Stuck casing

**Autonomous** · November 1st, 2007, 12:36 AM

So i am relatively new to the wonderfull world of gun ownership and i had a slightly unsettling experience today. I went to the range this evening to get in some low light practice. Earlier i had purchased a bag of 357 mag SWC reloads (cause they were like $8 for 50 as apposed to dicks that had a "sale" for $10 more...sheesh). I have had this revolver for about a year and a half. It is a Rossi that i picked up second hand for a good deal. It may be nothing special to some but it was my first hand gun and still the one that keep by the bed. Anyway after putting about 18 rounds through as i was trying to drop out the empty casings they didn't come out. So i tryed to push the ejector (i know this may not be the correct name of the bar that forces out the empty so if there is a real name...) bar out and it was stuck. I ended up using my pocket knife to pop out the empties one by one. There was one that was really jammed in there and i had to use a piece of metal to force it out from the front of the chamber. It was bulged out at the base. I checked out the gun and decided to keep shooting the same ammo and had no problems. Could some one tell me why that happened? Also should i be concerned about the pistol?
-A

**XD45** · November 1st, 2007, 12:42 AM

was just the one case bulged? Did it seem that one went off with more kick than the other?? i'm thinking maybe there was a double powder charges or something like that. if you fired more and had no issues I wouldn't worry about it, but make sure you check real god in the barrel and cylinder for any bulges.

**Autonomous** · November 1st, 2007, 12:50 AM

yea XD it was just the one. i didnt notice if it went off with more bang but its more than possible. I gave it a real good cleaning when i got home and there seems to be no damage to the cilander or the barrel...
I thought it might be a case of i got cheap ammo cause it was cheap so i ended up with cheap ammo... but thought i would ask some folks that know more than me about such things...

**Xringshooter** · November 1st, 2007, 07:24 AM

You say you bought a "BAG" of ammo? Where did you buy it from? Was it marked as remanufactured ammunition (reloaded)? If so, the round that stuck may have had too much powder in it thus expanding the case more than usual.

Had you fired the gun prior to this? Did you have any other problems prior to this? If yes and no then I might lean towards the ammo being out of spec.

Also, you might want to measure each of the chambers in the cylinder to see if that one is slightly larger in diameter. If it is, the rounds in that chamber can expand more than normal and get stuck. A round, when fired, will expand to some degree and then contract back a little, depending on the elasticity of the metal. But, if the metal expands too much it can go beyond the threshold that it will contract enough to be ejected easily.

At this time however, I would probably suspect the ammo, especially if it was not factory loaded (although it is possible to get factory loaded that is "hotter" than normal).

**Autonomous** · November 1st, 2007, 10:12 AM

"Also, you might want to measure each of the chambers in the cylinder to see if that one is slightly larger in diameter. "

I was wondering what the proper way to measure the diameter of the chambers was. After i cleared all of the cylander chambers i took a live round and put it through the chambers to see if one was larger. It did not seem to be. So i tryed placing the gun in full lock up and visualy (previously making sure the gun was unloaded) checked to see if the chambers lined up with the barrle. Again it seemed to be. That is when i decided to put more ammo through the thing and see what happens. It was fine. I know there must be a more legit way of checking the actual diamiter of the cylander chambers.
I have fired the gun many times before. I had to have the firing pin replaced about two months after i got it. Not a problem after that. Seeing how it was my only gun for about a year i took it out about 3 times a month for at least a cuple of box o' ammo. Figured what good is a tool if you cant use it...
The lable did not say it was factory reloaded ammo. Like i said if ammo wasnt so expencive i would by the legit stuff for the range (i have found what i am comforatable with for the home defence rounds) but as it stands...
thanks for your responce...

**Xringshooter** · November 1st, 2007, 10:41 AM

There is a couple of ways to check the chambers.

If you have access to an inside micrometer or inside spring calipers and outside micrometer you can use these to measure the chamber.

If you have access to very soft lead that you can fill the chamber with and then tap it out with a dowel (be careful not to deform it as you tap it out), you can then measure it with a micrometer.

There is a chamber casting material called "Cerrosafe" (from Brownells) it melts around 150-190 deg F and is reusable. You seal off one end of the chamber, melt the material and fill the chamber. After it cools about a hour you can then tap it out and measure. This material is used a lot to make rifle chamber casings to get exact measurements of the chamber for a variety of reasons.

However, from what you explained I think it might just have been a hotter than normal load. You really have to be careful with any ammo that is not factory new or that you have reloaded (and insured that there are no double loads of powder, but that is a subject for the reloading threads)