OAL of .38 Wadcutter round

[ghh3rd]

I have cast a few hundred .38 WC 148gr boolits from my Lee TL mold and have coated them with Alox. I cleaned out my Craftsman tool chest (bright "Lee red") that was in the garage, and put the tools from it into an ancient tool chest that I inherited (gotta make sacrifices :-) ). I'll be mounting the loading press on the tool chest and am anxious to get started.

I was wondering with this particular boolit what should the OAL of the round be. Also, what is the preferred powder load for this for target that I could use as a starting point? (I have the books, but I know that some of the experienced members have their favorite ways.)

Thanks,


Randy

[Recluse]

Randy,

The old PPC/Bullseye match standard for years and years and years and still going on strong today is 2.7 or 2.8 grains of Bullseye behind a 148 gr LW. I've tinkered around with variations over the past thirty or so years, and haven't found anything that comes close to beating it for consistency and accuracy.

As far as OAL, the LW is designed to be seated almost all the way into the case. Leave just enough boolit to put a decent roll crimp on.

:coffee:

[JW6108]

Randy,

The old PPC/Bullseye match standard for years and years and years and still going on strong today is 2.7 or 2.8 grains of Bullseye behind a 148 gr LW. I've tinkered around with variations over the past thirty or so years, and haven't found anything that comes close to beating it for consistency and accuracy.

As far as OAL, the LW is designed to be seated almost all the way into the case. Leave just enough boolit to put a decent roll crimp on.

:coffee:

What recluse said on the Bullseye is on the money. There are other powders out there, but Bullseye is a good one to start with.

On my WC's, I like to seat flush and use a taper crimp, but plenty of accurate loads have been made up as recluse describes. Give it a try both ways and one may work more to your liking than the other.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Have used H&G #50, a 148 gr.WC for a long time with 2.7 grains BE and as was stated it has been a standard/classic for decades. A slight roll crimp into the crimping groove and thats it. However I ran into a different arrangement with my Smith M52 that requires no exposed lead beyond the case mouth. I switched to H&G #258 which is a double ended flat faced WC and seated bullets flush. It did change things with the 2.7 gr. loading; sharper recoil and opened the grouping so I went to 2.6 grains of 700x and got things back to what's best with that arrangement. The H&G molds aren't around anymore, (you can find them at Ballisticast or on E-Bay sometimes) but 148 WC's are still produced by the major mold makers as well as DE(double ended) flat-facers with crimping grooves. You may not need lube in all of the grooves. Good shooting. LLS

[kir_kenix]

2.7 gr BE is indeed the universal .38 special load. I load the Saeco 148 dewc as described by Recluse and it is an excellent shooter. This is a very accurate and mild load that shoots well in virtually every .38/357.

I tumble lube my wc's, mainly because I'm lazy and I can't tell any difference with my shooting style. There is an 86 gr dewc group buy going on right now that I'm really looking forward to double stacking and seeing how they shoot.

[R.M.]

If you're loading for a revolver, and not a Model 52, you can leave them hang out a bit. If you have a crimp groove, use it. The extra hanging out aids insertion into the chamber.

[Shiloh]

I have cast a few hundred .38 WC 148gr boolits from my Lee TL mold and have coated them with Alox. I cleaned out my Craftsman tool chest (bright "Lee red") that was in the garage, and put the tools from it into an ancient tool chest that I inherited (gotta make sacrifices :-) ). I'll be mounting the loading press on the tool chest and am anxious to get started.

I was wondering with this particular boolit what should the OAL of the round be. Also, what is the preferred powder load for this for target that I could use as a starting point? (I have the books, but I know that some of the experienced members have their favorite ways.)

