Intrigued by Minuteman Ammo's 38+p 160gr (80gr DEWC x 2) @ 800fps but like everything else, out of stock......

So I decided to try my own.
Matt's Bullets 75gr DEWC (actually weighed a handful and none were over 72.5gr) so treated like a 148gr WC.
Unique powder 5grs.
Winchester ssp primers.
Assorted headstamp 38 sp brass, lightly crimped.

It was 32°F and all shots fired offhand, standing. Chrono was 7' in front of muzzle.

Test revolvers were Ruger lcr 1-7/8" barrel and Smith 13-2 with 4" barrel.

Disclaimer.....load at your own risk!! These were stout in the LCR but a pleasure out of the 13. They showed no signs of over pressure at all.















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Pretty neat stuff. I have loaded a little pill like this over shot with a gas check between the powder and shot, so it acted like a plug. Very effective if it were ever needed. Next step would be to get some 48gr pills and load up some triples.

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"Tastes just like chicken"

Would not be a bad first load in the cylinder.

I've backed the powder charge off a little and loaded up the rest of them. Waiting for warm weather and hope to do some penetration tests with some kind of medium.

Definitely placing an order for a couple more boxes of Matt's lead seeing they take 3-4 weeks to get.

Interesting.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Rim Rock's version are half the price:

.38 Spl DEWC 80 gr. per 500

In the late 80's early 90's Hensley and
Gibbs sold a version of this bullet.
I "think" it was in the 60-80 grain range
and there were articles written about it
for 38 special duplex loads and .357 magnum
triplex loads.

The velocities were in the upper 700 fps range.

The bottom bullet of the 357 load was sized at
.355" with the rest being .358"

The spread was under 3" at 15 yards.

Supposedly they were good for indoor use
due to light weight and low velocity.

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never get out of the boat

Back in the day, we called such loads "multi-ball". Accuracy was always just so-so, but two projectiles hitting a target that was intending to do harm to you was considered better than just one projectile hitting said target. The idea was that two projectiles doubled the chance of hitting something important, like a major artery or the heart. The downside is the lack of penetration. Even with cast lead, the two projectiles each had only half the mass of one cast wadcutter. These days, I'd pick a modern hollow point bullet.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

I would be concerned about lack of penetration with what are by any reasonable standard very light bullets traveling at a not particularly outstanding velocity.

Thanks for that link. That's a good option and price.

I agree with both of you. My carry loads are nothing but Underwood ammo +P XTP's in 158gr.
I mainly wanted to "play" around with loads after seeing these. I do want to do some penetration testing when it warms up. These are pretty hot according to my chrono tests so will be interesting to see how they perform.
If anything might make a good close range coyote or say racoon size varmint load. lol

That is what you shoot when you bet your friends "5 shots, highest score wins".

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Front sight and squeeze

How far do you seat these? Is the second bullet seated flush with a crimp over the shoulder, or are they proud? What is cartridge overall length (COL)?
Do you stack the bullets and seat them both at once, or do you seat one at a time? Inquiring minds want to know :-)

Awesome questions and I didn't want to clutter up my OG post so left that info out.

I sorted brass according to the longest I had. Don't quote me here, I can double check after work but I think they were all around 1.148-1.150" brass length. I did not trim them, just used the longest I had and kept them within a couple thousands of each other.

Using Hornady Dimension carbide die set I full length sized then used the expander die to bell the mouth a little.

I use a Redding bench rest powder drop, kinda tricky with Unique being a flake powder so I double checked each charge on my Hornady electronic digital scale. 4.9-5.0gr.

I screwed the seating die in my Rockchucker single stage until it touched the case, then backed it off one full turn.

I started each bullet by hand and assured they were square.
I then screwed the bullet seater rod down and kept pulling the lever down and checking until I had the first bullet down inside the case below the bell. Once set I did this to all the rounds.

I then backed off the seating threads again and put the second bullet in each case by hand. Repeated the sequence of pulling lever down and checking bullet depth until I had them just down past the second lube ring. When I get home I'll try to post another pic showing the bullets design so this makes sense. So yes I have some lead exposed outside the case, almost same as I would do a regular 148gr WC.

I then did all rounds seating the second bullet in.

Lastly I backed off the seating rod and set my die up so it just barely crimped the case up tight around the bullet. These are .359" diameter ( I did not mic them though) so they go in very tight. I just wanted to get the case mouth snugged back up and straight again.

Yes this was tedious but I wanted to do them right seeing a box of 100 only makes 50 loaded rounds. And I enjoy reloading on a single stage press, it's kind of relaxing. lol

I hope this helps and isn't confusing, I'm glad people are asking questions. We're here to help each other.

Thanks for the details. Despite what others may have said, I do not believe your load using 5 gains of Unique should be scoffed as a defensive cartridge - especially at bad-breath range. 1000 fps is very respectable!

4.8 grains of Unique behind a plated 150 grain Berry's DEWC bullet loaded flush in a .38 special case is one of my defensive loads. It is a bit stout considering the seating depth, and provides almost 900 FPS from a 1-7/8 snubby.

I wonder what the pressure is . . .

Trust me, I'm not scoffing them at all. lol
Minuteman ammo is calling theirs +P and proved 800-825fps out of a snubby so I'm impressed with my numbers.
I've put about every factory load through my LCR standard and +P so I know how it shoots and feels, these things are HOT and the chrono proved that. That's why I shot the 10yd target low with the LCR, I flinched that shot big time. lol

I didn't see any signs of over pressure though, everything on the case and primers look no different than any light target loads I load up.

I would like to know what they do in medium just because they are only 72.5gr each, and going into separate holes how do they actually perform.

Here's the components in the various stages.











The OAL measured at the .359 outside edge, but they have a little lead protruding out front.


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I don't see signs of over-pressure in my .38 specials either - never have - save for a split case now and then. Frankly, I think that by the time primers start to flatten or flow in a .38 it is way way too late!