I know not too many shooters are shooting "Bullseye" any more. But what is the best bullet of choice for match loads? 148 gr HBWC?

I'm shooting 2.8gr of Bullseye behind my cast Lyman 35891 wadcutters. Why do you think guys aren't still using Bullseye?

Don

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NRA Cert. Reloading Instructor

I will second the 2.8gr Bullseye.

I think OP means bullseye matches not the powder

Yes, the softies.(usually swagged) Low powder charge of BE or HP 38 powder

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Still Running Against the Wind

Another good choice is a 148 grain cast wadcutter. These are cast, not swaged from soft lead, and have a plain flat base.
The swaged , hollow based are best, but the cast solid base are next as far as accuracy.
I shot NRA Bullseye for years with 38 Special and cast my wadcutters for cost and availability. Sometimes the dealers were out of the swaged and Lee had affordable moulds that let me make my own bullets whenever I wanted to.
Gary

Swaged 148gr hbwc's
Cast hbwc's
Cast wc's

2.7/2.8gr bullseye
2.5gr clays
2.5gr wst
2.5gr titegroup
3.3/3.5gr hp-38
3.0gr americam select

Any of those listed above will work for the 50yd line and in. When testing loads look for bugholes at close ranges and clean round holes in the targets for the 50yd line. If you don't get clean round holes in your targets @ the 50yd line you'll need to up your powder charge (more spin) or use a different bbl.

It was common years ago to use a s&w action and colt bbl.
Different mfg bbl twists
s&w 1 in 18 3/4
thompson contender 1 in 18
ruger 1 in 16
colt 1 in 14

I use a couple (3) of different custom bbl's for the 38spl, 2 of them are 1 in 10's and another is 1 in 16.

While made for the ppc game this pistol can and will chew the x-rings out of a target. A custom 1 in 16 bull bbl, excellent bomar sights and an excellent reworked trigger coupled with 3.0gr of am select and cast 148gr hbwc's from a custom mold.



Another custom pistol, this one's a custom shop competitor 357 that has no problems holding it's own in the bullseye world. Excellent chrome plated trigger, heavy bbl shroud coupled with adjustable bbl weights and excellent target sights.



A couple more custom pistols that are made for beating and banging on steel but will hold their own with any bullseye loads/targets. They have heavy target shrouds, custom 1 in 10 bbl's and reworked actions. Right now they are setup for steel. By simply replacing the muzzle break with a standard bbl nut & resetting the bbl gap (6/1000th's for hot 357mag loads & 2/1000th's for 38spl target loads) and replacing the front sight with a partridge target sight (1 allen screw). These pistols become a pure joy to shoot bullseye with.



Some 110gr wc's that are excellent for the short range/50ft bullseye.



Don't be afraid to look at the 44cal's as a target pistol. These 200gr wc's have shot in any 44 (spl or mag) I've ever tried them in.



Typical 25yd groups using them in a beater/truck gun 629 I picked up a couple years ago for $500.



Bullseye shooting can be extremely challanging, A couple more bullseye pistols for specific games in the issf world. Custom grips, 4-way adjustable triggers, excellent target sights coupled with extreme accuracy. These are a pure joy to use.



If your starting out @ the 50ft line, any of the cast wc's will work. You'll be hard pressed to outshoot them in your life time. The big thing is to establish a load and get the range time in. The top pistol pictured above is a 10m air pistol, another way to get trigger time in when you can't make it to the range with your 38's. I have a 10m range setup in my basement and go thru 5000+ pellets a year.

Some 50ft targets that were testing bullseye and general plinking loads. 38spl's



Note that the h&g #50 (a bb 148gr wc/countless 1,000,000's of them have been used by bullseye shooters for decades) has a 3.8gr bullseye load, not the normal 2.7/2.8gr load. That's because I seated the bullet long (grimped in the middle lube groove) to extend the bullets nose into the competitor's (357 bbl weight s&w pictured above) tapered cylinders. On the left, 640's/158gr hp's. On the right 148gr h&g #50's.



45acp's



Don't be afraid to move the bullet around or try different lubes when testing loads to find that bughole chewing load. It was extremely common back in the day to only use the lower 2 lube grooves in the h&g #50's. Testing some 220gr cast hbwc's in the 44spl, note the lubes used on the bullets. Tumble lube, lube in 1 lube groove, lube in 2 lube grooves. Along with seating them flush, in the 1st lube groove and in the 2nd lube groove. And yes had to try some turned around to make a huge hp.



good luck

REMINGTON 148GR HBWC OR ZERO 148GR HBWC. LOAD IS 2.7GR WST . JP

Forrester..............thanks for that
great post!

Like your smallbore hardware. I also have and shoot the IZH's, both the 46 and the 35 as you have.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Has anybody compared the 148 HBWC's from Precision Delta and Zero ?

I'll endorse the 148 HBWC from Speer. Very neat to handle, accurate as well.

Nice!!!

They are a dream to shoot.

The op should consider the distance that will be used for bullseye shooting & look for the most economical way to get the most bang for the buck. (No pun intended)

I like the Hornady 148 gr HBWC. My normal load is 2.8 gr Bullseye, but my favorite is 2.7 gr VV N310. I can get Bullseye much more readily than N310, so I use it now.

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Common sense isn't so common.

My gun and ammo shoot a lot better than I do, but I've heard universally that in .38, swaged HBWC are hard to beat. I like the Speer, but I have Hornady, too. There may be some people making them in bulk.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Great stuff takes me back to the early 70's