38 special heavy wadcutter advice please

[cephas53]

Have a Mihec mold that casts a 148 gr hbwc. Run them as cast from range lead .360 with 2.8 grs Bullseye. Nice combination. Reversed the pins toady and full wadcutter casts came out 165 gr. How heavy has anyone gone with wc's in the .38 special? Search showed mention of some 160 grainers. Load suggestions appreciated. Thanks.

[williamwaco]

Have a Mihec mold that casts a 148 gr hbwc. Run them as cast from range lead .360 with 2.8 grs Bullseye. Nice combination. Reversed the pins toady and full wadcutter casts came out 165 gr. How heavy has anyone gone with wc's in the .38 special? Search showed mention of some 160 grainers. Load suggestions appreciated. Thanks.


NOE makes a 155gr WC mold

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=35&products_id=137&osCsid=tnnrck5ev30ji50nqgroums4n3

Anyone here ever use it ? ? ?

[Char-Gar]

How heavy, try 225 grains. I won't give the load data, but it delivers a smidge over 800 fps and shoots about 4" high (iron sights) at 20 feet. Accuracy is as good as I hold out to 20 yards or so. I don't consider this to be a long range load, but more for social purposes. This is a +P+ load and should be used only in 357 Magnum revolvers or large frame like my Smith and Wesson 38/44 Heavy Duty.

[RayinNH]

"for social purposes". I'm guessing someone seeing the front of that cylinder would change their mind real quickly about doing something stupid :smile:.

[tazman]

I suspect if someone is seeing the front of that cylinder, they have already done something stupid and may only have a very short time to reconsider and apologize.

[Char-Gar]

I know of no stats or tales of folks getting shot with this load, but my gut tells me it will hit with quite a smack and continue on it appointed path all the way through the body, doing lots of damage on the trip. I doubt if anybody will shrug off a fair hit with this load, but should they be so inclined I have five more I can launch in their direction.

These bullets were designed for the bowling pin shooting game and I can tell you from experience they will drive any pin straight back off the table with any kind of decent hit.

[Ben]

How heavy, try 225 grains. I won't give the load data, but it delivers a smidge over 800 fps and shoots about 4" high (iron sights) at 20 feet. Accuracy is as good as I hold out to 20 yards or so. I don't consider this to be a long range load, but more for social purposes. This is a +P+ load and should be used only in 357 Magnum revolvers or large frame like my Smith and Wesson 38/44 Heavy Duty.

WOA , that is certainly a cylinder full of lead !

Those are BAD BOYS !

My NOE is throwing a 217 gr. .360 " dia cast bullet, gas checked.

Would be fairly easy to approximate your loading with this bullet.

I shoot it in my 357 Mag. Contender and it shoots GREAT !

Ben

http://i1155.photobucket.com/albums/p545/Ben35049/Capture_zps437e4d88.jpg (http://s1155.photobucket.com/user/Ben35049/media/Capture_zps437e4d88.jpg.html)

[GLL]

Char-Gar:

Would you share which powder are you using for your 225 grain wadcutters?

Jerry

[Char-Gar]

Char-Gar:

Would you share which powder are you using for your 225 grain wadcutters?

Jerry

AA9 is the powder

[jmort]

I have the same mold and I used data for 170 grain lead bullet from Lyman's 49th as a starting point. Obviously the wadcutter is taking up more space so I did not approach max. That 165 grain wadcutter will provide fantastic straight-line penetration even at 800 fps

[725]

AA9 is the same powder mentioned in "The Bullet for All Seasons" article by Glenn Fryxell. I use it in my 215 gr SWC boolit which the article is written about. LASC. I can tell you it's death on wild hogs.

[rintinglen]

Although not as fearsome as those bruisers that Char-gar has, I have for many years used the 358-432 160 grain. As cast it is about 163 grains from WW metal, about 158 from linotype equivalent. I crimp it in the crimp groove over a healthy charge of Red Dot or Unique and send it down range at circa 850 fps from a 4 inch. Use the starting loads for 148 grain boolits with your heavy weights and you will be ok. Do not go upwards unless you are using them in a 357 and you have a chronograph.

