.308 Norma
Member
I’ve posted in other threads about the Freedom Arms .357 Magnum I’ve been anxiously awaiting to get out of lay-away. Well, I got it out, it’s a Premier Grade with a custom, rounded butt, imitation ivory grips and a 4.25” barrel. It’s beautiful, more accurate than I can use, smooth, solid, balances perfectly, and I’m a little disappointed.
After putting six rounds through it, I ejected the empties and tried to reload. That’s when I found out that the front driving bands on my favorite, Keith style, 168 grain SWCs wouldn’t go past the “crud rings” left in the cylinder chambers by the first 6 rounds I fired. It was almost like trying to shove .357 rounds in a .357 cylinder that had just been used to fire a bunch of .38 Specials without cleaning the crud rings out of the cylinder first.
I called Freedom Arms and told them about my problem. They were nice enough, and I can’t say they weren’t helpful. They told me they’d open up my revolver’s cylinder throats a bit if I want them to, but my revolver might not be as accurate afterwards. They also told to measure the diameters of the front driving bands of some of the commercially cast Keith SWCs (which are supposed to be .358”) to see if they are out of round. I did, and out of the 20 bullet’s front driving bands I measured, none were out of round, and they all measured .358” plus or minus a couple of ten thousandths of an inch.
Anyway, long story short – I’m left with a choice. I can either take the revolver over to Freedom Arms (they’re only about an hour’s drive from here) and have them ream its cylinder throats, or I can switch to a different type of cast bullet. Rimrock Bullets out of Poison, Montana sent me some cast, 170gr, GC-RNFPs that are .358” alright, but the part that sticks out above the case is only .357”, and they go in my revolver’s cylinder just fine, even when it’s dirty.
So, I’m asking for opinions. What would you folks do? Have the cylinder throats reamed, or just switch bullets? Please keep in mind that I really like cast lead bullets in revolvers. Before I became so lazy, I used to cast, size and lube them myself.
BTW – I measured my Freedoms Arms revolvers cylinder throats – as close as I can tell, they’re exactly .358”. The slightest bit of crud in the cylinder throats prevents .358” diameter bullets from being inserted all the way.
After putting six rounds through it, I ejected the empties and tried to reload. That’s when I found out that the front driving bands on my favorite, Keith style, 168 grain SWCs wouldn’t go past the “crud rings” left in the cylinder chambers by the first 6 rounds I fired. It was almost like trying to shove .357 rounds in a .357 cylinder that had just been used to fire a bunch of .38 Specials without cleaning the crud rings out of the cylinder first.
I called Freedom Arms and told them about my problem. They were nice enough, and I can’t say they weren’t helpful. They told me they’d open up my revolver’s cylinder throats a bit if I want them to, but my revolver might not be as accurate afterwards. They also told to measure the diameters of the front driving bands of some of the commercially cast Keith SWCs (which are supposed to be .358”) to see if they are out of round. I did, and out of the 20 bullet’s front driving bands I measured, none were out of round, and they all measured .358” plus or minus a couple of ten thousandths of an inch.
Anyway, long story short – I’m left with a choice. I can either take the revolver over to Freedom Arms (they’re only about an hour’s drive from here) and have them ream its cylinder throats, or I can switch to a different type of cast bullet. Rimrock Bullets out of Poison, Montana sent me some cast, 170gr, GC-RNFPs that are .358” alright, but the part that sticks out above the case is only .357”, and they go in my revolver’s cylinder just fine, even when it’s dirty.
So, I’m asking for opinions. What would you folks do? Have the cylinder throats reamed, or just switch bullets? Please keep in mind that I really like cast lead bullets in revolvers. Before I became so lazy, I used to cast, size and lube them myself.
BTW – I measured my Freedoms Arms revolvers cylinder throats – as close as I can tell, they’re exactly .358”. The slightest bit of crud in the cylinder throats prevents .358” diameter bullets from being inserted all the way.
