New 637 and Lead Ammo Question
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sixshooter
Member
I have had my 637 since 2004 and shot a couple boxes of the "FBI" load (158gr LSWC+P) thru it w/o any problem, actually that round was pretty accurate too !!
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Dale53
Member
Good cast bullet ammo will work perfectly in your 637. In my .38/.357's I shoot a good many wadcutter target loads as well as full power .357's in the appropriate platform (mine is a pair of 686's).
My daily carry is a late model 642 and the ammo is the FBI 158 gr H.P. ammo. It's a great combination for a pocket gun.
FWIW
Dale53
My daily carry is a late model 642 and the ammo is the FBI 158 gr H.P. ammo. It's a great combination for a pocket gun.
FWIW
Dale53
scooter123
Member
It depends, you'll have to clearly identify what type of rifling your 637 features. S&W has just recently started using ECM rifled barrels on the J frames so it's quite possible your sample may have a broach rifled barrel.
The difference isn't very difficult to see if you know what to look for.
A broached barrel will have sharp corners at the edges of the lands and grooves with a surface finish that looks slightly rough when viewed with a penlight shining down the bore.
The ECM rifled barrels will have radii at the edges of the lands and grooves and the surface finish will look a bit like polished glass with a penlight shining down the bore.
Personally, I had terrible leading the only time I tried some Blazer LRN in my model 620, which features an ECM rifled barrel. However, it's possible that Blazer ammo didn't feature any lubrication or used a lubiracation that was "lacking" when shot in an ECM barrel. Some reloaders have reported no issues with leading using their own ammo, however none have posted what lube they were using for their reloads. Because of this I ONLY shoot jacketed ammo in any of my revolvers that feature ECM barrels.
I can also report that I have not seen any loss in accuracy with the ECM barrels, in fact that 620 is capable of shooting to a level of accuracy that I can only approach by using a scope and putting a lot practicing at a shooting bench. I also suspect that superior surface finish in an ECM barrel may provide a slight velocity gain when shooting jacketed ammo, however that is an unconfirmed theory.
Bottomline, while it's likely that the ECM barrels are NOT compatable with commercial lead loadings, it's not all bad news. Accuracy is good to exceptional and since almost any SD ammo on the market today is jacketed that potential gain in velocity may improve it's performance. If you do your own reloading, I'd suggest you check for leading by starting any cleaning with a wet patch and keep an eye on leading. BTW, with that 620 I nearly had to resort to a hammer to patch the barrel and just 2 strokes left the patch in shreds, so it was pretty awful. Also took a good 8 to 12 hours of work to get the barrel clean.
The difference isn't very difficult to see if you know what to look for.
A broached barrel will have sharp corners at the edges of the lands and grooves with a surface finish that looks slightly rough when viewed with a penlight shining down the bore.
The ECM rifled barrels will have radii at the edges of the lands and grooves and the surface finish will look a bit like polished glass with a penlight shining down the bore.
Personally, I had terrible leading the only time I tried some Blazer LRN in my model 620, which features an ECM rifled barrel. However, it's possible that Blazer ammo didn't feature any lubrication or used a lubiracation that was "lacking" when shot in an ECM barrel. Some reloaders have reported no issues with leading using their own ammo, however none have posted what lube they were using for their reloads. Because of this I ONLY shoot jacketed ammo in any of my revolvers that feature ECM barrels.
I can also report that I have not seen any loss in accuracy with the ECM barrels, in fact that 620 is capable of shooting to a level of accuracy that I can only approach by using a scope and putting a lot practicing at a shooting bench. I also suspect that superior surface finish in an ECM barrel may provide a slight velocity gain when shooting jacketed ammo, however that is an unconfirmed theory.
