Loading .38 Special wadcutters, sizing and crimp?

[uscra112]

When you say "profiled", do you mean reduced the O.D. by compression?

[Outpost75]

When you say "profiled", do you mean reduced the O.D. by compression?

Correct. Same as for factory loading of .22 LR to grasp the heel of the bullet.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I have to confess that some of this is information I've never heard of, and I've reloaded hundreds of .38 Spec. rounds per year for many years. Using the conventional method of reloading and conventional dies the ammo produced is more accurate than most shooters. It would seem that the OP's problem arises from using new, unfired component brass. After all, if you buy a box of loaded ammo, fire it, then it is sized to your chamber. Or, if you reload fired brass from other sources it is fire formed to whatever chamber it was fired in. It is necessary to run the brass into a sizing die to obtain a uniform, standard size. Then to slightly flare the mouth to receive the new bullet. The bullets will fit tightly, and crimping them is only really necessary if they'll be subject to repeated recoil of other rounds firing like in a revolver. If you use bullets very much over the standard size of .357 you will bulge the cases, shave lead, and perhaps crack the case mouths if the cases have been reloaded several times before. As for the Lee FCD, it is not designed to seat bullets or size cases, only to provide a factory-like crimp and to guarantee usable dimensions if the case will pass through the carbide ring. It really doesn't matter what type of crimp you use if it is applied uniformly to all rounds. If you insert sized, loaded rounds into a standard-sized cylinder the rounds will easily slip into and fall out of the cylinder chambers. Once fired, you usually (not always, depending on the individual revolver) have to push them out with the ejector rod. In reading the OP's post I get the impression that he wants to load oversize dimension brass with bullets of approximately the standard dimension and wants to crimp them without resizing the brass to normal specifications. If he is able to accomplish that he will find the loaded rounds difficult to insert and difficult to extract. The .38 Special has been around so long, and used in such vast quantities with time-proven results that I can't understand why one would want to stray off the well worn path of loading these rounds. We need a better explanation of what he is trying to do and why.

DG

[45DUDE]

I do like tazman in post 18. I am not happy unless a 25 yard 10 shot group on the bench is under 1 1/2'' at 25 yards. Lots of ways will work. When you try to short cut you usually come out on the short end. I do taper crimp for one of my Clark bullseye wad cutter guns but can't tell a difference. Just a habit. Some revolvers are forgiving because the throats are 357 and the boolit is resized before it hits the rifling. If all the cases are the same size the speed should be close. I have a Dillon and resizing is not a problem. Lots of people do with with what they have. Long as we have a good time is all that matters. Good shooting to all.

[uscra112]

Correct. Same as for factory loading of .22 LR to grasp the heel of the bullet.

How did I get to be 76 years old and not know that?

[Outpost75]

How did I get to be 76 years old and not know that?

Maybe because you never worked on the production line in an ammunition plant...

[USSR]

If you use bullets very much over the standard size of .357 you will bulge the cases, shave lead, and perhaps crack the case mouths if the cases have been reloaded several times before.

When loading .360" wadcutters in unsized brass, you use wadcutter brass which will not bulge the brass. Have never had a lead shaving problem, and cracks in the case mouth are actually greatly reduced due to less work hardening of the brass by not resizing it.

Don

[Jniedbalski]

This is just another way to load 38 wc ammo. I did my 38 like normal, resize the case expand and bell. Add powder seat then crimp. I read Outpost75 article on not sizing brass and using .360 unsized WC bullets. Using wc brass unsized the wc bullet will hand seat almost half way in the case then I use my press to finish seating. Then I crimp with the fcd. It worked out great in my 2 s&w revolvers like this. Accuracy was better and it just workes.

[uscra112]

Maybe because you never worked on the production line in an ammunition plant...

Nope. I was automotive powertrain. Details of head and block processing don't make for articles in the popular press either, now that I think about it. My old Dad, who was a process engineer himself, said "Son, it's a fascination profession, but you'll never have cocktail party conversation."

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I've been using the little Lee 105 grain swc bullet over VV N310 lately. Powdery coated and sized to my cylinder throats. Slight crimp into the groove. Got a couple 2" groups yesterday at fifty feet off hand ( was a good day ). Fully sized cases as usual. For swaged hbwc factory boolits I use an NOE expander plug and just crimp enough to take the flare away.