Low Budget Shooter
07-01-2013, 11:01 PM
CB Friends,
I've been messing with cast loads for .38 Special for only a few years, and am by no means an expert. But after learning alot from this web forum and other sources, this week I've had a bit of success. In case it can be of help to newbies or give a smile to some old salts, I thought I'd offer this post.
The gun I'm loading for is an old Model 10-5, originally a police gun, that has been back to S&W a few years ago for a new cylinder. I picked it up for a song a few years ago from a nice man who didn't appreciate its qualities. The barrel slugs at .356 and the cylinder throats at .3575.
The mold I'm using is 45 2.1's 360640 hollow point 4-cavity mold made recently by Miha. Once good and hot, the mold casts consistent hollow point bullets at an amazing rate. It casts at about .361" and 149 grains. Sized .3575 and all lubed up with Carnauba Red, the bullet weighs about 151 grains. I made an initial batch out of range scrap, then a batch out of 50:1 (the culls and sprues from an old project using 25:1 mixed half and half with pure lead).
75132
I'm loading with 5.5 grains Unique, which meters consistently through my Lee powder measure using the .71 cavity.
The expansion test consisted of shooting into a bucket full of wet expired church bulletins and sermon notes. (I meant to shoot through some denim, but forgot to take the old jeans out to the shooting spot. It's out in the country, so I almost shucked mine off for the test, but they weren't even my worst pair, so I thought the resulting hole would be hard to explain to our family laundry department and at work the next day.) The 50:1 bullet mushroomed very nicely and penetrated deeply into the wet paper.
75133
The accuracy test consisted of shooting with wrists supported from 12 yards (to be precise---supported on the next-to-top rung of a 6' ladder, cushioned by my shooting hat and an old t-shirt from the cleaning kit). I first tested two other homemade loads of mine, both to see a control group and to get used to the firing setup. These two six-shot groups were about 4" groups. The heavy bullet load was a little high and the light bullet load a bit low of the bullseye. I am no great shot, so I suppose the spread of these groups was about half due to the gun/load combination and half to shooter error.
When I shot the first round of the 360640 test load, I didn't see a hole appear on the paper. I thought, "Oh, drat! My bullets are so bad I've missed entirely!" Then I realized the hole was in the black! I called my sons over to witness my moment of triumph, so there are witnesses. The next two shots also went in the black (I was holding on the center of the bullseye). I should have stopped there, but things were going so well that I fired the rest of the cylinder rather more carelessly that I had been, and ruined the beautiful thing I had going. Still, the group was less than half the size of my other two loads, and right to point of aim. This little bit of shooting would be the worst day of your life for many of you, but it was a big improvement for me, my old gun, and my homemade ammo.
There was very little, almost nothing, in the barrel after firing about 30 rounds, all soft alloys and some very soft. As a matter of fact, the bore looked downright shiny. I looked closely with a bore light and couldn't see any lead deposits.
75134
That's my story of a little initial success with this new bullet, old powder, and old gun. I hope it contributes a little something to this board. And I hope to do some better shooting as I get in some more practice.
Thanks,
Jeff
Low Budget Shooter
I've been messing with cast loads for .38 Special for only a few years, and am by no means an expert. But after learning alot from this web forum and other sources, this week I've had a bit of success. In case it can be of help to newbies or give a smile to some old salts, I thought I'd offer this post.
The gun I'm loading for is an old Model 10-5, originally a police gun, that has been back to S&W a few years ago for a new cylinder. I picked it up for a song a few years ago from a nice man who didn't appreciate its qualities. The barrel slugs at .356 and the cylinder throats at .3575.
The mold I'm using is 45 2.1's 360640 hollow point 4-cavity mold made recently by Miha. Once good and hot, the mold casts consistent hollow point bullets at an amazing rate. It casts at about .361" and 149 grains. Sized .3575 and all lubed up with Carnauba Red, the bullet weighs about 151 grains. I made an initial batch out of range scrap, then a batch out of 50:1 (the culls and sprues from an old project using 25:1 mixed half and half with pure lead).
75132
I'm loading with 5.5 grains Unique, which meters consistently through my Lee powder measure using the .71 cavity.
The expansion test consisted of shooting into a bucket full of wet expired church bulletins and sermon notes. (I meant to shoot through some denim, but forgot to take the old jeans out to the shooting spot. It's out in the country, so I almost shucked mine off for the test, but they weren't even my worst pair, so I thought the resulting hole would be hard to explain to our family laundry department and at work the next day.) The 50:1 bullet mushroomed very nicely and penetrated deeply into the wet paper.
75133
The accuracy test consisted of shooting with wrists supported from 12 yards (to be precise---supported on the next-to-top rung of a 6' ladder, cushioned by my shooting hat and an old t-shirt from the cleaning kit). I first tested two other homemade loads of mine, both to see a control group and to get used to the firing setup. These two six-shot groups were about 4" groups. The heavy bullet load was a little high and the light bullet load a bit low of the bullseye. I am no great shot, so I suppose the spread of these groups was about half due to the gun/load combination and half to shooter error.
When I shot the first round of the 360640 test load, I didn't see a hole appear on the paper. I thought, "Oh, drat! My bullets are so bad I've missed entirely!" Then I realized the hole was in the black! I called my sons over to witness my moment of triumph, so there are witnesses. The next two shots also went in the black (I was holding on the center of the bullseye). I should have stopped there, but things were going so well that I fired the rest of the cylinder rather more carelessly that I had been, and ruined the beautiful thing I had going. Still, the group was less than half the size of my other two loads, and right to point of aim. This little bit of shooting would be the worst day of your life for many of you, but it was a big improvement for me, my old gun, and my homemade ammo.
There was very little, almost nothing, in the barrel after firing about 30 rounds, all soft alloys and some very soft. As a matter of fact, the bore looked downright shiny. I looked closely with a bore light and couldn't see any lead deposits.
75134
That's my story of a little initial success with this new bullet, old powder, and old gun. I hope it contributes a little something to this board. And I hope to do some better shooting as I get in some more practice.
Thanks,
Jeff
Low Budget Shooter