SP101 Questions

[Bainx]

Just tested my new SP101, .357, 3".
Very good with .38 special but with .357, it seized up.The cylinder would not turn after a few rounds of Remmington 125 grn. semi-jacketed HP. I narrowed it down to ONE round. The thickness of the rim is 0.060" and I swapped it into all chambers and the same result....gun would not turn the cylinder. The rim thickness of the other 99 rounds is approx. 0. 054". Is this within tolerance of the gun? Is it crappy ammo?
Other info., the cylinder/barrel gap is approx. 0.0035". Trigger works great, dry fired about 500 times before test firing. The total lenght of the case of the bad round is 1.285" and the same for the good rounds. Do I need to try another ammo?

 

[Action_Can_Do]

It sounds like you have bad brass. Your B/C gap is good and if you have a good trigger, that's just great. My SP101 is a great gun but the trigger needs serious work. I've never had any problems firing 357 mag through my SP101. In fact, I've fired more 357 through it than 38.

 

[Art Eatman]

Just checking to see if I understand: You fired .38 Specials; no problem. You then went to the .357s.

So: Did you fire some .357 and THEN find the problem? Or did the cylinder not turn when reloaded but before firing?

Art

 

[Bainx]

Art, it fired several dozen rounds of .38 OK. Then, fired about 10 rounds of .357 OK until, this thick rimmed cartridge was encountered. As I said, I placed it into each of the cylinder chambers with same results....binding.
All of the other 99 rounds tested OK when placed into the cylinder and rotated.
At the end of the session, I fired a few dozen of the 'good' .357 and no problems at all. Back at home after cleaning and inspecting, I put the bad round in and same thing...total binding.

 

[nelson133]

Sounds like a bad round, anybody can get one. The problem I have had with my SP101 is that the barrel cylinder gap is tight and prolonged firing causes a carbon buildup on the end of the barrel, making the cylinder hard to turn. Shooting .38 specials with bullseye (which burns kind of dirty) hastens the problem. A little gun cleaner and a brush takes care of the problem in short order.

 

[canon6]

I agree you got hold a bad round,my SP101 has had a ton of 357's thru it with out a hiccup Doug

 

[Art Eatman]

Hokay. Bad round of ammo. No biggie. For "just shooting", it's unimportant albeit frustrating. Just remember to doublecheck for free-wheeling before setting your critter by the bedside at night.

Art

 

[Bainx]

Edited to add more data:
I was able to insert a 0.006" feeler gage between all 'good' rounds and breechface. This tells me that there is something terribly wrong with the round in question. It must be warped unto itself or something.

 

[461]

I quit using Remington ammo years ago after several problems. This was a personal decision based on my experience and others experiences may differ.

 

[revolverman357]

My Sp101 has shot a lot of .357, very little of the 38. Only problem I ever had with seizing is when I had 2 rounds with the primer not seated to depth. Can't remember the brand.
You just got a bad cartridge. Happy Shooting!

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Now let me get everyone riled up and say we have two more examples to file in the "revolvers aren't perfectly reliable" file.

 

[svtruth]

.44 Mag locks up

My ss Red Hawk sometimes locks up. Crud gets under ejector star and case heads bind. This happens w magnum ammo, might w spl but don't fire much of that.
I'm thinking maybe the ammo is extra dirty.

 

[Barr]

Never had my .44 Mag Redhawk bind on me, but my Blackhawk has done that once. It still fired, but it got very hard to revolver the cylinder. It took over 200 HEAVY .38 Special rounds loaded with Alliant 2400 and two range trips to happen though . Cleaned it and it runs like a champ again.