Asymmetric commercial DEWCs

[techie]

I bought a thousand of these Missouri Bullet Company coated DEWCs from Midway. They are nominally 148 grains, labelled "PPC #2".

298628

Every one seems to have an extra pancake of lead at the sprue end. Some are thicker than others, and misshapen in various ways.

I weighed a sample of ten from each box. Weights were from 150.4 to 154.0 grains, a spread of 3.6 grains. OAL ranged from 0.578 to 0.593, a spread of 0.015.

For comparison I weighed a sample of 10 140-grain WC's from Matt's. The spread was 1.3 grains, less than 1%.

I'm going to contact Missouri and maybe also Midway about these, but I also have some questions.

1. How did this happen? I don't know enough about the commercial casting process to understand what went wrong.

2. If I have to keep these, how should I load them? If I load them sprue up I don't think I can get a consistent crimp because the depth of the crimp groove in the case will vary. Sprue down, that problem goes away but I have a very inconsistent base, which I have read is bad for accuracy. I guess I could load them flush, sprue up, but I don't have wadcutter cases.

Thanks in advance!

[Winger Ed.]

Sure looks like crimp grooves.
If so, they'll work fine in a revolver, but crimping in the groove would probably be too long for use in a S&W model 52 auto.

I'd load them sprue down, because it looks prettier.
At slow WC speeds, accuracy would probably be the same, but it'd be worth trying to see.

I've loaded & shot thousands of .DEWCs, and never had a problem from not using the specific wadcutter cases.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I think it's more important to have a perfect base. I'd crimp in top lube groove.
But, I'd also contact the manufacturer, they should make things right. But, if they don't, you'll likely have fun plinking with them, accuracy probably won't be too bad, if you load 'em like I suggest.

[Wheelguns 1961]

It has been several years since dealing with them, but I remember them as an honorable company. I would send off an email with some pictures, and see what they have to say. My feeling is that they will fix you up.

[G W Wade]

Just a guess but thinking the sprue plate got loose during casting GW

[cwtebay]

Those fellas have always been good to me. I would give them a call and show them what you have. I'm betting that they make it right.

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[M-Tecs]

Just a guess but thinking the sprue plate got loose during casting GW

Not a guess. You can see the angle on the one end.

[gwpercle]

Looks like " Seconds" ...
If you ordered seconds ... you sure did get seconds ... a polite word for rejects .
If you paid for good boolits , they need to send you good boolits .
To me it appears the sprue plate on the automatic casting machine mould became too loose , allowing that extra "hat" on top .
A perfect boolit will have both ends exactly the same so you can load them either way , that's why they are called double ended wadcutters ... both ends are exactly alike !
But if you ordered "seconds" because they were cheaper ...you got them all right . Pay's for what you get.
Load them with the good base down and the wonky end up and hope for the best ,
Are they All like the ones in your photo ?

You can load them in any 38 special case , I've done so for lots of years .
Gary

[techie]

Thanks for all the replies. Gary, I appreciate the info but I definitely didn't order seconds. The photo is just the first handful I grabbed from the top of the box. I haven't looked at all 1000 bullets but every one so far is like that. I guess they let the greenhorn run the DEWC machine that day.

[mdi]

Like Ed and JonB, I would load them sprue up and crimp in the top groove. If they won't be used in competition, no big deal but a good flat base is best for accuracy. Besides, shipping 1,000 bullets would be a real pain and costly...

[techie]

Like Ed and JonB, I would load them sprue up and crimp in the top groove. If they won't be used in competition, no big deal but a good flat base is best for accuracy. Besides, shipping 1,000 bullets would be a real pain and costly...

I agree, in fact in my message to MBC I said shipping led back & forth seems silly ... plus Midway would probably just have to toss them. I will try loading them as you & others say, my concern is whether the OAL difference will cause me to miss the groove sometimes. With a light crimp that might not matter.

[Winger Ed.]

whether the OAL difference will cause me to miss the groove sometimes. With a light crimp that might not matter.

The groove looks deep & wide enough to be friendly towards a fair amount of case length differences.

Some sizer dies shrink the case down enough to see the boolit make a bulge in the case when seated.
If you have that going on-- crimp or not, it won't push itself farther down in the case.

[45DUDE]

I wouldn't worry about it and chalk it up and order the next ones from another source. I would seat flush with the pretty side up and roll crimp. Unless you bench them they will make great can killers. The roll crimp will make them round. I run mine around 700fps in my autos and 920 in the wheel guns.

[cwtebay]

I definitely would contact the bullet company. Not even to be complaining. Machinery being machinery - upkeep and maintenance is imperative. Perhaps this is an issue that they are not aware of yet. I called a custom ammunition manufacturer for a large order for a shooting event several years ago, a fair number of rounds were either squibs or FTF. I called the company, they discovered that a spout / nozzle on one of the charging carousels was partially occluded- resulting in undercharged cases. They thanked me and issued a recall.
If it was my company, I would want to know!

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[gwpercle]

Thanks for all the replies. Gary, I appreciate the info but I definitely didn't order seconds. The photo is just the first handful I grabbed from the top of the box. I haven't looked at all 1000 bullets but every one so far is like that. I guess they let the greenhorn run the DEWC machine that day.

They owe you some "good" boolits ... I checked their website and Midway's and don't see where they even offer to sell any "seconds" . I have seen Midway sell "Blemished" & "factory Seconds" J-word bullets at times ... but what you bought should have been the good ones .
Midway usually makes things right , at least they used to take care of their customers . Send them the photo's and they should send you another box ... if they care about your repeat business they will send you another box!
Good Luck ,
Gary

[mdi]

Normally I glance at each handload as it goes from step to step and in the case of the messed up nose, I'd set aside any that don't look crimpable and fix them later. Or being a light load, they may not need a crimp with neck tension being enough...

[Char-Gar]

Load em spru up. Powder gases love a smooth and even surface to push against, otherwise the gases escape the bore is an irregular fashion pushing the bullet one way or another as it starts it flight to the target.

[techie]

Thanks everyone for sharing lots of wisdom. I did contact Missouri Bullet Company and received this prompt and gracious message:

"Yes, sorry for that, our moulds went out on us and apparently our
quality control did not catch them. Please know this is not our typical
standard. We are currently waiting for the moulds to be fixed however,
I will be more than glad to send you replacements with the first
available"

Apparently it's not as simple as tightening a sprue plate.

This is a stellar response, especially as I bought the bullets from Midway, not directly. I will definitely buy from Missouri Bullet Company again.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

That's good news.
Glad you shared MBC's excellent customer service response.

[cwtebay]

Thank you for updating us, this is the same sort of response that I have come to expect from them. Tons of respect for them.

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