Thanks,


Randy

I seat that boolit to crimp on the last groove before the boolit is flush. 2.8 gr of Alliant Bullseye. 3.0 or a little more for .357 Mag. Same for a Lyman #35891

Shiloh

[ghh3rd]

Another question regarding how far to insert the boolit... I would imagine that once you choose an OAL you would always want to keep it constant from batch to batch. I think that I read somewhere on this forum or somewhere else perhaps in a book that as the amount of air space changes in a round the pressure also changes. Does this sound correct?

Randy

[Sprue]

If your WC boolit has a crimp groove, crimp it there. Accuracy = consistancy. Once you find the sweet spot keep everything the same.

You mention that everyone one has their favorite ways. Each gun will have its own respective sweet spot when it comes to accuracy. There is NO one formula that works for yours and mine. You have to find out what recipe YOUR gun shoots best.

[Recluse]

If your WC boolit has a crimp groove, crimp it there. Accuracy = consistancy. Once you find the sweet spot keep everything the same.

You mention that everyone one has their favorite ways. Each gun will have its own respective sweet spot when it comes to accuracy. There is NO one formula that works for yours and mine. You have to find out what recipe YOUR gun shoots best.

Truer words have never been spoken nor written anywhere, by anyone.

Much as I love to tinker around with loads and combinations and lubes and alloys and moulds and brass and annealing and primers and all the infinite combinations thereof, the 2.7 Bullseye behind a DEWC fired by a WSP is the ONE (and probably ONLY) load I quit fooling with and trying to seriously improve years ago.

Over the years, I've experimented around, as I wrote up above, but I always made sure that I had four to five hundred rounds of 2.7 Bullseye DEWC loads in my ammo cabinet.

Why? Because as Sprue so accurately wrote, that load hits the sweet spot with every single beloved wheelgun I own, bar none, and with zero exceptions.

Now, when it comes to my beloved Lee TL158SWC boolits, I've found several good loads that hit the sweet spot, as I have with my 158RN, yet I keep tinkering and keep finding a load now and then that is even sweeter.

But with all of that, haven't found anything that can--or will--consistently outshoot and outperform, so far as accuracy is concerned, my old standby .38 Special wadcutter loads.

:coffee:

[Buckshot]

...............Your OAL may vary a bit. Some will seat the WC flush and either give the casemouth a slight rollcrimp OVER the edge of the boolit, or crimp into the top lube groove. Substitute tapercrimp for rollcrimp, if you prefer.

My K38 Smith loves the 2.7 BE/148gr WC load. With a Lee 6 banger for thier 148gr lube groove design, I cast them of soft lead and tumble lube. I then shoot them unsized. These loads are VERY cheap at about $1.50 / 50 rnds. You can target shoot, bust cans and dirt clods, and anyone big enough to hold up the pistol to shoot isn't intimidated. I try to keep several hundred on hand all the time.

................Buckshot

[ciPeterF]

Alternative to Bullseye, is 3.1 of Win 231, pretty much 750-775 fps, also very accurate.

[Jeffery8mm]

What would be a good unique load for the 148gr Lee wadcutter??
Also, has anyone got an exact COAL measurement on this Lee 148wc for the 38spl??

Jeff

[zxcvbob]

That's a tumble lube bullet? Lightly roll-crimp into the top little groove. I don't know what the OAL will be; probably about 1.2". Just make sure it's the same every time. About 3.5 grains of Unique -- adjust down from there, and if you don't find a good load start over again at 3.5 and work up 0.1 grain at a time to a maximum of 4.0. (the best load will probably be somewhere close to 3.2)

If you want to load the bullet flush with the end of the case, 3.5 becomes the *maximum* and your best load will be somewhere around 3.0.

If you have a set of 9mm dies, you can use them to taper crimp .38 Specials and see if that works better (usually it won't)

[Kraschenbirn]

Another good alternative with the 148 gr DEWC is 3.0 gr 700X. Shoots to same POA as 2.8 gr Bullseye my S&Ws and, for me, it's a matter of convenience 'cause I alway have a jug on hand for 12 ga. trap and clays loads.

Bill