Tight cylinder chambers

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lbm

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Hi,
Purchased a new 66-8 and took it to the range yesterday. Excellent accuracy! After firing a dozen rounds when I tried to reload using my speed loaders two of the cylinders were too tight to allow the fresh rounds to go all of the way in. If you pushed them in with your finger you could get them seated. I carry a tornado brush with me so I ran it through a few times and this allowed new rounds to go right in but after a dozen shots the same thing happened again and again.

I don't want to send it back to the factory as it is very accurate and don't want to effect that. The gun will be used to shoot PPC so fast reloading is required.

Any help in fixing this problem will be appreciated.
lbm
 
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Usually a standard finish chamber reamer (used correctly) will fix that type of problem. If there are undersized spots, it will shave those off. If there are normal size spots, it won't cut anything there.
 
Had possibly some .38's been shot through it and not cleaned out? 38's will leave a carbon ring just short of allowing a full size 357 round from being chambered... If this is the case, take a 357 empty case, insert into your expanding die and open up until it will just barely fit, and use as a scraper to clean out the carbon. Putting a bronze brush in your cordless drill with Flitz or Mothers Mag Polish and at a slow to medium speed run it in and out of each chamber several times to clean and polish the interiors. As mentioned above, a Standard chamber finishing reamer can be used to make sure it is fully opened.

For fast action shooting reloads, having the chambers slightly beveled can assist in faster reloads.
 
These were the very first rounds shot from a brand new gun.

I will give it a very good cleaning and try the Fritz polish you mentioned.

Thanks to everyone for the help.
lbm
 
First off, new ammo or reloads? Check the edges of the chambers at the rear of the cylinder. It may be that the reamer left very sharp edges that need to be broken. A very slight chamfer on the chamber edges on the cylinder can be a big help. Stick with just breaking the edge on the extractor.

A tornado style .410 brush will do a good job of removing stuff from the chambers. NEVER USE THIS IN A RIFLED BARREL!

It's very rare, but occasionally a cylinder gets out that wasn't finish reamed. That usually involves all chambers, not just one or two.
 
H Richard said:
Had possibly some .38's been shot through it and not cleaned out? 38's will leave a carbon ring just short of allowing a full size 357 round from being chambered... If this is the case, take a 357 empty case, insert into your expanding die and open up until it will just barely fit, and use as a scraper to clean out the carbon. Putting a bronze brush in your cordless drill with Flitz or Mothers Mag Polish and at a slow to medium speed run it in and out of each chamber several times to clean and polish the interiors. As mentioned above, a Standard chamber finishing reamer can be used to make sure it is fully opened.

For fast action shooting reloads, having the chambers slightly beveled can assist in faster reloads.
Click to expand...

I shot much PPC in the past and I did my own beveling, worked well!

I also have worked on a few .22 cylinders that were a bit tight.(18-17- 34) I used automotive valve grinding compound on a wire brush running it a few times with a slow speed drill motor in each cylinder. I use a new brush for every two cylinders, that also worked well. A extremely good cleaning is then required for that cylinder!

I THINK that that would also work well for larger caliber revolvers BUT I never tried it on those guns.(they worked fine)
 
The loads that I used were reloads using Bayou 138 gr. wad cutters, 2.3 grains of 231/HP38, Federal primers, with cleaned Starline brass.
 
I didn't notice but then again I didn't look. Brass is all cleaned now so I will check next time I shoot. Good thought!

Thanks.
lbm
 
IBM - NOT saying your reloads are bad, but my experience, anyway, is that when there is a functional issue with a gun using reloaded ammo, it is usually the reload. I would try a box or two of factory loads just as a base line, and see if you have the same issue. Also, keep track of which chambers are causing problems if it continues. A good polishing / reaming may be the ultimate answer.

Larry
 
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While Fishinfool has a good suggestion of trying a box or two of factory ammo to see if the results are repeated I also have to say that this is not the first I have heard of this within just the past few months. This is however the first time it wasn't a 686+. My 686+ is having some issues that I suspect may also be caused by chambers being either out of spec or else too rough. There have also been a few other posts with the same complaint. Unfortunately so far I haven't seen anyone post as to what may have been done to their pistol that has corrected the issue. If you have the same issues with factory ammo and either send it back or else have a local smith correct the issue I would sure appreciate hearing about it. Thanks.
 
