HP alloy

[DENNIS B]

I have been casting 158 GR SWC/GC HP boolits for defence loads in my 38 SPL J frame S&W revolver, I've been using pure lead +P loads .. I practice with plain SWC/GC ,useing WW and standard loads. I feel the lead loads are more likely to expand where as the WW may be to brittle and come apart..any thoughts

[Ricochet]

In .38 Special with 158 grain boolits you're not going to get very high velocities, particularly out of a snubby. I'd stay close to pure lead hardness.

[686]

if you want a load that will realy open up, load 148gr hb wc backwords. try shooting a gal. jug of watter. it will open up to a 60 cal. it is also accret.

[Glen]

WW alloy HPs won't do anyting at .38 snubbie speeds. For expansion at these speeds you will need to keep your alloy at 40-1 or softer. Pure lead will expand fine, but will probably be a pain to cast good HPs with. 1% tin will probably be much better.

[fecmech]

I recently cast some 358439 HP's out of what I think is pretty close to straight lead. After reading this post I filled 3 plastic gallon jugs with water and went out back with my S&W Mod 36 (1 7/8" bbl) and shot the jugs. The load was 5.1 grs of Unique. The bullet went thru all 3 jugs and the entance hole in the second and 3rd jug was the same size as the first one (.357") indicating to me no expansion. I loaded up 3 more jugs and fired a shot from some Winchester +P 158 gr LSWCHP that I had. The first jug split in half and the entry holes in the second and 3rd jugs were larger than caliber size indicating some expansion. In the past I loaded some air cooled WW hp's in my .357(about 1200 fps) and they just fragmented and left pieces of the nose in the jugs. The base of the slug exited the last jug leaving a caliber size hole. Just thought I'd share. Nick

[txbirdman]

Nick,

Your experience mirrors mine with the .357 @ 1200 fps. I went to a softer alloy and had better results except it leads a bit.

[Lloyd Smale]

I like an alloy of 5050 ww/pure with about 2 percent tin added for hp bullets. Its soft enough to open at most velocitys and tends to not shed much weight.