Taurus 605 leading

[james6600]

Picked up a 605 for my mother who is having trouble with semi auto because of age. I grabbed a 100rds of 38 HBWC loaded light that shoot good in my rugers and smiths, I shot 5rds with surprisingly good accuracy so I took the gun over to her. She put 10rds through it then I handed her 5rds of off the shelf FMJ flat point so she would understand the power difference then another 15rds of HBWC. It was hot and humid out so we stopped there. As I was picking stuff up I noticed lead foil coming out of the barrel so I took it home to clean it. With the Lewis lead remover I filled the screens up either 3 or 4 times. Now with HBWC throat and bore diameter shouldn't be the problem. Any suggestions or just use a few hundred jacketed to smooth the barrel.

[james6600]

Ok so I de-leaded the bore then scrubbed with a brush, patch and Ballistol, it has what looks like a mirror finish so I decided not to use any bore compound. I have some 148gr round nose that measure .3575 and are cast from COWW and lubed with my beeswax lanolin ect mixture. These boolits were given to me and are out of a lyman 6 cavity 9mm mold so at .3575 they don't touch a complete 360 in my .358 lube die. Again in front of 4.3gr HP-38/231 these make great plinking rounds in my other revolvers with no leading. So I put 15rds through the Taurus and couldn't see any trace of leading, yipee. Any ideas on why this gun hated HBWC's so much?

[tranders]

I looked in three of my load manuals and every one showed an over charge with 4.3 grains under a 148 HBWC. I can't tell you why those same rounds shoot fine in your other revolvers.
Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will comment.

[james6600]

Thanks for the reply tranders. 4.3gr was with the round nose flat base boolit. The HBWC charge, well I would have to check, I usually load them to around 700-800fps which in 38spl cases is at or just below minimum. I forgot to mention that the gun is chambered in 357 but it is only getting fed 38spl.

[tranders]

Weird how things happen. I was having a similar problem with my S&W model 15 with 148 grain double ended wadcutters. Today I went to the range with 158 SWC and zero leading.

[james6600]

Yea I have never had HBWC lead when driven to reasonable velocitys. I did not clean the barrel before putting the first rounds through it so maybe there was some strange cutting oil or preservative in the barrel or maybe it just doesn't like the boolits or velocity. Anyhow I gave her 50rds of jacketed flat point and 50rds LRN and told her to shoot every day till she runs out then I will clean it again and start over and see how the HBWC's do. If they don't work the second time I may just leave her the LCRX to use while I experiment but I'm trying to avoid that as she hasn't shot in 30 or 40 years and her technique is horrible so switching guns right now is not the best option.

[shoot-n-lead]

Just be proud it will shoot.

[gnostic]

The only HBWC I've ever seen, were swagged out of pure lead.They leaded my guns and I never bought them again.

[james6600]

lol shoot-n-lead I know it's a Taurus but I handled it and checked it pretty good over a few days before I bought it. Two chambers lock up rock solid the third starts to get a little play and 4 and 5 are equal to any current manufacture lock up. We will see how long it last before it loosens up. To be honest I don't trust any new production revolver to work sight unseen, I've picked up a few 586 and 686 S&W's that were new and they weren't even close to lockup on two to three chambers. Plus I have went through the Single7 debacle and hand fit that gun myself. I ended up buying a 19-4 for the wife instead of a new Smith and the Ruger 327 was actually never designed to load and unload the way people were trying to do it but the cylinder pin popping loose, that was a factory issue. Both of those issues were solved with minor hand fitting, even though the factory should have solved problems before release especially with Rugers frequent price increases but thats another topic.

[Beagle333]

I love my 605 and have a couple of friends who carry them as well. We are all quite happy with ours. We never run HBWCs through em though. Not on purpose, that's just not what we cast.

[JeffG]

If those HBWC rounds were factory I wouldn't be surprised if they were pure lead. I have a model 85, looks like the identical gun in 38, and have put probably 1000 rounds of cast through it, mainly the Lee 358-148-WC cast of COWW + 2% tin and the most I ever get is a little antimony wash. Have never needed the Lewis on it. That revolver is very accurate when I do my part.

