I was givin a 250 box of Hornady swaged 148 grain HBWC bullets . I want to load these in 38 Spl cases and shoot them out of a 686 .
I'll use 2.8 grains to 3 grains of Bullseye .
Now just how do you seat the bullets ? Flush with the case mouth ?
Do you crimp or just straighten out the bell ?
And since it's a .357 gun would it be better if I use magnum brass instead of Special ?
Thanks in advance .

Seat flush

Slight roll crimp

357 brass

I've loaded them both ways, 2.6grs in .38 brass but needed 3.0grs in mag brass to match velocity. Didn't see any improvement with the mag case @50' or 25yds so stuck with loading in .38 brass.

Can someone post a close up pic of a loaded round ?

Google Image Result for http://de.academic****/pictures/dewiki/51/38_Special_-_WC_-_SB_-_2.jpg

Personally, I like to leave the bullet face protruding past the case mouth just a thumbnail width or so. This gives me a warm fuzzy that I'm not crimping in front of the bullet and holding it back.

While both cases will work, I'd use 38 cases in an effort to get more uniform ignition/velocities. 3 gr of powder will spread out pretty good in a larger case.

__________________
Dave

I prefer loading in magnum brass, and seating the bullet out a bit so it engages the cylinder throat. This greatly improves bullet alignment, since the nose of the cartridge will be slightly low in the chamber due to the weight of the bullet. However, this is just my approach, and not necissarily the final word in wadcutter accuracy. Here are some other viewpoints.

75,000 Wadcutters in a Model 27

Ed Harris: Revisiting The Full Charge Wadcutter | Reloading, Ammunition, Hunting | GrantCunningham.com

I also like to crimp with the bullet protruding ever so slightly. While some say FLUSH is a must, it is only true in autos that require it.

I've found in my experience that a firm crimp with the bullet flush will sometimes force the bullet farther into the brass making it impossible to get a consistent OAL, which is crucial in consistent ignition and accuracy.

Here is a picture of a factory HBwc and two "Standard" reloads with a hbwc and a bbwc with a light crimp.