S&W models 17-3 and 18-3 22cal question.
- Thread starter gary vale
- Start date
- Status
Welcome to the High Road.
After many thousands of .22 Short cartridges, the cylinder walls will become eroded at the point of ignition which is further back in the cylinder than the ignition point using long rifle case length cartridges.
Consequently this will cause hard extraction when long rifle case based cartridges are fired because the expand up against the eroded area of the cylinder wall.
Because .22 Long and CB Long cartridges are based on the long rifle case length, this cylinder sticking issue will not occur when using these cartridges and then switching to .22 long rifles.
At the current pricing of .22 Short cartridges, it would not serve you any economic or ballistic advantages to use them in your revolver.
Stick with Longs and Long rifles. HTH
After many thousands of .22 Short cartridges, the cylinder walls will become eroded at the point of ignition which is further back in the cylinder than the ignition point using long rifle case length cartridges.
Consequently this will cause hard extraction when long rifle case based cartridges are fired because the expand up against the eroded area of the cylinder wall.
Because .22 Long and CB Long cartridges are based on the long rifle case length, this cylinder sticking issue will not occur when using these cartridges and then switching to .22 long rifles.
At the current pricing of .22 Short cartridges, it would not serve you any economic or ballistic advantages to use them in your revolver.
Stick with Longs and Long rifles. HTH
Jim Watson
Member
In my youth, most manually operated .22s, rifle or pistol, were cataloged as "short, long, or long rifle." In those days, the thinking was that if you shot so many shorts as to wear the gun out, you would have saved enough money to buy a new one. But that was then and this is now. Shorts and longs are low volume, high price ammunition, of interest only for the occasional gun made for the older rounds. Long rifles are usually less expensive, shoot better, and are available in a wide range of velocities and qualities.
I have shot only long rifles in my 18 for the past 40 years or so; and no great number of shorts before then.
I have shot only long rifles in my 18 for the past 40 years or so; and no great number of shorts before then.
22-rimfire
Member
So it is perfectly safe to shoot shorts and CB's in either revolver. You just need to clean the cylinder more often.
Great choice of guns.
Great choice of guns.
A case can be made for .22 CB in a private indoor range where velocity is not important but noise level is. It would also penetrate less, making it a bit easier to build or put together an effective backstop. However, they are still dangerous and should be treated with the respect for safety as any other firearm.
In a situation like this, I might dedicate one of my .22s strictly for this purpose.
In a situation like this, I might dedicate one of my .22s strictly for this purpose.
safe yes...but cleaning won't solve an erosion problem
Question: If shooting "shorts" in a LR chamber causes erosion, does this also happen when shooting LRs? I ask because most cylinders on 22 revolvers are far longer than the cartridge and I don't detect any erosion in my 22 revolvers even though from what I am reading I should see some, no? Where am I wrong?
BlindJustice
Member
You're not going to get 'erosion' in a .22 rim fire chamber, just dirty it up with shorts or longs, or CBs. It's not a high enough pressure round as well as simply not having a long burn.
An example is the .264 Win. Magnum. it fell out of favor because it had short barrel life due to it having such an amount of powder in relation to it's
small diamter bore. A belted magnum is in the 65,000 pSI range, as well as
having a long burn erupting from the chamber mouth, NOT the ignition point,
that's at the rear of the case with the primer. This intense flame at the mouth of the chamber will erode the interior of the barrel where the rifling starts and eventually the bullets will have to 'jump' & they get a wobble
before engaging the lands, and accuracy goes south.
Has anyone heard of a .357 Magnum that is just over half the pressure of a belted rifle magnum getting erosion of the chambers due to a lot of use
with the relatively low pressure 17,000-19,000 psi range with .38 Special?
You'll just be getting crud built up eventually with CB caps useage.
Randall
An example is the .264 Win. Magnum. it fell out of favor because it had short barrel life due to it having such an amount of powder in relation to it's
small diamter bore. A belted magnum is in the 65,000 pSI range, as well as
having a long burn erupting from the chamber mouth, NOT the ignition point,
that's at the rear of the case with the primer. This intense flame at the mouth of the chamber will erode the interior of the barrel where the rifling starts and eventually the bullets will have to 'jump' & they get a wobble
before engaging the lands, and accuracy goes south.
Has anyone heard of a .357 Magnum that is just over half the pressure of a belted rifle magnum getting erosion of the chambers due to a lot of use
with the relatively low pressure 17,000-19,000 psi range with .38 Special?
You'll just be getting crud built up eventually with CB caps useage.
Randall
OK, you don't like the term erosion, let's try another.
Flame cutting, and you do get this in any revolver chamber.
This flame erosion is much more apparent in the .357 and .44 chambers especially when using light bullet high pressure loadings, and in cylinders that have seen a lot of use with shorter special length cartridges, the sticky chamber syndrome becomes even more of an issue.
Just because you can't see it with the naked eye doesn't mean it isn't there.
When using a magnifying bore scope the pitted area of the cylinder walls becomes glaringly apparent.
The problem can be corrected to an extent with a chamber hone but this can only be done a couple of times as honing increases the diameter of the chamber and eventually the chamber becomes too large and this leads to even more major case sticking and cartridge case splitting.
At this point the cylinder needs to be replaced.
Flame cutting, and you do get this in any revolver chamber.
This flame erosion is much more apparent in the .357 and .44 chambers especially when using light bullet high pressure loadings, and in cylinders that have seen a lot of use with shorter special length cartridges, the sticky chamber syndrome becomes even more of an issue.
Just because you can't see it with the naked eye doesn't mean it isn't there.
When using a magnifying bore scope the pitted area of the cylinder walls becomes glaringly apparent.
The problem can be corrected to an extent with a chamber hone but this can only be done a couple of times as honing increases the diameter of the chamber and eventually the chamber becomes too large and this leads to even more major case sticking and cartridge case splitting.
At this point the cylinder needs to be replaced.
- Status
