642 tight chambers?

[Afterburnt]

I started putting together some reloads to shoot in my S&W 642, they wont chamber without being forced however they drop right in to my 586. Are the chambers on a 642 tight or is there something wrong with the sizing die?

[kurac]

what does your crimp look like?

[QuarterBoreGunner]

Is the cylinder on the 642 particularly dirty?

[maxicon]

Do factory loads fit the cylinders well?

Assuming the chambers are clean, it sounds like there may be a small difference in chamber size between your revolvers - it can take less than a thousandth of an inch to make the difference between a good and bad fit.

I'd buy or borrow a micrometer and measure all the holes on both guns. You could then find out from S&W what the spec is on the chamber size, and that would tell you whether you need to send it back, or size your brass differently.

[QuarterBoreGunner]

...or... cylinder hone those bad boys! Make em' mirror bright.

No seriously I've done this with rough chambers before; it takes practice and luckily I have some trashed cylinders in my crap parts bin to practice on.

[dfletcher]

The 586 is a 357 and the 642 is a 38 Special? I suspect there's an OAL issue or a crimp issue that is allowing the reloads to drop into the longer 357 chamber but not into the shorter 38 Special chamber.

What sort of bullets you using? If you size & crimp an emty case does it fit the 642?

[Afterburnt]

Duh I used to wrong sizer die it was set up for another press, I didnt full length and I didnt notice. Gotta check these things or maybe I am just getting too old to be reloading?