Alan Westlake Alfa 357 Mag Revolver

[Microtia]

I was looking at these today, the 4" version feels so nice.
I have a Ruger old army 45 stainless, which is very nice, but fancy a change.

[arsefactor]

Hi Frag Muppet

Can I ask exactly which brand of shotgun primers you're using ?

I have a brand new Westlake .357 and I've got a problem with the cylinder getting *very* tight when firing and I think some of my primers are just a shade loose and are moving back with recoil out of the pockets.

I'm using Remington STS209 primers - which are working perfectly on my Anvil Conversions Uberti pistol - and I wonder if they are slightly undersized.

Thanks
Paul M.

[Frag Muppet]

Hi Frag Muppet

Can I ask exactly which brand of shotgun primers you're using ?

I have a brand new Westlake .357 and I've got a problem with the cylinder getting *very* tight when firing and I think some of my primers are just a shade loose and are moving back with recoil out of the pockets.

I'm using Remington STS209 primers - which are working perfectly on my Anvil Conversions Uberti pistol - and I wonder if they are slightly undersized.

Thanks
Paul M.

Hi Paul

I'm using Remington STS 209 Shotgun primers as well.
Brought 1000 of them off Alan when I got the gun from him.
They are working OK for me, they seat just fine, & 99% time pop out easy after firing.
I have noticed some carbon/powder residue after firing the Revolver quite a few times.
On one occasion the cylinder was tight sliding it back in but a quick wipe down with a cloth sorted that!
Speak to Alan see what he recommends.

I love my Revolver, there good fun to shoot, very accurate and a lot cleaner to use than my Black Powder Revolver.
Be interested to see if you can beat or match my 2" grouping at 30yards.

Stuart.

[dannywayoflife]

I'm using the Remington sts primers also with no issues

[NigelG]

I saw one of these last Saturday in action, it too had a stuck cylinder, it is due to powder residue and needs to be kept clean. Unfortunately this one has two chambers that appear to be under sized as bullets can't be seated properly and the owner had to use a knife to cut the bits sticking out off, also the little wire thingy for pushing out the primers has bent already, as they weren't coming out very easily. I would have thought something more in line of a thicker shaft was needed

it had been fired that morning too, so maybe needs a good clean up on a regular basis

the other thing noticed was, two of the chambers don't index properly when the pistol is unloaded, but strange they seem to once loaded

[arsefactor]

Interesting.

I'm having similar problems with mine, but I'm approaching the problem scientifically to narrow down the cause.

After testing it appears that primers are backing out of the cylinder under recoil and jamming the cylinder rotation. I have spoken to Alan about this today and he's recommended a different powder charge weight.
In fairness, until I've completed testing and resolved the issue I won't say much - but will report in full, with video once testing is complete and hopefully the issue is resolved.

Cheers!

[dannywayoflife]

You do need to clean them of bullets do become hard to seat

[Frag Muppet]

I saw one of these last Saturday in action, it too had a stuck cylinder, it is due to powder residue and needs to be kept clean. Unfortunately this one has two chambers that appear to be under sized as bullets can't be seated properly and the owner had to use a knife to cut the bits sticking out off, also the little wire thingy for pushing out the primers has bent already, as they weren't coming out very easily. I would have thought something more in line of a thicker shaft was needed

it had been fired that morning too, so maybe needs a good clean up on a regular basis

the other thing noticed was, two of the chambers don't index properly when the pistol is unloaded, but strange they seem to once loaded

I don't think the chambers would have been undersized, not allowing the bullets to be seated properly.
I think your friend was shooting hollow base wad cutters and he used to much powder.
This will blow two or three mm off the bottom of the skirt of the wad cutter leaving it in the cylinder.
The next bullet wont seat properly.
I know this because I made the same mistake.
I had to use a screw extractor set or "easy out" to remove the skirt from the cylinder.
This will get it out without damaging the cylinder.
4Gn of Blue Dot or 3.5Gn or less of Herco is enough to shoot hollow base wad cutters without any problem.

I also found a large paper clip straightened out is perfect for pushing out the spent primers.