Problem after power endshake bearing replacement

Fkimble

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My 2 "new" 28-2's a 4 in and a 6in, both measured .005 endshake, so I oredered some Powers endshake bearing, Put a 4 in the first one and it was too tight to turn once the cylinder was shut, so swapped it out for a .002. Felt great and measured a .001. So I put a .002 in the other one and it was now tight also. Took the 6in out to run a few cylinder fulls thru it. Only 3 cylinders(everyother) would allow the case to drop all the way in, The other 3 stopped hard about 3/16ths before being completely in. I bumped the ejector rod with the barrel pointed down and then when the ejector star seasted, all the cases seated ok. 2nd cylinder full had 2 that acted same way. by the 3rd cylinder all seated ok. So I took the 4in out and loaded it, only one hole would let a case go all the way in. Bumped the rod a couple times and a couple more seated. When I tried to push the cases home, I noticed the extractor star let a small scrape about a 1/4 in ahead of the rim. Any idea what is causing this?
 
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Had you fired them before you installed the shims?
 
First, check the crane screw and make sure it is tight. If it is not tight (which can be the case on older guns), it can seem as though the gun has end-shake when it actually does not.

Second, check the end shake with fired cases in the cylinder and check the barrel-cylinder gap on all cylinders. This is the proper way to measure the end-shake.

If you have done this then disregard. Thanks.
 
Well, the end shake bearings should not effect the chambering of a round, my guess is when you put it pack together something might have gotten switched around.
 
When you unscrewed the ejector rod to dissasemble the cylinder from the yoke to install the bearings, did you place 2 or 3 empty cases in the chambers to keep from twisting the ejector star? Or did you use empty cases when you tightened the ER?

If not, I'm afraid you probably twisted the ejector star and that's why the cartridges are getting scraped by it and do not chamber properly w/o bumping the ER.

Check the two pins for smooth indexing into the two small holes in the ejector star. They may have been bent or burred by twisting the ejector star without the empty cases supporting the star.
 
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Ran several hundred rounds through each before installing the bearings. Worked fine before. I went above and beyond on the emply cases. One of my older 38s has very loose chambers, I used 6 of those fired cases, actually had to push them a little to get them seated. Nothing was loose when I started. They were very very tight. Used the 6 fired cases to remove and reinstall. Cleaned the star very good and the seating area while it was apart. I run 3 38/357 carbide sizer dies. One in a 550 head set up for 38s, one in a 550 head set up for 357 and the last I use in a Rockchucker for load development and testing etc for small batches. Gonna go back and check each of those to insure they are set to fully size all the way down. Dont have any of the batch left that I used for testing after the work to measure.
 
when you mix and match spent cases from ANY other gun will not give you an accurate touch on the chambers in question, use dummy rounds or some "fresh" ammo, many reloading dies cannot resize the entire length of any given case, , in fact may leave a slight bulge towards the bottom ( near the case rim) I would NOT use any "reloads" for any of this type of 'testing/checking/measuring', the cases should 'drop in and out'..........
good luck, and happy new year.................
 
Ran several hundred rounds through each before installing the bearings. Worked fine before. I went above and beyond on the emply cases. One of my older 38s has very loose chambers, I used 6 of those fired cases, actually had to push them a little to get them seated. Nothing was loose when I started. They were very very tight. Used the 6 fired cases to remove and reinstall. Cleaned the star very good and the seating area while it was apart. I run 3 38/357 carbide sizer dies. One in a 550 head set up for 38s, one in a 550 head set up for 357 and the last I use in a Rockchucker for load development and testing etc for small batches. Gonna go back and check each of those to insure they are set to fully size all the way down. Dont have any of the batch left that I used for testing after the work to measure.

Well it sounds like did every right on the gun, it's probably the ammo like you said. But if you have a scrape on the case on only one side I would also check the star for 'knife' edges or manchining burrs unless of course you probably already did that.
 
Mystery solved. The rounds in question were loaded as a small batch to function test the 28s after the endshake bearings were installed. The dies used on the RockChucker are set up for 38 special. I use one of those 38 to 357 spacer washers when loading 357. Caught myself once before using the washer with the resizer die, leaving a portion of the 357 case unsized right where it is the largest after firing. Loaded a batch this evening, they all drop in with a ker plunk. So I reckon the problem was ME! Thanks for all the help.
 

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