Multi-projectiles in .357

[Stick_man]

I was just thinking about the multi- loads being discussed every once in a while, and was wondering if anybody had ever tried a light SWC over an ultra-light WC in the .357mag or .38 Spl. I was thinking maybe a 105-125 SWC over a 50-60 gr WC. Would something like this work? I don't think it would be as effective with only 2 projectiles as say a 3 pc one, but might give a little better penetration with the heavier SWC?

Anybody have any thoughts on this? Pros or cons? I have never personally shot any of the multi-projectile loads and was just curious.

[subsonic]

I read magazine article (guns & ammo?) one time where a guy reamed the cylinder on a j frame to take a .357 max case with a stack of little wadcutters in it. Anybody else remember that one? Or better yet have that article?

[Chihuahua Floyd]

never doen t with anything but round balls due to combined weight of both bullets.
Don't remember the weight of two round balls, but its acceptable. neve had my hands on a 50g .357 bullet yet.
CF

[Stick_man]

Well, it seems like I saw an article not too long ago about multi-ball loads in the .357s or multiple "pills" and that got me thinking. We have some excellent custom mould makers on this forum. I am sure that if they can cut a mould for a 148 gr WC, they could just as easily cut one for a 50gr one (1/3 the length). Put one of those behind a light SWC or maybe 2 of the 50s behind a light SWC in a .357 case you would get the effect of the multiple. Going with a 3 pc one, you would seat the SWC to a normal depth. A 2pc setup would probably work in a .38 case.

Am I overthinking this?

[SciFiJim]

NOE did a tri-weight wad cutter group buy in 2009. He still has the tooling. The link to the old GB is http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=61563

[leadman]

I read that article on stacking the projectiles also. The were like coned discs IIRC.

If a mold was cut full length with grease grooves and driving bands you could have an adjustable part that had a small nose like a full wadcutter that you could position at a driving band then you could cast boolits of varying weights.
Heavier for a 357 Max, lighter for 357, then lighter still for 38. Or you could cast extra heavy wadcutters!

If you found the right size pure lead round ball you could use a luber/sizer to flatten it and lube it some. Might have to experiment with that.

[rintinglen]

Been there, done that--not worth the effort. Lyman made a nifty little WC, the 358-101 that cast about 75 grains. They also made a 115 grain SWC, the 358-345(?). I made up a box or so of cartridges with the 101 on the bottom and the SWC on top. The problem arises in that the boolits do separate in flight and produce poor penetration, due to the reduced velocity of the rounds. You end up with a 190+ grain payload, but only about 900 fps. They will produce 3+ inch groups at 10 yards or so, but I can't figure out a worthwhile use.

[ReloaderFred]

Back in the very early 1970's I experimented with multi-bullet .38's. I flattened 00 buck and then sized it in my lubrisizer. I waxed card wads and put them between each of the three projectiles and made up a load for the weight of the column.

I would get a pretty little triangle on the target at about 10 yards, but there wasn't much penetration. After making up about 50 of them, and shooting them all up, I came to the conclusion that while it was a fun experiment, it had no useful purpose, so I dropped it.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[9.3X62AL]

I've played with the #358-101 in 38 Special a bit. As Glen pointed out, they seperate in flight rather widely from one another. At 15 yards, the hits are from 2" to 5" apart--and the faster they get driven, the wider the hits. At 25 yards, not all boolits will stay on a B-27 silhouette, and some are hitting as if beginning to tumble.

Curiously, when fired in one-boolit fashion, they retain some accuracy to 25 yards. Not stellar, but minute-of-jackrabbit, assuming the jack's luck was poor.

These little disc-wadcutters might do for thin-walled environments where over-penetration would be an issue, and close-quarters engagements are likely. My own preference in such venues is to use real bullets, and not to miss--but that's just me.

[bcp477]

So, you get basically a .38 shotshell......only with bigger "pellets" (and only a couple of them). And the accuracy of a shotshell, as well.

A waste of time, in my opinion.

[DragoonDrake]

I load two of the 75 wadcutters on top of one another with 2400 and a standard primer. I do not remember the charge but I think it is 10 grains. I use them in a little bond arms that I carry while hiking when dogs and coons have been an issue. At ten yards it will kill a coon and turn a dog. That is all I was looking for the load to do.