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Hi guys , I've reloaded .38 special for a while. I use it in my Rossi 92 and my chiappa rhino.

To try and gain some better accuracy I have bought some more dies and loaded some .357 . I know I could have re adjusted the dies I've used on my .38spl but I didn't want to mess with them so bought another set of dies.

All seemed well but when I tried to load the rhino only 1 of the .357 bullets would go into the cylinders. The other 5 wouldn't push all the way in, about 2mm shy.

The cases are under the max length, and the 158 grain rnfp lead bullet is seated under the max length.

They load into my Rossi and cycle no problem.
I coloured one of the bullets with black marker pen and in the cylinders they won't go all the way into I found it was bottoming out on the very end of the brass. Like I said before though they will fit in one cylinder. It's as though 1 cylinder is a little bit deeper than the rest. This of course never been a problem with .38 spl. A resized case with no bullet in will go into all 6 cylinders no problem.

Could this be an issue with the Revolver because ever since I've owned it when shooting I've noticed 5 bullets will always go in a group and the 1 always shoots off ( high). Or is there something I'm getting wrong? I would normally ask the guys at my club but with the lockdown I can't.

I can add photos if needed. Any help appreciated.

Thanks.
Andy

firstly, bullet is the bit that comes out the gun, not a completed round or cartridge.
so are you saying the bottom of the case is stopping it chambering or the bottom of the bullet?
if its the case, will this same case seat fine in other chambers?
what about an unloaded case?

If you have been only shooting .38 spl there's probably a slight build up of lead/powder fouling in the cylinder. Scrub out the cylinder chambers with a bronze brush which hopefully will fix the problem.

bradaz11 wrote:firstly, bullet is the bit that comes out the gun, not a completed round or cartridge.
so are you saying the bottom of the case is stopping it chambering or the bottom of the bullet?
if its the case, will this same case seat fine in other chambers?
what about an unloaded case?

A resized ( unloaded ) case will go in all 6 cylinders, a loaded case with bullet in will only go in 1 cylinder all the way in. When I applied the marker pen and tried to push it into one of the cylinders that it won't go all the way into the marker pen was rubbed off at the very top of the case ( just after the bullet).
I don't know why? Maybe because the case is fatter once the bullet is in there.
Are the cylinders tapered at the end where they meet the barrel? It's as though 1 cylinder is slightly deeper.
But then it could be something I'm doing wrong.
It fired shop bought .357 ok. It's always shot 1 round totally different to the other 5 though so I'm not sure if it's the gun .

channel12 wrote:If you have been only shooting .38 spl there's probably a slight build up of lead/powder fouling in the cylinder. Scrub out the cylinder chambers with a bronze brush which hopefully will fix the problem.

Thanks, I will try that although I did give it a thorough clean before I put it away.

Are they new cases of a different make it could be thicker brass. Before you seat the lead bullet how do you expand the case do you just flare the neck or use an expander plug. It could be just tighter chambers you might have to push the bullet through a slightly smaller bullet sizing die. Can you measure the cylinders?

Alpha1 wrote:Are they new cases of a different make it could be thicker brass. Before you seat the lead bullet how do you expand the case do you just flare the neck or use an expander plug. It could be just tighter chambers you might have to push the bullet through a slightly smaller bullet sizing die. Can you measure the cylinders?

Hi Dave,
It's all ppu brass I use, stuff I've bought as bullets and fired then tumbled etc. I'm using Lee dies ( which I do for every caliber I reload) which I think just flares the neck. I did try different settings like seating the bullet deeper and flaring the case more / less.
The bullets are 158 grain ( GM ) lead rnfp. The complete round goes nearly all the way in the cylinders, just the last couple of mm it goes tight. Appart from the 1 cylinder it does go in.
The cases do look a little bulged where the bullet is, but then my 38 spl always look like that.
I've got no accurate way of measuring the cylinders at the moment as my decent equipment is at work and I'm furloughed at the moment.

I think I will take some photos and put them up tomorrow.
A picture ( or 2) paints a thousand words and all that.

sounds like buildup in that chamber

channel12 wrote:If you have been only shooting .38 spl there's probably a slight build up of lead/powder fouling in the cylinder. Scrub out the cylinder chambers with a bronze brush which hopefully will fix the problem.

I'm pretty sure this will be your problem. The carbon ring that builds up at the end of the chamber when you've been shooting .38 spec in a .357 chamber can sometimes be as hard as hell and difficult to remove. A good carbon solvent and a stiff bronze brush will shift it eventually but the real tool for the job is a Lewis lead remover.

Andy wrote:
Could this be an issue with the Revolver because ever since I've owned it when shooting I've noticed 5 bullets will always go in a group and the 1 always shoots off ( high). Or is there something I'm getting wrong? I would normally ask the guys at my club but with the lockdown I can't.

Thanks.
Andy

When trying to sort accuracy problems you need to be quite methodical, especially with a revolver. You must start with a clean gun, any lead build up in the forcing cone, leading in the barrel or lead/carbon in the chambers will kill accuracy.

So, what load are you using? size/weight of bullet? soft/hard/jacketed? powder type/weight? open sights/optical.

What range are you shooting at. What sort of accuracy are you expecting.?