Home Forums Reloading Handgun Reloading 38 SPCL cylinder throat question

I have a M-36 J frame S&W .38 and tried several loose bullets in some of the chambers. A Hornady lead hollow base wadcutter pushes through fairly easily. A Rainier plated bullet goes through with a bit of a tap. A cast and lubed lead SWC had to be tapped through with several good taps. A Hi-Tek coated lead SWC had to be whacked on a couple of times to make it through. I am the original owner of this pistol, purchased in the mid 1980s. I'm guessing I have fired maybe 500 rounds through it - not a whole lot at all. I wish I had other examples of plated and jacketed bullets to test, but I suspect that your throats are fine. As an afterthought, I also tried this with a S&W .44 using both a Hi-Tek coated lead SWC and a Hornady XTP. I had to tap both of them rather firmly using a dowel rod and a hammer to get a pass through.