NOE .360 155Gr. Wad Cutter

[RedHawk357Mag]

Also looking for some practical loading advice on this wad cutter as well. I have some old timey .38 Special wadcutter brass that should work pretty good with this cast bullet. I also have Starline 357 Mag brass that should be able to deal with this bullet as well. My issue is I am not exactly sure how to proceed with choosing starting weights of powder for a bullet that has this much depth in the brass. My typical cast 357's are around .330"-.393" inside the case and I guessing that this bullet is going to be real close to .510" inside the case. Just wondering how others have proceeded in loading these cast bullets in regards to seating depths and pressure. Thanks.101401

[RedHawk357Mag]

Found this on the Firing Line Site...contributed by a poster Uncle Mike.

"Seated flush with the case mouth, the DEWC's seating depth (how much bullet is inside the case) is much greater than an LSWC's. That leaves much less space for powder to start burning in, so it raises the pressure of any given charge weight. In other words, loads safe with the SWC will not be safe with the DEWC seated flush with the case mouth.

This is part of an on-going problem with load modern load manuals. Long ago they would list seating depth instead of COL. That got beyond most people's ability to do simple arithmetic, so they started listing COL. The problem, assuming your bullets are not seated out so far they touch the lands of the rifling (impossible in a revolver) is that seating depth is what matters to pressure for a given bullet weight. As the manuals are organized now, they make it appear that matching bullet weight is all that determines pressure for a given powder charge.

It's not!

To get the exact same chamber pressure from a given powder charge, the following bullet characteristics need to match:

Projectile weight
Projectile construction (thick jacketed, thin jacketed, lead, solid, saboted, etc.)
Projectile length
Projectile bearing surface length
Projectile seating depth
Projectile diameter
Projectile lubrication, where applicable

It's more than most of us want to deal with, so we normally just reduce charges 10% to get starting loads. In the case of the wadcutter seated, flush, though, it isn't enough because the case volume change under the bullet is so great.

When you calculate the effect of wadcutter seating depth on usable case capacity under the bullet, you'll find the 158 grain LSWC 0.69" long seated to 1.590" COL has room under to hold about 16 grains of water in a .357 Mag case, while a 148 grain LDEWC 0.58" long flush-seated leaves only about 11 grains of water volume under it. The rule of squares is only for changes of 10% or less, and in this larger span says charges would be reduced about 17%. Running some maximum pressure loads through QuickLOAD, I find that 20% reduction is closer. As a practical matter, allowing for powder differences, I would reduce maximum loads given for the LSWC by 25% for the LDEWC and work up, watching for pressure signs."...

[RedHawk357Mag]

With the info provided by Uncle Nick with the 25% reduction in mind. I also came across this loading info. I list the source so best to verify that i haven't misplaced a dot or period or something. As Reagon said "Trust but verify"

Lyman 358495 WC Alliant Bullseye 1.435" 4.8 730 18,000 Cup 6.8 1157 40,600 Cup Lyman 47th ED pg 393

Lyman 358495 WC Alliant Unique 1.435" 5.8 960 14,600 Cup 7.9 1289 40,300 Cup Lyman 47th ED pg 393

Lyman 358495 WC BlueDot 1.435" 9.6 1134 21,800 Cup 11.2 1382 40,600 Cup Lyman 47th ED pg 393

Lyman 358495 WC Alliant 2400 1.435" 10.5 1015 18,200 Cup 14.6 1376 39,700 Cup Lyman 47th ED pg 393

Lyman 358495 WC IMR IMR4227 1.435" 12.3 1084 22,200 Cup 16.3 1365 39,600 Cup Lyman 47th ED pg 393

Lyman 358091 WC Alliant RedDot 1.317" 2.8 839 12,400 Cup 3.2 917 15,100 Cup Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 4th Edition pg 255

Lyman 358091 WC Hodgdon TiteGroup 1.317" 3.1 854 13,600 Cup 3.5 942 16,000 Cup Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 4th Edition pg 255

Lyman 358091 WC Winchester 231 1.317" 3.7 872 14,400 Cup 4.2 942 16,200 Cup Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 4th Edition pg 255

Lyman 358091 WC Alliant Unique 1.317" 3.7 820 13,000 Cup 4.2 894 14,300 Cup Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 4th Edition pg 255