Stuck casings, brand new Model 69 - help

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Pdxrn

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Last month I bought a brand new Model 69, 4.25” barrel. I lightly brushed the cylinders with a plastic brush, but no oil, no solvent, the thing was brand new. On Memorial Day, I went out to the forest and loaded 2 HSM 240g .44 Special Cowboy loads, one 220g .44Special Underwood Xtreme Penetrator, one Remington HRT (?) .44mag (semi jacketed hollow point), and one Buffalo Bore 265g monometal .44mag “Dangerous Game” load. All 5 fired fine. When I opened the cylinder, if I recall, the cowboy casings slid right out, I forget what happened to the Xtreme Penetrator, but both .44mag casings were REALLY stuck. The Remington required me to eventually pull it out in the forest with a pliers. The Buffalo Bore was REALLY REALLY stuck, and required a trip to the hardware store to get a dowel. Finally after a ton of force, the shell came out. My wife was pissed since I told her I needed a revolver because my Glock was jamming (with that cheap Russian ammo). Oh well, I thought, after I read some info, I guess .44mag cases can be expected to get stuck? Shouldn’t a new gun not require banging or dowels to get spent casings out? Then, last week, I figure, maybe my neighbor was right. Maybe I should have gotten an Alaskan. Maybe the Smith can’t handle .44mag loads. It is a .44mag though. Well, I go back to a different forest last week, I fire two 220g Underwood Xtreme Penetrator .44 Specials, and both casings wouldn’t eject. With tons of force, I get the first one out. I couldn’t get the second one out until I got home with the use of my wooden dowel.

What gives? Is this normal? Is my revolver a dud? I understand Underwood loads their stuff hot, I wouldn’t post this issue if it was only the Buffalo Bore, but shouldn’t my gun be able to handle (and easily eject) anything in 44 special? Thanks in advance.
 
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Welcome to the forum. The short answer to your question is no, that is not normal behavior. I own a 2.75 inch version of the 69. It fires and ejects anything I have tried yet, from cowboy .44 specials to full power hunting ammo. Your gun should handle any SAAMI compliant .44 special or magnum load.

A good scrubbing of the chambers prior to use can minimize sticky extraction, and some brass is softer than others, increasing "stickiness", especially with hotter loads. But, your gun seems to go beyond that.

Take a close look at the chambers. Rough?, tool marks?. Maybe you can have the chambers polished, but if it were my gun, it would be going back to the factory on their dime for warranty repair, along with a detailed description of your issues. Sorry to hear of your problems with it, as mine has made me a big 69 fan for a compact woods carry big bore revolver.

Larry
 
Welcome to the S&W Forums.


Even though it is a brand new firearm, that does not mean it does not need a good cleaning. You should invest in a good cleaning kit, which will contain a rod, bore brush, jag, patches, solvent, and probably a bottle of oil. Use the brush, which should be a copper/bronze brush, don't bother with nylon brushes as they are less effective and never use a stainless steel brush and they may damage the firearm, and solvent to clean the chambers, follow up the cleaning by using the jag to push clean patches through the chambers to remove the solvent. Do the same for the barrel. Do not put oil in the chambers, the oil is for preventing rust on the outside of the revolver and a tiny bit used to occasionally lubricate the trigger and hammer.


After cleaning, if the chambers appear to be rough, your revolver may need a trip back to the factory to have the chambers finish reamed.
 
No, that is not normal. I don't shoot a lot of full power magnums through my 69 but have never had a case get stuck when I do. Sometimes a little sticky but not stuck.

It doesn't take much fouling to make cases stick. When I shoot ammo with lead bullets through my 22 revolver they start sticking pretty quickly due to the lube on the bullets creating a lot of fouling. A new revolver should be spotlessly clean but sometimes aren't. As others have suggested I would try giving it a good cleaning and if that doesn't help send it back. With my 22 I usually clean the chambers by putting a nylon brush in an electric drill at low speed. A lot of people frown on that but it saves a lot of time.

BuffaloBore and Underwood's business model is based on selling hotter ammo than anyone else. Sticky to stiff ejection is to be expected.
 
If this situation continues after a good scrubbing of the chambers fire a full cylinder full of the type of ammo which sticks. Do not eject the m/t's but rather pack up the revolver and send it back to the factory with a full letter (after calling them) explaining the problem. Let them knock the m/t's out so they know exactly what and why the problem exists.

Llance
 
Dave Lively said:
No, that is not normal. I don't shoot a lot of full power magnums through my 69 but have never had a case get stuck when I do. Sometimes a little sticky but not stuck.

It doesn't take much fouling to make cases stick. When I shoot ammo with lead bullets through my 22 revolver they start sticking pretty quickly due to the lube on the bullets creating a lot of fouling. A new revolver should be spotlessly clean but sometimes aren't. As others have suggested I would try giving it a good cleaning and if that doesn't help send it back. With my 22 I usually clean the chambers by putting a nylon brush in an electric drill at low speed. A lot of people frown on that but it saves a lot of time.

BuffaloBore and Underwood's business model is based on selling hotter ammo than anyone else. Sticky to stiff ejection is to be expected.
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Pdxrn, whatever you do - DO NOT do this.

Paris_Tuileries_Garden_Facepalm_statue.jpg


Unless your name is Bubba, power tools have no place in cleaning your guns.
 
Bumpus13 said:
Pdxrn, whatever you do - DO NOT do this.

Unless your name is Bubba, power tools have no place in cleaning your guns.
Click to expand...

