How I turned a perfectly good revolver into a giant paper weight

[Animal]

Guys thanks for all your feedback. I've done a lot of thinking and don't feel that putting money into the gun is going to be good enough for me to fee comfortable with it. I'm going to leave it apart and lock it away.
I've really been interested in getting a Glock. I'll probably just save some bucks and get the Glock 21 .45acp. My LGS has really good deals on Glock for military personel and law enforcement.
I still have my trusty Ruger SRH. I love my wheel guns, I can't NOT have one.

[nekshot]

Animal, as soon as you mentioned something was differant I thought of a boolit in barrel. I know this can be frustrating and I applaud you for sharing your expierence so we all can learn, but I really doubt the gun is any the worse for it. I would clear the barrel and if all looks good at least shoot 38's in it if you don't trust 357's. Just my thoughts on this.

[aspangler]

Had this happen to a friend. S&W Mod.10 with 6 inch barrel. Not my loads but someone gave him some squibs. His grandson shot them and lodged 6 in the barrel and one in the cylinder/ forcing cone. Locked the cylinder just as yours. I took it to the gunsmith that I work with (aka apprenticed ) and it took us almost an hour and a half to get them out. Barrel was fine so no problems. If you don't want to fix it and no longer want it, PM me and maybe we could do a deal. My gunsmith will do a transfer from an individual. Let me know but a good gunsmith can fix that and it shouldn't cost too much.

[Char-Gar]

Guys thanks for all your feedback. I've done a lot of thinking and don't feel that putting money into the gun is going to be good enough for me to fee comfortable with it. I'm going to leave it apart and lock it away.
I've really been interested in getting a Glock. I'll probably just save some bucks and get the Glock 21 .45acp. My LGS has really good deals on Glock for military personel and law enforcement.
I still have my trusty Ruger SRH. I love my wheel guns, I can't NOT have one.

Glock hint! If you pull the trigger and the slide does not fully go to the rear, eject the empty case and load another round into the chamber from the magazine, you probably should check to see if there is a bullet stuck in the barrel. If there is, don't continue to fire the pistol.

[oscarflytyer]

somewhere there is a (youtube) video of a cpl guys doing exactly what you did - on purpose. Wanted to see what would happen. And like you, they stuck multiple projectiles in the bbl, stacked up. IIRC it was the 3rd or 4th one, 357(?) full house load, before the revolver gave up the ghost catastrophically.

Also saw where a cpl guys intentionally tried to see just what a Mosin Nagant would handle, way over-pressure load wise, before IT gave up the ghost. It was crazy... thing shot something like 25 grains of something like 2400 pistol powder or something equally crazy.

Both of these were very impressive. Fortunately for you, sounds like only the gun has issues...

[rockrat]

A "smith" should be able to make a bushing to go in the barrel with a hole thru the center to pilot a drill bit, to drill a hole thru the bullets. Then maybe use the screw method to pull the bullets. Its what I would do if it was my gun. Maybe use threaded rod, coarse thread, and use some washers/nuts to pull the bullets. Barrel may or may not be bulged.

Don't think you could send it to Taurus to be fixed, with the live rounds still in the cylinder. Don't think a shipper would take it.

I would think the gun would be fine, if the barrel isn't bulged.

[w5pv]

All the above is the reason I think squibs are more dangerous than over charges.If recoil ,sound or bullet print doesn't show on paper is reason to check things out.I was working up load the other day that act right but the bullet had left the barrel so I went to the next level.I don't care for mouse fart loads,there is too much that can go wrong with them.If a gun has too much recoil or muzzle blast go to a smaller weapon.Just be careful when reloading and double check yourself often.

[Hamish]

Animal, send a PM to goodsteel, not very long ago he posted pictures of a single action, same situation. Maybe he can save it, maybe not.

[mroliver77]

I think Animal owes Char-Gar an apology! He was very gentle with you! After reading your other posts I wanted to ream you good as I seen you were not a capable loader! I am not psychic but seen something bad a commin! This is very serious business and somebody could have been hurt or worse!

