Seating Lee 148 gr WC

[palmettosunshine]

Hello everyone,

I recently got a Lee 148gr WC mold for myself ( I mean really, who else for?) and after some searching it seems the consensus is to seat it to the crimp groove which leaves a little bit of boolit above the case mouth. I loaded up 50 with 2.7gr of Bullseye, crimped in the groove and went to the range. Shot just fine, fairly accurate and no leading in either my Smith & Wesson 65-3 or my 638.

When I was searching for the proper seating depth many people mentioned seating flush with the case mouth even though the boolit has a crimp groove. So I had to try it. I seated a dozen upside down, flush with the case mouth with a light crimp.

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff1/palmettosunshine/IMG_20130101_165910.jpg

So my question is, have I raised pressures too much by doing so? Still using 2.7gr of Bullseye and I'll be shooting these in my K frame first. Any thoughts or experience with this load are greatly appreciated.

[runfiverun]

you have used up more of the case capacity.
i think you are still within pressure limits though.

[GSCSA]

I seat mine like the on eon the right. I even use the same load as you in my S&W 15-3.

[Dave C.]

I seat wadcuters deep enough to crimp over the end of the boolit.
Yes that means a few thousandth of an inch bellow flush. I have
been loading them like that for 35 years with no problems.
I use 2.8 grains of Bullseye. I also load them upside down and
tell everyone that I have a custom nose pure mould!

Dave C.

[alamogunr]

I crimp mine in the crimp groove like you show on the right. I don't have a well thought out reason.

[MT Gianni]

The design of the teat that sticks up is to act as a swc does. It noses into the wind, deflecting the air to the sides. A flat face would decrease stability something a wc does @ longer ranges. So said Col Harrison in Cast Bullets.

[Shiloh]

Yes, you have increased pressure. With your load of 2.7 gr. you are still well within specs. I have seated flush with 3.5 grain of Bullseye and there is no pressure signs, and is still mild.

I load mine like the photo on the right as well, and played with up to 3.5 gr of Bullseye.

Shiloh

[jdgabbard]

I use the 358495 WC for my target loads, very similar if I'm not mistaken. I seat to the crimp groove, and load over 3.0gr of BE with all three grooves filled with lube. Accuracy is better than I can hold, and I get zero leading. But I do get a fair amount of tacky soot from the mix of lube and powder residue. I have found that 3.0gr of BE is the optimum load from ease of loading and accuracy in my 65-3. This does fair in my sp-101, and not well in a Taurus 85UL 2"....

[kir_kenix]

I shoot this Lee, and a very similiar 148 gr Saeco. I seat as shown on the right. Both shoot great at any distance I'm capable of shooting.

A tip that may or may not work for you is to just fill the bottom lube groove. I've found that this boolit over 2.8 gr of BE does not need all the lube capacity of either boolit. I've found that this set up keeps my pistol cleaner, saves lube (the Saeco especially holds alot of lube for a .38 or .357 at the velocities I push them), and still prints fantastically on paper.