625 cylinder leading

[bigsaxdog]

i'm getting alot of leading in the throat of my 625. shooting lead 230 zeros, seated pretty short, and clays. i realize the seating short thing is probably the cause, but you can make it kinda like the .45 gap thing, you dig? cliff and i been arguing(can you imagine????), and i always though that the cut of the chambers on the 625 is a problem. why the f&%k does S&W cut the thing like a 1911 chamber, with a ridge so the cartridge can headspace on the case mouth? why isn't it beveled like my Mod 19's? i haven't checked any other revolvers, but i suspect they have a beveled throat too. you wouldn't need it with auto rims, and acp's won't extract, so..... does anyone make a reamer to bevel that ridge? i would think that would work alot better. alright y'all, edify me........

[justicentyme]

Have you checked the diameter of the cylinder throats?

I recently went to a 4" 625 -3 for IDPA and using 230 RN from pennbullets.com got a LOT of throat leading, more than any revolver I have owned in 50+ years. I checked the throats and they were .453". I have some .454" bullets coming that I believe will cure the issue.

My 5" 625 -4 has .452" throats and shoots the same load with little to no leading.

Some very knowledgeable revolver shooters question if throat diameter can have any real negative effect and give some very sound reasoning for those doubts. I do know however what differences the same load has in two guns that do indeed have varying throat diameters.

I have heard it said that because we shoot the 230s in the 720 fps range that we can't get away with 'blow by' like someone pushing a lead bullet at 1000 fps can.

James

[David Sinko]

A "proper" 625 has a ledge in the chambers so that the gun can load and fire individual cartridges without the moonclips. Notice I said load and fire, and not extract. Many of the newer 625s (MIM parts and internal locks would be a clue) do not have this ledge or have it installed at the wrong depth and will not fire individual cartridges. Many of us believe the newer guns can't do this because of incompetence and/or apathy on the part of S&W. Life is not always a sanitary game where you will be guaranteed access to moonclips and I believe the ability to fire loose rounds is vitally important, especially since S&W has already proven to us that it is feasible. Whether the ledge causes excess leading or not is debatable, but I am glad that it is there. My 625s digest a lot of lead of varying hardness, and while I often do see lead in the chambers, I can't say that it has ever caused me any grief. If you are having a problem with leading, I would look at other factors first.

Dave Sinko

[DougCarden]

Sax man.....is Zero hardcast, or swaged?....If it is softer.....CLAYS way too fast for the softer lead.......

[bigsaxdog]

yeah, it's swaged lead, real soft. i got cliff some hard-cast 230's that he used in his gap/clay's loads, and he didn't have any problem, so maybe that's it. those soft bullets shoot great though.....the problem is that i just tricked up my new 625, and every once in a while i get a light hit.....i know that might be alot of things, but i think the leading builds up just enough that the moonclip goes in kinda soft, and the misfire is usually on the first round, that seats the thing, and the rest go off. i gotta long firing pin coming, so i think that will cure the problem. it still leads alot, and if i can figure it out, i'm gonna cut that shoulder the fk out! and lemme tell ya', after watching "No Time for Old Men", or whatever it's called, the 625 is not the first thing i'm gonna go to when the excrement hits the ventilator, you dig? gotta figure out how to get that silencer on my 1100......

[cliffwalsh]

i'm getting alot of leading in the throat

I don't think that's lead dude..........

[HSMITH]

Try some bigger bullets, .454" should clear the leading up a lot IN the throat. Throats have a WORLD of effect on the amount of leading. If the leading is AT the ledge for the case mouth you are pretty much screwed, nothing you do short of taking the ledge out is going to help.

[bigsaxdog]

that's my question......if i can just get by the peanut gallery, and i know around here that ain't easy. how do you take that ledge out???? i guess you'd have to grind a custom endmill w/ the angle you want. i think i can do that, but what angle??

Edited April 7, 2008 by bigsaxdog

[kframe_mike]

I'm thinking the 1st driving band of the bullet would be past the ledge already?If you're getting a little lead in the throats,I would't worry about it if its not causing accuracy or reliability problems.If you're getting lead behind the throats in the chamber area,I have no idea.Maybe seat the bullets longer??-Mike

[earplug]

One of my 625-8's was getting a build up of crud in front of the cartridge. It caused DA problems and missfires. I was using a cast 200 grain bullet then switched to a Poly/moly bullet, had same problems.

I used a wooden mandrel and 320-1200 grit in a drill to polish out the machine/reamer marks. I still got some build up but it was not as bad, and much easier to clean.

Now i use 200 grain Billy bullet and the guns shoots much cleaner.

I'm thinking the 1st driving band of the bullet would be past the ledge already?If you're getting a little lead in the throats,I would't worry about it if its not causing accuracy or reliability problems.If you're getting lead behind the throats in the chamber area,I have no idea.Maybe seat the bullets longer??-Mike

[Toolguy]

that's my question......if i can just get by the peanut gallery, and i know around here that ain't easy. how do you take that ledge out???? i guess you'd have to grind a custom endmill w/ the angle you want. i think i can do that, but what angle??

I ream out the ledges in mine with a .45 Long Colt reamer. Loads great, shoots accurate.

[bigsaxdog]

now we're talkin'.......actually an informed, useful answer! a first here, for sure...........gotta try it, thanx, you da' man(guy)