I have a S&W 686P that I picked up used a few weeks ago. I love the gun - I had a 686 years ago and really love this model...4" barrel. When I dry fire the gun, either in single or double action, it has absolutely perfect action. Everything mechanical is a very fluid motion and seems just really perfect. However, when shooting some Winchester target ammo on Saturday, I would shoot a few rounds, and the cylinder would start dragging on the head of the ammo and didn't want to turn. I am thinking this is an ammo problem and not a gun problem. Do you guys have any advice? I've fired a bunch of Federal wadcutters (.38sp) through this without that happening. Should I just quit using the Winchester White Box, or do you think maybe it was just a bad batch? Do these bullets sometimes come loose due to the recoil? I would have thought a light .38SP (non +P) would not have enough recoil to cause the ammo to lengthen. Help??? Thanks, B

I have a S&W 686P that I picked up used a few weeks ago. I love the gun - I had a 686 years ago and really love this model...4" barrel. When I dry fire the gun, either in single or double action, it has absolutely perfect action. Everything mechanical is a very fluid motion and seems just really perfect. However, when shooting some Winchester target ammo on Saturday, I would shoot a few rounds, and the cylinder would start dragging on the head of the ammo and didn't want to turn. I am thinking this is an ammo problem and not a gun problem. Do you guys have any advice? I've fired a bunch of Federal wadcutters (.38sp) through this without that happening. Should I just quit using the Winchester White Box, or do you think maybe it was just a bad batch? Do these bullets sometimes come loose due to the recoil? I would have thought a light .38SP (non +P) would not have enough recoil to cause the ammo to lengthen. Help??? Thanks, B

I bet you got some crud under the extractor that made the problem happen. Did it happen to more than one cylinder full or two?

If all else fails, examine some unfired ammo in your revolver, at the range. However, Bullseye is almost surely guessing right about the actual cause.

It may help to have the muzzle pointed skywards when using the elector rod.

__________________
Formerly Model520Fan

It seemed to happen a couple of times. And, there may have been a few bullets that were too long to begin with...not sure, just guessing. I keep the gun very clean, so I'm not sure what happened. The cylinder started off turning, then after firing it would start scraping. In the owner's manual it says to test the ammo by shooting the entire cylinder except the last round...then put the last round next to some ammo from the box and see if it has pulled apart (lengthened). I didn't do that, but am wondering if for some reason that ammo pulled apart...still confused. B

Also, so what if these .38's lengthened? The .357 rounds (casings) are longer anyway, right? Seems like the .38's could lengthen a little bit and still not snag, so that's probably not it. Maybe it is as simple as crud getting up under the ejector. I will keep an eye on it. Later, B

Are you getting some primer flow or see where they're rubbing againest backface? Usually rounds that lengthen under recoil are your heavyweight rounds like a 180gr 357 where the bullet nose actually extends past the end of the cylinder. Either way it does sound like a ammo problem.