Skid Roper Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Got a brand new Uberti cattleman sometime back as I continue on the long trail of saving and purchasing CAS guns. Took it out and put 100 through it, and noticed the empty cases would stick in the cylinder and were hard for the ejector rod to punch out. Figured this was just the newness of the gun, and the problem would dissipate after more rounds were fired and it was "broken in". Alas I've put several hundred more rounds (all factory) through it and almost half the time the cases still stick. Is this a common problem? Could it be solved with a little polishing from 0000 steel wool and a dowel? Any suggestions for a fella are much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rance - SASS # 54090 Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 They make "chamber brushes" for cleaning out the cylinders in our revolvers.. Might ought to invest in some if you don't have any.. When fired... a lot of the blow back goes back into the cylinders... Hence the words... "Cleaning guns" Rance Thinkin' first place I'd look Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skid Roper Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 Happily have a spotless pistol in this case, as are the rest of my firearms, cleaned and oiled after every time out. Occams razor tells us the simplest theories are usually better, but I'm afraid it's something more than a dirty gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Sure, you can polish the chambers in a revolver cylinder. Several combinations of tools, abrasives and techniques will work. I've never needed to. Shotguns, yes. But not revolvers. Are you shooting factory loads? Most folks in CAS don't, and the lighter loads are one reason their empties fall out by gravity. Look at the chamber walls with a good light. If you see rough walls, from a dull chambering reamer, yes, you might need to polish them up. One of the easier polishing techniques is a chamber-sized cleaning brush on one length of a segmented cleaning rod, wind some steel or bronze wool around the bristles, slather with a little baking-powder-loaded toothpaste, and spin the brush in each chamber for a count of ten with a drill motor at low to moderate speed. Don't take more metal out of the chambers at the front than you do at the back or you make the problem worse. Clean up the mess, try firing and extracting a few rounds, repeat until you get smooth operation. Good luck, GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Boy Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Brett, let's start with the ammunition: * Factory loads as Joe asked? Reloads? If so: * BP or Smokeless * Bullet diameter * Any Blow back? I don't shoot smokeless but unless my BP reloads with 454 bullets for the 45 Colt are not HARD crimped, the blow back will create spent cases that the ejector rod has a tough time ejecting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Shadow Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Wonder if it's not a factory machining problem/defect. I have 4 cattleman revolvers. 2 in .45 and 2 in .357. Point them at the sky and rotate the cylinder and the cases fall out. Not sure I've ever used the ejector. My ruger ,on the other hand, often needs a little push. SS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dapper Dynamite Dick Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I bought "Flex Hones" from Brownells and polished the chambers of both mine and my wifes revolvers and never had a problem after that. One every couple of years I touch them up, to ensure I never have problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skid Roper Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 Factory loads, yes. Smokeless, yes. 250 grain, if that matters any, from the folks at Sellier and Bellot. Their specs say they should fly somewhere in the 900 FPS range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Texas Jack Black Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Make it easy on yourself The gun is noted for having tooling marks in the cylinder .Get the tools from Brownells and polish the walls. T J B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skid Roper Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 Thanks for the prompt advice, fellers. I'll give the toothpaste/steel wool remedy a try first as I have those things on hand, if not I'll have to order that tool. Here's to me keepin' on keepin' on getting my bills paid and saving up, one day I hope to be out there in the midst of you all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Fingered Fred 59408 Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I slotted a wooden dowel and used worn 400 wet/dry to polish the holes on a Ruger. After this cases ejected OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adirondack Jack, SASS #53440 Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 S&B loads tend to run hotter than anything yer likely to use for CAS. You still might have a tiny bit of roughness in the chambers, but with "normal" CAS loads you won't know it as our cases are unlikely to expand much if at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Boy Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Brett, in the beginning of this game, for $25 a gun, I sent my OM RVSSBH 45's for a 'throat job'. They were reamed 0.4545 and shooting BP, I just need to bounce the end of the grip and the shells drop. A consideration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Norsk Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 A friend had a new virginia dragoon SS 44 mag, he was loading blue dot heavy loads and the cases needed to be hammered out of the cylinder, I tried his loads in my Ruger super and the cases fell from the cylinder. His chambers looked very smooth and burnished, mine were rough and not burnished. I think his chambers were