[Outpost75]

With your 160-grain full wadcutter, if you size these so they will enter the cylinder throats without resistance, you can then seat out to standard 1.55" .38 Special length and load with standard service charges of Bullseye, 3.2 to 3.5 grains and they will perform well at standard pressure. If deep seated to less than 1.30" overall length, I would not exceed 3.2 grains of Bullseye or 4 grains of Unique.

[cephas53]

Thanks all. Some pretty impressive heavy weights up there. Loaded a few up last night and seated them fairly deep 1.230. This left just a tad of 0.1 outside the case. Thinking along the lines of Outpost I started with 2.8 of Bullseye. With 3.2 grs. , the highest I went, the chrono was saying an average of 760 fps out my 6" S&W 19 and 702 fps out of a snub nose detective special. Very consistent load throughout testing. Any fouling at end of day wiped out easily. Considering going to a "slower" powder to see what happens. Have 231 and Unique to play with.

[cpileri]

https://www.pennbullets.com/38/38230tndrhd.html

[country gent]

We dupicated the old 200 grn 38spl loading for my wifes ruger when shooting bowling pins. I worked great and was very controlable for her. The mould I borrowed was a 200 grn round nose and from my alloy dropped at 207 grns. Shot very good out to 25 yds but the few recovered bullets from pins and other wood were never point first. I believe Lyman made a 160 grn wadcutter mould at one time.

[Bill*B]

Heavy wadcutters do indeed exist - I had Accurate Molds make a double ended 170 grain for me - and loaded it crimped into a grease groove for a COL of 1.315" in my .38 Special J-frame, over 3.3 grains of PB. Worked fine, but I eventually moved on to a blunt nosed 195 grain bullet, and I'm very happy with that. I like these heavy for caliber bullets in a snub nose. They shoot pretty close to point of aim and have impressive penetration.

[TMenezes]

I don't have that mold, but if it's possible I would seat it out a ways and use the +P data for 158gr loads as a starting point. Are you looking to stay within 38 Special +P loads or go hotter than that?

My Lyman manual #48 shows 5.4gr of Unique and 5.2 gr 231 as max for 38+P loads. The Unique is on a 155gr semi wadcutter and the 231 is listed for a 160gr round nose.

[TMenezes]

Oh just noticed there is also a +P load for Bullseye, 4.4gr max with the 155gr semi wadcutter. Claims 915 fps, the 231 load I mentioned in the previous post claims 956 and the Unique load claims 954.

[cephas53]

Thanks for the info. Not particularly looking to go +P as I wanted them for a lightweight colt agent snub nose. Used the S&W 19 for a testing baseline. So far Unique seems to be getting me close to where I want to be.

[TMenezes]

No problem, I have been researching standard 38 Special data lately as I just got a S&W 38 Special. Its the Talo exclusive Performance Center version, such a beauty with real wood grips that are just big enough to comfortably get my whole hand on it, even my pinky. Never cared much of the rubber gripped versions I tried before that left my pinky dangling. Plus it has a Performance Center tuned trigger so its wonderfully smooth and crisp. Such a bargain too, bought myself and my brother one for Christmas.

For my wadcutter practice loads I am looking at using about 3.1 to 3.4 gr of Tightgroup. Heard allot of people found that load to be very accurate. Also I have allot of HS6 so I may try it with a full wadcutter and the Lee 158gr FP.

Standard pressure 38 Specian Lyman data

150gr full wadcutter (maybe reduce starting load a tad and work up slow)
3.1 to 3.5gr Bullseye
3.7 to 4.2gr Win 231
3.7 to 4.2gr Unique

160gr round nose
3.2 to 3.6gr Bullseye
3.5 to 4.9 Win 231
4.2 to 4.7 Unique

170gr Semi wadcutter
2.8 to 3.2gr Bullseye
3.0 to 4.6gr Win 231
3.7 to 4.2gr Unique

Hope this helps!

[pjames32]

Is the mold for the bowling pin wadcutter available?
PJ