[tranders]

lol shoot-n-lead I know it's a Taurus but I handled it and checked it pretty good over a few days before I bought it. Two chambers lock up rock solid the third starts to get a little play and 4 and 5 are equal to any current manufacture lock up. We will see how long it last before it loosens up. To be honest I don't trust any new production revolver to work sight unseen, I've picked up a few 586 and 686 S&W's that were new and they weren't even close to lockup on two to three chambers. Plus I have went through the Single7 debacle and hand fit that gun myself. I ended up buying a 19-4 for the wife instead of a new Smith and the Ruger 327 was actually never designed to load and unload the way people were trying to do it but the cylinder pin popping loose, that was a factory issue. Both of those issues were solved with minor hand fitting, even though the factory should have solved problems before release especially with Rugers frequent price increases but thats another topic.

I agree on any new revolvers. My brother works for a large gun shop and had a few Performance Center guns that had to go back because the barrels were screwed on crooked.

[james6600]

Beagle and jeff, I believe the HBWC's are Hornady which are pure lead I'm sure. I like them for close in varmint, plinking and target for inexperienced shooters. I'm really wanting to switch to double ended wad cutters but they are hard to find that aren't bevel based and I don't want to come off the money for more molds right now. Tanders I have heard of the barrel clock problem but have never seen it, Rock Island had the same problem on their revolvers. I understand that's all been corrected but unsure since I have never dealt with it. I really like this 605 and the trigger is extremely good for a modern gun, also it has enough weight that the trigger doesn't pull it off target like the ultra lite snubbies.

[Larry Gibson]

Those HBWCs (Hornady's) will do a lot better loaded over 2.7 - 3 gr HP38.

Larry Gibson

[shoot-n-lead]

lol shoot-n-lead I know it's a Taurus but I handled it and checked it pretty good over a few days before I bought it. Two chambers lock up rock solid the third starts to get a little play and 4 and 5 are equal to any current manufacture lock up. We will see how long it last before it loosens up. To be honest I don't trust any new production revolver to work sight unseen, I've picked up a few 586 and 686 S&W's that were new and they weren't even close to lockup on two to three chambers. Plus I have went through the Single7 debacle and hand fit that gun myself. I ended up buying a 19-4 for the wife instead of a new Smith and the Ruger 327 was actually never designed to load and unload the way people were trying to do it but the cylinder pin popping loose, that was a factory issue. Both of those issues were solved with minor hand fitting, even though the factory should have solved problems before release especially with Rugers frequent price increases but thats another topic.

I only said that because I have had nothing but miserable experience with Taurus revolvers...2 bought new, both bought locally...2 bad ones. They just did not up to even very little shooting of light loads...but it was my fault because I knew better than to buy them...just too many complaints about them for there to be nothing to it. So, now I know...mess with the bull and sometimes you get the horns.

[35remington]

Yes. What Larry said.

4.3 grains of HP38 is rather hotter than swaged hollowbase wadcutters are usually intended to be loaded. So it is more a surprise the other revolvers shoot it without leading than that the Taurus does not shoot it without leading.

I also assume the longer 357 chambers may interact unfavorably with the HBWC bullet in 38 cases, increasing the tendency to lead. This could be due to the longer jump to the throats or a less than smooth transition between chamber diameter and throat diameter.

[beemer]

35remington's comment about the longer chambers brought up another question.I have a stainless 605 that I like very much and have had no problems with. I can size a bullet to .358 and they drag through the cylinder throats, a bullet pushed through the bore drops easily through the cylinder so they must be about right.

I have noticed that the forcing cone in my 605 seems deeper and not as sharp an angle than any of my other revolvers. I wander how the forcing cone is in your 605 and what effect that has on leading. I am using 38 spcl. cases and a Lee 158 gr. SWC with GC and 5 grs. of AA#5. It leads slightly but brushes out easily.

The only thing I have done is open up the rear sight, it shot a little to the right and the groove was to small anyway, now it is close to POA. Light loads and light bullets tend to shoot low. I really don't like a 357 as small as the 605 and will not shoot many but it does give you options.

Dave

[dualsport]

I gave my daughter a 605. After testing it out myself. She's not a gun person. (Understatement!) To deal with recoil complaints we finally settled on a factory "cowboy" load from a major manufacturer. Way better than nothing, I figure. Function is a-ok and clean. If I remember the brand I'll post it. I do plan to try some Hornady Critical Defense Light on her. The .38 Sp. load in a pink box. That'll get her. As far as Taurus goes, my experience has been good.