Tight tolerances on revolver q's

[zombie44]

Hello all, took my 10-6 out to the range today and shot about 80 rounds of handloads through it. Great accuracy overall, only problem is it would bind up every 20 or so rounds. A quick wipe down resolved things immediately until the next 20 shots fired.

It doesn't seem to take much powder residue under the extractor star or by the crane area to cause things to jam up! Does this mean tolerances are way too tight and if I have it adjusted would the gun's accuracy be affected in any way?

Thanks for any info!

 

[PH-2]

Zombie,

You need to use a cleaner burning powder. Perhaps Clays or similar.

Mike

 

[OKFC05]

Lose the Blue Dot. WAY too slow burning for standard .38 loads.
Of the baker's dozen powders that work better, my standard choice is HP-38/Win231 (same powder).

 

[Snakefoot]

Also ensure a proper crimp when you get those handloads running a better powder.

 

[Alk8944]

What you are talking about is clearance, not tolerance. And, no, the clearances are not too tight because the gun binds when it gets un-burned powder grains under the extractor. If the clearance was any greater, then the gun would have excessive end-shake.

Your problem is not handling the gun correctly, not "dirty" powder. You are holding the gun muzzle down and picking the cases out of the cylinder, which allows the partially burned powder grains to fall under the extractor when it is up/out.

When extracting cases, open the cylinder, turn the gun so the muzzle is pointing up, then push/strike the extractor rod and allow the cases to fall free from the gun. This can be into your hand, onto the bench, into a can, or let them drop onto the ground. The whole point is that the muzzle is up so the powder grains don't get under the extractor in the first place.

I can't read your note, but if it says it was with Blue Dot as OKFC05 noted, he is absolutely correct, pick something else. Bullseye, Red-Dot, Unique, Universal, HP-38/231 (same thing) or any of several other pistol/shotgun powders, are all far better choices than Blue Dot.

 

[zombie44]

Thanks for all the advice, I'll work on my technique when dumping out the cases and I do have a bottle of Unique I haven't touched in awhile so I'll give that a go and save the Blue Dot for my 44 mag