.357 Blackhawk difficult extraction - PROBLEM SOLVED

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Ruark

New member
I recently started a thread about the empty cases being difficult to extract from a stainless .357 Blackhawk. I'm shooting a max (16.6) load of H110 and 158 gr. XTPs with SPM primers. I fixed the problem yesterday.

I got a felt polishing tip for my Dremel tool - it's tip #422:

images


These were the steps:

I cut the pointed part off, making it cylindrical. Then I installed it into the Dremel chuck deep enough that it wouldn't go into the throats, only the chambers.

Then I ran it against a piece of sandpaper for JUST a second, to reduce it enough to fit into the chamber.

Loaded it up heavily with chrome rouge - usually called 531 or CR1. Use minimum speed on the tool to do this.

I flipped it up to full speed (25,000 RPM) and polished the chamber for 3 or 4 minutes, moving it around steadily and evenly. It's VERY important to keep moving it around like this. I reloaded it with rouge several times during this process. You can't use too much.

Cleaned the chamber out with a brass brush and some Hoppe's #9. Dried that up with a few tight dry patches. Wow - looks like a mirror in there!!!

Mark that chamber with a Sharpie or stick in a little wad of paper.

Repeat for the other 5 chambers. Clean everything up, reinstall cylinder.

Presto - the fired cases almost fall out. Problem solved!

Thanks again for all the posts. There were a lot of good suggestions and advice from the forum, all very educational and appreciated.
 
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R

rclark

New member
The throat is at the end of each chamber in a cylinder. The chambers are where you load the cartridge. The bullet when fired enters the 'throat', then travels into the forcing cone of the barrel, and finally down the barrel. Hope that helps!

|CCCCCCCCCC|TT|
C chamber
T throat
 
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Ruark

New member
Yeah when you look inside the chamber from the rear, you can see the throat up near the front; it's about 1/4" wide. You can see a little ridge there at the edge of it.
 
N

NoSecondBest

New member
Yeah when you look inside the chamber from the rear, you can see the throat up near the front; it's about 1/4" wide. You can see a little ridge there at the edge of it.
Click to expand...
So what you're saying is that the chamber in the cylinder is wider where the bullet exits before it jumps into the barrel? If it is, why would you have to be careful not to polish it in that area?
 
S

spacecoast

New member
If it is, why would you have to be careful not to polish it in that area?
Click to expand...

That's not where the brass is sticking (it doesn't reach that far), so there's really no point in polishing there. The bullet's repeated exit has probably done a pretty fair job of polishing already.
 
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lashlaroe

New member
So what you're saying is that the chamber in the cylinder is wider where the bullet exits before it jumps into the barrel?
Click to expand...
No.

The chamber is wider (larger dia.) where the shell case sits and narrower (smaller dia.) at the throat, before entering the forcing cone of the barrel. Take a look at a revolver cylinder and you'll see what he means.

That is why you have to be careful not to polish in that area. ;)
 
J

James K

Member In Memoriam
The fact that the gun was used most probably has NO bearing on that issue; most likely the chambers were a bit rough as they came from the factory. In fact, that might have been the reason the previous owner traded the gun, so Ruark has done what the factory didn't do and has a better-than-new revolver.

Jim
 
G

gyvel

New member
Have you had any issues with swelled brass? Potentially, you could over-polish the chambers and make them oversize I would imagine.
 
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