GJgo
Member
Hey fellas, I'm new here- seems to be a good forum with lots of knowledgeable folks.
So.. I have a model 357 Airlite PD, .41 mag. Shot it for the first time last weekend. Before you ask, no, I don't mind the recoil and at PD distances it is quite accurate. I bought it to carry when fly fishing in the summer and hunting in the fall. (I live in the Rockies)
I started off with a 50 rd box if Remington soft point 210gr ammo. It was clocking around 1200fps, and the primers were cratering slightly but not flattening. Towards the end I had one FTF where the primer just ot a little baby indentation in it from the firing pin.
I also tried a box of Winchester Silvertips in 170gr (175?). They clocked a little slower. Out of the box of 20 I had all fire as they should.
Next, I went to a box of 210gr Gold Dot rounds- they clocked at around 1250 and flattened a few primers. Out of the box of 20 I got maybe 5 or 6 FTF. As I understand it, Speer uses CCI primers.
Finally, I tried 210gr Gold Dot bullets that I had handloaded behind various test amounts of H110 and CCI magnum primers. Out of about 40 handloads I only had 3 that fired! They were seated as far as my RCBS hand priming tool would allow. The rest that did not fire all had little baby firing pin indentations, and still had bullets in the business end..
I then noticed that the hammer, when manually released, was sticking halfway through the stroke back to its resting state. As it turns out, that little "safety" mechanism (key) that S&W is using (right above the cylinder release) had come up a little from the recoil generated by the lightweight gun and full house rounds and was causing the hammer to hang up on its stroke towards the firing pin. When released slowly it would stop the hammer, actually.
When I got home I cleaned and lubricated the gun. I put the "safety" through its range of operation a number of times and returned it to "off". Now, the hammer was no longer hanging up and was operating as it should- smoothly and quickly. To test, I took two empty peices of brass and primed one with a CCI primer and one with a Federal primer. (As we know, CCI uses a hard cup and federal uses a soft cup.) I test fired both, and while the Federal primer worked as it should the CCI primer FTF and just had the same little pin dent in it even with the hammer operating in its full range of motion and speed!
This tells me two things, and I am looking for others' experience/ opinions. First, it seems that the Airlite lightweight parts (hammer) do not have the momentum to ignite CCI primers. This means I will not be using them in handloads for hunting, nor using Speer ammo for personal defense (carry). That is a shame because I like Gold Dot. Second, the increased recoil can potentially cause problems with the hammer fall by upsetting the built in "safety". As I understand that can be removed by grinding something off, which I may pursue.
Next I will duplicate the handloads with Federal primers. Not sure about trying Winchester primers. I will not try Remington primers. I will not pursue a trigger job because it would further lighten the hammer fall.
I also have the same gun in the .357 snubbie- the Airlite 360 PD (IIRC). This is my carry gun so I would not consider a trigger job anyway, but I question if I should look into disabling that "safety" for litigious reasons. Sure seems a lot safer without it! I will not consider Gold Dot as a PD carry round option- the risk of FTF seems too great. Fortunately I also like certain Federal and Cor Bon PD rounds in .357 and .38+p.
So what do you guys think?
So.. I have a model 357 Airlite PD, .41 mag. Shot it for the first time last weekend. Before you ask, no, I don't mind the recoil and at PD distances it is quite accurate. I bought it to carry when fly fishing in the summer and hunting in the fall. (I live in the Rockies)
I started off with a 50 rd box if Remington soft point 210gr ammo. It was clocking around 1200fps, and the primers were cratering slightly but not flattening. Towards the end I had one FTF where the primer just ot a little baby indentation in it from the firing pin.
I also tried a box of Winchester Silvertips in 170gr (175?). They clocked a little slower. Out of the box of 20 I had all fire as they should.
Next, I went to a box of 210gr Gold Dot rounds- they clocked at around 1250 and flattened a few primers. Out of the box of 20 I got maybe 5 or 6 FTF. As I understand it, Speer uses CCI primers.
Finally, I tried 210gr Gold Dot bullets that I had handloaded behind various test amounts of H110 and CCI magnum primers. Out of about 40 handloads I only had 3 that fired! They were seated as far as my RCBS hand priming tool would allow. The rest that did not fire all had little baby firing pin indentations, and still had bullets in the business end..
I then noticed that the hammer, when manually released, was sticking halfway through the stroke back to its resting state. As it turns out, that little "safety" mechanism (key) that S&W is using (right above the cylinder release) had come up a little from the recoil generated by the lightweight gun and full house rounds and was causing the hammer to hang up on its stroke towards the firing pin. When released slowly it would stop the hammer, actually.
When I got home I cleaned and lubricated the gun. I put the "safety" through its range of operation a number of times and returned it to "off". Now, the hammer was no longer hanging up and was operating as it should- smoothly and quickly. To test, I took two empty peices of brass and primed one with a CCI primer and one with a Federal primer. (As we know, CCI uses a hard cup and federal uses a soft cup.) I test fired both, and while the Federal primer worked as it should the CCI primer FTF and just had the same little pin dent in it even with the hammer operating in its full range of motion and speed!
This tells me two things, and I am looking for others' experience/ opinions. First, it seems that the Airlite lightweight parts (hammer) do not have the momentum to ignite CCI primers. This means I will not be using them in handloads for hunting, nor using Speer ammo for personal defense (carry). That is a shame because I like Gold Dot. Second, the increased recoil can potentially cause problems with the hammer fall by upsetting the built in "safety". As I understand that can be removed by grinding something off, which I may pursue.
Next I will duplicate the handloads with Federal primers. Not sure about trying Winchester primers. I will not try Remington primers. I will not pursue a trigger job because it would further lighten the hammer fall.
I also have the same gun in the .357 snubbie- the Airlite 360 PD (IIRC). This is my carry gun so I would not consider a trigger job anyway, but I question if I should look into disabling that "safety" for litigious reasons. Sure seems a lot safer without it! I will not consider Gold Dot as a PD carry round option- the risk of FTF seems too great. Fortunately I also like certain Federal and Cor Bon PD rounds in .357 and .38+p.
So what do you guys think?