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S&W Revolvers: 1980 to the Present All NON-PINNED Barrels, the L-Frames, and the New Era Revolvers


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Old 05-12-2018, 07:47 PM
15mtyler 15mtyler is offline
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Default 357 weights and pressure ratings

I'm looking into getting a new model 66 with a 3 inch barrel. I have heard that the lighter hotter loads will damage the gun over time. What about 158 grain 357s? What are considered standard pressure loads and hot loads.

Thanks.
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Old 05-12-2018, 08:24 PM
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bigggbbruce bigggbbruce is offline
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New model 66 have a different barrel system that is not as easy to damage as early K frames.

Shoot just about anything loaded to .357 standards you'll be fine.
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Old 05-13-2018, 08:05 AM
stansdds stansdds is offline
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In 357 Magnum, magnum loads with bullets lighter than 140 grains will wear away and put more stress on the forcing cone than heavier bullets. The new Model 19 and 66 have a thicker forcing cone, so it should hold up better than the older versions.

With 158 grain bullets, I expect your wrist will wear out before the forcing gives out. The Model 19 was originally intended to be used mostly with 38 Special loads and occasionally with 357 Magnum loads. It is harder to control with Magnum loads than the heavier Models 27, 28, 586/686.
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Old 05-13-2018, 12:15 PM
cowboy4evr cowboy4evr is offline
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Forcing cone erosion is / was more of a problem than cracked forcing cones. Smiths, Rugers , Colts , Mannurhin etc all experienced severe erosion due to really hot 357 loads of " yesteryear " . The loads using 125 gr or lighter bullets were the culprits for severe erosion over time . Modern load data has been reduced quite a bit . I still only use 158 gr or heavier bullets in the 357 magnum loads . The 140 gr will work fine as well .
And gentlemen , I having talked to several retired LEO's who carried 19's and documented the round count said that after somewhere between 13-15000 rounds, yes 13 to 15 thousand rounds they required a trip back to the factory to be tightened up and some of those were very hot loads . The K-frame of old are not " weak sisters " like some say . My statements are facts , not " internet " myths . Regards, Paul

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Old 05-13-2018, 01:52 PM
dogdoc dogdoc is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cowboy4evr View Post
Forcing cone erosion is / was more of a problem than cracked forcing cones. Smiths, Rugers , Colts , Mannurhin etc all experienced severe erosion due to really hot 357 loads of " yesteryear " . The loads using 125 gr or lighter bullets were the culprits for severe erosion over time . Modern load data has been reduced quite a bit . I still only use 158 gr or heavier bullets in the 357 magnum loads . The 140 gr will work fine as well .
And gentlemen , I having talked to several retired LEO's who carried 19's and documented the round count said that after somewhere between 13-15000 rounds, yes 13 to 15 thousand rounds they required a trip back to the factory to be tightened up and some of those were very hot loads . The K-frame of old are not " weak sisters " like some say . My statements are facts , not " internet " myths . Regards, Paul


Reference an article in hand loader magazine by Brian Pearce about 10 years ago. He put 5000 full magnums through a new 19 in the 1980s and it did fine with only a few minor repairs to the ejector rod. He said it would not hurt to tighten it up at that point however but it did fine and got more accurate.
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Old 05-13-2018, 02:28 PM
oddshooter oddshooter is offline
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Standard pressure loads and hot loads?

Bullet weight does not cause erosion directly. A lighter weight bullet takes MORE POWDER to get the same velocity as a heavier bullet. It's more powder that causes the heat, not the bullet weight itself.

148 grain + and their matching powder charges are fine in a 357mag.

Since I do not have pressure measuring equipment, I can only tell you what velocity I personally see as standard and hot.

I handload my 357 magnums from 800fps to 1450fps. It all depends on what I'm doing with what gun.
LAX factory 357mag only gets about 850fps.
Magtec 357mag hits 1450fps.

Anything over 1250fps is a hot load to me. Just under that is where leading begins to occur. The recoil goes from medium (not bad) to high (ouch).

The question is how many lighter weight, hotter loads can a 66 handle. My current SWAG is around 15,000 before you need to tighten up.
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Old 05-13-2018, 02:52 PM
cowboy4evr cowboy4evr is offline
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Back in the day , using a 125 gr bullet , or lighter . The std powder charge was 21-22. 0 grs of W296 , H-110 . That's a max powder charge for the 41 magnum using the std 210 gr bulllet , and that was in an " N " frame . So do you see where I'm going with this . That much powder in the much lighter K-frame . The magnum ball powders (W296 , H-110) seem to be the worst for forcing cone erosion over time . Regards, Paul
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Old 05-13-2018, 05:22 PM
Minorcan Minorcan is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oddshooter View Post
Standard pressure loads and hot loads?

Bullet weight does not cause erosion directly. A lighter weight bullet takes MORE POWDER to get the same velocity as a heavier bullet. It's more powder that causes the heat, not the bullet weight itself.
This doesn’t make sense, say 10 grains of the same powder produces the same energy. If the back of the bullet has the same surface area for the force to be applied to, then the lighter bullet (say 100 grains) should move faster than a heavier bullet (say 300 grains) using the same force unless some other factor is involved. OK, I over exaggerated the weight difference to make a point. Bigger cars use more gas because they are heavier, the same thing, no???
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Old 05-14-2018, 12:08 PM
stansdds stansdds is offline
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You must consider the case volume beneath the bullet. Light bullets are shorter, so lots more volume remaining inside the case. In order to obtain the desired velocity and pressure, you must put more powder into the case to fill that increased volume.
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