Well, I did not blow up the gun

I have this Spanish revolver, marked .38 Colt but the cylinders are bored deep enough that you can chamber .357 mag. if you are stupid. I am stupid but not that stupid. But see this:

Attachment 321386

I have heard of revolvers shaving lead but these are from jacketed bullets. I thought this gun was badly leaded because you can hardly see any rifling and it slugs at 0.348" and cast bullets are tumbling. I scrubbed and scrubbed and I could not get the lead out so I decided to shoot some jacketed bullets thru it. The picture tells the story. Those are shavings from the jacketed bullets that stuck between the cylinder and the barrel. I was too stupid to stop after the first one but the gun seems to not been affected including the bore not showing more rifling.

Tim

If it's that worn, it might have a timing issue and as the cylinder rotates,
it doesn't quite line up straight with the barrel.

I had a antique Webley that was at the early stages of that.
Recovered bullets showed a severe 'scrape' on one side of them.

Ouch! Weren't pieces hitting your forearm or whatever was adjacent? I had a "gunsmith" time an 1877 Thunder that did that - first one was, "what was that?" Second one was obvious. Timing definitely needed fixing.
(I invited the "smith" to shoot it as he had claimed he had - he declined and I requested my money)

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I have been futzing around with this gun for months now. It locks up tight so I am not thinking the timing is off. The slivers get stuck and don't shoot out like when lead shaves. It jams up the gun and I had to open the cylinder to free it up so it would function. If it had not jammed I might not have found these slivers, they probably would have just fell on the ground unnoticed. I have a theory, it lead me to slug the throats. They slugged at 0.362", you have got to be kidding me, 0.348" grooves and 0.362" throats. I don't think it is timing I think it is sloppy tolerances.

I think I know what would fix it. Put in a 0.361" barrel liner and rechamber the cylinder to .38 S&W.

Tim

Lead bullets did not seem to shave and did not lock up the gun they just tumbled.
Light handloads with jacketed bullets did not do this either, it only happened this outing with some Mil Surp FMJ 38 Special ammo.

Tim

"You're going to shoot your eye out"

Sounds like a “Designated Snake Shot revolver” to me. It might excel at it and it might not but it’s cheap to find out!


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the one gun you dont care that gets stolen, with a box of 357 magnum

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Originally Posted by delftshooter

the one gun you dont care that gets stolen, with a box of 357 magnum

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That would definitely be some Karma at work.

"It locks up tight" doesn't mean its lined up.

I'm a party pooper; the thing is junk.

Check the alignment with the range rod, or a flashlight aimed at the gap at the recoil shield -with camera aimed down the barrel take pictures and compare relative misalignment between each chamber in cylinder. I am glad the gun did not spit metal into your eyes.

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Originally Posted by pworley1

"You're going to shoot your eye out"

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I probably will one day. The stuff I do that I don't tell people about can kill you.

Tim

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Originally Posted by Texas by God

Sounds like a “Designated Snake Shot revolver” to me. It might excel at it and it might not but it’s cheap to find out!


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I was thinking that since is will chamber long cases to make shot and buck shot and round ball loads. What about three 36 cal. round balls.

Tim

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Originally Posted by alfadan

"It locks up tight" doesn't mean its lined up.

I'm a party pooper; the thing is junk.

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The thing is junk, I dropped $150 for it, probably not worth it but at the time I was thinking at that price if it goes bang, cool.
Tim

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Originally Posted by Recycled bullet

Check the alignment with the range rod, or a flashlight aimed at the gap at the recoil shield -with camera aimed down the barrel take pictures and compare relative misalignment between each chamber in cylinder. I am glad the gun did not spit metal into your eyes.

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I wear shooting glasses. I have had cuts on my cheeks for bad judgement. One was a total reverse ricochet.

Yeah, I will see what I can do to check the bore to chamber alignment. If it is out it is not because of wear, just bad workmanship but I think this gun is a prime example of back workmanship even though it is covered in proof and inspection marks.

Tim

It'd be a good project to research on how to fix it, then do it yourself.

Try fire lapping that bore……snicker, snicker……giggle…..BAHAHAHAHHAHA.

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Originally Posted by shooting on a shoestring

Try fire lapping that bore……snicker, snicker……giggle…..BAHAHAHAHHAHA.

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we dont need another "70,000 wadcutters in a single gun" article here.

new cartridge here..

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Originally Posted by Winger Ed.

It'd be a good project to research on how to fix it, then do it yourself.

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Agreed, I am going to make a practice barrel for something to see if I can make a liner and then fit it in a barrel I bored out. Does anyone know what the wall thickness of the liner needs to be, it would be nice to actually know what size to bore out the current barrel. What size reamer and can I do it all in one go?

Tim

I'd check the Brownell's catalog. They may have some barrel liners more or less ready to go.
If there is different wall thicknesses, call & ask 'em what they recommend or sell the most of for what you're doing.

the timing issue could just be the part that rotates the cylinder is worn down and needs to be replaced,
or built back up and maybe heat treated (again).