I’ve been loading .38 for years. Finally started loading .357. I’m using a 158 grain LSWC from Missouri Bullets. The completed rounds are 1.610”.

They fit fine in my 681 and Ruger GP100. Putting them into my .357 Ruger Service Six, they seem to fit fine into the cylinder. But when I go to close it the cylinder doesn’t want to close.

I’m gonna try using some of the plated LSWC bullets. Any idea what the issue is?

You could have powder or dirt under the ejector. It happens with my Ruger with some loads. The rounds may not be going all the way in the cylinder. Sometimes there is a part of the cartridge near the case head that is not fully resized. Sometimes a Lee FCD will help.

Where does the cylinder "stick"/hit? Is the nose of the bullet hitting? Is the case head/primer hitting? Is your gun clean? All of my revolver handloads since the beginning, have had the bullets seated to the crimp groove and I disregarded "book" OAL. Never any bullet noses sticking out of the cylinder in 9 revolvers (38Special, 357 Magnum, 44 Special, 44 Magnum, and 45 Colt)...

Gun is clean. .38 rounds chamber and close fine. I just loaded 6 with plated SWC and does same. Works fine in other 2 revolvers. Not in the Six. Factory .357 closes fine in the Six.

Should I resize them all? I set the dies and locked them in. I use the lock and load bushings so I don’t have to unscrew them every time. I use a separate die set for .357.

I don’t have many pieces of .357 brass. Hodgson calls for a COAL of 1.610. Most are right around there. Some are shorter. As short as 1.604 or so. This was mixed stamp range brass. Does the slightly shorter rounds cause an issue? I’m loading 4.7 grains HP38 and the recipe calls for 5.0 grains Max.

It sticks right at the point where the extractor pin hits the frame. I never measured COAL length in revolver either. Always seat to the cannellure.

And the completed rounds pass the case check gauge.

I’m using a Lee Factory Crimp die.

I'm gonna ask a very silly question that I'll probably get ribbed for But: Are the primers the proper one's and are they seated fully???

They are the proper ones but I do recall some were harder to seat then others. But they look right and they work fine in the other two guns.

So I checked the loaded rounds. Some of the primers are definitely high. Some looked ok but still hung up. I found 6 of the 54 that looked good. The round that catches it up is the one sitting in the next to fire spot. Back of the case drags along the recoil shield. I put a trigger lock on the gun and closed the cylinder, then opened and manually rotated to the next spot. Those 6 are ok.

But what to do about the rounds with seated high primers? I’m not sure it’s smart to put a loaded round into a hand primer and try to seat deeper. What to do with the 75 or so primed but not loaded cases?

All of the loaded rounds, high primer or not, load fine into my 681 or GP100. I’ve never had an issue with any of the thousands of .38 rounds hanging up in the Service Six.

This brass was mostly range pick up. I gotta think once fired factory since why would a reloader dump .357 brass onto the ground? Truth is, I doubt I’ll ever reload a lot of .357. Just punching paper and .38 is fine for that.

No problem reseating primers with hand tool.
As always, don’t “go ape” with it.

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If you resized the case, trimmed if needed and cleaned the primer pocket in that new range "Picked up brass"..........

it is probably powder under the ejector or a primer not seated all the way, to cause your problems, since they pass the guage test.

That one revolver might have a tight "Spec" and no sloppy seconds are allowed.

I didn’t trim. Never have trimmed pistol brass.

I’ve never measured COAL in revolvers. Just seat to cannellure. But I measured these. The book calls for 1.610. Some are 1.604. That an issue with .357?

As for cleaning primer pocket, I wet tumbled with pins, then dry tumbled to polish them up for the dies. Some refused to let me seat a primer. I used the military crimp removal attachment on my Frankfort Arsenal power case prep center on those. They seated ok after that.

I do recall some of them being difficult to seat and some of them do have high primers. I’ve had a few light strikes over the years that always fired on the second pull, but the high primers never prevented me from closing the cylinder.

It’s not dirt under extractor star. Gun is meticulously cleaned after every use.

Quote:

"The round that catches it up is the one sitting in the next to fire spot. Back of the case drags along the recoil shield."

I would measure the gap in that area between the rear of the cylinder and the frame and compare the measurement to one of your other revolvers..

Or....

Mike the rim thickness of a round that sticks and compare it to the rear cylinder gap....

The cylinder might be sitting a bit too far back OR the rim thickness on your range brass might be a bit thick????

Just a few random thoughts while having a "Cold One".....

Edit: I just checked a few drawings and the rim thickness should be about 0.060"...

Here is another theory. Sometimes, if shooting 38's (especially wadcutters) in a 357, you can get some residue in the cylinder that prevents the longer case from completely seating. Have you cleaned the cylinder with a brush?

