Reaming 22 Revolver Chambers.

[BN]

I've been fighting sticky extraction on my LCR 22 as well as my S&W 43c. I've cleaned and cleaned with poor results. I want to be able to fire and reload a bunch of rounds without cleaning in between. Others have reported the same poor extraction with the 43c.

@AzShooter has reamed the cylinder on his guns and I found a good thread with pictures on the Smith & Wesson forum. http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-rev...ng-report.html

So, I ordered all the stuff to do it myself. I'll report back with the results.

I'm going to sacrifice the LCR first because it's the worst, even after a trip back to Ruger where they replaced the cylinder. It's better now, but I'm still having a problem with the quality ammo I want to use.

Adding a picture just because posts are more interesting with pictures.

[Super77]

Not exactly the whole chamber, but I had the throats done on a set of 629s so that the forcing cone, not the throat swages the bullet down. I had really good results with that in terms of accuracy and leading. I'd love to know if the same works with .22!

[BN]

I started wondering about the aluminum cylinder in the 43c???? Is it safe to ream?

[Bruce Cartwright]

I've been fighting sticky extraction on my LCR 22 as well as my S&W 43c. I've cleaned and cleaned with poor results. I want to be able to fire and reload a bunch of rounds without cleaning in between. Others have reported the same poor extraction with the 43c.

@AzShooter has reamed the cylinder on his guns and I found a good thread with pictures on the Smith & Wesson forum. http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-rev...ng-report.html

So, I ordered all the stuff to do it myself. I'll report back with the results.

I'm going to sacrifice the LCR first because it's the worst, even after a trip back to Ruger where they replaced the cylinder. It's better now, but I'm still having a problem with the quality ammo I want to use.

Adding a picture just because posts are more interesting with pictures.

BN:

Hopefully your efforts will pay off. I am aware of more than one shooter who has had extraction difficulties with 22 Long Rifle revolvers. What I cannot figure out is why 22 LR revolvers suffer from such extraction maladies but the typical 22 LR autopistol runs like the proverbial sewing machine. I have seen multiple examples of Ruger Mark IIs and IVs that routinely and reliably feed, fire and extract a huge variety of "bulk pack" style (read cheap/inexpensive) ammo. If Ruger can build that level of reliability into an autopistol, it would seem to follow that they could do the same with their revolvers. I'd love to be educated as to why this difference exists.

Thanks for your post.

Bruce

[jh9]

I don't think it's safe to ream an aluminum cylinder. Maybe someone can correct me, but I think the only hard part is the anodized skin. I spoke to Walter Birdsong about doing Black-T on an aluminum Colt some years (or decades, whatever) ago and IIRC he called out explicitly that they do not remove the anodized finish on aluminum parts due to strength. I think that's still true in general. I think most places that do finish work on aluminum either don't remove the anodizing or re-anodize after any work and then plate / paint / whatever on top.

But then, .22lr isn't exactly high pressure so maybe you can get away with it. How cheap is a replacement cylinder?

[314159]

I shoot a 617 that I keep a small wooden block with to tap the ejection rod and loosen the cases.

That is ridiculous on any level.

All the usual cures have been tried (different brands of ammo, aggressive de-leading/cleaning). Next comes just polishing all ten chambers, that should be a real time sink. Let us know how this works! Particularly with regards to accuracy.

[farscott]

Aluminum cylinders should not be finish reamed as the reaming will expose soft aluminum which can be scored by brass and powder debris from firing. That scoring can make extraction more difficult.

As for why autoloaders do not suffer from extraction, the extraction force required to be provided by the rearward moving bolt on one round is much less than that of extractor star on five or six rounds. Even if the extractor force required for a single round is the same in each design, the revolver requires five or six times as much force due to the need to simultaneously extract five or six rounds. The autoloading bolt moves much faster than the extractor does and gets a good impulse from the blowback operation. That impulse and speed is akin to smacking the extractor rod to break the case free from the chamber walls.

[BN]

I did it. I reamed the chambers on the Ruger LCR. It's much better now.

The reamer didn't have to cut very much. I couldn't really see any chips. I think it just cleaned up a few rough spots. A couple chambers seemed like it felt like it was cutting more.

Before, I had to clean every cylinder full if I wanted easy extraction. I just fired 4 cylinders full of Velocitor, 5 1/2 of Mini Mags, 2 of Punch and 2 of Stinger without cleaning and had easy extraction with all of them.

I haven't decided if I'm going to do the aluminum cylinder on the 43c or not. It works ok with Velocitors, which is what I carry in it.

[AzShooter]

Glad it worked out for you.

[Catshooter]

Excellent results. Just remember to never, ever let the reamer rotate backwards. Not even a little bit. You can roll the cutting edges right over.

Using the reamer like you are, you'd be removing very little metal. Just a few little chips on some of the flutes would be about it.

I think I would skip the 43C. Isn't it's cylinder aluminum? Even being gentle (as you were with the Ruger) I would be afraid of removing at least some of the anodizing. That could be less than ideal.