Why not?

I have been doing this for quite some time with no loss of accuracy or other ill effects.

I always clean guns from the breech whenever possible, use a pull through cleaner on revolver barrels to avoid any possible dings on the muzzle, use a bore guide when cleaning rifles, etc. But when it comes to cleaning revolver chambers a nylon brush being spun slowly by a drill doesn't hut a thing.

I had the same reaction from a knife enthusiast co-worker a few years ago when I bought a WorkSharp power knife sharpener instead of a set of expensive stones and guides. He was aghast at the horrible travesty I commited but a few years later my knives are sharp and have not been destroyed by overheating. Used carefully power tools and not to be feared and save a lot of time. Way more revolvers have been damaged by cleaning rods nicking the muzzle or by over-zealous scrubbing to remove carbon rings on the cylinder than by having the chambers cleaned by any means.
 
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Thanks for the responses. I failed to mention that I did clean the revolver with a Remington .44/.45 cleaning kit (with solvent, copper brush, patches) after the first five rounds. The cylinder/chambers looked spotless and smooth prior to each time firing the weapon. I’ve got a two and five year old, so my next day out shooting may not be for a while, but I’ll clean this thing one more time, and shoot again. If the extractor fails to push them out, I guess I’ll give ‘em a call. Shipping a gun with casings stuck inside seems like a great way to scratch the gun, or worse. Can I just send the cylinder back?
 
Pdxrn said:
Thanks for the responses. I failed to mention that I did clean the revolver with a Remington .44/.45 cleaning kit (with solvent, copper brush, patches) after the first five rounds. The cylinder/chambers looked spotless and smooth prior to each time firing the weapon. I’ve got a two and five year old, so my next day out shooting may not be for a while, but I’ll clean this thing one more time, and shoot again. If the extractor fails to push them out, I guess I’ll give ‘em a call. Shipping a gun with casings stuck inside seems like a great way to scratch the gun, or worse. Can I just send the cylinder back?
Click to expand...

Welcome to the Forum.

No, the factory will want to fire your revolver. Leaving the empty cartridges still stuck in the chambers won't hurt a thing. However, let the factory know that you will be shipping it that way.
 
I did mark the Buffalo Bore chamber, then promptly (and accidentally) removed it when cleaning :(
I get some Underwood 220g .44mag Xtreme penetrators today, and another box of the Spl Penetrators, so my next test will be 2 Spl Underwoods (from new boxes), one Mag Underwood Xtreme Penetrator, a 240g Remington .44mag SJHP, and another Buffalo Bore 265g mono metal Dangerous Game, and we’ll see what sticks. Thanks. Power drill or no power drill, anyone care to share a link to a thread about best practices /methods in revolver cleaning? Thanks again. This experience (the revolver, not this forum) has been really frustrating.
 
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But is Underwood .44spl hotter than midrange generic XYZ mag stuff?
 
From Dave Lively ""BuffaloBore and Underwood's business model is based on selling hotter ammo than anyone else. Sticky to stiff ejection is to be expected.""

I guess I really never quite understood the need for boutique ammunition. Why would I want to pay more for( and I am sure it is more) something that I should expect to impede the reliability of my weapon should I need to reload?

I was a bullet shooter for a long time, and a hand loader. For me it was never about more is better. Sometimes less is better, especially when tuning a load to a rifle.

I went off into trapshooting, and the same thing is done there. Get the hottest load you can, and beat the heck out of yourself to break that clay target. It is just not needed I proved that to myself many times with 12GA loads.

You won't see me buying boutique ammo so i can expect stuck cases. Just my .02
 
I don’t hand load, and the BB and Underwood has been the only ammo that’s mostly been reliably in stock. Plus, of course, when that grizzly charges ...
 
I don't own any S&W big bores but I do have a handful of Redhawks. I have loaded and shot everything from mild to wild in them. I have shot several boxes (yes they are expensive and punishing) Buffalo Bore in several of my Redhawks and never had any problems with sticky or stuck brass. Even with the 340gr, no problems with extraction. It sounds to me like your Smith needs to make a trip back to the factory.
 
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Don't shoot any more of the Buffalo Bore 265gr Dangerous Game Loads from your M69. In my experience they are way to hot for the M69 and should be limited to the same guns as their 340gr +P+ stuff.

I chronoed the 265gr from both 2.75" and 4.25" M69s at
1,302 fps 2.75"
1,386 fps 4.25"

Had chronographed from both guns before realising stuck case issue problem. Both guns ejected cases easily with everything else put thru them including Buffalo Bore and Underwood 305gr .44 mag. before the 265gr DG load. All ammo used after BB 265gr exhibited balky to difficult extraction. One gun was replaced by Davidson's the other has been relegated to .44 special rated ammo (and still extraction is a bit balky).

I emailed BB about this and never heard back.

I have used other BB ammo in various calibers with no problems and still do but not the 265gr Dangerous Game stuff in M69s.

FWIW,

Paul
 
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Pdxrn said:
Plus, of course, when that grizzly charges ...
Click to expand...

This is really no joke if you spend time fishing, hunting or anything outdoors in not only Alaska, but these days it included Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. Just google "bear attacks in Montana" and start reading. 2 attacks during September of 2019 while I was fishing out of Ennis, Mt was the reason I switched from a J-frame with snake loads, to a Redhawk with BB while fishing any of the above states. Recently (April or May) even a guide that knew the area and the dangers was fishing the Madison River and became a snack.
 
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