I have not had this happen, but have heard of it. I once bought a M-27 and there was an unbelievable amount of junk inside the cylinder.

Not sure about the description of what is stopping the cylinder or where it hits first. PIC?

As the cylinder closes, the backs of the case drag along the recoil Shield. Not all of them. The trouble spot seems to be right at the spot where the next round to be fired is ‘ say 2 o’clock if your looking down the barrel as if to fire.

No way. Gun is spotless inside and outside. I clean right after shooting. And factory .357 is fine.

why fight city hall, fire those in the GP-100 and buy some decent cases for the service six. No need to spaz out, and you found high primers, so no harm, no foul, a cheap, easy lesson in reloading and life...

It's the little things that count, no charge for that, billy.

I'd concur, just fire them in the guns they work in and beware on the next rounds you build.

FWIW, it sounds like you're hand priming. I prefer on the press because they all seat to the exact same depth. Lots of people use the hand tool, including me. The press is just more consistent for me.

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That’s what I was thinking. What about the slight size difference? I was seating to 1.610, but some are shorter, down to 1.604. I never measure revolver rounds, but the lead bullets I’m using don’t have a cannelure. I used to use those bullets in .38 special, too.

I once owned a Security Six that had the same problem. I never could exactly pinpoint why. It has been a while but I think the problem was with a slightly bent ejector rod. It was well used when i got it and did not know its history so no idea what bent the rod or what else was out of sync.

Only was an issue with .357? And why does the factory .357 not do it?

Just a very pretty, fussy tight little Ruger, enjoy it, feed it what it wants and be happy.. if you've ruled out mechanical issues, shoot what it likes.

I've seen this before, where rounds from one revolver would not fit another, seemingly similar one. SWC projectiles have a square shoulder and some revolvers have shallow cylinder holes. The square shoulder can prevent the bullet from chambering full depth. Sometimes just crimping in the groove can still result in the cartridge being too long to seat properly. Remember, your 38's work ok, they are shorter. Sometimes, bullets only need to be a half of a spiders pecker too long, to cause problems. It's easy to check by making a few dummy rounds (no primer or powder), with projectiles seated a small amount deeper.

Take one of the rounds that doesn’t let cylinder close and try in all six holes.. Determined if the problem is every hole or only one. If it doesn’t work in either hole you have bad round. If it works some but not all then you have tight hole.

The data calls for a COAL of 1.610. Seating deeper increases pressure, so how short is too short? Some of them are measuring 1.604. I’m loading upper end but not maximum. If I’m gonna shoot .357 every now and then I don’t want powder puff rounds.

Revolver rounds seat on the rim. COAL is only relevant in so far as pressure in near to MAX powder loads and whether they stick out of the cylinder (any is too far) is concerned...

Revolver bullets are typically loaded to the canelure. There are some guns with short cylinders, but for the most part "loading long" doesn't really hurt anything.

Check the brass for damage: if you have a gauge (Wilson, LEE, etc.) look for anything that might deviate from typical dimensions, i.e., a canted rim, won't chamber fully...

Right, but the previous post said they ight be a hair long, so being shorter might help. So the data calls for 1.610. I am not loading max but certainly above middle of the road. How much more pressure would be generated in a length og 1.604?

Not enough to worry about with 357. You have a long case with plenty of room in it, even with slower powders. The only time I would worry about that is with a case such as 9MM that doesn't have a lot of volume and you are loading right at or slightly over 100% case fill, where the extra little bit of depth is compressing the powder more.

The cases might measure long, the COAL is not material. There is no rifling in the cylinder to interfere with the bullet seating in the chamber: all the rifling is in the barrel after the forcing cone in a revolver. If the bullet doesn't stick out of the cylinder it shouldn't be a problem. (Within reason: there needs to be enough bullet in the case to secure it from both setback and jumping the crimp, of course.)

IMHO 0.006" may not exceed the accuracy (+ or -) of your measuring device and has a barely measurable effect on the pressure in a 357 magnum case. The difference in case length (0.14") between a 38 Special & a 357 Magnum is primarilly designed to prohibit the higher pressure 357 Magnum loads from being able to physically fit into a 38 Special cylinder: the decrease in case volume represented by a bullet loaded 0.006" deeper only represents less than 5% of that difference.

6 HUNDREDTHS....? Maybe, if at or near MAX? 6 THOUSANDTHS...? Nope: too small.

Cheers!

Just a note on 357, 158 lead OAL.

That 1.604" is not a big thing.

I load a 158 LRN with a OAL of 1.66" in my 686 6" S&W.

Hope you figure out the problem.