I left early for the range today with the 150 rounds of 224-32 FA I had loaded last weekend. I set up at the 25 yard range and proceeded to take my first shot. Bang! Everything seemed fine until I tried to pull the hammer back for the second shot. The gun had locked up tight. I had the dickens of a time trying to get the cylinder to rotate, but finally, after about ten minutes of effort, I was able to get the cylinder moved enough so that I could get the spent cartridge removed. Hmmm, what’s going on here? The cartridge chambered perfectly, the headspace was correct, so what could be the problem? I decided to try another cartridge, this time loading only a single round. Bad idea! Same thing happened. Again, after much effort, I was able to remove the spent cartridge. Not being interested in going through this routine again, I put the gun down and thought a spell. I remembered years ago that the 22 Remington Jet Magnum had had the same problem, and I seemed to recollect that any trace of oil in the chamber would cause the case to back up against the recoil shield, binding the cylinder and rendering the gun inoperable. Voila! I had, in my usual fashion, wiped down the chambers with CLP after my last shooting session a couple of weeks ago. I grabbed some cleaning patches and immediately set about wiping out the chambers. Tried shooting it again with a single round…no problem, cylinder rotated normally. Tried another couple of single rounds…everything seemed OK. Loaded a full cylinder, one round seemed to bind the cylinder somewhat, so I swabbed out the chambers again. After that, everything worked just fine. Moral of the story…don’t oil the chambers of the 224-32 FA. Leave ‘em completely dry.
I fired about 50 rounds at the 25 yard line. Upon inspecting each case as I ejected it, I noted about 5 or 6 cases with split necks which had to be discarded. I had my portable reloading rig with me, so I took the once-fired brass and reloaded it. I checked each case for the correct length, and each was within the correct spec for length. I loaded them up and fired them at the 50 yard range. I think I only had one split case from that batch.
Here’s a representative target from 50 yards:
I’m still not sure why I’m having more split cases than seems to be the norm. I’ve double checked my procedures and everything seems to be correct. Some of the splits are probably attributable to case setback during my first few shots, to the point that the neck was not fully supported by the chamber walls. But in at least two or three shots, there was no indication of any excessive case setback. Perhaps someone with more knowledge than me on case forming and fireforming can give me some pointers.
Apart from the initial “
oh shoot!” moment when the gun locked up, it was a pretty good day at the range. I’ve still got a bit to learn about this gun and cartridge, but I think I’m making progress.
