do wadcutters have any advantage

[vernb]

I tried out a 38 Taurus this weekend and the guy handed me WC home loads . It got me thinking . If I cast for this gun are there any advantages to this boolit

[kir_kenix]

They are extremely accurate at most handgun ranges...<100 yds or so. They also put extremely nice, clean holes through paper that are easy to score in competition.

[jmort]

Low recoil, inherent accuracy, max meplat, and fantastic/incredible straight-line penetration.

[mdi]

Both good answers. I have 2 molds for .38 cal. wadcutters and shoot them a lot in my 38s and 357. For my house gun (2" 38) I use 150 gr. (actual weight) DEWCs over a stiff load of W231. Good short range accuracy, and I figger the flat nose will impart a lot of tissue damage and shock with little room to room penetration.

[MBTcustom]

Wadcutters have every advantage, especially in cast lead boolits.
The nose profile of a projectile has a lot of effect on how aerodynamic that projectile is, but at close SD range who gives a rip? The secondary effect of the nose is to control expansion.
You should match your nose profile to the application.
The factors that should be taken into account when choosing a nose profile is alloy and speed.
If you are shooting a copper jacketed projectile, then your projectile is extremely hard and fast and will try to zip right through soft tissue without opening. Therefore, use an aggressive hollowpoint.
If you are shooting a lead boolit cast from soft alloy, then your projectile is extremely soft and slow, so a FN should be used, so that it does not pancake after only 2" of penetration.
Add to this the hydraulic shock that a FN boolit imparts along with the smooshing that invariably happens, and you have a real stomper of a SD load.

[1Shirt]

Can't argue with the above statements with the exception of range. Have never had great luck with wc at ranges much beyond 25 yds. But up to that range they are everything that they ought to be for home defense ammo.
1Shirt!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Actually, I have "heard" that the WC is not very accurate,
and am waiting for someone the mention that with details.

I, on the other hand, think they are every bit as accurate
at normal pistol shooting distances (My normal is 25 yds or less)
than any other pistol boolit design.

I love the paper punching that a WC does.
Jon

[vernb]

Thanks for the quick response guys. The gun is a 2 inch Taurus ultralight for my wife . They would be fairly light loads for range practice. I just want to buy one mold for it and I could use factory ammo for carry. Mid range accuracy would be the priority. No one enjoys inaccurate guns! Maybe a swc?

[beagle]

Got to agree. At about 70 yards, WCs go nuts stability wise and it's hit or miss at 100 yards unless you're initially starting them at magnum velocities.

But for general plinking out to 50 yards, they're a very accurate bullet. The wadcutter is a great little bullet for small game and pests.

But, what you expect from a cylindrical, full bore design.

I always have about 500 .38 wads loaded just in case I want to shoot some./beagle


Can't argue with the above statements with the exception of range. Have never had great luck with wc at ranges much beyond 25 yds. But up to that range they are everything that they ought to be for home defense ammo.
1Shirt!

[Texantothecore]

Target shooters like them because they are accurate and they make perfectly round holes in the paper. They are also rated above hollowpoints for defensive purposes. The all-around round.

[44man]

WAD CUTTER---to cut a round hole in paper for scoring. They can be accurate at long range too.
From a 2" gun, why would you need more?
Most problems are from them being too soft. Swaged junk with poor lube.

[vernb]

Wc it is then ! Thanks guys. Any other suggestions on weight. It'll be a Lee mold

[H.Callahan]

Look for something in about the 148gr area. Pretty much the gold standard for 38/357 wadcutters.

