Taurus 66 .357 magnum 4 inch barrel

[castmiester]

Is there potential accuracy beyond a good fit cast bullet, without altering the gun? In other words is there anything I need to check on the gun before proceeding to load and miss something between the gun and loads?


I posted on another forum and appreciate the input, but really am not one to buy this that and the other to experiment beyond my means.

I've been casting a short time and am successful with no issues other than controlling furnace temp, some bullets are dull from too much heat, and shiny and smooth from not enough. I didn't let the thing stabilize long enough. Would this effect loads?

[JSnover]

Surface finish is less important than a good fill; No voids or wrinkles, or rounded edges. I doubt the shiny ones will shoot any different the dull ones.

[charlie b]

My favorite .357 mold works best when the bullets come out 'frosty'. They shoot well that way.

A consideration for cast in a revolver are the cylinder throat and barrel forcing cone diameters.

[castmiester]

Frosty is a better description. The shiny ones have some wrinkles and rounded edges. Guess seating the GC would be a problem verses rounded edges ?

[castmiester]

My favorite .357 mold works best when the bullets come out 'frosty'. They shoot well that way.

A consideration for cast in a revolver are the cylinder throat and barrel forcing cone diameters.

My throats are .361. My casts vary in diameter. .359 to .361. At 13 BH I suppose it wouldn't be a problem to load them and shoot them? They would bother the throat other than possibly lead them ? Someone mentioned grip while pouring. Now I know what he meant.


Some cast undersize, some are just like Goldilocks. There are a lot of variables that come in to play; alloy, temperature of the alloy and mold, and grip to name a few. Casting is an art as much as it is a science.

[Recycled bullet]

My opinion bullet surface finish is more a function of the mold temperature then it is hot pot temperature taken into account there is some correlation between one and the other. I like frosted bullets powder coat sticks better.


Make sure that you can pass the component bullets through each of the cylinder throats using light to moderate effort.

I use a ballpoint pen push my bullets through the cylinder. In my Ruger Blackhawks bullets sized 357 pass through the cylinder with light pressure from two fingers Force.


IF the bullets will not pass with hand pressure because the cylinder throats are undersized, THEN 20,000+ PSI will make it fit. The bullets will be undersized as it enters the barrel face and becomes introduced to the rifling. My Ruger SP101 is like this it scrapes the powder coat off of my bullets leads the barrel terribly and smokes and stinks of lead. I should get the cylinder throats opened up up on that gun.

A bullet that is undersized will fall through under its own weight and at least in my experience will usually be inaccurate and if it's undersized enough lead deposit the barrel even if it's powder coated. This would be like if I tried shooting 356 or 357 size bullets through my Taurus 38 Special revolver. That one shoots the best with 358 sized bullets.

[Wayne Smith]

Your throats are all .361? Or did you measure just one? If they are all .361 and your bore is just less than that you are home free. My Smith .357 chambers are a hard push fit for a .359, so I size .358 so loading is easy.

[castmiester]

Your throats are all .361? Or did you measure just one? If they are all .361 and your bore is just less than that you are home free. My Smith .357 chambers are a hard push fit for a .359, so I size .358 so loading is easy.

all .361

[magnumuser]

all .361

What kind of accuracy are you getting with JACKETED bullets?

I have a feeling we are in similar situations.. to get a better idea of your gun sit down with these cast bullets you have, and only shoot the ones that dont fall through the chambers.

[castmiester]

I casted .001 to .003 over, guess I can blame grip and block misalignment on my part. Waiting to pick up a Lee sizing die that I had a friend over sized to get .359, load them up to see how they shoot. I'm not concerned about what doesn't fall through the throats, don't think that's important as much as oversize fit to groove diameter. To load over sized bullets would leave buldges and not chamber even with cowboy dies.


Been awhile since I loaded jacketed, and cast. I sized .358 WW 10 BHN cast and they don't shoot that well at all. Like you the WC shot crazy accurate with Bulls eye, but leaded up bad.

[FergusonTO35]

Every Taurus I have owned was just as accurate and boolit friendly as my Rugers and Smiths. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a 66.

[magnumuser]

Every Taurus I have owned was just as accurate and boolit friendly as my Rugers and Smiths. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a 66.

cant stand the new finish on them, seen a few in person at the gun store so butt ugly it looks like a blind kid tried air brushing for the first time and didnt get coverage.

