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Matt3357
10-15-2009, 09:57 PM
Any one ever heard of a mini 38 wadcutter. These little guys are only 75 gr and half the size of a regular wad cutter. Any ideas on the original use? Any good ideas you all can come up with to use them for? I have a 357 686 that is waiting on some. I will be getting them from a local guy that casts. He gave me a couple of samples tonight. Really looking forward to loading some up. Oh, does anyone know of any load data for these little guys? I will be using 231.

Thanks,
Matt

garandsrus
10-15-2009, 10:07 PM
Matt,

There is a current group buy with a similar boolit. It is mostly for target shooting/plinking at relatively short range. I use a 100gr boolit for indoor PPC shooting where we shoot at 50' for the longest course of fire.

I use a load of 3.0gr W231 behind the 100gr boolit. I have not loaded for any lighter boolits so I can't help too much.

John

Buckshot
10-16-2009, 02:14 AM
.............Matt3357, H&G's I believe it was offered a similarly light DEWC that looked like an Oreo cookie, having a top and bottom drive band seperated by a round bottomed lube groove. IIRC it was like 65 or maybe 68 grains? Dean Grennell wrote an article or two having to do with stacking them up in cases for multi-projectile loads.

You could put 2 in a 38 Special, and 3 in a 357 mag if you sized the bottom one to .354" or so. The 357 Maximum could stand 4 I think. Dean was always doing something wacky :-) Once he was building loads for the 44 mag and using the Speer 44 cal shot capsules. He was cutting short lengths of welding rod and stacking them in the capsule. He called the load "The Junk Yard Dog".

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

XWrench3
10-16-2009, 07:05 AM
[QUOTE][He was cutting short lengths of welding rod and stacking them in the capsule. He called the load "The Junk Yard Dog"./QUOTE]

i like that idea, but instead of using welding rod, maybe those cute mil surplus "fletchettes" that were made for use in a shotgun. they are made from hardened steel. with pointed ends. sounds eveil, mean, wicked, and nasty! just the way i like it. if you are going to **** with the bull, you have to be prepared to take the horn!

Poygan
10-16-2009, 07:28 AM
I have a Saeco #456 that casts two 70 grain and two 105 grain wadcutters. I've not used it a lot because it is hard to get it up to temp with the four small cavities. I've used it for multiple loads in the .38 and .357 but don't recall the results offhand. It out on the bench now and will be the next one used at a casting session. I think setting the mold on a hotplate first to bring it up to temp will give better results. BTW, I've never seen another mold like this on ebay so they may not have been a high production item.

Matt3357
10-16-2009, 08:39 AM
I was doing some thinking last night(I know scary stuff), I remember Turbo posting a double wad cutter 410 slug load with 2 sized down 38 DEWC in a wad, What about 4 of these in a 2.5" shell or 6 of them in a 3" shell? I think that would make one mean coon killing round. Oh and btw my NEF 410 has the choke removed.

Thanks,
Matt

1Shirt
10-16-2009, 08:46 AM
Have one of the little 75 gr. WC molds (sing cav only). Like Buckshot says they can (and I have loaded multi's in 38-357mag) with great sucess. They are a pain in the tush however to cast particularly in sing cav.
1Shirt!:coffeecom

Matt3357
10-16-2009, 08:53 AM
1Shirt,

What kind of pattern were you getting at 10'? 25'? Was it just one ragged hole or were they separated a bit? I think 3 of them in a 357 mag case would be one hell of a varmint getter for up close and personal. Kind of like a mini judge yet not as expensive to shoot.

Thanks,
Matt

Shiloh
10-16-2009, 12:03 PM
I've seen the multi's as well. A fellow at the range wanted to show me something.
He fired six shots at a target about 15 yards away and there were 12 holes in the target.

Sounds like something that I'd like to know more about.

Shiloh

beagle
10-16-2009, 02:22 PM
Think those were developed by Dean Grenel way back when. He was experimenting with duplex bullet loads in the .38 Special and .357 Magnum.

NEI I beleive still makes the mould. Originally, they were from a H & G mould and were made in both .358" and .429".

The .44 Mag article was titled, "Tuna Cans From Hell" as I recall./beagle

dubber123
10-16-2009, 03:12 PM
I recently modified a Lyman 358091 to cast a 58 gr. wadcutter. 3 in a .357 were an easy fit. I wouldn't want to be within 20 yds. or so, but it looked like you would be pretty safe by 50 yds... http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh83/dubber123/IMG_0112.jpg

JIMinPHX
10-16-2009, 06:51 PM
Do you mean one like this???
If so, look in the group buy area.

Leftoverdj
10-16-2009, 07:50 PM
I've played with multiball loads, although not with WCs. They shot reasonably close to POA with usually two touching or nearly so, and the third within a few inches at 15 yards. While fun to play with, I saw no real practical advantages to such loads.

bearcove
10-16-2009, 10:12 PM
Lyman 358101 75 gr single cavity, takes a while to get the mold warm enough,but the its fine if you keep a fast pace. Just a pinch of bullseye and you have a good 38 gallery load. 93 of them from a pound of lead.

Buckshot
10-17-2009, 01:25 AM
.............Since we're talking some oddities here, didja know you can stick a 30 cal slug in a Speer 38 cal shot capsule? It's a very firm snug fit just like it was made for it. Kinda like a sabot.

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

Caveape
10-17-2009, 01:45 AM
Thanks, Buckshot!
I'll have to look into that. Got some of those capsules layin around I might just havta try.

BTW, I never had much satisfaction with loading some boolits I made out of RF jackets into sabots, and then expelling them thru a 30 Carb Blackhawk. Poor accuracy and a tumbling round--keyholed target. Guess the twist rate was wrong for that combo.

Bucks Owin
10-17-2009, 12:56 PM
Any one ever heard of a mini 38 wadcutter. These little guys are only 75 gr and half the size of a regular wad cutter. Any ideas on the original use? Any good ideas you all can come up with to use them for? I have a 357 686 that is waiting on some. I will be getting them from a local guy that casts. He gave me a couple of samples tonight. Really looking forward to loading some up. Oh, does anyone know of any load data for these little guys? I will be using 231.

Thanks,
Matt

Matt, I've a mold that cast 82 gr WCs and played around with various combinations including some "duplex" loads (2 boolits). I never got any great accuracy from them in a 6" M-19 S&W. I didn't use any 231 but 4.5 grs Green Dot gave them 958 av vel and showed some promise. A duplex bullet load with 6.0 grs Unique went 1096 fps and shot to almost the same POI as my 158 gr loads at 25 yds. The dispersion was generally about 3" at that range. I think these light pills are interesting to play with but other than being frugal to cast I could find little use for them except maybe short range plinking.....FWIW, Dennis