686-1 picky with ammo

[BabaBlueJay]

I have a S&W 686-1 and love it. Only issue I have is with some ammo it seems to have trouble ejecting empty casings. I clean it every time after shooting, so I am guessing certain ammo just causes issues or maybe this is why they changed extractor rod in the -3. I was just curious if anybody else had issues. The two main culprits have been Buffalo Bore Outdoorsman, and Norma Range ammo. The Range ammo didn't shock me, but the Buffalo Bore having issues did. Now neither were huge issues at the range, I just played with extractor to loosen them up and eventually got them out without a squib but I would be in deep trouble if this happened in a life or death situation and needed to reload. Was just curious if anyone else had this experience with their 686-1 or had other ammo to avoid. Thankfully the S&B .357 158 grain FMJ flat nose bullets I have switched to eject like they were buttered/greased. I just wanted to know if anyone else had trouble with certain ammo not ejecting easily, so I could avoid it. Thanks in advance

 

[Fishinfool]

There can be numerous reasons for sticky revolver extraction. Soft brass, high pressures, rough chambers, fouling are some of them.

Typically, S&W revolvers extract brass pretty smoothly. You say the chambers are clean. Do you shoot a lot of .38 spl. in it? If so, that can leave a carbon ring that can be hard to spot, but can make extraction difficult with longer .357 brass.

The fact you don't have issues with full power S&B .357 ammo indicates smooth chambers, and it is probably an ammo issue. BB ammo is loaded hot. The Norma stuff I am unfamiliar with. Norma is usually quality ammo, and expensive, but I have noted they have a new handgun line that is very competently priced, and I wonder if it is manufactured for Norma by another maker?

In any case, I would look carefully at your chambers, and if truly clean, and they have no visible rough spots, then I would just stick to ammo that gives you no issues.

Larry

 

[BabaBlueJay]

Thanks Larry, I did use some .38 in it before switching purely to .357 and I noticed those residue rings, I need to clean those out better to get rid of that. That is likely a big part of it, thanks for that input. Also sometimes a casing gets stuck behind the extractor, don't know what that means but that has only happened once. Thank you so much for your input, what would you recommend to get the residue rings out if brush and cloth swabs wouldn't get it? Thanks again for the help, as a newbie this was huge for me!

 

[jbtrucker]

To clean sticky.38/.357 chambers Hoppes9 and .44 Cal bore brush but there will always be a faint ring after scrubbing .

 

[s&wchad]

Supply companies sell chamber brushes. They’re slightly larger than bore brushes. You can also take a .357 fired case and slightly flare the mouth, so it just fits in the chambers. Use it to scrape out the fouling ring left by .38 Specials.

Getting a fired case stuck under the extractor star is usually the result of less than ideal technique. When ejecting fired cases, point the barrel straight up in the air and give the rod a swift plunge. Holding the barrel down can allow cases to slip past the star and allows unburned powder/gradoo to get under the star, which can impede the action.

 

[Fishinfool]

Stainless6Shooter - What they said^^^^^^^

You are welcome, and welcome to the forum.

Larry

 

[luvsmiths]

And I will just throw it out there that you also never want to oil the cylinder holes, as powder will want to stick to them also, and you don't want that. I know that many have had that issue in past.

 

[Nevada Ed]

It might have come from the factory with a slight "Problem".

I had to send my 686 back for a little "Surgery" that solved the problem that I had.

A new cylider or check up, should not take too long, if you think it needs it.
They will send you a return sticker, per a E-mail..........
Good luck.

 

[BabaBlueJay]

Thank you all so much! As a newbie this has been a huge help. I was oiling the chambers, good to know I’m not supposed to do that. So just brush and swabs dry then from now on!

 

[vonn]

I polish my stainless chambers but don’t oversized them. Loads and unloads very smoothly.

 

[BabaBlueJay]

Supply companies sell chamber brushes. They’re slightly larger than bore brushes. You can also take a .357 fired case and slightly flare the mouth, so it just fits in the chambers. Use it to scrape out the fouling ring left by .38 Specials.

Getting a fired case stuck under the extractor star is usually the result of less than ideal technique. When ejecting fired cases, point the barrel straight up in the air and give the rod a swift plunge. Holding the barrel down can allow cases to slip past the star and allows unburned powder/gradoo to get under the star, which can impede the action.

As a newbie, less than ideal technique sounds about right haha, thanks for the tip! I was not pointing barrel up when it got caught behind star, so I have no doubt that was user error on my part. Thanks for helping me out I will make sure I point barrel up when extracting empty shell cases now thanks to this pointer.

 

[BabaBlueJay]

Got a chamber brush, and well... Lets just say the chambers were not as thoroughly cleaned as I had imagined. That residue ring came right out from shooting .38 caliber rounds... Thought my bore brush was doing the trick for the chambers, and that was definitely not the case... Glad I learned and have a chamber brush to compliment it because my goodness was there a lot in there...