I bought a Heritge single action revolver and the frame is made of some kind of pot metal, and it got me thinking. I have owned mostly steel revolvers over the years but many people carry aluminum framed ones and have wondered how well they hold up if taken to the range on a regular basis? Anyone have something like a J frame Smith and Wesson shake loose on them, or another inexpensive revolver go bad frame wise?
The older J frames were not meant for plus P ammo, but the newer ones are with better steel, I guess, over something from the 1950's. When I had a J Frame Smith and Wesson in .38 I only used regular service loads as I wanted control ability and felt that anyone getting shot with a 125 gr. hollow point would not be in good shape anyways.
Saw a Ruger Blackhawk break completely in two. Shi++y pot metal
I've haven't had any of my airweight J frames shoot loose or have frame problems. Never thought of them as being particularly inexpensive though.
My Airweight is stamped "38 S&W SPL. +P" on the barrel. I have not shot it enough to stretch the frame, mostly fired that 125 grain light load you get/got cheap. Did that load start with the old Colt Aircrewman with the Al cylinder?
On the Heritage...is the grip frame Zemak and the cylinder frame Al?
IMO "shaking loose" in a 22 revolver is not an issue. I bought my daughter one of the Heritage revolvers as a plinker and it has a couple of thousand rounds through it with no indication of issues. I have an aluminum frame Colt Frontier Scout revolver that I purchased in 1962 and it has had thousands of rounds through it with no issue. I also have a Sig 1911/22 with a Zamak frame and after a few thousand rounds it is not showing any isues.
The Heritage the frame is some sort of an alloy which pretty much duplicates the weight of steel and the cylinder is steel - I do not see that there would be any issues with that combo.
As to your specific question I also have an aluminum frame S&W Airweight with 300 rounds through it with no issues. A limited amount but I doubt that most J-frames will never be shot enough with full bore loads to develop an issue - they can be a handful with +P loads.
drover
I’ve put more than a few rounds down my Heritage and no issues for many years.