Need cast bullet for Snubnose .38

[Jim,In]

Just pickup a new S&W 637 snubnose, all my cast bullet are to hard. How can I make the lead softer so they will mushroom out of my snubnose. All my bullet are Lyman #2 or WW. Jim

[.357]

cut your wheel weights either with 1 part pure to 1 part ww or 2 parts pure to 1 part ww. What are you trying to shoot?

[x101airborne]

Off subject, but..... .357, if i heard your signature in public, I would stand with my hand over my heart, head hung in reverence, and personally wave the American Flag behind you. Lord God, let that be my son's first and last prayer to you. Amen. "I may not survive the fight, but it's gonna be pretty embarrassing for them to know one man did this." Major Carslile, Commander US Army 101 Airborne

By the way, make the bullets softer.

[Jim,In]

Using it for my CCW gun and in the house. Now I need to find pure lead.
Thank's Jim

[fredj338]

If it's a solid LSWC, even soft lead won't expand much, maybe deform a little. You'll need to get a HP inot the nose & then go soft alloy to get expansion much under 850fps.

[Matt_G]

Just pickup a new S&W 637 snubnose, all my cast bullet are to hard. How can I make the lead softer so they will mushroom out of my snubnose. All my bullet are Lyman #2 or WW. Jim

I think the most important thing is to slug the barrel and chambers, then make sure the boolit fits the gun.
After you have a good fitting boolit and see how it shoots, then start worrying about the alloy composition/hardness.
Perhaps you have already done this...

[NSP64]

I buy honady HBWC then load them backwards.

[Eagles6]

You might try The Boolit Exchange under Swappin' and Sellin' to see if someone would pour you some soft HPs to see how they work.

[stubert]

I carry a Charter ams bulldog in 44 spec. It is loaded with Lyman devastators, The devastator is also available for 38/357. With the devastator, expansion will NOT be an issue.

[bhn22]

In an Airweight Chiefs Special I think I'd concentrate more on bullet design and not worry about expansion. A moderate full wadcutter load would probably serve you better than a soft cast hollowpoint in such a short barrel. How hot are you planning on loading it anyway? Recoil will be a factor, believe me.

[.357]

Off subject, but..... .357, if i heard your signature in public, I would stand with my hand over my heart, head hung in reverence, and personally wave the American Flag behind you. Lord God, let that be my son's first and last prayer to you. Amen. "I may not survive the fight, but it's gonna be pretty embarrassing for them to know one man did this." Major Carslile, Commander US Army 101 Airborne

By the way, make the bullets softer.

Thank you sir! I cannot take credit for writing the prayer but i do love it!

[HeavyMetal]

should have gotten in on Mihec's38 HBWC mold!

Casts nice and being a hollow based wadcutter it can be loaded upside down on a light charge of Bullseye and still expand

[MT Gianni]

Remember that an in the house gun should not penetrate enough to impact through your neighbors walls. It should also not be used toward any bedroom someone is in.

[DIRT Farmer]

In my mdl 10 2in. bbl, I carry wadcutters, I have used it several times to put down deer, and have never needed it for anything more serious. It worked well, wad cutters leave a good wound channel and I don't think you can expect much expansion at achievable volicitys. The most important fact is to put them where they will do the most good and use several.

[Larry Gibson]

Concur on the WCs. Pure lead WCs, even at their sedate velocity, kill out of proportion to what we expect.

Larry Gibson

[Bret4207]

I often carry a 38 Bodyguard. I wouldn't worry about expansion, it's a iffy thing. The HBWC loaded backwards is about as sure as you'll get.

[Jim,In]

Thank's guys I will look into the HBWC. How do you load than backwards, don't think my loading die are setup for that big hollow point. Jim

[acl864]

+1 on the WC. I load 148 gr. DEWC's at a moderate velocity for carry in my M642. I can hit what I'm aiming at and that's the major consideration for me. I believe accuracy and penetration are more important than expansion at 38 Special velocities.

[Gohon]

For actual carry and home defense I load up with Remington 158-gr. LSWCHP +P 800 fps, which is commonly called the FBI load. For practice and near duplication of this load I load with 158 grain Hornady LSWCHP ahead of 3.5 grains of Bullseye at 814 fps. Just a plain cast 158 grain SWC will work for practice but it doesn't give me the same feel and POI of the Hornady load.

[mdi]

Not to throw stuff on anyone's ideas, but, I used to reload HBWC backwards for my 2" .38. In the early 80s I read an article in one of the gun rags with several pics if wound channels in gel shot from short bbl revolvers. The HBWC would, about 90% of the time, just collapse and not expand, and mebbe tumble, and when shot through a couple layers of clothing the cavity just clogged and acted like a solid. Mine were really inaccurate at over 15 ft., mebbe 8" group, and with this info I changed my tactics and went with a 158 gr. SWC over some Bullseye at about 800 fps. If I was loading it for SD today I might go with one of the 125 gr HP at around 900+ fps (but now my "security" is a 1911 w/230 truncated cone).