I just bought my first revolver. Is it normal...

[seanie!]

...for .38spl to fit tighter in the cylinder than .357mag? The revolver in question is a Taurus 617, and this struck me as odd. No rounds are getting stuck, but when I eject the brass, the .357 come out with no problems, whereas the .38 come out around 2/3 of the way and need to be removed the rest of the way by hand. This goes for both live and spent cartridges.

Normal? Abnormal? Any insight would be splendid.

 

[KBintheSLC]

It is normal for spent shells to stick a little, but the fact that unfired cartridges are sticking concerns me. Did you clean the new revolver before firing it? Is there excess oil in the cylinder chambers? There really should not be any oil in there. I did once have a UL85 that was not properly bored on one of the chambers... but this was only bore depth, not width.

 

[harmonic]

It sounds like your 38 cartridges might be substandard. Are they factory or reloads?

 

[seanie!]

I cleaned the cylinder by passing a boresnake through each one, and never oiled them. The ammo in question is Independence, but has Blazer headstamps. I'm going to guess that this is factory reloaded ammunition.

 

[weregunner]

Federal Independence ammo is generic practice ammo.

The first thing is that the .38 Special cases are just a hair shorter than the .357 magnum ammo. The ejector rod length is for the longer .357 magnum cases. So the reach to extract is a bit shorter for the .38s.

That said firing .38 Special rounds in a .357 magnum cylinder leaves carbon buildup that gets thicker and worse with each .38 round fired. If enough rounds are fired the build up can cause cartridges to be unable to be loaded after awhile. Extraction gets harder and harder. It might get to a point, if left alone, that extraction will not happen at all.

After each shooting session where the Special rounds have been used it is recommended that the cylinder chambers be scrubbed of the .38 Special residue. It's a must.

I own Taurus kin to the 617 and shoot mostly Special rounds through them than .357s. The chambers have to have cleaner left in each chamber to break up the "crust" for 5-15 minutes, depending on how bad things are and then use a copper brush to scrub the debris away.

Sometimes several applications of cleaner and scrubbing need to take place.

This has to be done regardless of brand,make or model of .357 magnum revolver. I own Rugers as well. It has to be done for the shorter .32 rounds in the .327 Federal magnum revolvers,too.

 

[weregunner]

If you need another source for Taurus 617 data there is www.taurusarmed.net.

Taurus Talk at MSN went under a few years back due to MSN booting them. Not for a good reason either.

 

[Walkalong]

Should not make a difference, but I am not sure cause I don't shoot .38's in .357's. Try a different brand .38.

Cases (.38 or .357) should come out easily with no sticking. (Unless of course, the pressure is too high, or the chambers are rough.

 

[Tallinar]

Only time I've had trouble chambering rounds in a sixgun was when the reloader failed to correctly resize the cases. :banghead:

 

[Red Cent]

If the 357s eject, the 38sp should eject. I would say reloads. If you know someone who reloads the 357/38, have him simply resize the case and see what happens.
Again, in a perfect world, both cartridges are the same except length. I agree with Weregunner, but you are indicating the opposite happens.

 

[oldbear]

sticking cases

Your problem is simple. The 617 is chambered for .357 magnum rounds, which are a 1/10 of an inch longer than the 38 special rounds. The length of the ejector rod was engineered so it would be long enough to eject the shells the revolver was chambered for; this is especially noticeable in a 2 or 2 ½ inch barreled weapon. On the range it’s a minor blip in the real world it could be a problem. So shoot 38 special for practice followed by .357 to help remove the carbon ring left by the shorter rounds. On the street carry .357 rounds.

 

[seanie!]

Cool. Thanks for all the info guys. I only ended up running 35 rounds of both .38 and .357 through it. The .357 in question was S&B, and surprisingly mild to shoot. I've got some foaming bore cleaner that I'll spray into each chamber in the cylinder and let it do it's magic. I'll also try out some .38 that a buddy of mine has to see what happens there. Thanks again all.

 

[weregunner]

The .38 Special data offered by myself and others about build up of grime and grit is valid. It's been documented in many shooting journals and is common knowledge. To say that it is not is unrealistic to the extreme. The fact that the cases are different sizes also palys inot this. Yes, there might be other factors, but thos factors are not that important, but still need to ve considered.

 

[Red Cent]

Old Bear is probably right. Sounds like a forceful slap to the ejector rod is in order. And maybe polishing the cylinder chambers.

 

[BullfrogKen]

Were the Magnums nickle-cased and the 'Specials standard brass cases?