Taurus 66

[.357mag3]

Dan, sorry about the Px4 thread- I had done a search for Px4 and nothing came up so I didn't realize there were other threads.

The other day I was at SPAG and was shooting Sig 9mm and Taurus 66 .357 mag. When I was done shooting I noticed that the .357 mag (I believe) had left powder burns on my left cheek bone (I am right handed shooter). There were little chunks embedded in my skin. I also have Ruger GP100 in 4" barrel, and Ruger SP101 and I don't recall either of them doing this. I figure either:

1. I was holding the gun too close to my face, although it was two handed grip with arms extended, and I as I said I don't recall this with the Rugers- then again I haven't shot in a while;

2. The gun;

3. The ammo which I bought at the range (I think American Eagle).

Any thoughts? I also noticed with the Taurus that there seem to be slight variations in how easily the cartridges fit into the individual holes in the cylinder- some actually stick and are very difficult to extract- the cylinder is cleaned regularly so I don't think that is a problem. Would cheap ammo cause this problem?

[Rule10b5]

My first inclination is that your revolver has a timing issue. If the timing is off, the chambers will not properly align with the barrel. When the bullet leaves the case, it will slightly strike the face of the forcing cone, or just barely brush the inner edge of the forcing cone. A couple of things result.

First, you're going to get bits of bullet sprayed back at you. Second, you're going to get powder residue (that would have gone down the barrel cleanly) deflected back at your face.

The next time you're at the range, ask a range officer to check the timing (if you don't know how to do it yourself).

Some ammo (like american eagle) is dirty and more prone to powder sprayback. Could be what you have here.

Also check the cylinder gap. Excessive gap between the cylinder face and forcing cone gives more room for powder gas, etc. to spray out the gap.

[Rule10b5]

Oh, a very silly question I forgot to ask:

Are you sure you didn't just touch your left cheek with your hands after shooting?

[.357mag3]

Oh, a very silly question I forgot to ask:

Are you sure you didn't just touch your left cheek with your hands after shooting?

No not a silly question- it was definately not from touching my face- it was shot back with some force.

Thanks for the info.