Range report: 65-3

[Blade37db]

I finally took my new (to me) 65-3 (3 inch barrel) to the range. Put 50 rounds of .38 and about 40 of .357. Immediately had problems extracting first cylinder of Blazer .357 158gr that I bought at the range. Really had to push hard on the extractor to get the cases out. Noticed that the cases were laquer (sp) so I switched to American Eagle and had the same problem. .38s had no problem. Went back to the American Eagle and still had to really hit the extractor to get the cases to move, although it they started coming out a little easier. Almost similar problem to what it was like getting 9mm cases out of my 940 without the moon clips.
Any ideas as to what the issue might be? No misfires. Overall, I'm happy but wondering about the extraction problem.

 

[s smith]

It might be dirty chambers from shooting .38 specials. The burnt powder from the shorter cartridge fouls the chamber and the longer .357 sticks

 

[Beachcomber]

I agree with the dirty chamber diagnosis. A simple cleaning of the cylinder's chambers should correct your problem.

 

[brucev]

Been shooting .38/.357 revolvers for years. Not all .357 ammo extracts with equal ease. After use with .38 Special ammo, it is not unusual for there to be fouling in the chambers that will present some difficulty with magnum ammo in extraction. One thing that has worked for me is to thoroughly clean the chambers. Take a used bore brush and wrap it with some 0000 steel wood. Screw it into the first section of a G.I cleaning rod. Dip it is Hoppes No. 9, Shooter's Choice, etc. Chuck it up in a variable speed drill. Running at low speed insert it in the cylinder charge holes and run back and forth. Repeat process for each charge hole. Replace steel wood as it gets worn. Do a good job and don't get in a hurry. Clean any particles of gunk, etc. that remain under the extractor star. Next, take JB Bore Polish, a .38 bore brush and some patches. Wrap a patch around the brush and screw it onto the cleaning rod. Work in some JB Bore Polish and repeat the above process. Thoroughly clean afterward with due attention to the extractor star. Lightly oil and reinstall in the revolver. If this does not help, sent it to S&W and let them polish the charge holes in the cylinder.

 

[Texas Star]

The chambers may be bored on the generous side. I have had a couple of M-19's that would accept a fired .38 S&W (not Special) case shot in a pre-Victory .38-200!

The loose chambers let the brass expand more than it should and cause hard extraction.

However, unless your gun has this problem, I'd just clean well and try different ammo. Speer-CCI ammo seems on the large side of SAAMI specs, and another brand may help.

Also, see if there are tooling marks in the chambers. I haven't seen that issue except in some .22's, but worth a look. That roughness could lead to tough extraction, too.

Most likely an ammo issue, maybe compounded by dirty chambers.

T-Star

 

[Blade37db]

So I cleaned up my 65-3 and took her back to the range today. First cylinder of American Eagle .357 came out no problem. Switched to Blazer .357 and the next 2 cylinders came out fine. It was the 4th cylinder where the cases started to stick and I had to give the extractor a good slap. Granted, I was shooting a cylinder every 3-5 minutes so the gun was getting hot. I guess I'm satisfied that there isn't really a problem. Might be the Blazer ammo (didn't have access to any other cheap 158gr rounds). I don't recall hot cases being more sticky than others but maybe that is the case.
Now I need to figure out how to stop my Pachmayr Compact grips from blocking one case from coming out completely.

 

[stevieboy]

Sounds like it could be an ammo problem. Were you firing aluminum cased rounds? I'd look closely at the fired shells to see if any of them show signs of cracking or expansion.

As for cleaning out the carbon deposits in the chambers, I agree wholeheartedly with what others have said. My "secret" trick for getting out those carbon deposits is to first swab out each chamber with a patch that is saturated with J & B bore compound. It's a very mild abrasive that is designed to take carbon deposits out of bores and chambers and it's available from Brownells. Then, I brush the chambers with a .40 caliber steel brush, rather than a .38/.357 brush. The larger diameter, obviously, makes for a much tighter fit. I insert the brush into each chamber (takes a slight effort) then, rotate the brush by hand. 10-15 complete rotations usually is sufficient to take out everything. I follow that up by running a few patches saturated with a good solvent through the chambers 'til they come out clean. Five or six patches usually is all that it takes.

 

[Blade37db]

Been doing some research and it appears that the Blazer ammo is aluminum cased and others have had extraction problems in different makes of revolvers. Now I know to stay away from it.

 

[ifjpm]

I have had the same problem with Blaser ammo in revolvers. I don't use it any more