Newbie revolver question

[areandare]

Hello I am very new to the handgun world and I recently purchased a used gp100 5" 357 and noticed slight rings/ridges in the cylinders all about the same spot and going all the way around the inside ,nothing major i dont think. I have shot the gun and it seems to be working fine. If i run a q-tipthrough them it feels like a slight ridge. Is this something normal or should be concerned??? I have cleaned it and it doesnt seem to help.

Thanks

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

areandere: Welcome to THR. That slight ridge is part of the end of the chamber for the round going into each hole in the cylinder. Longer bullets that are not made for the gun can't fit past each of those ridges you see in the cylinder. If you have a 38 special you cannot chamber 357 magnums because the magnums are longer although they are the same diameter as the 38 special. I hope that answers your question.

 

[Jim K]

Those chamber shoulders serve a very important purpose other than keeping the wrong ammo from chambering.

The shoulder makes up for the case thickness, so the bullet leaves the case and enters the chamber neck without expanding, if the shoulder were not there, the bullet would expand to the diameter of the chamber or try to skid sideways. The chamber neck is the right size for the bullet so it can enter the barrel without expanding at that point either.

Jim