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Congratulations on the new k frame lbm! I love them thangs! Another solution, if you've been shooting .38 special reloads through your M66 is a leadaway cloth from Midway for about $10.

A test you can try is to load the chambers with .357's and hold the gun upside down with the cylinder open and see if the rounds fall out. If they do, you are good to go, of course. If not H. Richard's solution or the leadaway cloth should work. Hope this helps!
 
I've found .38 wadcutters will often leave enough lead and bullet lube on the leade of a .357 chamber to make chambering difficult. This leading and lube build up is why I usually use .357 cases for light .38 level handloads. Like H Richard and WR Moore have posted, a good cleaning should take care of the problem.
 
I have mostly older guns but sometimes the chambers are really rough and I'll have the same problem as you describe. If you look on eBay you can find a bore hone that will fit your chambers ( I found one for 45's). Put the hone on a drill, use a lot of cutting oil, and do each cylinder for maybe a minute. Inspect and hone till the chambers looks really shiny.
 
I have thought about taking a piece of fired brass drilling out the primer pocket then using a small bolt with a head that fit inside the case, sticking the treads out running a nut up to hold the case tight on the bolt. Coat the case with valve lapping compound and using that on a drill to hone a chamber. The lapping compound would impregnate the brass and make a hone.

I recently bored 2 model 28 cylinders to 44 special. As the 357 chambers are way to small for a normal 44 special reamer. I first aligned a chamber then drilled it close then used a straight .429 reamer, But, the pilot on the 44 special reamer was still very tight and binding in the hole. I cut a piece of 3/8 brass round stock length wise for a about 1 1/2", then stuck some 400 grit emery cloth in the slit cut to a length so it wrapped around thee round stock one time. Started it in a chamber and spun it with a drill just long enough so the reamers pilot didn't bind on either end of the cylinder. I did this on each chamber and then as each was very smooth for the pilot, the 44 special reamer cut smooth and easy and I ended up with 2 nice recessed 44 special cylinders.

Point is you can make a nice hone. Main thing is using it correctly. Don't linger in any one spot keep it slowly moving in and out a bit. With a regular hone or one like I made used in a finished chamber you would have to make sure you don't hone on the step from chamber to throat very much. The idea id to just polish down the high spots.

I suspect what happens is S&W probably has a tooling average life expectancy. If a reamer is near the end of its life expectancy it will not cut as sharp and smooth as a new one. Plus, one reamer may cut well longer or shorter than another.
 
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First, I would like to thank everyone for their well thought out input. There are some great suggestion here.

My revolver was examined by a nationally know smith here in SE MI before I fired the first rounds. Overall, he really liked what he saw. He checked the timing and it was right on. The gap from cylinder to forcing cone was .011. My PPC gun, which is built on a model ten, is only .005. He thought S & W had done this to prevent leading from restricting the cylinder. He liked the trigger and said to just shoot it to break it in. I had him change the front sight to a partridge to match my Arist O crat sight on the PPC gun. The grips were changed to Bill Davis, again to match my PPC gun.

I'm using the same 138 grain BNWC Bayou lead coated bullets with 2.3/2.4 grains of HP38. I've Ransom Rest tested these in my other gun and they are very accurate at 50' indoors. These bullets do leave a ring on the very front of the cylinder that I clean out with a Tornado brush after shooting. I think that this is the problem. My reloads are made on a Dillon 650, which I love.

Before I go to any honing or other invasive work I am going to try switching the crimping die to a Lee factory crimping die. A shooting/reloading friend of mine has made the same suggestion regarding the die switch as a initial correction attempt. One is on order but I am leaving for several days and won't be able to report back right away. After I test this I will respond again.

Thanks again for the help.
lbm
 
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I have an old Colt Officers Model with tight chambers and rounds that will load into a dozen other .357/38's can have problems in that gun. Surprisingly switching from using a RCBS seating/crimp die to Lee has solved all problems.
 
That is the same experience my friend has had. If he loads lead bullets he uses the Lee crimping die.
lbm
 
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