Problems with Blazer 38 special

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SigLaw

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I bought a used Rossi 2 inch 38 Special. It is fairly new vintage, made by Taurus. The gun appears to be in very good condition. I am not really a revolver guy, I just wanted something to carry shotshell in when hunting (I hate snakes).

Anyway, when I fired the gun for the first time, it made it through five rounds of Blazer and than the cylinder started to bind, I would cock and fire single action but the gun did not want to rotate the cylinder for a subsequent double action shot.

I did not have any other ammo to try at the time so I stopped shooting. Please tell me it has something to do with the aluminum case and some guns not liking them. Or is there a problem with the gun. Thoughts on this problem.

Thanks.
 
I am not a fan of Blazer ammo, either. I have tried them in my snubby 38, short barrel "Sheriff's Model" Vaquero 357, and both my 45 ACP's. Function in those was OK, but a lot of muzzle flame. Take a look to see if powder residue or other stuff has built up on cylinder face & back of barrel, reducing the cyl/barrel gap. Also, see if some of the expended rounds may have partially backed out of the cylinder.

Also, try another brand of ammo. PMC has a decent FMJ "ball" type round, 130-132 gr, and Federal's "American Eagle" brand has a similar load. I tried Remingtons low-cost brand (UMC) and have not been pleased in any caliber. VERY dirty ammo.. i.e. What is the propellant? 1 part sawdust, 1 part used kitty litter, 2 parts 50/50 pine tar & molasses ? ?

Good luck, and good shooting.
 
I have shot a lot of Blazer without a hitch.
Every gun is different.
I'd switch to another brand and see if that helps.
Good luck!
 
CR Sam gave me some advice one day...

Look under the extractor star for a little bit of carbon and if it's there, use a tooth brush to clean the area out.
Works well. The star could be being held back by a littel piece of burned somthing and it's having a hard time rotating.

KR
 
Check the barrel cylinder gap and see if lead/crud is building up there (along with under the ejector star as previously suggested). Also make sure the ejector rod is tight on the shaft.

Only other possibility might be insufficient headspace at the breech end and the spent brass is dragging because the primer face swelled up a bit.
 
I don't have any problems with Blazer in wheelguns. In fact, one of my favorite loads is their 200g .45 Colt in my Mountain Gun.

You've gotten good advice, but my suspicion , like foghornl's, is burnt-powder buildup on the cylinder face which is binding on the forcing cone. This is not necessarily a bad thing unless the cylinder face is out-of-true.

Let us know...
 
Thanks everyone. I will start with different ammo and a very clean gun. If that does not do the trick I will have to have it looked at. All I know about the mechanics of a gun is how to safely operate one.
 
I just sent a fairly new 462 back to Rossi for out of time. Symptoms were failure to fire, primer strike off center, binding (sounds like what you are experiencing). I was able to rotate the cylinder when it was closed and latched. Hand (?) was not sufficiently engaging the cylinder.

Single action worked fine, double action gave the problems indicated. Problem occurred with S&B .357s, Remington .357s and Winchester .38s.
 
I had the same problem with Blazer 148 gn wadcutters in my Blackhawk. After a few rounds the gun would bid and I would have to remove the cylinder. I have never experienced this problem with any other ammo in this gun.

However Blazer .45 hardball works fin in my 625 Mt Gun. It did take alot of effert to get the aluminum cases out of the moon clips.

Chris Nemeth
 
I wouldn't recommend Blazer to anyone, except for the enemy!

Blazer is the only factory ammo that will fail to feed in my Gov't Model (it couldn't fire more than 3 Blazers in a row without a FTF).

CCI markets Blazer as a training round, and they do not recommend it for defense...... that doesn't inspire confidence, does it?
 
problems with 38 Blazer

:barf: I just used a box of 38 Blazer to try and sell a gun and after 10 shots the gun started jamming. It is a Charter Arms 2" revolver. The guy buying the pistol thought I was trying to pull a fast one. After looking over everything the problem was solved. The bullets are not crimped right. After you shoot 2 rounds the led would slide forward and the points would stick out in front on the cylinder and not allow it to turn. Pure junk and if someone was using this as amo for self protection they would end up getting shot because of this amo. No excuse for this kind of quality from a major brand amo. If you already have this crap and the gun jams you can remove it and push the lead back down into the case but only fire 2 rounds at a time until you get rid of it.
 
I've been using Blazer in various guns with out any problems. .32ACP, .380 and .38 Special. I actually like the stuff. For me, it fires much more smoothly at the range than Magtech.
 
I dont use Blazer ammo since I reload,

Was the cylinder hard to open like it was binding, if so check under the ejector star for unburned powder or crud, even a flake of powder can cause the gun to bind. Check the ejector rod is it screwed tight or is it loose?

After you removed the blazer ammo did the gun function fine again?

If so it could be that the primers were backing out and then dragging on the recoil shield, Each one you fired increased the drag as the primers backed out upon firing. Also one or two high primers (not seated properly ) can bind on the recoil shield as the cylinder rotates since some spots aree higher than others. If the cases or primers were dragging on the recoil shield, there would be some rub marks on the case heads or primers.

Try some different ammo and see what happens.

BTW did you put a drop of oil or two into the works of the revolver?
Sometimes they come bone dry from the factory, taurus revos anyway, and need a drop of oil. Of course if theis one was sitting around for years...
 
My Blackhawk Dosen't like Blazer's. Fires fine and seems to be accurate, but they are a pain to eject. Brass rnds just fall out, like in the movies. The fact that you can't reload them and that they cost the same as regular brass(here in NE PA at least), dosen't make them a good buy. Good by:)
kid
 
Every so often I come across some at a good price and buy it. Then when I shoot, I remember why I tell myself to not buy it anymore.:banghead:
 
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