Even fondled a raging hunter in 357. Totally bad machining on that barrel. They left every edge on the scope rail sharp as a razor blade.

[magnumuser]

I casted .001 to .003 over, guess I can blame grip and block misalignment on my part. Waiting to pick up a Lee sizing die that I had a friend over sized to get .359, load them up to see how they shoot. I'm not concerned about what doesn't fall through the throats, don't think that's important as much as oversize fit to groove diameter. To load over sized bullets would leave buldges and not chamber even with cowboy dies.


Been awhile since I loaded jacketed, and cast. I sized .358 WW 10 BHN cast and they don't shoot that well at all. Like you the WC shot crazy accurate with Bulls eye, but leaded up bad.

BE isnt great, mine speer do best with a magnum cse and red dot loads. Green dot is second place.

[castmiester]

cant stand the new finish on them, seen a few in person at the gun store so butt ugly it looks like a blind kid tried air brushing for the first time and didnt get coverage.

Even fondled a raging hunter in 357. Totally bad machining on that barrel. They left every edge on the scope rail sharp as a razor blade.

I bought mine back in 09' and at the time the shop I bought it at stop selling them. Mine was the last one. Shop owner said he had to send too many back, the auto's. The revolvers were fine. But now?? Does any manufacture not have trouble with quality control ?

[FergusonTO35]

cant stand the new finish on them, seen a few in person at the gun store so butt ugly it looks like a blind kid tried air brushing for the first time and didnt get coverage.

Even fondled a raging hunter in 357. Totally bad machining on that barrel. They left every edge on the scope rail sharp as a razor blade.

I like the matte finish as long as it looks like the machine work and parts fit is good. My guns all take on a worn appearance soon anyway! But yeah, the other stuff you described is unacceptable.

[Bigslug]

My biggest concern with modern revolvers is frame crush - basically the act of screwing the barrel into the frame compresses the bore slightly. Usually this is to the tune of about .001", maybe as much as .002". The effect of this is that your bullet gets squeezed to that diameter, and then it's too small for the rest of the barrel, with gas blow-by and leading being the result.

You can check for this by running the tightest machinist's pin gauge that will fit in the muzzle down the barrel. If it hangs up at the frame, you've got frame crush (the flexy plastic cleaning rods from Glock are perfect for pushing a sticky pin gauge back out). The difference between that and the smaller pin gauge that fits will tell you how bad it is. The cure is firing bullets impregnated with lapping compound (roll bullets in the compound between two steel plates & allow to dry) a few at a time, cleaning, and checking the first pin gauge until it slip-fits all the way through.

[FergusonTO35]

My biggest concern with modern revolvers is frame crush - basically the act of screwing the barrel into the frame compresses the bore slightly. Usually this is to the tune of about .001", maybe as much as .002". The effect of this is that your bullet gets squeezed to that diameter, and then it's too small for the rest of the barrel, with gas blow-by and leading being the result.

You can check for this by running the tightest machinist's pin gauge that will fit in the muzzle down the barrel. If it hangs up at the frame, you've got frame crush (the flexy plastic cleaning rods from Glock are perfect for pushing a sticky pin gauge back out). The difference between that and the smaller pin gauge that fits will tell you how bad it is. The cure is firing bullets impregnated with lapping compound (roll bullets in the compound between two steel plates & allow to dry) a few at a time, cleaning, and checking the first pin gauge until it slip-fits all the way through.

Awesome, thanks for the advice!

[castmiester]

ok so I just slugged my barrel and the groove is .357 and there is no dimensional difference at the barrel/frame junction, I drove the slug completely through the forcing cone. My cast size is .359 sized with a Lee sizer. I just bought a .359 lube/sizer die to see if it I'll need it later. I haven't pinned the throats yet, but will give the cylinder to a buddy to gauge. I know a inside caliper isn't the way to go but it did give me an idea of how far they are being ~.360 to .361 but the .359's fall through the throats save two. If they are that much bigger than my .357 will be a nothing but home defense and tinkering with it will be done.

On average you guys with old Redhawks, or even newer.. are the throats measuring exactly the same to not more than .001 than the barrel groove diameter ?