Lead on cylinder face 38spl reloads HELP!

A ring or stain is completely normal. An accumulation of lead which might ultimately interfere with rotation is not. Gas pressure will usually scrub the cylinder enough to prevent a major buildup.

I use hard cast bullets from Oregon Trails (Laser Cast) in .357, .44, .45 Colt and 45-70, and do not get more than minor leading. Metallurgy and lubrication are key elements, more important than the powder or velocity (within limits).

Tin makes lead hard, but also reduces the melting point. Pure lead melts at about 600 degrees F, but as low as 370 F with the addition of tin. If you get lead accumulation on the cylinder, it is usually accompanied by leading in the barrel. Soft lead can be stripped if the velocity is too high, but more serious leading occurs if melting occurs due to friction and wrong metallurgy or inadequate lubrication.

I presume you have measured the barrel gap, and it's less than 0.010".
 
From the question I can only assume you have never fired a revolver before.

Rings on the cylinder face are normal, there are several things which all act to cause them. There is absolutely no way to make a revolver that has been fired make it appear as though it has not.

As arjay told you, "It is the nature of the beast", shoot the gun and clean it normally. And moosedog, "The lead won't damage the bluing. Too aggressive of a cleaning will." They are both absolutely right, pay attention.

I agree with this for sure.
 
For cleaning the face of a Blue cylinder I usually use a good cleaner with a Bronze brush. (similar to a toothbrush you can buy at most gun shops) That works for me but realize, you really don't have to remove all the circle because it really harms nothing unless the buildup interferes with the rotation of the cylinder.
 
I've found Trail Boss powder to burn exceptionally clean with lead bullets, cleaner than factory jacketed! It also gives 100% case fill which makes it impossible to overcharge a case. The only "downside" I've found with it is that it can't do +P, because the case runs out of space for powder before the velocity/pressure get into the +P range.
 
I've found Trail Boss powder to burn exceptionally clean with lead bullets, cleaner than factory jacketed! It also gives 100% case fill which makes it impossible to overcharge a case. The only "downside" I've found with it is that it can't do +P, because the case runs out of space for powder before the velocity/pressure get into the +P range.
I found Trail boss to be more hype than fact. It's very good for filling cases of cartridges that were originally Black Powder for use in Cowboy Action ammo as it was intended but not much more. It's not as accurate as most other powders from what I've seen. I even tried in in the 45-70 with poor results. In that case AA5744 is a better choice. In the .38 Special I like W231/HP-38 best but it's really not the powder leaving the ring around the charge holes but the lube used on lead bullets. It's really not even Lead, it's Carbon.
 
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05CarbonDRZ - well, you got a lot of answers on what's normal and how to clean lead off of your revolver but I think you were asking for more than that? Speers suggests a min. of 4.00 to a max of 4.7 for Unique for a LSWC 158 gr. What happens if you drop back to say a little lighter load? Same thing?

While you're going to get normal leading . . . try some different lubes. You might try a softer round just to see as well and maybe you can come up with a good combination that will help with the leading?

Another thing you might check is to see if your cylinder gap is within tolerance. Too much and you're going to be blowing a lot of gas, etc. over the front of the cylinder face and the area you're talking about in regards to the forcing cone. You don't mention - are you casting your rounds? Are you sizing them or shooting "as cast". Lot's of variables but it's probably going to be a case of trial and error to try and reduce the leading.
 
The only time I haven't had lead on a cylinder face was shooting black powder loads in my colt SAA.The amount of soot these loads produce is impressive,but no lead ;-)
 
I don't get where it's coming from

I shot light/medium loads in model 10 for years with Unique and Bullseye and my gun hardly needed cleaning except brushing the bore and cylinders and wiping the carbon residue off the frame. I mostly used the Speer swaged WCs and SWCs during that time and some JHPs.

Now with my .357 loads out of my 686 it's a different story. Big time scorch marks on my cylinder face. It's stainless and I found a product that takes the scorch marks right off. I don't know how well it would work on blued guns.
 
don't use mbc 38 special bullets in a 357

Look at the brinell numbers when you order, missouri bullet makes all their 357mag bullets in brinell 18 because it has much higher pressure than a 38 special. Is using the wrong hardness of bullet the end of the world? no. But, 38 special dewc are brinell 10 because you only push them to about 700 fps be damn sure you don't use this soft a bullet in a 357 it will melt everytime. Most their 38 special bullets are brinell 12 because of the lower pressure a 38 special uses vs. a 357 mag. I would recomend you shoot 5 or 10 of those through a chrono graph because I had some 357 cast loads that ran 1115 fps and they leaded like crazy so I slowed them down to 1050 and never had another problem. Unique is a dirty powder in most calibers in my opinion compared to tight group or clays, clays burns really clean in a 357 and a .45 acp. but clays does not go through a powder measure worth a ****. Don't confuse clays with clays universal (sometimes called universal) they are 2 different powders. When it comes to lead bullets stick to the middle of the powder charge range, too light and you will stick a bullet in your barrel, too hot a charge and you risk leading.
 
"The Jerry Mikulek video shows his method of cleaning one of his Model 64s. In the video, he says it was a couple of months and 6,000 rounds of lead bullets since the last cleaning. And, it shows."

Now I know for sure, that I am cleaning my revolver, WAY TOO MUCH !!

So, twice a year is a good thing, huh ? (6,000 rounds) :D
 
This works wonders:

Dave
SWCA #2778
 

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"The Jerry Mikulek video shows his method of cleaning one of his Model 64s. In the video, he says it was a couple of months and 6,000 rounds of lead bullets since the last cleaning. And, it shows."

Now I know for sure, that I am cleaning my revolver, WAY TOO MUCH !!

So, twice a year is a good thing, huh ? (6,000 rounds) :D
Yeah but Jerry probably shot those 6000 rounds in only 2 days! LOL
 
Seriously, Jerry doesn't scrub every speck of dirt off, BUT he does dry brush the chambers, under the extractor, the cylinder face and forcing cone. I've watched him do it at matches.

It's not about clean or don't clean...it's about right amount of cleaning.
 
Simple solution......shoot it, clean it, shoot it again. As long as the major gunk is gone the ring won't hurt a thing. Unless you want a safe queen that sparkles from all the renaissance wax you've applied. I've been shooting the same guns for 40 years and they still look like they just came out of the box. I don't stress over the cleaning process but, in all the years, I still have problems re-assembling my 1911.
 
I size my bullets .001 larger to reduce gas/flame cutting. The throats of my 686 measure .3575, so i size slightly over .3580. The tighter the bullet, the less flame cutting or lead spatter on cylinder face and inside of cylinder. NRA 50/50 lube should work better also.

BTW my 686 never liked shooting most any SWC style bullets accurately. It prefers Round Nose Flat Pointed bullets much like the modern 158gr Cowboy designs made by RCBS, Lyman and Saeco.
 
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