jugged oversize in the center. GN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Mushman Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Occams razor tells us the simplest theories are usually better, but I'm afraid it's something more than a dirty gun. I like simple, and keep remindin' myself to keep it that way. But my razors don't talk to me and I ain't gonna borrow someone else's I just think: KISS Harvey Who enjoyed the reference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283 Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 His chambers looked very smooth and burnished, mine were rough and not burnished. I think his chambers were jugged oversize in the center. GN Howdy That is a very good point. Over zealous polishing of chambers can make things worse, if the end result is the mid point of the chambers winds up being wider in diameter than the rearmost point. When cases swell to fit the wider area they have to be forced past the narrower end. Plus, if you open up the chambers too much you are setting up the situation for more blowback on your cases. Personlly, when I am at the reloading table I always get a kick out of guys who show up and never use the extractor rod, but repeatedly bang the butt of their gun on the table. After three or four whacks on the table I will politely point out that their pistol is equipped with an extractor rod. Cases should not have to be forced out, but neither should they necessarily drop out when you open the loading gate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Rick Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Brett, Are your cylinders "dry"? Oil in the cylinders may make it more difficult to extract an empty cartridge. While most of my empties will fall out, sometimes I have to use the ejector rod - and sometimes with a little more effort than others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubious Don #56333 Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 I bought "Flex Hones" from Brownells and polished the chambers of both mine and my wifes revolvers and never had a problem after that. One every couple of years I touch them up, to ensure I never have problems. Flex hones are abrasive. They will polish (removes metal) and make you chambers pretty slick. Use them too much, you make a 45 into a 46...or 47. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Kiowa Jones #6765 Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Got a brand new Uberti cattleman sometime back as I continue on the long trail of saving and purchasing CAS guns. Took it out and put 100 through it, and noticed the empty cases would stick in the cylinder and were hard for the ejector rod to punch out. Figured this was just the newness of the gun, and the problem would dissipate after more rounds were fired and it was "broken in". Alas I've put several hundred more rounds (all factory) through it and almost half the time the cases still stick. Is this a common problem? Could it be solved with a little polishing from 0000 steel wool and a dowel? Any suggestions for a fella are much appreciated. The problem is most likely the ammo. One way to tell is if the cases are smutted up, which is fairly common with most CAS 45lc ammo. In a cartridge gun the brass case is supposed to act like a gasket to seal the breech end when fired. The brass case is supposed to obdurate or swell up enough to seal. The problem with 45lc is some where around the time that the makers were going from black powder to smokeless propellant the specs for 45lc ammo got changed. In the black powder era 45lc bullets could be as large as .456”. But, at some point the bullet sizes were reduced to around .452”. 45LC CHAMBER AND CARTRIDGE DEMENSIONS I suspect they did this once they went to the more powerful smokeless powder to keep the pressure down in the older black powder era guns. But, with our down loaded CAS ammo the brass cases don’t obturate to seal the chamber what happens is the fouling gets blown back around the brass wedging it in the chamber. I truely believe the IMR folks came out with their Trailboss powder just to combat this. A good book charge of Trailboss and a 250 grain bullet crimped well in a Win or Starline case seems to be the solution for some folks, Win or Starline cases being somewhat softer brass than most of the others. The bottom line here is before you start honing those chambers try different ammo because honing can actually make thinks worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griff Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Happily have a spotless pistol in this case, as are the rest of my firearms, cleaned and oiled after every time out.Occams razor tells us the simplest theories are usually better, but I'm afraid it's something more than a dirty gun. Pssst... try lighter loads. Just because the rules allows us up to 1000fps in the pistols... doesn't mean we have to press that envelope. Try loadin' some in the neighborhood of 700fps or so... bein's they's .45 they'll still make that 60 PF (power factor) and should drop outta your chambers like eggs off a buttered skillet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Checotah Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 You could rule out the ammo issue by borrowing a few rounds from another cowboy at the range. What? You aren't going to the range?! By all means do so, talk to the folks, and I'm sure they will be more than happy to give you a few rounds to try. They probably will also encourage you to join them shooting. Usually several cowboys will be happy to loan you a gun or two or three while you're gathering your own and share their carts. Polite thing to do is bring your own ammo, and offer to push the cart. Never underestimate the friendliness and helpfullness of a cowboy (or cowgirl). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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