You need to reread everything about loading! Then think about it a lot!
Jay

[Char-Gar]

Char-gar, if you would have read the whole thread you would have seen that you sound like a complete idiot. I concluded that the responsibility of this issue was 100% my fault. "my load, my gun, my responsibility." If you aren't ashamed of yourself, you should be.

I assume you didn't bother to read this part either " I am pretty embarrassed about this load because I know that somehow, some way, whatever went wrong has to do with a choice that I made somewhere along the line. Perhaps I didn't take my bore size serious enough."

Feel free to run laps

Animal...When I got serious about shooting I fell in with a bunch of grown men who took me under their wing. I was about 14 at the time. These men has been loading and shooting since the 20's and 30's and many of them shot in the National Matches at Camp Perry every year. I was allowed to hang out with them, learn, watch and ask questions respectfully. But none of the would tolerate any stupidity or carelessness when it came to firearms. They would jerk me up short in a New York minute when I pulled a bone headed stunt and not be very gentle about it.

I wanted their respect and most of all I wanted to go to Camp Perry with them and they were not going to take me as long as I was likely to be an embarrassment to them. I learned to take the rough correction and learned much from it.

In due time, I went to Camp Perry with them and got to rub shoulders with the likes of Elmer Keith, Al Barr and all of the greats in the US shooting world. I could stand up tall and shoot with these folks, because the local guys has knocked the "doofus" out of me before I got there. I will be eternally grateful to this bunch of men who not only taught me how to shoot, but how to be a man with other men.

In the company of men, such things were common and expected. I guess today, that is not a regular thing. Folks want to be stroked, forgiven and understood. Everybody gets a trophy for participation. Their feelings are so fragile they can't bear up to being in the company of men who know more than they do and have a low tolerance for foolishness.

I anticipated you would not take my correction in a positive way, for very few folks do these days. However, it was not done to be mean, but to help in your growth as a shooter and handloader. Take it anyway you wish. Cross me off your Christmas card list, and don't invite me to your Birthday Party if you wish. I won't be crushed.

You need to toughen up a little Animal. You would last about as long as spit on a hot griddle on a Texas ranch. When you got your feathers ruffled, and whined about rough treatment, the cowboys would just pour it on, until you grew up or removed yourself from the ranch. If you couldn't be a man and make a hand, you were not welcome. By the time I got to my cowboy days I could be and do both.

I found this thread interesting as everybody rushed to your aid, with suggestions on how to fix your pistol when it is your head that needs to be fixed.

[220]

This isn't just a reload problem, here in Aus we have been seeing a number of 17HMR rifles damaged by people having a projectile lodge in the barrel and then loading and firing another shot.
I've personally had a projectile only make it about 2" down the barrel in a HMR but stopped looked found the problem fixed it and continued to shoot without drama.
If a shot doesn't sound right please stop and check thing out before you continue to shoot.

[MBTcustom]

Animal, there is nothing wrong with your gun. It's a piece of machinery that was misused, and now it will be put away in an unsafe condition. That is the last of a long string of bad conclusions.
First of all, let me say that you are not alone. Another member made the same mistake a few months ago with his revolver. He did bulge his barrel in multiple places and had nine boolits and three bullets stacked up in there. Observe what your barrel looks like on the inside:
Attachment 81747
Fortunately, I was able to save his gun, and it is back with him now and running young.

If you care for some advice, I have a few pieces for you.
First of all your barrel diameter. A smaller bore will not stick bullets. It will increase noise, pressure, felt recoil, and bullet speed.
Second, If you don't own some actual reloading books, you should go buy some and double check your steps (not that I saw anything wrong with your described process) What Chargar was trying to say is that you should realize the fact that it was nothing the gun did that landed you in this situation, and before you pull the handle on another reloading press, you should make sure you understand what happened. Pull the remaining cartridges and weigh them out to see what you did! throw some more charges and see if they are correct! check your scale to make sure it was set correctly! Just putting the gun away is not going to solve anything, and you will be doomed to make the same mistake with your new glock or what ever you end up with. I've got news for you: it can happen to a glock too!
Attachment 81748
Chargar was attempting to save your life, because the steps you have taken so far are irresponsible and inadequate. (sorry if that hurts your feelings, but the good news is there is a cure!).
Now, it is possible that you didn't destroy your pistol, and if you're just going to put it away, I would like to buy it from you (at a significant discount of course) because it can be repaired and put to good use.
If you prefer to keep it, it is your responsibility to have it repaired. Either figure out how to do it yourself, or take it to a gunsmith in your area. Setting it aside in it's present condition is unsafe. (Just my humble opinion)

