38 special chambering issues

As I said elsewhere I recently became the owner of a Clarke 38 heavy slide. Awesomely accurate but I'm having real issues getting reloads to consistently load for an entire match. Basically there's a 'ring' of crud in the chamber after about 60 rounds. About 2/10 if an inch back from the end of the case. I get this to a lesser extent with factory ammo as well - but nowhere near as bad.

I'm using Titegroup behind a Zero HBWC and CCI primer. Any suggestions about what I could use to at least get me through 90 rounds.

Thanks
Derek

I would start with these three things.

How firm is your resizing and or crimping?
Has the brass been overworked with excessive reloading?
Have you tried a different powder? WST, BE, 700X or W231

Well I repeated the test with new Starline brass so the resize and overwork got taken out of the equation.

Jon E suggested a roll crimp instead of a taper and to increase the crimp to ensure (more) complete combustion.

Good idea on the powders - I'll make up some test loads with WST and BE - see if there's a difference.

Try unresized shells for one, they should feed fine. Use a larger die to deprime only

Did you oil the shells with your fingers before using?

Have a chamber brush handy, make from a long rifle brush bent 090 degrees and duct taped in the rear so it doesn't bite you

Loads that are too light will crap up the shells and chamber

Good luck

2.8 of WST..

bruce martindale wrote:Loads that are too light will crap up the shells and chamber

Good luck

This !