Diamentions needed?, Starline brass & short Colt cases / S&W 6

[mikeAZ]

I've been following the other post on 38 short colt brass..."sticky" ejection and such. I see where most have "polished the cylinder" but have not seen anyone post the finished internal dimensions, not having any extra cylinders, what are you ending up with for a dimension internally in the cylinder?..(just so I don't overdo one). If you actually "hone" or ream the cylinder out, please say so.

I'm not saying that I can't extract the spent shells, it's just that there is some/more resistance that I would think is normal and after a stage or two there is a slight resistance even when loading new moon clips when they are almost completely pushed in the cylinder. I don't see other shooter's brushing their cylinders out between stages anymore?. My guns are not that dirty I wouldn't think, but who knows?.

As could be expected, my "sticky" problem seems to be with various brands of .358 coated lead bullets, which I'd expect is because of the larger od of the bullet. I'm using 3.1 grns. of Titegroup x 160 grns coated .358 bullet. No V V 320 available to me yet which some say eliminates the "sticky" problem .. I've got some slower burning WW Auto Comp and have loaded some with no big observed difference but have not done much with the load as I have ample Titegroup on hand.

I've varied the OAL and tapper crimp , looking for the "magic" no sticky zone....I use a 38 special case gauge and check every round ( all .358 lead heads drop in easily), tried different od's of plated .357/.356's which eject much easier.... I think I'm close with my "polish", but off a "tick" on the .358's???? all of which makes me think the problem is in the clearance in the cylinder wall x loaded brass and .358 coated lead bullets.

At the widest area of a loaded round of either a .38 short colt case OR a cut down .38 special case, I'm at .379. With a .357 od plated bullet I'm at .378 and with a plated .355 I'm at .377.....OAL is varied but normally 1.180 to 1.120. (I've tried all sorts of different OAL's).

Some will say just to use the smaller diameter bullet, which makes sense BUT who knows when maybe all that available these days is .358's in lead?. I'd like to be able to shoot anything any time anyhow. Thanks for the input. Mike

[alecmc]

10 dollars says your sticky extraction is due to you're ammo being over pressure.

are the primers on the spent shells flat?

[mcb]

My Ibejiheads 160gr RN are claimed to be sized 0.358. Most of them are at or slightly under, no smaller than 0.357. My finished loads in Starline brass measure between 0.377 - 0.378 maximum OD. My Barry's 158gr RN are sized 0.357 IIRC they are when I measured them awhile ago, I didn't have any not loaded to measure. The finished loads, again in Starline brass, measure very consistently 0.376 with the occasional 0.375 round. The charge holes in my S&W 627 PC 5" barrel all measure 0.380-0.3805. All measurements where made with a regular pair of Mitutoyo dial calipers. Probably not the best for measure ID's that small, but should be close.

ETA:

10 dollars says your sticky extraction is due to you're ammo being over pressure.

are the primers on the spent shells flat?

He is running 3.1gr of Titegroup under a coated 160 with sticking problems but I am running 3.3gr of Titegroup under a 160 IbejiHead with no sticking at all. mike NM what is your overall length?

Edited September 11, 2014 by mcb

[alecmc]

My Ibejiheads 160gr RN are claimed to be sized 0.358. Most of them are at or slightly under, no smaller than 0.357. My finished loads in Starline brass measure between 0.377 - 0.378 maximum OD. My Barry's 158gr RN are sized 0.357 IIRC they are when I measured them awhile ago, I didn't have any not loaded to measure. The finished loads, again in Starline brass, measure very consistently 0.376 with the occasional 0.375 round. The charge holes in my S&W 627 PC 5" barrel all measure 0.380-0.3805. All measurements where made with a regular pair of Mitutoyo dial calipers. Probably not the best for measure ID's that small, but should be close.

Alex @ Ibejiheads recently changed dies for his 160 grain bullets and are now actual true to .358 size consistently.

[mcb]

My Ibejiheads 160gr RN are claimed to be sized 0.358. Most of them are at or slightly under, no smaller than 0.357. My finished loads in Starline brass measure between 0.377 - 0.378 maximum OD. My Barry's 158gr RN are sized 0.357 IIRC they are when I measured them awhile ago, I didn't have any not loaded to measure. The finished loads, again in Starline brass, measure very consistently 0.376 with the occasional 0.375 round. The charge holes in my S&W 627 PC 5" barrel all measure 0.380-0.3805. All measurements where made with a regular pair of Mitutoyo dial calipers. Probably not the best for measure ID's that small, but should be close.

Alex @ Ibejiheads recently changed dies for his 160 grain bullets and are now actual true to .358 size consistently.

Do you know how long ago that was. I got a case size 0.358 on June 28.

[Toolguy]

The easy way to polish chambers without fear of taking off material is to wrap a piece of Scotchbrite around an old cleaning brush (.22 cal works well), screw it on a straight piece of cleaning rod and chuck the rod in a cordless drill. You can scrub quite a bit with that setup and not hurt anything.

[alecmc]

My Ibejiheads 160gr RN are claimed to be sized 0.358. Most of them are at or slightly under, no smaller than 0.357. My finished loads in Starline brass measure between 0.377 - 0.378 maximum OD. My Barry's 158gr RN are sized 0.357 IIRC they are when I measured them awhile ago, I didn't have any not loaded to measure. The finished loads, again in Starline brass, measure very consistently 0.376 with the occasional 0.375 round. The charge holes in my S&W 627 PC 5" barrel all measure 0.380-0.3805. All measurements where made with a regular pair of Mitutoyo dial calipers. Probably not the best for measure ID's that small, but should be close.

Alex @ Ibejiheads recently changed dies for his 160 grain bullets and are now actual true to .358 size consistently.

Do you know how long ago that was. I got a case size 0.358 on June 28.

Last month I think

[mikeAZ]

Toolguy... That's exactly what I'm doing (scotchbrite/ polish). How much "polishing" is too much?..... I will post some snap gauge readings from in the cylinder itself. This was a unmolested low round count pistol. I've varied the OAL to just at the edge of the cannulure to 1.15, no change for the better. ...Federal 100 primers, sure they are flattened too some extent.

[Bubber]

10 dollars says your sticky extraction is due to you're ammo being over pressure.

are the primers on the spent shells flat?

This about what I came up with. Does not have to be greatly over pressured, It is the easiest to check w/o going to the calipers and checking dimensions. I find that in a 38 super with lead 160 3.2grains is pushing it with clays. YMMV a little..

[Carmoney]

Get the right powder. Especially with heavy bullets in the 160-gr. range, it is awfully easy to have high pressures. With the right powder, there should be no sticky extraction.

You're playing with fire.

[DougCarden]

Try 2.9gr TG with same combo. No sticky, then you have your answer........

DougC

[mikeAZ]

Thanks for the inputs.... Actually the plated .357's/ .356's don't cost very little more than the coated .358's... That's probably a simpler solution..... I'll crono some 2.9 Titegroups..... Thanks, again.....