Rossi .357 - sticky chamber

[PolarFBear]

New to me older Rossi revolver model M971, blued. It is a fine shooting revolver with both 38 and 357. It has one sticky chamber the requires a good tap from a "range" hammer for extraction. I started to get familiar with the gun with 38's. No problems. Stepped up to .357's, and found a single chamber on the cylinder to be hard to extract. I tried a 38 in that chamber and no problem? Back to a .357 and needed the "whack". Now what? How to I make that chamber usable? I can continue to use it as a range 5-shooter, but I would like to make all six reliable. Suggestions?

 

[Nodak1858]

Could be a ring of crud in the chamber from shooting the shorter cased 38 special rounds. Scrub it out well with a bronze brush and some solvent see if that helps.

 

[ligonierbill]

I don't have the info at hand, but you can get a little kit that allows you to polish the chamber, basically a pad and mild abrasive that runs on a hand drill. I used one to polish the throats on a revolver.

 

[T. O'Heir]

Sounds like crud to me too. Should come out with no fuss using a .45 calibre brush.
Kind of odd it'd be just one cylinder. You have any machinists measuring tools? Specifically an inside micrometer set? Or know somebody who does. (Do not buy 'em. They're really friggin' expensive.) I'm wondering if that cylinder got damaged some how. It'd be within 1/10" of the end of the cylinder. Isn't likely though.
Either way, clean first.

 

[SIGSHR]

Yes, a good cleaning, and if there is still a problem I would polish by hand. Allows more control, and i have found very GENTLE polishing is usually all that's needed.

 

[Jim Watson]

Plan A, scour out the dreaded .38-.357 Carbon Ring.
A fitted scraper can be made by running a .357 case over the expander plug until the flared mouth is a tight fit in the chamber.

Plan B, check for a "jugged" chamber from an overload.

 

[PolarFBear]

Thanks for the replies. I have "scoured" the chambers and the bore. No noticeable ridge. But I can see a witness ring for both the .38 and .357 rounds. Maybe it was the PMC brand .357's that caused the problems. I noticed a distinct ring at the web of the PMC fired cases much like what I find on my 303 British rounds. No unusual adverse primer marks. I'll try another brand and my own hand loads. I do not have any fancy measuring devices other than a Franklin digital caliper and a cheap micrometer. I did a visual inspection with a 10x lupe; nothing adverse seen. I have jugged a J-frame S&W 640. I could view a "wavering" light line on the bad cylinder. Don't see anything like that on the Rossi. I tell you you can really see those tooling marks with a 10x lupe!

 

[F. Guffey]

I do not know but there are not many tools I do not have like blind end micrometers and or ball micrometers. There is a remote chance the problem with the bad cylinder was caused by something going wrong in one of the chambers to either side of that chamber.

F. Guffey

 

[PolarFBear]

For F. Guffey & Sigsur and others: What method do you suggest to polish the chambers? Flitz, Semi-Chrome or something more aggressive like crocus cloth? Never "polished" anything to remove or "smooth" metal, only did it for appearances.

 

[F. Guffey]

to polish the chambers?

First: I would want to determine how much stock removal was necessary. I would check the 6 fired cases that were removed to determine the difference in diameter, before polishing I would want to know if the cylinder was straight.

F. Guffey

 

[PolarFBear]

Took it to the "gun doctor" this afternoon. He saw no "jugging" nor 38 ring. It'll get a chamber polish and then ???? Thanks.

 

[4V50 Gary]

You can do that yourself with a polishing stick. Get a rod of brass and cut a slot down the center. Insert a very fine (400 grit) emery paper. Chuck into a drill. Remember, the larger the diameter of the rod, the less "walking" it will do.