[jmort]

Here is Federal 148 grain wadcutter blowing through a 12" block of 20% ballistic gelatin - it is beautiful to see something so slow (around 625 fps out of a 2" 642 J Frame) doing so much
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iolV5KOUtsc

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Wc it is then ! Thanks guys. Any other suggestions on weight. It'll be a Lee mold
I don't believe you have much of a choice in weight,
you got the tumble lube groove or the standard lube groove.
I've used both and the tumble lube groove mold I bought new
a couple years ago was too small for my taste (.357).
I recently bought the standard lube groove in the 6 cav blocks.
it's excellent. right at .359"
Jon

[mooman76]

I had a stubby Taurus and it didn't shoot as good as I had hoped but good enough to get the job done. I tried several different lead boolits and the WC boolits shot twice as goo as the other.

[Will]

The lee 148 wc in front of 3gr of bullseye is what many target pistol shooters use.

[rintinglen]

No other Pistol cartridge was benefactor of as much research for peak accuracy as the 38 special was from the 1920's on up through and into the 1970's. The Mid-range Wadcutter was the proven choise for PPC and centerfire bullseye competition through out that time. I have shot untold thousands of them and they are my first choice for enjoyable revolver practice shooting.
Bullseye, WW-231/HP 38 are the most proven powders, but there are many others that have been used and work just fine. For your small frame Taurus, stick with starting loads and a 148 WC, maybe tweaking up a smidge to get tighter groups. Lee, Lyman, Speer, Hornady, and Hogdon all have data.

[captaint]

At one time I had loaded up some of the Hornady swaged hollow base wadcutters - upside down. That would have been quiet a mess, soft lead and all. I think the WC's are a good defense boolit, though. Got meplat ??. Oh, yes.... enjoy Mike

[bobthenailer]

i personaly see no advantage to a WC for normal shooting , I have them in .358 & .430 dia , IME groups will open up past 25 yards and alot at 50 yards.
I also have a Taurus 85 ultralight, ive tried my wadcutters with 2.5 gr of TG, accuracy was excellent! but i get less recoil & the same accuracy with a 125 gr bullet with 3.5 grs of TG.

[vernb]

Thanks guys. I put the gun on layaway today. M85 in stainless.

[trixter]

I shoot both LSWC and LRN 200gr in my XDM 45ACP. I am not a good enough shot yet that I can tell the difference in accuracy, But the wad cutters do make a neater hole in the paper. They both kill the paper DEAD.

[mdi]

My Taurus 85 likes my Ideal (? May be Lyman) 358091 that drops about 150 gr. with my alloy. I seat the bullet to the crimp groove and use a very light roll crimp. I can get about 1" to 1 1/4" groups @ 15 yards with a mid-range load of W231. I've played with this combo @ about 30 yds and can keep 3 out of 5 on a 9" paper plate, two hand hold. Not great but plenty good for me.

[williamwaco]

Actually, I have "heard" that the WC is not very accurate,
and am waiting for someone the mention that with details.

I, on the other hand, think they are every bit as accurate
at normal pistol shooting distances (My normal is 25 yds or less)
than any other pistol boolit design.

I love the paper punching that a WC does.
Jon


Jon,

I might ask your informant, why is it that virtually all bullseye and exhibition shooters shooting revolvers use them?
The reason is because they are the most accurate short range handgun bullet on the planet.

The 50 yard 10 ring is 3.3" in diameter. Bullseye shooters frequently put ten consecutive shots into that ring - off-hand.

That said, I would not recommend them beyond 50 yards if loaded at normal target velocities.

I don't know what would happen if you loaded them up to 900 or 1000 fps.

Why don't you try it and let us know?

.

[GP100man]

Here`s my exp with WC .

In 357 cases I use the 358091 150 gr version with 1 groove lubed , I run this boolit at 950 fps & it`ll hold it`s own to 100yds , on a good day for me !

I use Glenn`s CR on em & I get a little larger groups with 2 grooves lubed .

In 38cases shot in a 357 cyl I seat em out to the same length as the 357 loads but only run em `bout 750 fps & they are noticeably less accurate at 100yds even for me doing the driving !!

