Somebody answer Gary's post below. I have
Scott Deakins
[subject]
Sunday, January 10, 2021, 17:48 (2043 days ago)
wondered about this also but never got around to asking it.
this may sound like blasphemy but I have shot
literally thousands of rounds of big stuff, 454 and above and I have never worried about keeping an empty round in front of the loading gate. During the heyday of the extra large caliber's popularity we were shooting a hundred or more 475s, 500, 510s and so on every day, all the way up to max loads (proof loads) and never worried about that empty round in front of the loading gate. I have read all the horror stories but have never found one bit of truth to all those warnings. Who started this and has it ever proven to be something to be worried about?
here is John K's response from below
gary reeder
[subject]
Sunday, January 10, 2021, 18:20 (2043 days ago) @ Scott Deakins
John K.
Loading gate issue
Cannot prove it by me either. Tens of thousands of rounds of very heavy 44mag, 45C, 454C, and 500L and I never had a problem. Admittedly, the FA 454C had a recessed cylinder, but the others did not.
I have done it before. When I first started
Blake
[subject]
Sunday, January 10, 2021, 18:24 (2043 days ago) @ Scott Deakins
Hand gun hunting. I had a bad flinch when I first started. And can still get a flinch if it I don’t shoot on a regular bases. Anyway I got over it by loading 3 hot loaded rounds in in my 45LC Vaquero, spinning the cylinder and stopping it with out looking. Then shoot shooting all 6 aimed at a target. You drop the hammer on an empty and flinch it is obvious right. Keep doing it till you don’t flinch. It works for me. But it made the loading gate wobbly. I didn’t realize I was wearing it out until I was told what was going on. After that I always left an fired case in the chamber. Haven’t gotten a wobbly gate ever sense
I don't see how dry firing can ever make a loading
gary reeder
[subject]
Sunday, January 10, 2021, 18:38 (2043 days ago) @ Blake
gate loose. Nothing is ever touching the gate during dry firing.
It’s not the dry fire, it’s the hot round
Blake
[subject]
Sunday, January 10, 2021, 18:52 (2043 days ago) @ gary reeder
It’s the hot rounds recoil with no case between the loading gate and the empty chamber in the cylinder.
not to argue but I don't see how an empty case in front
gary reeder
[subject]
Sunday, January 10, 2021, 19:57 (2043 days ago) @ Blake
of the gate or no empty round in the chamber in front of the gate can do any harm no matter how hot the other rounds are. The empty case is immobile and not slamming back against the gate. And a hot round in front of the gate seizes the chamber walls and does not slam back against the gate. Just does not compute. And out of several thousand rounds of hot stuff we have never had any problems with a loading gate. It's way over my head.
In theory, the gate is unsupported if the cylinder
John K.
[subject]
Sunday, January 10, 2021, 20:16 (2043 days ago) @ gary reeder
does not have recessed chambers, and can bend forward under heavy recoil as the gate stem is not large enough to defeat the forces. Like JT said, a real non-issue in Colt SAs and clones as they can't take the pressures needed to generate that much recoil anyway.
The likelihood of this is reduced if a case head is in place to support the gate during really heavy recoil. Have read of people claiming issues, but I have not experienced it myself. I understand the theory, just have no personal experience with it happening.
The one gun that I did it to actually
Blake
[subject]
Monday, January 11, 2021, 05:18 (2043 days ago) @ John K.
Wallow out the hole in the frame that the gate fits into. I tried replacing the gate but it didn’t help. The loading gate itself was fine, the hole in the frame was no longer round and had a mouth like a funnel. It just would not supposed the loading gate like when it was new. The gate still functioned ok. The gate was just loose and when it was open. You could feel how sloppy it was compared to when it was new. When the gate was closed you could push it towards the cylinder quite a it. It was noticeable to to anyone who loaded it. It is just my experience with one gun. I don’t claim to be an expert l, even on TV. It just my $.02
It’s physics
Randy Barnett
[subject]
Monday, January 11, 2021, 15:17 (2042 days ago) @ gary reeder
Upon recoil the gun moves rearward and the loading gate tries to move forward as it’s held under spring tension. With an empty chamber in front of the gate, it has the potential to move forward until it hits the cylinder. A round in the cylinder in front of the gate greatly limits the movement.
When I got my 510 revolver, I was only loading 2-3 rounds at a time. In less than 300 rounds my loading gate was loose and I had to replace the spring. Now I make sure and only shoot it with a full cylinder.
I shot thousands of hot rounds in Ruger .45 Colts
Jim Taylor
[subject]
Sunday, January 10, 2021, 20:09 (2043 days ago) @ Scott Deakins
and in the 454 Casull and the 457 Linebaugh. I never had a loading gate loosen up on me. I ain't saying it can't happen, but I have never had it happen.