I have been working with some new powders and boolits recently and getting some very good results. One of the things I found was that my revolver shoots the Lyman 358432 wadcutter very well. Another was that this boolit seats no deeper into the case than the 358477 or the 358311 when crimped in the standard crimp groove.
Attachment 113181
Notice the location of the crimp groove in each of these boolits. They are the same height from the table. The left boolit is the 358477. The center is the 358432. The right is the 358311.
Today I ran all three of these over my chronograph loaded with 5.0 grains of CFE pistol powder and boy did I get a surprise. The 358311 averaged 911fps. The 358477 averaged 945fps. The 358432 averaged 958fps. Seems the CFE pistol powder gives a bit extra velocity for a given boolit weight in several calibers. The data on the Hodgdon site is correct in this regard.
The accuracy with the 358432 was excellent. This group was shot at 45 feet, offhand. There are 14 rounds in that target(7 shot cylinder).
Attachment 113182
Given the accuracy, the flat nose, and the fairly high velocity for a 38 special, I think this would make a great self defense load.
Attachment 113183
What do you think? Opinions welcome.