No one here is trying to belittle you in any way. We want to prevent people from making horrible mistakes, and encourage them to continue to become better reloaders. Part of that is pointing out what is wrong sometimes.
After all, we are all just experts in training.

[Animal]

Animal...When I got serious about shooting I fell in with a bunch of grown men who took me under their wing. I was about 14 at the time. These men has been loading and shooting since the 20's and 30's and many of them shot in the National Matches at Camp Perry every year. I was allowed to hang out with them, learn, watch and ask questions respectfully. But none of the would tolerate any stupidity or carelessness when it came to firearms. They would jerk me up short in a New York minute when I pulled a bone headed stunt and not be very gentle about it.

I wanted their respect and most of all I wanted to go to Camp Perry with them and they were not going to take me as long as I was likely to be an embarrassment to them. I learned to take the rough correction and learned much from it.

In due time, I went to Camp Perry with them and got to rub shoulders with the likes of Elmer Keith, Al Barr and all of the greats in the US shooting world. I could stand up tall and shoot with these folks, because the local guys has knocked the "doofus" out of me before I got there. I will be eternally grateful to this bunch of men who not only taught me how to shoot, but how to be a man with other men.

In the company of men, such things were common and expected. I guess today, that is not a regular thing. Folks want to be stroked, forgiven and understood. Everybody gets a trophy for participation. Their feelings are so fragile they can't bear up to being in the company of men who know more than they do and have a low tolerance for foolishness.

I anticipated you would not take my correction in a positive way, for very few folks do these days. However, it was not done to be mean, but to help in your growth as a shooter and handloader. Take it anyway you wish. Cross me off your Christmas card list, and don't invite me to your Birthday Party if you wish. I won't be crushed.

You need to toughen up a little Animal. You would last about as long as spit on a hot griddle on a Texas ranch. When you got your feathers ruffled, and whined about rough treatment, the cowboys would just pour it on, until you grew up or removed yourself from the ranch. If you couldn't be a man and make a hand, you were not welcome. By the time I got to my cowboy days I could be and do both.

I found this thread interesting as everybody rushed to your aid, with suggestions on how to fix your pistol when it is your head that needs to be fixed.

I appreciate your comment and envy the background and support you had. This is something that I have gotten into alone. I don't have anyone that can stop by and show me a thing or two. I've read my Lee manual and several articles online. I've gotten a lot of great help from the guys on this site and a few other online sources.

I've got nothing against a good *** kicking when needed, but I took your comment under the impression that you assumed I took no responsibility for what had happened. Was what I did dumb and uneducated? well, hine sight is 20/20. I've learned that not every load that is published is 'safe' under all circumstances. I knew I had some barrel restrictions before I made that load. Unfortunately it never crossed my mind that it would be a problem until it happened. Makes perfect since to me now. If I'm getting my tail chewed for doing something stupid, I can take that. I wouldn't have posted this to the public otherwise... I won't take the same chewing for "not taking responsibility". I own that buggered up barrel like rice owns white. I hate that a mistake like that happened, but now I know... low velocity jacketed bullets and undersized barrels don't mix!

Austin

[MBTcustom]

If you are shooting so slow that the bullets are getting stuck in your barrel, it's not the barrel's fault. If you were anywhere near the minimum load for that cartridge, you would be printing paper even if your barrel was .010 undersize. Something is wrong with your load not the barrel.

[303Guy]

A good online loading manual is the Hodgdon one. http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp. From there you can go to their loading manual.