Bottomline, while it's likely that the ECM barrels are NOT compatable with commercial lead loadings, it's not all bad news. Accuracy is good to exceptional and since almost any SD ammo on the market today is jacketed that potential gain in velocity may improve it's performance. If you do your own reloading, I'd suggest you check for leading by starting any cleaning with a wet patch and keep an eye on leading. BTW, with that 620 I nearly had to resort to a hammer to patch the barrel and just 2 strokes left the patch in shreds, so it was pretty awful. Also took a good 8 to 12 hours of work to get the barrel clean.
scooter- the blazer ammo features a swaged lead bullet-much softer than traditional cast lead bullets- they lead like crazy in all my guns- cast lead no issues-keep that in mind.
If Smith says you can't use lead bullets in a revolver- the standard projectile in wheel guns forever- this is a major problem- keep in mind they say don't use lead in glocks either but I have for tens of thousands of rounds without difficulty
If Smith says you can't use lead bullets in a revolver- the standard projectile in wheel guns forever- this is a major problem- keep in mind they say don't use lead in glocks either but I have for tens of thousands of rounds without difficulty
I've heard that .38 Spl loads with lead bullets don't have enough velocity for leading to occur, is that true? I'm thinking specifically of the Remington 158gr LSWCHP loads or Federal Nyclads. I think both of these come in <900 fps in a snubnose.
scooter123
Member
Major, thanks for the reply. I had a suspicion that the leading might be specific to that Blazer but no idea of why. Now that I know why I have to wonder why any commercial maker would produce an ammunition that produces so much leading, in my case it was so bad I feared it might actually cause a sqib with a full charge.
Since I do intend to start reloading at some point it would be good to know what hardness to cast to and also what lubes you've found to work well in the ECM barrels.
BTW, S&W doesn't currently recomend not using lead, however that may change if they ever do any testing with that Blazer LRN, because the leading I saw was beyond what I believed was possible.
Since I do intend to start reloading at some point it would be good to know what hardness to cast to and also what lubes you've found to work well in the ECM barrels.
BTW, S&W doesn't currently recomend not using lead, however that may change if they ever do any testing with that Blazer LRN, because the leading I saw was beyond what I believed was possible.
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wojeepster
Member
To remove leading (I shoot alot of hard cast bullets) I use a lewis lead remover and it only takes a few minutes. I don't use it very often but when I do it is effective. 38 special and 45 auto both work well with cast bullets. With higher velocities ex 357mag the leading is awful and just not worth it.
honestly I shoot nothing but cast lead in all my wheelguns- a qucik pass of a brass brush every 200-300 rounds is more than adequate to keep clean. I don't know about this new rifling process you are talking about- my newest smith is a pro series model 60 only a few years old and I have no leading issues in it either.
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Lead bullets out of 637
Remember to cast your bullets with tin added this will ensure that you will not have too soft of a bullet.
I have ingots of 100% wheel weights. So I use 4 1/2 lbs of lead to 1/2 lbs of 50/50 lead / tin solder. this gives me the correct hardness for bullets that will not lead barrels more that normal.
My 637
And This is my best group so far (10yards)
http://[URL=http://s304.photobucket.com/user/dandchouk/media/S_W_150_LSWC_4.0_gr_zps7munwlvg.jpg.html][IMG]
This is with 4.0 gr of Unique
[img]http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn164/dandchouk/S_W_150_LSWC_4.0_gr_zps7munwlvg.jpg
Remember to cast your bullets with tin added this will ensure that you will not have too soft of a bullet.
I have ingots of 100% wheel weights. So I use 4 1/2 lbs of lead to 1/2 lbs of 50/50 lead / tin solder. this gives me the correct hardness for bullets that will not lead barrels more that normal.
My 637
And This is my best group so far (10yards)
http://[URL=http://s304.photobucket.com/user/dandchouk/media/S_W_150_LSWC_4.0_gr_zps7munwlvg.jpg.html][IMG]
This is with 4.0 gr of Unique
[img]http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn164/dandchouk/S_W_150_LSWC_4.0_gr_zps7munwlvg.jpg
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There's more involved than just velocity. Any roughness in your bore and the alloy used in the lead bullets. Some books will tell you that a slightly higher velocity will sometimes not lead as badly as a slower velocity due to the slower bullet not expanding as much so there's more gas blow by.
