I went to the Outdoor Range yesterday and brought my 6" M586 to shoot up some old miscellaneous ammo I have that I inherited from my Dad. The box I speak of here is a blue Smith & Wesson marked box (1966 if I am reading the date code correctly) of 110 grain SJHP 357 Magnums which I have no use for so I figured I'd just pop' em off.

NOTE ADDED: This ammo was NOT made in 1966 as they were not making it until several years later - I did indeed incorrectly interpret the date code incorrectly but the date of manufacture is a moot point anyway.

The gun was perfectly clean and I loaded up 6 rounds. When I shot the first cylinder full they kicked like no other .357's I've ever shot and they were so loud the other guys shooting actually stopped and asked me what the heck I was shooting. They also shot quite low as do most light weight bullets, but that was expected. When I opened the cylinder to eject the empty cases I actually had to smack the ER with my palm to do so. I figured maybe the cases had stuck in the chambers due to the fact that they were somewhat sticky and dirty from age & laying in the foam box insert so long. I loaded up one more cylinder full but wiped off the bullets before loading them, shot them and they same thing occurred again. OK, now I examined the empty cases to find that the primers were flattened like a pancake and the cases were bulged toward the rear. I did not fire anymore of them and decided I would pull the remaining 38 cartridges and use them for reloading. I only wish I had chronographed them to see the velocity, but I did not have the Chronograph with me yesterday. All I can tell you is that they were hotter than any of the Buffalo Bore .357 variations I have evert shot (and they ARE HOT!) - and even the BB's do not hang up upon ejection and do not exhibit flattened primers.

I have had a few other experiences with Fiocchi ammo (they are the manufacturer of the S&W branded ammo) and have always found their ammo to be hotter than comparable brands & loads of the same spec's. - But nothing like these - that's for sure!

I had not done a detailed strip, clean and lube on the 586 in a few years so I figured I would do so this morning. After I fired those hot loads yesterday the trigger felt kind of funny, almost like something was wrong so I tore the gun apart. Upon initial inspection, cleaning and lubrication I did not immediately find the problem, but just when I was slipping the side-plate back on my eye caught the little trigger stop behind the trigger, moving. OK, I figured I would just tighten the tiny screw that holds it in place and found that the screw head had sheared completely off. After 15 minutes of swearing and cursing I had removed the countersunk screw body from the threaded hole and breathed a sigh of relief. OK I said, NOW comes the hard part - looking for a replacement screw in my pile of parts. After a half hour or so I actually found a small envelope with a new trigger stop and a couple of new screws - forgot I even had them but was just looking for the heck of it. Replaced the screw and now all is back to normal.

SO........ is the sheared off screw JUST a coincidence or was the recoil so violent it actually snapped the small screw head off?? In all my years of shooting and Smithin' I've never encountered a sheared trigger stop screw, but I suppose there is a first time for everything!

Well, I am going down to the reloading bench now and I'm going to pull the remaining bullets - no sense in taking any more chances. Thankfully I was shooting these in an L Frame and NOT a K frame because I would think the K would not have faired as well as the heavier L Frame did. the ammo is so old ( 48 years ) so I think contacting them is futile. I'll just chalk this up to another learning experience.

Regards,
Chief38