My understanding is light loads and jacketed's don't go together. Having a look at load data one can see the difference just different bullets can make to pressure and velocity. I have had bullets stopping in the barrel (22 hornet rifle). Once they cooled down they basically just dropped out with a light push. That was due to jacket heating and expansion. A different bullet would have shot just fine. Even so, I've decided lighter loads are for cast only.

[Scharfschuetze]

At one time a fairly advanced US Navy small arms collector at the Washington Arms Collector's club had a Victory Model S&W with its barrel fully plugged with a couple of cylinders of GI FMJ 38 Special bullets. The barrel had a groove milled out length wise (similar to Goodsteel's post above) by an armorer to display the projos in the barrel. Apparently this was done to produce a training aid sometime after the revolver had seized up.

[Win94ae]

I think Animal owes Char-Gar an apology! He was very gentle with you! After reading your other posts I wanted to ream you good as I seen you were not a capable loader! I am not psychic but seen something bad a commin! This is very serious business and somebody could have been hurt or worse!

You need to reread everything about loading! Then think about it a lot!
Jay

I think so too.

Sure he blamed himself, kind of...

"I've been racking my brain trying think of something I failed to do properly, but I can't come up with anything..."
"...except my barrel may have been too tight for the low velocity jacketed bullet...."
"... Or, somehow my primers were too hot for the load...."
"...I really can't come up with anything that I can condemn as the cause of failure, only possibilities...."

"If my bore dimensions were too small for the round I loaded, then I hope that this post will help others to avoid a very dangerous situation...."
Here he almost condemns himself.
...I am pretty embarrassed about this load because I know that somehow, some way, whatever went wrong has to do with a choice that I made somewhere along the line..."

Then he blames it on his gun again.
"...Perhaps I didn't take my bore size serious enough..."

Now the primers.
"...Or perhaps I should have sucked up the extra work and prepared unprimed brass with non magnum primers...."
"...I really wouldn't have thought that that would make this huge of a difference, but perhaps I didn't take that as serious as I should have..."
And you still aren't.

Even the sentence he tried to lay blame on himself, he comes up with the bore size and primers.
"...Whether the bore size was at fault or the primer was at fault, at the end of the day it was still my load in my gun and I have to take responsibility for that and appreciate that I still have all my fingers..."

"Char-gar, if you would have read the whole thread you would have seen that you sound like a complete idiot. I concluded that the responsibility of this issue was 100% my fault..."
No, you didn't... and you continue to blame the gun, the bullets, and load.
"...I know... low velocity jacketed bullets and undersized barrels don't mix!"


My barrel has a constriction that puts it much smaller than yours; never have I had a problem using jacketed bullets. High velocity cast bullets lead the bore to the extreme.

Now I'm perplexed. How does one manage to jam bullets/boolits in a barrel and not experience any recoil, excessive sound or any other warning signs?

You didn't charge more than a few cases, then sat there and fired your firearm oblivious to the obvious danger.

There were ample "warning signs;" your pride is still not letting you heed them.

[Animal]

Win94, I'm online searching causes for this condition right now. You listed a few things that I mentioned as a potential factor, do you have any input to provide on those? such as the primer. I'm all ears.

[Animal]

All cases were charged. I confirm this with a flashlight each time i fill out the trey. I wonder, however, if there is a possibility that one charge that I dumped through the funnel (at minimum start load) absorbed a few grains of the powder charge. The weight was measured properly, but I can see where static and (this soft poofy powder) might have caused a light charge. With what I've just researched, undercharging a load is the most common cause. Coupling that with a jacketed bullet (higher friction) could be the cause...

Now, because of the last sentence I wrote above, I know some of you will take that as me SHIFTING blame. However, I'm the operator and caretaker of the equipment.

[fouronesix]

Animal,
No, I think your initial thought about a tight bore is the primary cause. Hodgdon data clearly shows your starting load as the suggested starting load for PB under the 158 XTP in the 357.
I wouldn't overthink it. I'd imagine the combination of very tight bore, light load, revolver and jacketed bullet, combined, did what no one could foresee- of course unless they have magic 20-20 hind sight.

Getting jumped on for not noticing bullets not hitting paper or little recoil from an already light load seems more like rocks thrown by those living in glass houses.