S&W 686 throat size?

[Fatelvis]

I tried dropping some cast bullets that I made, and sized to .358" into my two 686's cylinders, and to my surprise, I couldnt even push them through with a pencil! I then tried some cast 9mm bullets that I had sized to .357", and they could be pushed through, but with some resistance.
Do these two revolvers have tight throats, or is this common in S&W revolvers? I am used to my Dan Wesson 357 SM, that allows .358" bullets to be nudged through the cylinder with just a touch from a Q-tip. Thanks in advance-

 

[Oro]

I then tried some 9mm bullets that I had sized to .357", and they could be pushed through, but with some resistance.

I am guessing you mean lead, since jacketed are smaller.

Your 686 sounds normal. .358 bullets have to swage themselves down a bit to get through. While I have had .357 DW's in the past, I do not recall if I ever compared the throats, mic'd or swaged them. I can't say what's normal for DW, but what you describe does not sound abnormal for a S&W. If a .358 would pass through with a drop, I would consider them oversized.

 

[Fatelvis]

I am guessing you mean lead, since jacketed are smaller.

Yes, I was using lead bullets

 

[Fatelvis]

Would it be benificial to have the throats opened up to .358" as far as accuracy is concerned when using .358" cast bullets? I plan on using them almost exclusively in these revolvers.

 

[Walkalong]

You might be OK, but depending on actual groove diameter vs throat diameter, you may have leading. If so, it's a fairly easy fix to get the cylinder throats all reamed to .358, or even .359 if needed. They will all be consistent then, which is good. Over sized throats are bad, cause you can't fix that. Undersized is much better, if you have to have one or the other.