Remington HBWC

[Dave C.]

Sumter do to health reasons I am forced to use store bought bullets. The best Remington HBWC.
I can't find them anymore. Do they still sell them?

Dave C

[Nueces]

Midway lists them as "Unavailable - Limited Production." Which means they'll likely show up once a year or so. I like 'em, too, so I have email notifications set up with a few suppliers for a notice when they are in stock.

[Outpost75]

This is a tragedy! Remingtons are the very best HBWC target bullets available since Winchester stopped selling theirs. I last bought them about 10 years ago and rat-holed 10,000 in the 2000-bullet reinforced, double-wall boxes. ONLY HBWC bullet which holds accuracy up to full charge of 3.5 grains of Bullseye, others blow skirt above 3.0.

Most accurate charge for PPC revolvers with 10-14" twist barrels at 50 yards is 3.0-3.1 grains of Bullseye, but 3.2 is best in S&W barrels with 18-3/4" twist. Our Star machine is set for 3.1 Bullseye at 1.16" OAL and we load them by the bucketful.

Lacking the Remington bullet I recommend Saeco #348 DEWC cast 50-50 wheelweights and plumber's lead with 1% tin added, film coated with 45-45-10 or Lee Liquid Alox diluted 50-50 with clear mineral spirits, loaded as-cast and unsized at .360", using the Redding profile crimper or Lee Factory Crimp Die as final station. Absolute must to seat and crimp separately. For production you want to EDM a 1/16" lube bleed hole in the seater die so that buildup of bullet lube will not alter seating depth. Save the "lube worms" to flux your casting pot!

The DEWC bullets tolerate a bit heavier charge for best grouping. They are fine flush-seated with the 3.1 Bullseye charge at 1.16" OAL, if shooting them in the Colt .38 Gold Cup, S&W 52 or the Giles .38 Super conversions, but in REVOLVERS accuracy is better if you seat with the sprue cutoff forward and crimp in the crimp groove at 1.20-1.24" OAL and bump the charge up to 3.2-3.5 grains of Bullseye or TiteGroup.

In .357 Magnum brass seat in the crimp groove to 1.35" OAL with 5 grains of Bullseye which approximates .38 Spl. +P and gives 900 fps in a 2" Ruger SP101! or 1000 fps in a 3"

[Nueces]

When I get "the thirst" and haven't spent much money in a (short) while, I will nose around the net looking for Remmie and Speer HBWCs. Now and then, screamin' deals pop up from suppliers I had never heard of, so I raid their pantries (note: not panties) and have thereby amassed a nice stock of these good slugs, including the Speer 32s.

[Larry Gibson]

The Speer and Hornady HBWCs are as good as the Remingtons. You'll also want an expander of .360 diameter that expands the cases the length of the seated bullet. That will not "size" the softer cast HBWCs when seated. Also a lot of newer 38 SPL cases are to thick for best use of HBWCs. The older Winchester, Remington and Federal cases used in their match WC loads are best to use.

[country gent]

In my 1911 38 wadcutter gun the Hornadies perform better than the others ( Star and Nationals used to be top but closed). My target load of 2.7 grns bullseye with a Hornady 148 grn HBWC is a true tack driver out to 50 yds.

[samari46]

Have a very large number of once fired 38 spl cases. Please correct me if I'm wrong but the ones with the double knurling grooves are from factory RP wadcutter loads and the ones without no knurling are regular loads. My buddy who did concealed carry classes got tired of sweeping them up and used to hand me the broom and dustpan and said have at it. 40mm can full. Frank

[USSR]

Have a very large number of once fired 38 spl cases. Please correct me if I'm wrong but the ones with the double knurling grooves are from factory RP wadcutter loads and the ones without no knurling are regular loads. My buddy who did concealed carry classes got tired of sweeping them up and used to hand me the broom and dustpan and said have at it. 40mm can full. Frank

Both Remington and Winchester used the double case knurling to identify their wadcutter brass. Federal used a single knurl just north of the mid-case point to identify their wadcutter brass.

Don

[1Hawkeye]

A company called Zero makes a real nice hbwc's Iv'e used them in my k-38 and when I had one a model 52 with very satisfying results.

