ruger sp 101

[alwayscarry]

I have just bought a ruger sp 101 357 mag and I have noticed that when I load the gun and try to close it the corner of the gunwhere the fireing pin comes through is rubbing the shells just a little bit is this normal or something that needs to be adjusted or sanded down

 

[I_Like_Pie]

Have you shot .38 special in this gun or have you bought it used?

I am betting that someone was shooting a lot of .38 special (which is a shorter cartridge) and the carbon and grime from shooting is preventing your cartridges from easily sliding all the way into the cylinder.

Even if you clean the gun like normal there can be a carbon ring in the end of the cylinder near where the bullet rests. It is almost impossible to see, but if there were specials shot...it is there. I would suggest getting a couple of q-tips soaked with a good gun cleaner and swab the inside of each cylinder hole really wet. Let it soak for a couple of hours and then hit the same holes with a good copper/brass (not plastic - they make them to look deceivingly like metal) bore bruch to cut the fouling. Then soak it again and hit it with the brush and clean it up again.

Those cartridges "Should" just drop right in there.

Let us know how it goes. This is actually a problem that most ever revolver shooter has...especially with .38/357.

 

[alwayscarry]

thanks for the help. the cylender looks clean but you are correct it is almopst like the shells are not seating all the way. I will try it and see if that works

 

[Jimbo357mag]

Make sure it is clean under the ejector star, as well as giving the chambers a good scrub-down. Some ammo can be out of spec and have too big or warped case heads also.

...Jimbo

 

[berettapistols]

I made myself a scraper from a spent 357 Brass Case that I drilled the primer pocket out to accept a 8/32 screw & put a nut on the outside & cut the bolt down so I could attache it to a cleaning rod, I then expanded the case & sharpened the inside casemouth with a tapered reamer & now have a great tool for starting the carbon removal process in 357 chambers..
The Smith & Wesson 686 I was cleaning had seen several hundred rounds of 38spl without the ledge being cleaned & was caked on something fierce.. I spent over two hours on the cylinder soaking it with Hoppes #9 with a Q-Tip & useing my "Tool" then a piece of Bronze Wool/Chore Boy around an old 30cal brush chucked in my cordless drill on slow speed + Lots of Hoppes got it all but spotless, I then followed up with the Brownells Flex Hones to give the chambers a very uniformed crosshatch pattern..
I bet I used 50 patches total..
I was looking down each chamber with an eye loupe with a borelight & could see all the carbon that had built up like a stairstep..
Thought I'd share the Tool made from a spent case..
It realy worked well, Much better than a Bore brush for getting the main burnt on carbon out of the cylinders holes..
Here's a Crappy Pic of it I took while doing the cleaning
Now I gotta make one up in 38 Super for cleaning my 940 after shooting 9mms..
Gary/Hk

 

[I_Like_Pie]

Wow gary...that is a novel way of cleaning it out....Will have to try. Thanks for sharing

 

[Par8head]

Great ideas for cleaning - also why I've started loading my .38's in .357 cases. Just bump your favorite .38 load about 10%. I'm using 3.2 Bullseye under 148 gr HBWC
Then when I shoot my big loads I just shoot them and don't worry about over pressure etc.