range rod?

[redhawk444]

Does anyone here have experience with the range rods that Brownells sells?

The way they discribe it, you insert the rod from the muzzle end to see if the chambers in the cylinder are lined up with the bore.

The problem in my mind is that the bore diameter is always less than the diameter of the throat in the cylinder.

What am I missing here?

 

[s&wchad]

The problem in my mind is that the bore diameter is always less than the diameter of the throat in the cylinder.
What am I missing here?

The lands?

 

[handgunner356]

I take it you are concerned that there would still be play in the cylinder if the rod just fits the bore. True, but the main reason is to check to see if it's off enough to cause lead shaving at the forcing cone.

 

[kscz]

Could you insert empty brass into the cylinder chambers to act like downsizing bushings so the fit would be closer to the range rod size? This would give a better idea of cylinder alignment, at least with in a few thousandts of an inch.

 

[robertrwalsh]

You could, but there would probably be no real point in it. You are trying to measure the misalignment, if any, between the cylinder bore and the barrel tube. That would just throw one more variable, the thickness of the brass, into the equation.

 

[redhawk444]

OK, so it is really not that close a check on alignment.

I thought that maybe there were bushings that went into the throats or something like that.

In a .357/.38 Special, the range rod is gonna have to be on the order of .351 or so to go down the bore and the throats are gonna be around .358. I take it that is close enough?

 

[GLV]

The 38/357 has two different plugs, one 'service', and the other 'match'. Some of the guns I see will not take the 'match' plug, most will take the service.

When I sent a 696 to S&W a couple of years ago, it would not take either. The gun came back with a new barrel, and notation 'plug stop' to define the problem.

 

[kscz]

If the range rod will not enter the cylinder bores when the cylinder is locked then I guess it wouldn't matter if you had alignment bushings for the chamber/cylinder bores. If the rod does enter the bores than good quality empty brass would be alot better than nothing, and would be something easily available to most.
A friend of mine tried a range rod in several of the revolvers in his shop and found a suprising number of name brand pistols failed to let the rod enter the cylinder bore at all.
Good luck with everything and have a good weekend.

 

[redhawk444]

Thank you all, you have been most helpful.

I was under the impression that the alignment was more crucial than it apparently is.

On reflection, I can see where it would be almost impossible to mass produce revolvers that resulted in the kind of alignment that I envisioned--given all the factors and machine cuts involved.

 

[500 Magnum Nut]

Does anyone here have experience with the range rods that Brownells sells?

Yes, I use them all the time. It tells you if your cylinder bores are in alignment with the barrel.
It looks like a long plug that is attached to a handle. While holding the muzzle up, slide it down the barrel. If the plug drags or doesn't slide down into the cylinder you have a problem.
The test is done while you dry fire the gun and hold the trigger fully depressed. This test is preformed on all chambers.

When the gun is properly tuned, the accuracy is improved while the spitting of the air gap is greatly reduced.