[Petrol & Powder]

Back before I was casting, I used a truckload or two of factory HBWC's. Most of the Remington HBWC's I used were factory loaded but occasionally I would find a box for sale at prices I could afford. More often than not, it was Speer HBWC's that made it into my brass.
The Speer HBWC was actually a good bullet but I agree the Remingtons and Winchesters were top notch and I always liked how the factory loaded Remingtons shot.
I also purchased a large amount of HBWC's from Georgia arms and they were decent bullets but I don't know who actually made them.

When I expanded my bullet casting activities, I stopped buying HBWC's all together and just cast solid WC's now. If I had to go back to purchasing HBWC's, the Speer HBWC would likely be my first choice. The Remington's would be preferable but as pointed out, they are difficult to obtain at times.

[Outpost75]

The Speer and Precision-Delta bullets will shoot as well as the Remingtons IF you shoot them in a 16" or faster twist barrel and keep the charges light in the range of 2.6-2.8 grains of Bullseye. Our experience testing in the slower 18-3/4" twist S&W and Ruger barrels was that to prevent shots tipping at 50 yards that the charge had to be bumped to 3.0-3.2 grains of Bullseye, but then the groups opened up.

Shoot them in a Colt Python or custom PPC gun with 14" twist and they stay under 2" at 50 yards.

[USSR]

I cast HBWC's. Looking forward to testing both them and the Remingtons using my Ransom Rest.

Don

[samari46]

Don, thanks for clearing up the knurling thing for me. Seems my 40mm ammo can is about to get a little lighter. Now have to find another can just for the wadcutter brass. thanks.Frank

[Outpost75]

I cast HBWC's. Looking forward to testing both them and the Remingtons using my Ransom Rest. Don

I am curious as to details on the mold. Who made it, is its hollow base geometry like those of factory bullets or is it different, what alloy do you use, what lube, to what diameter do you size????

And what gun is being used as your test platform? What did it do with factory wadcutters?

Sorry to be such a pest, but inquiring minds will want to know....

[dbosman]

You can call Remington to ask about availability of a specific bullet. Several are out of production. I wish they'd produce an up to date list.

[USSR]

I am curious as to details on the mold. Who made it, is its hollow base geometry like those of factory bullets or is it different, what alloy do you use, what lube, to what diameter do you size????

And what gun is being used as your test platform? What did it do with factory wadcutters?

Sorry to be such a pest, but inquiring minds will want to know....

No problem, Outpost75. It's one of Miha's brass wonders. Testing will be done using a pair of Model 14's. They come out of the mould at either .359" or .360" depending upon the alloy I use. Testing will be done using .358" and .359", and .360" bullets using unsized wadcutter brass. A comparison will be made to what the revolvers will do with some old Winchester Match Ammo I have, and I will be reloading some of the Remington HBWC's as well.

223403

Don

[dverna]

Remington is run by idiots. They have a premier HBWC bullet and it is either unavailable or difficult to procure. They are doing the same with their shot.

[higgins]

The Speer HBWC bullets are on sale at Midway right now.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/599723/speer-bullets-38-caliber-358-diameter-148-grain-lead-hollow-base-wadcutter-box-of-500

[Bmi48219]

Midsouth has Berry's copper plated and Hornady lead hollow base wad cutters, about 10 cents each.

[376Steyr]

If you want Remington HBWC bullets as components, you may be waiting for a while. I've been waiting for over a year for them to run some loaded ammo. I looked on the Interwebs today and found absolutely no Remington 38 wadcutter ammo for sale. Winchester is available, for what I consider to be a shocking price. Guess I'll just have to start digging through my brass stash and look for those double-cannelured cases.

[andre3k]

I've always wanted to try these. Look like good bullets but I have no idea who's actually swaging them.

https://www.nereloading.com/index.php/38-caliber-148-grain-hollow-base-wadcutter-250-count.html

[USSR]

I've always wanted to try these. Look like good bullets but I have no idea who's actually swaging them.

https://www.nereloading.com/index.php/38-caliber-148-grain-hollow-base-wadcutter-250-count.html

Be sure to ask them what size they are. Many of the commercial HBWC's are sized to .357" for who knows what reason.

Don