Wadcutter brass (38 spl)

[tazman]

Does anybody actually sell wadcutter brass anymore? I don't recall ever seeing it listed as an option by any companies selling brass today.

Starline has claimed their 38 special brass conforms to the necessary specifications for use as wadcutter brass. You might contact them and verify.

[bgeipel]

What a timely topic. I just started casting Lyman 358495 sized to .359 yesterday and my first samples using a Hornady bullet seater/crimp did not chamber in my revolver. I switched to a Lee Factory Crimp and they chambered perfectly. Probably not what I wanted if the Lee Factory Crimp swaged the bullet down to .355

I will pull a loaded bullet tonight too see.

Just pulled it and indeed it was swaged down from .359 to .357

[mehavey]

As far as the hard wadcutters from Hornady, even hard hollow based wadcutters will expand if sufficient pressure is applied….

Ummmm….. See Post #31 ?

[35remington]

Moot point. Hornady’s wadcutters are not that hard. Harder than pure lead, but substantially softer than wheelweights.

[tazman]

I've got some 1970-ish HBWC Winchester target ammunition/cases in the basement (from back when I was a real person on a military pistol team).

I'll shot/reload some tomorrow.

Did you ever get the brass reloaded and shot? If so, what were your results?
I like getting data points even if they don't necessarily help right now or agree with my thoughts. I may learn some new data or a new way of thinking about things.
Some people have better luck getting things to make a difference than others. I have one revolver that simply doesn't care what gets shot through it. It all shoots good. The others, not so much.

[brewer12345]

Just pulled it and indeed it was swaged down from .359 to .357

FWIW, I cast that mold and shoot a lot of it. I tried the low charges often recommended and got "meh" results. When I bumped the powder charge up to 3.8 grains of HP38 it is great. Shoots far better than I can. Don't know if the Lee FCD is swaging the bullet down or not, but with good results who cares? I will be trying slightly softer alloy with this or a similar mold soon to see if it makes any difference.