Smith &.Wesson 340pd hard extraction

[slabside2]

I have a 340pd that has one of the nicest smoothest trigger pulls of any of the Smith's I own (even my older ones) and shoots great but when extracting the 357 empties it's a bitch! I mean I have to push down really hard with the palm of my hand and sometimes on the shooting table to get them out. Standerd 38spl and the +p ammo one little push right out. When you do get them out the bottom of the cases have a little bulge on the bottom of the case and if you try to push the empty case back in it won't seat. Any of you guys that own one have this problem?
Thanks Mike

[hudsonvalley]

Thinking that you're shooting lots more 38 (shorter case) than 357 mag....maybe you need to run a brush into the cylinders and get out a little carbon build up which might be holding the longer 357 case in...maybe?

[P&R Fan]

Nope, never a problem with mine.
Only thing that doesn't eject easily is aluminum cased Blazers. They don't stick, but they don't come out easily.
Jim

[kaaskop49]

Send it back to S&W. Let them determine the problem and solution. Can't hurt.

[NEURON]

Factory or reloads? What loadings are you shooting when this occurs.

[s&wchad]

Originally Posted by hudsonvalley

Thinking that you're shooting lots more 38 (shorter case) than 357 mag....maybe you need to run a brush into the cylinders and get out a little carbon build up which might be holding the longer 357 case in...maybe?

I suspect it's this ^^^.

You probably have fouling rings from shooting .38 Specials. They develops right at the mouth of the case. When you shoot longer .357's, the brass swells around the ring and causes the cases to hang up. A little brushing won't get the rings out.

I'd pull the cylinder and soak the chambers for a day or two with solvent. Regular bore brushes are too small to properly clean the chambers, so get some .38 caliber chamber brushes. Brownell's sells them. You'll have to work at it a bit, but you will be able to remove the rings.

I've heard other talk about slightly flaring the mouth of a .357 case and using it to scrape the ring out, but I haven't tried it.

[rwsmith]

Originally Posted by slabside2

When you do get them out the bottom of the cases have a little bulge on the bottom of the case and if you try to push the empty case back in it won't seat. Any of you guys that own one have this problem?
Thanks Mike

The crud rings from shooting the .38s in a .357 make sense, but I don't understand this bulge thing. Just for clarification do you mean that the case is bulged outward at the head? Difficult extraction and bulged cases together sound like an overpressure situation. Are the .357 loads too hot? Also, the crud build up from the .38 shots could restrict the forcing cone and cause higher pressure than normal. This can do things like crack forcing cones so you should look into it. I'm going to start taking a brush to the range myself for this reason. Somebody suggested using .357 brass for .38 loads to keep the crud from building up in the cylinders. That's fine but until I get enough .357 brass collected, I'm using my brush.

[slabside2]

Originally Posted by s&wchad

I suspect it's this ^^^.

You probably have fouling rings from shooting .38 Specials. They develops right at the mouth of the case. When you shoot longer .357's, the brass swells around the ring and causes the cases to hang up. A little brushing won't get the rings out.

I'd pull the cylinder and soak the chambers for a day or two with solvent. Regular bore brushes are too small to properly clean the chambers, so get some .38 caliber chamber brushes. Brownell's sells them. You'll have to work at it a bit, but you will be able to remove the rings.

I've heard other talk about slightly flaring the mouth of a .357 case and
using it to scrape the ring out, but I haven't tried it.

Bingo! I think you nailed it. I just check the front of the cylinder holes and there is thick ring of junk were the end of the bullet case were the bullet starts. I'm shooting factory federal 125gr 357 mag. When it was new and I first fired that ammo it was fine. But after a box or two of 38s is when it started happening. The bulge on the case is bottom of the cartridge. The cylinder is titanium so what would be the best thing to clean it with? I know you can damage it using the wrong solvent. Thanks you and all you guys that respond. To my post.
Mike

[hudsonvalley]

Fouling rings.that was the word(s) I was looking for...thanks Chad...glad we could help...

[s&wchad]

Originally Posted by slabside2

The cylinder is titanium so what would be the best thing to clean it with? I know you can damage it using the wrong solvent. Thanks you and all you guys that respond. To my post.
Mike

I soak mine with Hoppe's for a day or two and then scrub the chambers with a bronze chamber brush.

[kaaskop49]

Under NO circumstances use the Brownell's bronze chamber brush to scrub the barrel! Chambers only!
A problem like this is why I hesitate to shoot .38s in .357 chambers.