Maven
Well-Known Member
I cleaned 2 of my revolvers the other day (S & W Mod. 10, 4" HB; Ruger SBH 10.5" bbl.) after firing 200 rounds in the former and 100 in the latter and was surprised to find no forcing cone or bore leading in the SBH, but less so with the S & W as it rarely leads at all. I was using as cast Lee SWC-TL's (.358" in the Smith & .4295" in the Ruger) lubed with Lar's Xlox, but not water dropped or heat treated in any manner. The loads were 4.4gr.- and 8.0gr. Unique, respectively, ignited by MagTech SP and Wolf LP primers, again, respectively.
What's surprising is that the SBH normally leaves enough lead in the forcing cone to be annoying, but not enough to compromise accuracy. Moreover, although that gun does best with .431" CB's, it's still impressively accurate with the slightly smaller diameter Lee SWC-TL design. In case you're wondering, I beagled my Lee 6 cav. SWC-TL mold, which -> .434" droppings. When sized to .431", they were more accurate than their slightly smaller brethren. Ah..., but there's the rub: Who wants to size and lube a CB designed to be cast, tumble lubed, loaded, and then fired? Ergo, the beagling tape was removed and the mold returned to normal.
Btw, as I'm not at home now and don't have access to my usual presses, I have to rely on the very small and somewhat delicate Lee press for loading both the .38Spl. and .44Mag. rounds that I use on the indoor range here in FL. Since said press doesn't really have the strength to crimp the larger rounds, I've take to taper crimping both the .38's and .44's and have had "0" problems and no reduction in accuracy that I can see. Previous work with a chronograph revealed no meaningful difference in velocity v. crimped rounds, all else being equal of course. Just something you may want to think about with lighter loads.
What's surprising is that the SBH normally leaves enough lead in the forcing cone to be annoying, but not enough to compromise accuracy. Moreover, although that gun does best with .431" CB's, it's still impressively accurate with the slightly smaller diameter Lee SWC-TL design. In case you're wondering, I beagled my Lee 6 cav. SWC-TL mold, which -> .434" droppings. When sized to .431", they were more accurate than their slightly smaller brethren. Ah..., but there's the rub: Who wants to size and lube a CB designed to be cast, tumble lubed, loaded, and then fired? Ergo, the beagling tape was removed and the mold returned to normal.
Btw, as I'm not at home now and don't have access to my usual presses, I have to rely on the very small and somewhat delicate Lee press for loading both the .38Spl. and .44Mag. rounds that I use on the indoor range here in FL. Since said press doesn't really have the strength to crimp the larger rounds, I've take to taper crimping both the .38's and .44's and have had "0" problems and no reduction in accuracy that I can see. Previous work with a chronograph revealed no meaningful difference in velocity v. crimped rounds, all else being equal of course. Just something you may want to think about with lighter loads.
