Okay, all you wheely mavens on here, I've got a question/concern:

 

I just got an order of ammo in, and among it was a couple of boxes of Aguila .38 +P that--for economic reasons--I'll be shooting out of my newly-acquired S&W 686-6 .357. When I tried to load the cylinder I noticed I had to exert a bit of pressure to get the rounds to seat in properly. This bigger circumference than the .357 round, plus the shortness of the .38, has me a bit worried. Is this the norm for this round to not easily fit into the chambers of the cylinder?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Scott in Bayonne

Can't vouch for your Smith, but I used them in my 357 Python all the time. Use to use the S&W +Ps in mine. Never any probs like that.

 

Okay, all you wheely mavens on here, I've got a question/concern:

 

I just got an order of ammo in, and among it was a couple of boxes of Aguila .38 +P that--for economic reasons--I'll be shooting out of my newly-acquired S&W 686-6 .357. When I tried to load the cylinders I noticed I had to exert a bit of pressure to get the rounds to seat in properly. This bigger circumference than the .357 round, plus the shortness of the .38, has me a bit worried. Is this the norm for this round to not easily fit into the chambers of the cylinder?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Scott in Bayonne

 

 

Sent from John's iPad 2 via Tapatalk HD

Typos courtesy Apple...

The crimp could not be set properly, does the top of the brass look a little wider at all ? Or the rest of the case for that matter, is it all uniform ?

Scott:

 

Bullet and case diameter are the same as a .357. If you bought this used, or have shot .38 Spl through it before, I suspect that you just have a build-up of crud in the cylinder at the shoulder in the chamber. Since the only difference between .38 SPL and .357 Mag is case length, and the gun is chambered for .357 Mag, there is a shoulder in the chamber that corresponds with the length of the .357 case (the case mouth reaches the shoulder). With .38 Spl cases tha case mouth falls behind the shoulder and you get unburnt powder, lead, lubricant build up. This can make it really hard to chamber .357 rounds, but may also affect loading .38 Specials, as is probably the case with your problem. A brass brush, some Hoppes #9 and some elbow grease will probably remedy your problem.

 

Adios,

 

Pizza Bob

Bob's right!

 

And here's one more little tip from someone who's been a wheelgunner since the 70's: Go buy yourself a .40 caliber cleaning brush, and save it to use just in the chambers of the wheelgun's cylinder. A little extra "grab" of the bristles to loosen the crud ring! Also, use a toothbrush to get into the tops of the chambers and around the forcing cone on the revolver. Works wonders and saves loads of time too!

 

Dave

Thanks for the info and suggestions, guys. I've got Hoppe's and a new Otis Elite cleaning system. Between that and some elbow grease I'm sure the issue will get resolved.

Question,

 

Do .357s or other brands of .38s cause the same problem?

 

If its only this brand/batch don't shoot it.

 

My 686 had never had a problem like this, even after shooting round nose lead .38s

Okay, I've cleaned the chambers in the cylinder of my 686 until they are factory clean! STILL having issues inserting the Aguila loads in there. The last 1/4" of the round simply refuses to seat in the chamber. I should have mentioned it is Aguila SUPER A +P ammo, in case that makes a difference. I'm not a reloader (yet), but I believe this round is a semi-rimmed one, as the rim looks/feels slightly larger than the body.

 

Also, I checked a few other gun forums and came up with this discussion/answer on the S&W owners site (talking about .38 Super being used in other caliber wheelguns:

 

Yes, it will work, and I have done it. Usually people say it will not work for two reasons: First some will say it is a tapered case, which is incorrect. Second, they will say it is rimless, which is also incorrect. However, all factory 38 Super ammo will not work, and it will not work with many older Smith's (70's era).

 

The ammo it will work with in many Colt and S&W revolvers is Winchester and Magtech. Other factory ammo I have tried will not work, which includes Remington, PMC, UMC, Federal, Aguila, Armscor, and Fiocchi.

 

It will work in old and new N frames, newer Model 60's and all the K frame .38 and .357 I have tried. Note - so far I have shot it only from the N frames, but it will easily chamber and extract (with the rim) unfired in all the others mentioned. Also chambers in Pythons. Hope this helps some.

 

Best I can figure is my Smitty is mid-2000's vintage, and is, of course, an L-frame revolver, so I don't know where in the grand scheme of things I fit into any of the scenarios being discussed on this sites.

 

I thank you guys for providing the expertise and experience, and if anyone wants this box of ammo it's yours for $24's, LOL.

 

Thanks,

Scott in Bayonne

Just because no one blew-up a gun yet, doesn't mean that it's O-K to try. .38 Super is for .38 Super guns ONLY!

 

Gun forums are full of "Experts" who never fired a shot. Also--technically YOU can't sell ammo--it's a CRIME in NJ! So trade for it, or give it away!