The Lee TL design for me seems to be a challenge to find a load for ,especially in 38 cases ,since I seat em down flush almost .
There for the most part a less flexable boolit as far as the speed that they like .

Once again, this is my exp. with WC designs & there`s just to many variables to chisel it in stone .

As far as SD/HD goes ,they don`t work worth a flip for speed loading .

[jmort]

"I don't know what would happen if you loaded them up to 900 or 1000 fps"

They should kick some serious a$$ and if hardcast, penetrate like crazy. I always have liked this article from Guns and Ammo Handgun Mag website archives dated 9-24-2010, called "Wicked Wadcutters"
http://www.handgunsmag.com/2010/09/24/ammunition_hg_wickedwadcutters_200901/

[David2011]

They're very accurate. We used to shoot at the numbers on the target with our Saeco WCs. Back in the early days of PPC there were tons of guns built with a shortened cylinder that would only chamber wadcutters. The barrel was set back with a tight gap so the boolit would engage the rifling befor it completely cleared the brass, eliminating the usual jump of SWCs and other revolver boolit designs. I have one and it's a ball to shoot with 148 gr WCs and 2.8 gr of Bullseye.

David

[GP100man]

The WC load going 1k does blow the biggest h0les in the the swamp mud !!!

This a solid WC not a hollow based wadcutter ,I`m sure a hollowbased 1 would blow the base thru the front with that much pressure , that would be not good !!!

Don`t ask how I know[smilie=1:

[mdi]

FWIW; Back in the early 80s the "hot new thing" was loading HBWC backwards for a huge hollow point, soft bullet. I even tried some, gotta keep up ya know. But I read an article in a gun magazine about them about the same time, with a lot of pics. Their tests show that the hollow point would either clog with clothing, collapse, shear the skirt off, with poor penetration act like a solid, and rarely preform as an expanding, huge mushrooming bullet. In my case the accuracy was so-so, very poor penetration in wet newspaper (a lot of the slugs turned sideways and stopped) and really just a pain to reload. I get much better results today with cast DEWC (wheel weight alloy); better accuracy, easier loading and good straighr penetration (but I haven't tested on flesh).

[44Vaquero]

I actually load both .32 mag and .38 S&W with Hornady HBWC's and have had excellent results at moderate speeds! About 750 f.p.s., accuracy does begin to suffer after about 35/40 yards though. These were recovered from the sand berm.

.32 cal 90 gr HBWC's. L to R Too fast, Just Right and too Slow. The ground hogs do not like them very much!

[Bad Water Bill]

What I always find interesting is how a personal defense load starts with a load designed to have the most STOPPING power at close range.

The next thing someone is comparing at 100 yards. How many folks here have a bedroom or even a house that is 100 yards long?

Now if you are shooting at someone at a range over about 20' you are not looking at defense. At what distance will police change from personal defense to attempted murder?

[trixter]

I just like nice clean holes. Killing paper is fuunn!

[mehavey]

Asked by many: Is WC accurate?
- From 15 years on military Pistol teams, yes, ...very, ...out to 50 yards at least
(after that you shouldn't be depending on it for any number of reasons)

Mentioned by many: Is WC OK- to-Very Good for Self-Defense?
- Probably not as good as what you need if/when the chips go down
jmortimer's YouTube tells you why at the 1:15sec point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=iolV5KOUtsc

[John in WI]

I keep a .38 Smith for HD and now that it's winter, I go with full WCs cast from WW with a bit of tin and oven treated. It's probably overboard, but it's my copy of Buffalo Bore's WC in there defensive lineup. Someone mentioned that excellent straight line penetration.

I seriously doubt my normal HPs will work well against a heavy winter coat. If they clog, then I might as well be shooting round nose (widow makers!). I figure with a WC at the very least I get a nice sharp shoulder to crush it's way through, not "zip" through like a round nose. And being nice and hard, I think they could do a number on bone.

That, and they do shoot great out of my 4". They definitely shoot better than I can!