Will 110 gr hurt my GP100 OR bLACKHAWK 357

[fbks ak]

I always shoot 158 gr in my 357s. Went to the px
Yesterday and saw 2 boxes of 357 amo on the shelf
so bought it at a good price. When I got home found
out it was 110 gr. I heard that k frame smiths some times
hurt the forcing cone when 110gr is fired. Will this hurt my Rugers?
Thanks for the help. Tom

 

[Bunk40]

Is your ammo full power .357 or a mid-power load? Full power light (110 grain) bullet loads can give you some flame cutting of the top strap of you shoot a fair number of them. I don't believe a couple of boxes would be a problem. This is what I've read on the gun sites. The only .357 I use are Remington Golden Sabers (mid-power).

 

[fbks ak]

No it's Winchester white box personal protection
hollow point. Thanks again for the info.......Tom

 

[DGW1949]

If it's Winchester ammo, then it's loaded with ball powder. As I recall, it was flyweight bullets 'n ball powder that was reported as causing the "problem".
Will it "hurt my GP100 or Blackhawk .357"?.....I dunno.
Would I shoot it my own Blackhawk?....yeah, and it wouldn't worry me a bit.

DGW

 

[Deadeye]

If it's Winchester ammo, then it's loaded with ball powder. As I recall, it was flyweight bullets 'n ball powder that was reported as causing the "problem".
Will it "hurt my GP100 or Blackhawk .357"?.....I dunno.
Would I shoot it my own Blackhawk?....yeah, and it wouldn't worry me a bit.

DGW

Good, I just ordered 3 box's of it for a GP100 I'm buying.. If you can't shoot it in a Ruger, what can you shoot it in??

 

[Rumrunner]

Also from what I remember reading is dont see how fast you can rapid fire when shooting these. As your gun heats up there is more chance for damage to occur. Not sure how true this is but I read it somewhere.

 

[eveled]

I know it is a concern on the air weight smith&wessons, due to the material the frame is made of. I doubt it would hurt a stainless or steel gun. Ed

 

[pisgah]

Folks usually respond vigorously when I say this, but... the flame-cutting issue is grossly over-exagerrated, and in your GP-100 there will be absolutely no problem.

 

[mattsbox99]

I agree with pisgah, it would take about 3 million rounds before you chewed through that topstrap.

 

[22/45 Fan]

Folks usually respond vigorously when I say this, but... the flame-cutting issue is grossly over-exagerrated, and in your GP-100 there will be absolutely no problem.

+100. Actually the "Flame Cutting" issue first came to light with very hot loaded 125 grain .357 loads when used extensively in K-frame S&W's. The L-frame was developed to avoid that issue and the GP-100 is at least as tough as an L-frame.

BTW, If you look at the manufacture's spec sheets, most 110 gr .357 mag ammo is pretty lightly loaded compared to 125 grain stuff. Remington's 110 load is listed with an MV of 1290 fps while their 125 gr load is listed at 1450 fps. Why this is the case I'm not sure but it's been that way as long as I've been reading gun literature.

 

[IraIII]

With the S&W revolvers it was forcing cone cracks at the bottom in the K-frame revolvers when firing light fast bullets that was the issue. The design of the K-frames has a flat om the bottom of the barrel/forcing cone, and this caused stress at that point, and cracks due to heating, and high speed bullet impact. The L-frame, and the J-frame were designed without this flat for crane clearance, and that is why they do not suffer the forcing cone cracks. You will not have any problems with your Rugers as the Six series are as strong as the L-frame S&W, and the GP100 is even stronger. Any revolver will suffer Flame cutting on the topstrap, due to the barrel cylinder gap, but this is usually self limiting, it will be visible but not get any worse. Flame cutting is worse with high pressure loads such as .357 Magnum, and will be less with low pressure loads such as .38 Special.

 

[Dienekes]

Back in the day I put a LOT of .38 Special +P+ 110s through .38s and .357s without forcing cone damage. That did not extend to airweight J frames as I knocked one out of time with those "Treasury Loads", necessitating a trip back to the factory for it. But in all steel medium frame guns it worked fine. However that load fell out of favor in the late 80s for lack of penetration and knockdown power.

