[VaqueroVinnie]

Hello, this is my first post and I hope it's in the right place. If not I apologize.

I am new to cowboy guns and being unable to find a Vaquero in my price range at the moment, I just purchased what looks like a very lightly used Cattleman Hombre in 357 for $325.

I bought a box of Remington 357 125 grain jsp to try the gun out with. then the problems started...immediately.

The cartridges slipped into the cylinder slick as a whistle. The gun fired fine. Then came time to eject and reload. 3 or 4 of the empty casings would not eject. they would come out maybe 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch and hang. I put extra force on the ejector until I thought I might break it so I quit seeing it was no use.

I ended up using the cylinder pin to force them out with and it was still difficult, but I got them out. So what gives here? They dropped in fine, why wont they come out? Cheap over expanding Remington brass? Messed up tolerances on the cylinder? This is very disapointing.

I looked on Uberti's website and they said the cyliders might be fouled, so I cleaned the whole gun using Breakfree CLP. Then I wiped down some of the brass i had problems with and tried to reinsert into the cylinder...no go, it hangs and wont go in the cylinder.

anybody else run in to this?...or maybe know what the problem is? I really don't want to put any more money in this gun right now...and am ready to sell it at this point. help!...thanks!...VV

 

[MikeG]

Scratches on the brass? Could be burrs in the cylinder, have seen this before with other guns.

If it's not that, then you may have serious issues.

 

[VaqueroVinnie]

Hi Mike, yes there are scratches on the brass. If there are burrs how would it be fixed...by honing?

 

[MikeG]

See if you can figure out where they are. If they are right where the cartridge goes into the cylinder, then a needle file and some careful work can take them out. Further on in, may be a job for someone else. I have polished chambers with a split rod chucked in a drill and emery paper wrapped around it..... with a fine grit, this is a fairly safe operation.

 

[VaqueroVinnie]

Thanks Mike!

 

[VaqueroVinnie]

update: I have purchased and fired 38 special loads thrut he gun and the spent rounds eject easily and would most likely fall out if i tipped the gun.

called remington and they are sending me some labels to return the left over 357's to them for testing. they will return if the loads are fine or refund if found defective. so in the mean time I still dont know for sure if it's my gun or the rounds.

 

[pisgah]

Just as a possibility, it may be that there have already been many .38 Special loads put through the gun, resulting in a ring of crud towards the front of the cylinder. A normal cleaning may not suffice to get this out. You can get more agrressive with the cleaning and do no damage, as long as you exercise some care. You can first try just brushing the bejeebers out of the chambers with a slightly-oversized cleaning brush and solvent, and you might even try chucking the brush in a hand drill and going to town on those chambers. Next step up would be the same, with the addition of some OOOO steel wool wrapped in to the brush. Unless pitting is involved, this will clean out the worst crud -- but it may take a while on really severe cases.

 

[VaqueroVinnie]

pisgah, thanks...

thanks for your tips...it's funny you should mention it because I did the oversize brush in the drill trick earlier this morning and while I did get a lot of black slop out of it, it still will not eject the spent brass on 357. now my oversize brush is no longer oversized...LOL

a friend of mine who is a machinist says that he guesses the chambers are too big allowing the brass to expand in diameter rather than to lengthen upon firing.

I have contacted uberti and they said it would be no problem to have it fixed if I would return the gun to them. however this means a shipping charge for me in addition to paying a FFL holder to do the actual shipping for me and then to also receive the gun back for me. I dont know what all that will cost but i am sure it wont be cheap.

I wish i would have just paid the extra for the vaquero...I just didnt want to go thru a dealer. I am trying to insert a pic, maybe it will work.

 

[MikeG]

.357 brass will expand to the chamber wall, oversized or not. If the chambers are bulged or weak ahead of the case head than that can cause sticking and indicates a problem. If it's a burr then it's user-fixable, or at least an easy gunsmith job.

Let us know how it goes.....

 

[VaqueroVinnie]

what do you think?

Mike, can I ship just the cylinder myself, if uberti says they dont need the whole gun, without an FFL guy involved?

 

[pisgah]

You can send the whole gun without anusing FFL, and receive itdirstly back from them, too, since you are sending it to a licensed repair facility and no transfer of ownership is involved. You must send it by common carrier (UPS, FEDEX, etc.), and each of them has its own rules. For instance, UPS will make you ship from one of their facilities, not one of their thousands of retail outlets.

 

[al_sway]

The other point, if you are concerned about cost, is that for Cowboy Action you will only be shooting .38 Special. If the .38s work fine, as you mentioned, you could stop worrying about shooting .357 and getting it fixed to shoot .357. At least as an interim measure.

 

[VaqueroVinnie]

pisgah, thanks, looks like I will be shipping to uberti they said they would fix it if there is a problem.

 

[VaqueroVinnie]

Al, thanks for the suggestion. I want to get it fixed anyway, even tho it did shoot the 38's just fine and the empties almost fell out of the gun. I want to be able to sell it when i find a vaquero I can afford. people with vaqueros are quoting me more for a used gun than what I can get one new from a dealer for.

anyway, uberti has agreed to fix the problem. thanks again.

 

[Marshal Kane]

Unless things have changed lately, believe you can ship directly to Uberti without going through a FFL holder. You are shipping the gun for repair service and not transferring ownership. Over the years I have shipped three S&W revolvers back to S&W for repair service. It's still a bit pricey because folks like UPS will only ship if you pay for overnight delivery, their most expensive rate. Their reasoning IIRC, is the longer a firearm stays in their hands, the greater the risk of theft. Uberti can ship directly back to you without the services of a FFL holder. All three of my S&Ws were shipped directly back to my home by S&W.

 

[wolfen]

I've had a similar problem with mine. I have a pair of the Hombres and got the .357 rounds stuck. I just over-cleaned the cylinders and I haven't had a problem since. I've been shooting both jacketed 357 mag. and cast .38spc. But if Uberti is willing to fix it for you. I'd go with it.

 

[Sunwheel29]

That gun has a matte finish, so most likely it is just rough chambers....

This used to be a common problem with .357 revolvers by the way....

If the chambers were not polished smooth, the brass cases would 'fire form" to the walls and get stuck.....
Usually just polishing the chambers would fix things.....

I am guessing you could just send the cylinder back and if its just a matter of politshing it there would be no problems. However if you have a jugged cylinder, they would have to have your frame to fit a new cylinder to your gun.

Try polishing the chambers and try different .357 loads too.