Posted: 10/12/2013 12:54:37 PM EDT
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What should I be shooting in this thing?
I have been reading that the lighter/faster loads are a problem for these guns. Beats them up and so forth. Any truth to this? |
| They are intended for most of the shooting to be with 38 level loads. Regular use of 357 level will beat them up quickly, that's why Ruger came out with the Service Six, S&W the 'L' frames, and similar for Colt. These are sort of 'medium plus' guns rather than the previous 'medium or large' frames. |
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Quoted:
What should I be shooting in this thing? I have been reading that the lighter/faster loads are a problem for these guns. Beats them up and so forth. Any truth to this? Yes. Too many light and fast loads will crack the forcing cone. The Model 19 is essentially a .38 revolver slightly scaled up for occasional .357 use. The flat at the bottom of the forcing cone is a weak spot. Lighter load .357s with their shorter OAL allow the hot gasses and burning power to heat up the forcing cone more than heavier loads. I mostly shoot any .38 load in my 19 with the occasional 158 gr 357 loads. |
| Many years back, when we started shooting full 50-60rd qualification courses with full-house 125gr Magnum loads, we did have a rash of split frames with our M19s and M66's. IIRC we had a half dozen or so split over two years. We switched to the 145gr Silvertips and never had any more problems. |
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A probable contributing factor to cracked forcing cones was that most of the guns with cracks also had badly fouled forcing cones.
S&W thought that the lack of proper maintenance contributed to the problem. For this reason, even if you shoot only jacketed bullets, buy a Lewis Lead Remover Kit from Brownell's and use the forcing cone cleaning head. This will not only remove leading, it will also remove carbon and copper build up. Second, use heavier bullets like the 135 grain and above for most Magnum shooting. Use the hot 125 grain loads for "business", and practice with ,38 Special or .38 Special +P. A good "simulator" for 357 Magnum loads that are safe for the "K" frames is the Buffalo Bore .38 Special +P, lead gas check, semi-wadcutter, hollow point. This is a HOT +P load that's at near Magnum levels, and uses a soft lead bullet with a gas check to prevent leading. This is also an excellent choice as a defense load in a Magnum revolver, being essentially todays version of the old .38-44 hot load. |