barnfrog
Member
On Sunday I was shooting with a friend, running a charge ladder through my .357 Blackhawk. After firing the fifth round of a six-shot group, the hammer would not cook and the cylinder wouldn't turn. I looked at the cylinder gap and could see light between the cylinder and barrel, so I knew there wasn't any obstruction there. Had to pull the cylinder pin and jiggle things quite a bit, but I managed to remove the cylinder. Barrel was clear, and five of the six shells were empty. Took a look at that fifth primer and said to my friend "That's weird. Looks like a light primer strike." Put the cylinder back in and shot #6, then shot the remaining two charge increments, 0.2 grains up at each step, ending with a max load of 14.9 grains of 2400.
The recoil on the round that jammed the gun didn't feel any different than the others, and all the brass fell out of the cylinder by force of gravity. No pressure signs on either of the two higher charge groups, either.
But when I took a closer look at that primer when I got home, it was obviously cratered. It's on the left in the pic below, and a shell from the lowest charge level is on the right.
I weigh every charge when loading ladders, even for handguns, and I seat the bullet immediately after charging the shell. So it's unlikely (but not impossible) that the cartridge in question had too much powder in it. Biggest point is that I wasn't paying close enough attention to pick up an obvious pressure indicator. Luckily there were no negative consequences. Cheap lesson learned. Look closer, bring a magnifier when shooting ladders. I always did when shooting rifle ladders; not sure why I neglected to do so when I started shooting handguns. I will from now on, though.
The recoil on the round that jammed the gun didn't feel any different than the others, and all the brass fell out of the cylinder by force of gravity. No pressure signs on either of the two higher charge groups, either.
But when I took a closer look at that primer when I got home, it was obviously cratered. It's on the left in the pic below, and a shell from the lowest charge level is on the right.
I weigh every charge when loading ladders, even for handguns, and I seat the bullet immediately after charging the shell. So it's unlikely (but not impossible) that the cartridge in question had too much powder in it. Biggest point is that I wasn't paying close enough attention to pick up an obvious pressure indicator. Luckily there were no negative consequences. Cheap lesson learned. Look closer, bring a magnifier when shooting ladders. I always did when shooting rifle ladders; not sure why I neglected to do so when I started shooting handguns. I will from now on, though.
