Hi All!

I am considering a new .357 revolver and wonder if "Smith' has a custom shop option. I would rather pay extra (offer subject to change after learning of $$$) and have the gun 'right' from the factory. 99.99999 % would be low powered cast loads but I expect there would be a Jillion of them over the rest of my life.... Or should I order the gun and take a chance? Or buy a Ruger? I want everything 'right'. I am getting too old to mess with junk....

Opinions, comments, and off hand remarks welcome....

Dale

quote:

Originally posted by DE Hillyer:
Hi All!

I am considering a new .357 revolver and wonder if "Smith' has a custom shop option. I would rather pay extra (offer subject to change after learning of $$$) and have the gun 'right' from the factory. 99.99999 % would be low powered cast loads but I expect there would be a Jillion of them over the rest of my life.... Or should I order the gun and take a chance? Or buy a Ruger? I want everything 'right'. I am getting too old to mess with junk....

Opinions, comments, and off hand remarks welcome....

Dale

S&W has their Performance Center models. My shooting buddy has a M627 which is one heck of a shooter. Expect to pay somewhere around $750.00 or so.

Rick

Hi Rick!
Thanks for your reply. Do you know what 'they' do to them to make them shoot? Thanks, Dale

quote:

Originally posted by DE Hillyer:
Do you know what 'they' do to them to make them shoot?

I really don't know what special treatment they receive if any. I just know that his 627 will run circles around my 686.

Rick

If experimentation is considered fun by you, you might just start buying older Model 27s if the frame size is not an issue. Buy one, shoot it with a few decent loads and, if it doesn't shoot well enough, trade it, or sell it for a small loss and go on to the next one. I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that you wouldn't buy very many before you found a "screamer." A bit of pre-purchase exam and you can cut your shopping even further.

Hi All!

Well, I went and did it....I bought a model 67 .38 masterpiece. It shows great promise....Dale

quote:

Originally posted by DE Hillyer:
Hi All!

Well, I went and did it....I bought a model 67 .38 masterpiece. It shows great promise....Dale

Mind if I ask what you had to pay for it?

Rick

Hi Rick!

Everthing ( call in,fast delivery & all) was right at $550. I could have got it cheaper but this dealer (a friend) had made me some real deals before and I wanted him to make some money on this one. You might buy one for $500 +/- if you looked around.

I had forgot how much fun a good .38 is!

Oh. The holes in the end of the cylinder are ~.357....so the cylinder is swaging my cast bullets down before they get to the barrel. I wonder if honing to .358 would be a good thing? Or just shoot it a lot and let things smooth themselves out?

Dale

All good revolvers have the cylinder throats a bit "smaller" than the barrel. You are only talking about swaging down .0005" all the way around the bullet. In theory, the bullet, if smaller than groove diameter, will upset to fill the bore when the bright light hits the hole. If the cylinder throat is larger than groove diameter, the bullet starts out of the cyl and expands. Then it hits the forcing cone and is swaged down, in effect plugging the barrel. The expanding powder gases run pressures up way too high, and sometimes the topstrap gets blown off the revolver.
I have cast for about 20 years and shot cast far longer that that. If a .357 bullet is not too hard, and is sized .358", leading will be minimal and accuracy well above acceptable.
My .02 worth...

Doubless, not so. The throats MUST be .0005 OVER bore size for maximum accuracy. If the mans bore is .3565 or .356 and his throats are .357 he has the best setup. However if his bore is .357 or larger, then he is losing accuracy. Bump up is a fallacy that does not work! Putting a smaller then bore size boolit in the barrel will deform it, make it off center and gas cut it causing leading. His .358 boolits are fine as long as the throats are larger then the bore.
Witness the Ruger .45 Colts. Most have the throats too small and accuracy is dismal. Many gunsmiths including me make a good buck lapping or reaming out the throats. I can turn a gun that shoots three inch groups at 20 yd's into one that will shoot one inch at 50 and sometimes that out to 75 yd's.