mild pitting in new revolver bore?????
 

I posted this in the gunsmithing forum with not responses, so I thought I would try here. I recently bought a new S and W 357. After putting about 200 rounds through it i noticed there was a small amount of pitting inside the barrel near the chamber. runs in a line across both lands and grooves. I keep the gun cleaned and oiled. It is minimal so should i be concerned? It shoots spot on, so should I send it back for repair or not worry about it?

I would call s&w and see what they say. If you cleaned it properly it should not have done that. I say call them.

How far in front of the forcing cone is the pitting?

about a 1cm in front of the force cone. The gun has a 6" barrel. It is a real tack driver, very accurate. I have never had a new barrel pit, so it brings up questions as to why it happened. I have no problem sending it back except paying another 50 bucks for shipping. Yea, I know, I'm a tight wad but it kind of perturbs me. I have thought about lapping the barrel but really do not think it would address the pitting issue. besides, the pitting is very minimal. I have polished it a bit with 0000 steel wool to smooth over any edges on the pitting, if there was any. And kind of think of finish shooting in the barrel and see if some of the pitting polishes out.

You're talking about a "ring of pitting" in the bore right? Is it symmetrical around the bore or not?

Shooting lead or jacketed bullets? Cool loads, hot stuff, or average play? 38/357? Recovered any bullets from it that weren't damaged?

So far I have shot just fmj 38sp and jhp 357s. Both shoot great. "symmetrical around the bore or not" , are you referring to the pitting? If so, it is not in a ring, it is a line about a 1 cm long that runs in line with the barrel across one land and one grove.

I'd take it to someone who had a bore scope and get a real good look at the situation to satisfy my own curiosity.

But then......

A little pitting in a revolver barrel is disconcerting to look at but rarely affects accuracy. If you are really having OCD about it ship it back to S&W for a fix.
Myself, if the gun was shooting as good as you describe I wouldn't do a thing.

That is what I was thinking. I was just concerned since it was a new gun. Heck, my oldest guns don't even have pits in them. I have Nagants from the 30s and H and R revolvers from the 50s that are pit free.

How is the cylinder alignment at lock up? If it's pitting in one specific spot, it may have an alignment or end shake issue, so you're sheering/meal forming the bullet slightly, then leaving opportunity for gas to sneak past the bullet. That gap will act like a blow torch though as the hot gases sneak through a tiny cross section (blistering velocity!!). May not be it, but could be one explanation.

I'm not prone to believe that you are the type that let moisture taint the bore and rusted it, so I'm more prone to believe it's scorching.

My OCD self would force me to send it back if it were me. I'd also have faith that the new barrel would also shoot well, or I'd send it back again, but I'd eat my own face knowing it was pitting in there.

I don't blame you for being irritated about this pitting in a new barrel. It shouldn't be there.
But like my grandpa always said...... If your rounds are right on target it really doesn't matter what your gun looks like or if your shooting stance is textbook or not. If you are hitting the mark everything is right, even if it doesn't look that way.

If his problem is misalignment of cylinder and barrel to the point that blow-by is occurring the accuracy would be suffering. He reports very good accuracy.

Usually would expect that, but not always. I had an improperly aligned Ruger Vaquero once that shot incredibly well, even though you could visibly tell looking down the bore that it wasn't aligned right. Not surprisingly, that particular Vaquero was very poorly timed as well. Numbers matched, but it REALLY seemed like that cylinder was never meant for that revolver! But it shot really well.

Just trouble shooting though. My mentality would be that it's a symptom of a problem, regardless of what the problem is, and my mind would turn me inside out every time I saw it in the safe let alone took it out to shoot it.

I think that's the OCD factor I mentioned previously. Its understandable that such a thing would bug you, but in that situation I would not worry about it till a real problem developed. If it ever did I would take it to a gunsmith. I doubt very much if some light pitting in this fellow's barrel will ever cause him any real world problems. Knowing its there could create the problem, the problem of lack of confidence in the weapon.

This would be me.

I'd also look at it like this: it's new now, S&W will replace it. If it DOES become a problem soon enough, he can take it to a smith and get it remedied, on his dime, or send it now and never have a potential for a problem.

Then again, I'm also the type that buys new guns, scopes, bikes, etc, even though I could buy a used one cheaper, because I'd rather not buy problems. If the volume of car/truck depreciation new vs. used weren't so big, I'd never buy a used car either.

I agree. And the OP would be completely justified in getting the problem taken care of right up front while the warranty was still in effect.
I'd rather buy new myself. That way I know the whole history of the gun, car, whatever.

There's just this thing I have about not messing with something that is working so well.
I have an M1 Garand that probably saw action in Korea and maybe even WW2. The bore looks like it has been sandblasted. The rifle shoots truly amazing groups from the bench.
It works great so it doesn't get tampered with.

With misalignment, i would expect to see some bullet shearing, which is not evident. I think i am going to shoot a few 100 more rounds of fmj and clean after each cylinder. See if i can polish some of it out. Heck, i have about 200 rounds total through it right now. Its not even fully shot in yet.

Thanks for the info guys.