It was replaced in my agency by requiring .357s and the 110 gr.Magnum load. It had more horsepower than the prior .38 load without too much recoil. No problems with forcing problems that I ever heard. But a couple of years later we went to the 125 grain tactical nuke load; no question as to its effectiveness, but plenty of recoil. I also wound up replacing the barrels on two Ruger "Sixes" from forcing cone erosion. But then I was an instructor and we shot the stuff up by the case.

I view the claims that the L frame and GP revolvers will not erode with a degree of skepticism; steel is steel. But I do not doubt that the guns will hold up to this or any other load longer than the lighter ones. I also still like the .357/125 flamethrower load a lot; I still use it but sparingly.

Just my opinion.

 

[pisgah]

I view the claims that the L frame and GP revolvers will not erode with a degree of skepticism; steel is steel. But I do not doubt that the guns will hold up to this or any other load longer than the lighter ones. I also still like the .357/125 flamethrower load a lot; I still use it but sparingly.

Just my opinion.

Erosion happens with every load fired from every revolver. Guns like the gp-100, Blachawk or 686, though, will go through thousands upon thousands of rounds before that erosion even gets close to being a problem. Anyone doing that kind of shooting will eventually wear out whatever wheelgun they are shooting, with whatever load.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

That Winchester 110gr ammo will leave a mark on the topstrap of your GP. How bad the cutting will be depends on how much you shoot. I noticed some cutting after 50 rounds and stopped shooting the stuff. No problem with the forcing cone though. The forcing cone of a Ruger is much stronger than the old K-frame Smiths. :shock: :shock:

 

[JB696]

I have an SP101 .38 Special purchased new in 1990. It has been rebuilt three times, replacing all of the internal parts except the hammer and the trigger. It's been re-sprung and re-crowned a few times. I installed a new barrel in 2005 because the rifling was so worn that it wouldn't spin a bore brush when one was shoved through it. The accuracy wasn't so hot anymore either.

This gun may have seen a few boxes of factory 130 grain ammo back in the days when it was cheap. But everything else has been my handloads, all of it 125 grain JHP's with either 6.0 or 6.5 grains of W231. By tabulating the number of these rounds recorded in my loading log, and subtracting the amount fired in my other SP101's over the last twenty years, I can honestly say that this particular gun has fired over 11,000 rounds of 125 grain bullets.

I also have a GP100 which doesn't get shot much. It has fired exclusively 125 grain bullets as well because that's what I stock for the SP101's. For the GP, .357 cases, 125 JHP's and 9.5 grains of Unique. So far only 2000 rounds fired, but let's get out the brass bristle brush, some solvent and a 10X magnifier and have a look at both guns.

On the GP100 there is a slight line of carbon between the top of the forcing cone and the top strap. Apparently after the last shoot I used the excuse, "I'm going to be shooting this again soon, so no need to go overboard on the cleaning". So I didn't get that carbon off last time. But now,after a good cleaning, all that I can see is shiny, clean stainless steel. If any molecules of metal have been burned off of the top strap you will need a better magnifier than I have to see it.

Now on to the old workhorse, my 11,000 round SP101. This one's got me worried. If that top strap is getting ready to give way I could end up with a piece of gun frame stuck in my forehead if it blows. There's no carbon to clean off so I wipe it off with a Q-tip and solvent. Then I put it under the high intensity light and take a look with the 10X magnifier. SON-OF-A-XXXXX!!!!!!!!!!! There it is. I can see a line. It's not really a groove. If I slide my finger nail back and forth over it I can't feel any kind of depression. What the? I can see it but I can't feel it. I'd take a picture of it but I don't think anything would show up.

It's like you took a nice new dime and held it flat up against the forcing cone. Then, while pushing the dime down so that the serrated edge is pressing on the top strap, spin the dime about half a turn. That's what the mark in the top strap looks like. I'm not going to dig out all of my other SP101's to check them right now. Maybe this afternoon. :wink:

 

[WESHOOT2]

To limit top-strap erosion simply take a soft pencil and 'pencil' in that top-strap area of concern.
One can also use the more durable Brownells Action Magic II.