S&w 642 and cast?

[waco]

Is it ok to shoot cast in these light revolvers? I thought I heard that because of their light weight, the boolits may pull out of the case under recoil. I want to get one as a new carry gun, but want to run cast through it for practice. Anyone have the real scoop on these smiths?
Thanks
Waco

[theperfessor]

I have several 624s and a couple 24s. No problems at all with .44 Spcl level loads. Proper neck tension is all you need, I crimp just enough to turn flare back in but that's it, no heavy crimp required.

I use 240-250 gr bullets, mostly 429421 style SWCs but lately I've started using the Lee 240 gr RN. Loads fall into gun and seem to be as accurate as any other bullet of this weight. My loads are "factory equivalent" using BE, Unique, or 231.

They aren't that much lighter than a 29/629, the frame is the same, they just have a lighter barrel.

[JudgeBAC]

I believe the 642 is a .38 airweight. I have the .38 342 Airlite Ti. Smiths manual says not to use lead boolits. Apparently they believe the boolits will jump crimp and tie up the gun. Haven't tried them in this one so I'm not sure.

This is strictly a self defense gun and one that will probably not see any cast in it.

[dubber123]

I'd just try it with the load of interest. Fire 4, check the 5th. If you do this a dozen times and the boolit hasn't jumped crimp, I would quit worrying. I had an early SP101 that was stamped "125 grain only"., supposedly due to the crimp jumping deal. That gun ate LOTS of 158+ grain loads with no issues.

[theperfessor]

Oops! Darn it, read too fast, sorry, transposed the numbers. Mea Culpa. I have a 642-2 also and shoot cast in it and have never had any problems with it either, but since it's a carry gun I wouldn't carry anything in it that I didn't have complete confidence in.

[Dale53]

The S&W 642 is NO problem with properly assembled cast loads.

Dale53

[357shooter]

Is it ok to shoot cast in these light revolvers? I thought I heard that because of their light weight, the boolits may pull out of the case under recoil. I want to get one as a new carry gun, but want to run cast through it for practice. Anyone have the real scoop on these smiths?
Thanks
WacoI shoot exclusivly cast in a Taurus 85 UL which is a lightweight (17 oz) 38 special. No problems at all.

Note that jump crimp which is the situation you described can happen if there's not enough crimp in a lightweight revolver.

I measure the OAL of the last bullet in the cylinder, shoot 4 and measure it again. If it slides a few thousands I'll call it good. If it slides more than that, I increase the crimp 1/4 turn and retest.

It seems to vary from bullet to bullet. I've found that with a Lee seating/crimp die I increase to 3/4 turn of crimp instead of the 1/2 that was needed for heavy guns.

It can happen with jacketed or cast bullets with equally.

[BSkerj]

I have ran literally over a 1,000 cast..semi wad, wads, rnd nose, and HP's never had a issue with mine. I always load them light and use a small crimp due to the excessive recoil on these revolvers and carry factory Defensive Rds +P's for CCW.

[cabezaverde]

I shoot them in mine.

[crabo]

I do it all the time in mine.

[MtGun44]

Same here on the 640, but I crimp well. Those lightwts are power boolit pullers so you
need to have a good tight interference fit between the boolit and case AND a good crimp.

I test by loading 5, firing 4 and examining the 5th round for boolit jump. If none, I load 4
more and shoot them again, leaving the previous 5th round unfired. I then check it AGAIN.
If it is OK after 8 thumps, I consider it good to go.

Bill

[Combat Diver]

I had a 442 (blue verison of 642) for about 15 yrs and its regular diet was 158gr LSWC reloads at standard and +P levels. Never had any bullet creep. Have another 442 Pro Series on order (no lock, cut for moon clips).

[jim4065]

Same here for practice loads in the 642. I like wadcutters with a light charge of Unique for playing with the Crimson Trace - you can shoot all day without any pain. Don't figure it can hurt if I ever need to touch off a +P in anger 'cause by then I'll just be glad to have the gun. :roll:

[Bula]

My favorite practice load is a 148 Wc over 2.9g of bullseye, followed by a 158 Lee RNFP over 4.3g of W231. Never a problem. It really suprises me how accurate those little buggers are...