I have one manufactured in 2014. Chambered in 38/357mag. It shoots 38 special no problem. Some 357 cartridges break in two upon firing. You extract the back 50 percent of the case. Is this an ammo issue or the gun? Please advise me.

Do they break in half when fired, or do they stick and rip in half when you run the lever to extract them? Either way it sounds like your chamber may be wildly out of spec. I'd look in there and see if you can see any anomalies, because with what you're describing the defect may be visible with the naked eye.

I assume we're talking quality factory ammo and not some kind of sketchy reloads with ancient brittle brass? What ammo is it doing this with? Is there any factory .357 ammo that doesn't experience this problem? I would refrain from shooting it anymore until you get it diagnosed.

I own a 1873 made by Miroku, It was advertised as a "Shot Show special" Its gorgeous with a high grade walnut stock with shotgun butt,1/2 octagon barrel, and case hardened steel.
I shot it a few times using 38spl. ammo.,no problems.At the time 357 magnum was very hard to find.
Miroku makes very nice guns, I would be surprised that they would put out a dud.
I would guess you have a ammo problem.

Cases break in half when fired. They extract cleanly leaving the front half of the case in the chamber. Federal and Remington 357. Factory only, no reloads. I only fired a few as they were case breaking with 357. 38 shoots perfectly with no problem. The gun is high grade wood and finish, octagon barrel, simply breathtaking to look at.

New, straight walled cases, that doesn't make a lot of sense. Heads spacing off the rim and all.
Are they difficult to extract? (the one's that don't separate) Even if you had a lot of crud built up from shooting 38s, or even chamber erosion from shooting them FOREVER, I couldn't see it doing it often.

Other than cleaning the chamber REALLY well and seeing if it improves, not sure.

That's bizarre. Did you try a different type of .357 in it? Was that all .357 out of the same batch? If it were me, I'd suspect the ammo first.

This is my prize rifle. It is kept very clean. I only tried two types of 357, as both types separated cases.

quote:

Originally posted by ltbarber:
Cases break in half when fired. They extract cleanly leaving the front half of the case in the chamber. Federal and Remington 357. Factory only, no reloads...

I've never heard of that, and can't imagine what would cause it. I would probably contact the manufacturer and ask their advice.

ETA: I would not shoot that rifle until it was checked by the manufacturer, or a qualified gunsmith and the problem resolved.


...

Wild improbable guess:
The longer .357 cartridge is striking the roof of the chamber before being fully seated, crimping the case and weakening it. The case then separates at the weak spot upon firing. Since there is no barrel/cylinder gap with the 73, the ammo may be developing higher chamber pressures which adds to the problem. Maybe?
Regardless, the gun needs a complete check-up!

can you get a look in the chamber ? may be a ring in the area where they are breaking,

Right, a borescope might show something. But I would be inclined to let the warranty clerk handle it.

Thank you all for the advice.

I was told not to shoot .38 through a .357 rifle chamber as the .38 would lead ring/carbon ring the chamber and cause problems for the 357.

quote:

Originally posted by sunburn:
I was told not to shoot .38 through a .357 rifle chamber as the .38 would lead ring/carbon ring the chamber and cause problems for the 357.

It can, but only if you never clean your chamber (note: a chamber brush is not the same thing as a bore brush!). And it would require shooting a LOT of .38 to cause any issue at all, and even moreso an issue as severe as what the OP is experiencing. I shoot .38 through my 1894C and numerous .357 revolvers all the time and have never had a problem switching to .357 mag.

I've never seen anything like what the OP is experiencing with a straight-walled pistol cartridge. I've seen plenty of longitudinal splits from the case mouth, or even midway down the length of the case, and I've had the area ahead of the neck separate on worn-out bottleneck brass, but this is definitely a new one for me. OP, have you figured anything out?

No, not yet.

It would be helpful to know exactly WHAT ammo you are having issues with. Is it Remington, Federal, or Winchester or some other brand.

Personally I prefer to load my own 357 Magnums and the only case I use is Starline because I have never had a Starline case fail for me. I'll also note that I load my 357 Magnum rounds for my 1892 pretty light because testing has shown the rifle is sub MOA with this lighter powder charge.

As suggested a good chamber cleaning may solve your issue. However if the 1873 is anywhere near as difficult to remove the bolt on as a 1892 or 1886 I will completely understand why you might be a bit hesitant. In that case I would advise you find a gunsmith qualified to work on an 1873 and pay them to clean your chamber and use a bore scope to see if there are any defects in the chamber that could be "repaired" with a secondary pass with the correct chamber reamer.

PS: I have shot American Eagle 158 grain SJSP ammo in my 1892 and function was perfect but accuracy fell off to 1.5 MOA and with that original deep crescent butt plate it was pretty uncomfortable off a bench rest after 10 rounds.

He said in the 4th post:

quote:

Federal and Remington 357. Factory only, no reloads.

I agree, that a bore scope would be a good place to start to try and identify the problem. It really sounds to me like there's some kind of serious anomaly in the chamber.