 

Dave

40 years a Wheelgunner......

I would get different ammo and go from there.

Uh, yeah, that makes a difference. Only use the proper ammunition for the gun. .38 Super in a .357 magnum is NOT the proper ammunition. Here are the SAAMI Specs for the relevant cartridges...

 

.38 Special................17,000 PSI

.38 Special +P...........18,500 PSI

.357 Magnum............35,000 PSI

.38 Super +P.............36,500 PSI

 

Be careful of similar sounding caliber names.

 

Adios,

 

Pizza Bob

Well, it's shame on me for not doing my due diligence, but I'm still amazed at the amount of conflicting information out there on some revolver/S&W forums regarding the use of this cartridge in a .357 chambering. The rule of thumb among some of the posters is "if it fits, shoot it", which--quite frankly, sounds insane to me.

 

There are guys who swear it's no problem to use this hot freakin' load in their vintage S&W's, while other, more rational voices are basically YELLING "verboten", LOL.

 

I've already traded the ammo to a guy at work who has a sweet Colt he's gonna run it through, and in return I've got a lightly-used pair of noise-cancelling headphones to wear the next time I go to the range. Thanks again, guys!

 

Scott

Scott,

 

Glad to hear you traded the ammo.

 

In the future, do yourself a favor and just listen to Pizza Bob and I (as well as a few select others like Glenn P). We won't give you a bum steer or blow smoke up yer A$$ with dangerously BAD mis-information.

 

Just the facts, Joe Friday style (Dragnet), lol, and you do what you want with the answers. I'll say this though: Everybody that listened to us three was very satisfied with the knowledge gained. And like I said, there are a few more folks that are REAL Wheelgunners instead of BS Artisits, and it's O-K to listen to them too. No reason to go somewhere else and get wrong advice, so it's best to stay here!

 

Dave

Thanks, Dave,Pizza Bob and the other wheelmen on NJGF!

Also--technically YOU can't sell ammo--it's a CRIME in NJ! So trade for it, or give it away!

 

Care to cite that?

Care to cite that?

 

Partially going by what I've been told, AND partially remember reading law on it here. Several others whom I shoot with take it the same way as I do. May only be in regards to hollow points? Not sure, I've done so much reading the laws of late, I get a headache. I'll check into it over the weekend and try to find it. Maybe Bob knows about it?

 

If I'm wrong, or mis-read it, I apologize in advance. Just don't want anyone to get jacked-up. I will try to find where I read it and post here.

 

Dave

2C:58-3.3 is all about ammunition. No prohibition to sell as long as the purchaser is not a prohibited person and has the proper documentation (FPID etc) if it's handgun ammo.

 

Adios,

 

Pizza Bob

 

Moot point as the OP says it's gone already.

Nice to see some good advice for Scott. 38 Super is a different round than 38 Special and 38 Special +P- they make guns just FOR that round.

On the other hand...just listen to me, him, and him is a little rough too. Hopefully someone would ask a question and let the thread play out taking the best advice.

Anyway, there's a lot of BAD advice, a lot of wanna-be's, and a lot of people who just want to participate but don't know it all out there...so you have to take your time and research. The internet is a wonderful thing.

I'm glad I found this Stalag NJ forum because we really have a special situation here. We are truly oppressed, and it's good to hear the local news.

Thanks guys.

By the way...we have a 686 Plus and I believe it to be one of the all-time classics...7 rounds, SOLID machine and a flawless mechanism...really nice gun. The only trouble is it's actually registered to my wife and I can never get it clean enough for her.

2C:58-3.3 is all about ammunition. No prohibition to sell as long as the purchaser is not a prohibited person and has the proper documentation (FPID etc) if it's handgun ammo.

 

Adios,

 

Pizza Bob

 

Moot point as the OP says it's gone already.

 

Thanks Bob! Just one more thought: If I sell hand gun ammo to a forum member, am I supposed to check ID like as if it was bought in a store? And if so, what type of form do I fill-out? And are Gun Show ammo sales exempted? Maybe thats where the confusion came in, as a friend didn't want to sell me ammo, so he just gave some to me.

 

And again, I apologize for not reading the part about prohibited persons. How do private sellers determine whether or not someone is prohibited? Or is the law written in such a way as ONLY Gun Shops have to worry about that?

 

Dave

Dave:

 

That is what the FPID is for. I don't believe that you have to record anything as you're not a dealer. As long as the buyer displays his documentation to you.

 

Jay:

 

From what I understand, the Lead Wipe-Away cloth is terrific at getting stainless guns clean. DO NOT use it on a blued, or otherwise finished gun, or you will find out what "in the white" means. Stainless only.

 

Adios,

 

Pizza Bob

Bob,

You don't understand...Lead wipe away cloth be damned, (and used as hard as I can) it still ain't clean enough.

But thanks for the thought...they work wonders on stainless.