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I recently bought a very nice Ruger Security Six in 357 and have begun thinking about needs/purposes and loads for the gun. What is the general opinion of the frame strength as related to loads? Is the frame capable of handling a steady diet of max H110 loads using 170/180 grain bullets?

I likely won't run a steady diet of max loads but would like to achieve 950-1000 ft/sec for a 160-180 grain lead bullet.

What say the brethren?

Last edited by bwinters; 07/30/14. Reason: misidentification of gun

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There is no way you have a single six in .357.

Last edited by 4ager; 07/30/14.

Originally Posted by Mannlicher
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Originally Posted by bwinters
What say the brethren?


I think you should sell it to me.

What pressure does the 327 mag. run at? Since Lipsey's got Ruger to do a run of 327 single-7's, and Ruger is known to be quite conservative.

In light of the upcoming Lipsey Single-seven's; I was wondering if perhaps 357 Mag's or at least 38 Special Plus P Single-Six (or five?) would possibly be on the horizon and measured my single six cylinder and a J-frame I have and the single six's is slightly larger, not that size is the only issue.

Jerry


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Originally Posted by 4ager
There is no way you have a single six in .357.


A custom gun it can be... one Smith was building 41 Special's on the 3-screw single-six frame. I contacted him and he is no longer making them... too far behind with other projects.

Jerry

Last edited by jerrywoodswalker; 07/30/14.

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Originally Posted by 4ager
There is no way you have a single six in .357.


What he said. Single Six was .22LR caliber. Super Single Six had two cylinders .22LR and one for .22WRM.


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Yep, not a factory Single Six. It would be hard to get that .357 bullet through the .223 barrel.


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You guys are spot on - I have a Security Six - not a Single Six. I'll change the thread topic to reflect this error. I was looking at Single Six's on GB just before I typed this thread topic.

What do you guys say about the strength of the Security Six in 357?


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That makes more sense now...the first few posts had me confused. I had one a while back, and I loved it. It will take a steady diet of magnums, as far as I understand. I think they were a lot prettier than the GP100's that replaced them, and just as strong, if not stronger. I don't think it will take near full pressure to get to 1000 with 180gr cast bullets though. How long is your barrel?


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4" barrel. I don't think so either but some of the faster loads are with H110 - which usually require near top loads for best accuracy. I use alot of 2400 because it holds accuracy better with less than max charges.


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Understanding that one can blow up anything if they try hard enough, the security six is one of the tougher 357's out there, and should be able to handle what you want to do with it....

Tom


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Here is mine. I bought it a long time ago, so long ago that it is a "pre-warning" Security Six.

[Linked Image]

I have no idea how many rounds I have through it but I've certainly put some "hot" ones down that barrel. So far, no problems. Still carry it out in the boonies sometimes... when my wife isn't carrying it. wink

It depends on how hot you want to make your cartridges, but unless you just try to blow it up, I doubt you'll have a problem. Shooting an helluva lot of fire breathing rounds through a .357 Magnum isn't my idea of fun, anyway. grin

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I've been trying to wear out my old Security Six .357 mag with a steady diet of max loads of WW-296 & 180gr LBT cast bullets for years! I've owned it for at least 35 years now. It hasn't loosed up any, as far as I can tell.

Look someone else mentioned, it's probably one of the stoutest mid sized .357 Revolvers ever built. I sure as heck wouldn't worry about wearing it out. Just shoot it and have fun.


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If you jack up a Security Six, you have flat done something. Either you ran it over with a heavy tracked vehicle, or you loaded something so far beyond reality that's it is just stupid.


Originally Posted by Mannlicher
America needs to understand that our troops are not 'disposable'. Each represents a family; Fathers, Mothers, Sons, Daughters, Cousins, Uncles, Aunts... Our Citizens are our most valuable treasure; we waste far too many.
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If I remember correctly, back in the day, people were shooting a steady diet of 125 gr. 357 loads a lot thru the S&W Model 19/66 and the Security Six. This seemed to cause frame cutting at the top strap and some cracked forcing cones. Not a problem with heavier bullets, but it caused S&W to come out with the L-Frame 586/686 and Ruger came out with the GP-100. I never saw this problem, but read about it in the rags of the day. The Security Six is still my favorite of Ruger's 357s. They must be held in high regard by a lot of folks out there as is evident by the prices being commanded on GunBroker.


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I've never heard or read of a security six blowing up.

Every instance I'm aware of a gun exploding it's either been loaded with the wrong ammo, or someone used a handloaded cartridge.

Never seems to happen when factory ammo is used.

YMMV

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I have blown up a lot of revolvers in testing and tried to blow up a lot more.
The failures I see in strength:
1) Cylinder splits in two or three pieces.
2) Cylinder splits in two or three pieces as the primary failure and the top strap breaks as a secondary failure.
The Ruger SS has chamber walls 0.080" to the outside with an internal diameter of 0.382". A rough hoop stress calculation for RC30 would indicate possible yield at P = 2 S thickness/ID = 2 140ksi .08/.382 = 59kpsi
And they are always much harder to blow up than calculated.
Compare that to a 357 mag S&W 640-1 with 0.048" walls and ID of 0.381". That could fail at 35 kpsi, but they are harder to blow up than calculated.
John Bercovitz wrote this in 1991 about the real limitations of the 357 magnum:
https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&fromgroups#%21msg/rec.guns/S_dalM1NJe0/cBSU4bR2jz8J
Saving you the time of reading John's post, the sticky cases will be found at a higher pressure in the Ruger SS than the J frame, as the walls are thicker and so less stretchy.
The real limit of 357 mag is sticky cases. Sticky cases are the pattern of arrows shot into the fence. SAMMI registered pressures for the 357 were just the target later drawn around the arrows.

What does it all mean?
The Ruger Security Six in a work up will get hard to extract brass long before the cylinder splits because it is stronger than it needs to be.


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Very nice - thanks!

I have no intention of running overmax loads but will likely shoot loads in the upper range of the bullet weight I select.

Thanks to all that provided an opinion.


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I'm getting back into the 357 Mag business after selling my GP100 and SP101 about 12 years ago.

I've recently retaken posession of a blue 4" Ruger Security Six with target grips. I had given the revolver to my mother for personal protection back around 1980. It's in great shape after all these years, probably less than 100 rounds through it from the looks of it.

Anyway, I have some 170gr Keith SWC inbound from Western Bullet Co. I'm going to load them over 5.5 gr Unique in 38 Spl cases. Quickload predicts about 1009 fps, at 22K psi.

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Originally Posted by bwinters
4" barrel. I don't think so either but some of the faster loads are with H110 - which usually require near top loads for best accuracy. I use alot of 2400 because it holds accuracy better with less than max charges.


Yeah if you have it, start with 2400. No need to throw flames when you are only after 1000fps or so, even with the heavies. I'd take 2400 to the top end and see how it does before going to H110, were it my project. Nice gun you have there.


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Originally Posted by MontanaMarine
I'm getting back into the 357 Mag business after selling my GP100 and SP101 about 12 years ago.

I've recently retaken posession of a blue 4" Ruger Security Six with target grips. I had given the revolver to my mother for personal protection back around 1980. It's in great shape after all these years, probably less than 100 rounds through it from the looks of it.

Anyway, I have some 170gr Keith SWC inbound from Western Bullet Co. I'm going to load them over 5.5 gr Unique in 38 Spl cases. Quickload predicts about 1009 fps, at 22K psi.


That is good info. I'd like to run 170 lead as well. Been looking at Beartooth but the shipping wait sucks.

Thanks.


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