What are these ? .....

[Digger]

Started a thread here earlier on some items that have been given to me.
Among them are about 120 rounds of 38 spc. loaded up with these little puppies , haven't weighed them yet ... are these original wadcutters ?
89225

[WallyM3]

Hollow based wad cutters, Speer 148 gr.

[Garyshome]

Never seen them before!

[jonp]

Hornady 148gr hbwc.

[Shiloh]

+1 to what WallyM3 said. I have the better part of an older 250 pak around here somewhere. Dry lube HBWC.

Shiloh

[Cherokee]

Hollow based wad cutters, Speer 148 gr.

Yep, that be them

[Digger]

Was curious about the lube status of these ....... dry lube ?

[WallyM3]

Gotta be, Digger. I've shot lots of boxes of them (before I started casting, and still have a bunch loaded) and never had need to add a thing.

[gpb]

According to Hornady the knurls hold the dry lube.

"Hornady lead bullets are pre-lubricated and cold-swaged for total uniformity and balance. Our exclusive knurling system retains lubricant over the entire bearing surface to reduce leading in your barrel."

http://www.hornady.com/store/38-Cal-.358-148-gr-HBWC/

[WallyM3]

Yep, they're Hornadys. The Speer "cannalure" is so faint that it imbedded itself in my mind as knurling. Same lube idea, also HB, but definitely different bullets.

jonp called it right.

[CastingFool]

Some guys load these backwards, for a home defense round.

[bhn22]

They are indeed Hornady. I've loaded zillions of them.

[Scharfschuetze]

At one time, perhaps still, there was a .314 version of the boolit that made a great plinker over a few grains of BE for kids and 30/31 cal rifles as well as the 32 S&W Long.

[h8dirt]

In years past, I shot a bunch of them. If I remember correctly, they were pretty accurate and made a good small game bullet out of my 6" Model 19 S&W. I know a few folks would load them backwards -- and called them dumdums when loaded that way.

[dverna]

They are Hornady's and the reason they are so accurate is their consistency. I weighed a bunch once and got an extreme spread of .4 gr and a SD of .11

Great Bullseye bullets.

Don Verna

[rockshooter]

pushed by 3.1 gr of WW231, they don't break 600fps from a Smith model 60!
Loren

[mdi]

I loaded a bunch of these up and can't remember; Hornady, Speer? Anyway they are swaged wadcutters, extremely accurate in my revolvers over 2.9 gr. Bullseye. Lube is a "dry" lube somewhat like some .22 LR...

[Echo]

It's a bad idea to load these backwards, as a defense load. Pushing pressure up to get more velocity often blows out the base, leaving the hollow body in the bbl - not a good thing!

[gwpercle]

Some guys load these backwards, for a home defense round.
Loaded as a hollow point, over 3.5 grains of Bullseye, when fired from a J-frame , 38 special w/ 2 inch barrel it yields 801 fps and expands to .715 inch diameter in a very nice mushroom shape.
Handloader Magazine 8/13 article by Terry Weiland .
Every time I go to gunshop I have been looking for a box or two...would like to give this load a try.
Gary

[Beerd]

It's a bad idea to load these backwards, as a defense load. Pushing pressure up to get more velocity often blows out the base, leaving the hollow body in the bbl - not a good thing!

put a gas check on the nose, now the base. problem solved.
..

[oldpapps]

"What are these" and "Never seen them before!"

You are just trying to make me feel old, aren't you?

And, yes 'hollow base wad cutter' and the good ones. The bad ones had grease groves filled with motor oil and wax. Smoke and stink, still leaded the barrel and coated everything in black. I've blown my nose way too many times and gotten black **** from them :(

Just feeling my age, some more....

OSOK

[dbosman]

In stock at Midway. Box of 250 for $25.99
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/287589/hornady-bullets-38-caliber-358-diameter-148-grain-lead-hollow-base-wadcutter-box-of-250

On back order at Brownells.

In stock at MidSouth Box of 250 for $23.11
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0000310208

[mdi]

Back in the '80s backward loaded HBWCs was the "new thing". I tried loading some that way, but didn't like the accuracy, or lack of accuracy (hard to keep all 5 shots from my .38 inside 24" @ 50 ft. and groups of 10"-12" at 25 ft. were common). I read a report on the backwards loading in a gun mag. and dropped the project. The reporter shot into gel at home defense distances, some through clothing and some into gel only. More than half of the backwards HBWCs clogged with cloth and did not expand. Another 25% or so, the wide cavity would collapse upon impact, even in gel only acting like a solid. Penetration was less than a normal loaded WC (?), and only a very few expanded as a huge hollow point would be expected to do. My "house gun" now is loaded with 150 gr. cast double-ended wadcutters loaded over a stiff load of W231, giving me a round with decent penetration without endangering any neighbors, and a big flat point...

[varmint243]

Back in the '80s


What in the heck is that supposed to mean ???
You sure try to make the 80's sound like it was a long time ago :(

[dbosman]

If someone is 20ish, the '80s were a long time ago.
And, yes, I do have shoes older than that.

[jonp]

If someone is 20ish, the '80s were a long time ago.
And, yes, I do have shoes older than that.

My Johnson Red Plaid Wool Coat sure is!

[MtGun44]

The knurled with white dusty lube is definitely Hornady, and the lead always
looks silvery, too.

Bill

[jonp]

The knurled with white dusty lube is definitely Hornady, and the lead always
looks silvery, too.

Bill
The white dusty knurl tipped me off. I have a box of hornady swc that looks suspiciously similar

[mdi]

What in the heck is that supposed to mean ???
You sure try to make the 80's sound like it was a long time ago :(
It means what it says; Back in the '80s (as in the decade of 1980-1990). Compared to when I was born, no it wasn't a long time ago but there are prolly some members that weren't born then. BTW, everybody would be better off if they would just read the black letters/words...

[Janoosh]

Use a RCBS seating die for 38 special round nose and swage the hollow base closed a little. Then........use it as a hollow point. I make a dummy round filled with a wood dowel to where the boolit just barely seats and hollow base up, swage the hollow base closed, a little, remove from dummy round and seat in primed, powered case. It works.

[Chilmonty]

Those are great bullets for low velocity, short range target shooting! Very accurate and make a nice clean whole in a target!
Have used them in my S&W 686 for years.

[bamacisa]

They are Hornady bullets I have shot thousands of them and I have some unopened factory boxes on my loading bench.

[myg30]

Back in the '80s backward loaded HBWCs was the "new thing". I tried loading some that way, but didn't like the accuracy, or lack of accuracy (hard to keep all 5 shots from my .38 inside 24" @ 50 ft. and groups of 10"-12" at 25 ft. were common). I read a report on the backwards loading in a gun mag. and dropped the project. The reporter shot into gel at home defense distances, some through clothing and some into gel only. More than half of the backwards HBWCs clogged with cloth and did not expand. Another 25% or so, the wide cavity would collapse upon impact, even in gel only acting like a solid. Penetration was less than a normal loaded WC (?), and only a very few expanded as a huge hollow point would be expected to do. My "house gun" now is loaded with 150 gr. cast double-ended wadcutters loaded over a stiff load of W231, giving me a round with decent penetration without endangering any neighbors, and a big flat point...

New thing ? .... Back in the day... Loaded a bunch of these but the coal oil lantern light was dim, Not sure how deep we set-em. I told Davey, take that quill and write down these here load data so we don't forget-em. Davey put that data under his coon skin hat and I never seen it since !
Nope, never loaded any !

Mike

[MtGun44]

I used to use them on cave bears and sabertooth cats - back in the day. . . . . :bigsmyl2:

Bill