I'm liking this double action revolver shooting. Not great on paper but the plate rack was begging for mercy.

I only ran a couple dozen through the Ruger, ran out of time.

The Rossi has the Skinner peep on the barrel, and a taller Marble's front sight. It's not a bench rest gun, but I was getting on 8.5x11 paper at 100 yards with a rest. Good enough at 50 yards fast five rounds for brush hunting.
 
I'm not there on competence yet. But should be in a few weeks. I can replace and tune the hammer,sear disconnector in a 1911. Those things reload faster as well. Enjoying the revolver thing.
 
It sounds like you got some unburnt powder on the underside of the extractor star. This makes the cylinder hard to close, the trigger then hard to pull and forces the cylinder forward making you think there's not enough flashgap.
 
What the heck are you shooting in those revolvers to make them quit after less than 200 rounds? I could do WAY more than that with nil problems. I typically clean my M66 after a thousand rounds or so and have no problems.
 
What the heck are you shooting in those revolvers to make them quit after less than 200 rounds? I could do WAY more than that with nil problems. I typically clean my M66 after a thousand rounds or so and have no problems.
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+1 on the above.

I've put over 300 rounds through many of my revolvers in a day with no problems at all.
 
All reloads.

.38 Special: 158 gr Montana Gold HP, 4.5 Unique, 158 gr LSWC 3.3 Bullseye

.357: 158 gr LSWC, 3.6 Red Dot, 4.1 Red Dot, 13.1 IMR 4227

Gave it a good cleaning at home, and did scrub under the extractor star, thinking that might be an issue. When I bought the 66 used, I shot about 6-10 cylinders full and it wouldn't close at all. It was a little tight when I bought it. The local guy took it apart, put it back together and it was still not closing. He "adjusted" it, and it closed just fine.

My goal is to get it to shoot up to 500 at a session. It didn't appear to be used much at all, which would make sense if two of the chambers wouldn't chamber rounds and the cylinder froze up after 60 rounds. I'm not shooting hot loads, and don't plan on it. I have the 6.5" Ruger Blackhawk if I really need that level. I also have other guns for hotter and heavier.

It probably needs shot on a regular basis for a few years. OK.
 
I'm going to presume that you also scrubbed the cylinder where the extractor star rests.

That perforamance IS unacceptable and not the norm. A revolver doesn't need to be "shot in" before it can be expected to work.

If the original owner "adjusted it" and that allowed the cylinder to close, what did he do? Maybe he screwed the ejector rod back in? (they have reverse threads, as of 1962 or so) This can make opening and closing the cylinder difficult and is often misdiagnosed as a cylinder problem. But it wouldn't typically cause the cylinder to bind while firing.

Since you only shot reloads, I might suggest buying a few boxes of quality factory ammo and see what happens. Could be the reloads have high primers and/or poor crimps.

If it doesn't improve, then take it to a 'smith or call up S&W and determine how to proceed.
 
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I'm also looking for the feeler gauge to see what the gap is. There is a gap, which is a start. Dad and I had a set of feeler gauges, not sure if they go small enough.
 
I've put over 300 rounds through many of my revolvers in a day with no problems at all.
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I agree. I have a model 19, the blued version of your 66 and I have put far more than even 300 rounds down range in a shooting session; and other than heating up, it performed just as good as the first round down range.

It should be able to out perform 175 rounds easily.
 
What the heck are you shooting in those revolvers to make them quit after less than 200 rounds?
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Yes, something is really, really wrong here. None of my revolvers have any trouble at all zipping through 250 or more at a time. I clean them thoroughly after every outing, but the last "test-to-fail" report we had here was a guy who put 1000 through a Taurus before the action started getting tight.
 
Quick update. The 4227 was loaded too light, had unburnt powder running around, and getting under the extractor star. Last trip to the range for performance check I got tired after 300 rounds, gun was still running strong. I got tired because I ran 250 through my model 25 lc first.
 
Good news.

By the way, that's a nice range you have up there at the Albany Rifle Pistol Club. We stopped by for a visit while we were in Corvallis.
 
It is nice,and scheduled to get nicer over the next year. More buildings in the new pistol bays.

I'm having a little problem with S&W right now. Just won a 19-3 on GB at the same time a guy from our club is selling me a 27-2. No more guns in 2010!!!
 
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