My J-frame Journey

[45sRfun]

I think you are right to stay away from any abrasives. And good idea with the dowel to determine the culprit.

I am sure it will run .38+P alright but you bought a .357 and it should run those too! I am rooting for you to get it worked out.

Yea, I want it to run .357s for sure. Stopped at gun shop today and they saw the expanded cases. I will test it further with some more .357s next range trip. Then back to S&W for repair. Gun shop said they would handle sending and receiving if I get the shipping label. I know the routine, call S&W, explain problem, they send label.

I have a bad track record on sending in guns. Sent a Charter Arms in for a mangled cylinder stop and they did not fix that but did some other work on it. Sent a 442 to S&W for a weak firing pin (had misfires with CCI primers) and instead they fixed the yoke that as far as I know was working fine.

Just gave it some bore cleaner in the chambers and let it soak for about 15 minutes per the instructions then cleaned the chambers out with some CLP. Also picked some tiny copper shavings out of the ejector star area, presumably from scraping the cases when I had to dislodge them while hung up on the star. With the dowel, I should avoid that.

 

[45sRfun]

A customer in the gun shop also has a 340PD and said you really don't want to even shoot 125 grain .357s. I said the gun is marked to not use less than 120 grain. He replied, that he has seen erosion even on higher than 120 grain and recommended to stick with something closer to 158 grain.

Owner's Manual says,

CAUTION: Do not use Magnum loads with bullet weights of less than 120 grains - This will reduce the possibility of premature erosion in titanium alloy cylinders.

The key phrase here seems to be "reduce the possibility" not "eliminate the possibility," so I think that customer is right. To avoid erosion, one wants to stay well above 120 grains.