I shoot thousands of wadcutters annually. Mine do NOT lead, period.
I shoot the H&G #251 double ended wadcutter with WW's + 2% tin, sized .358" with 3.5 grs of Bullseye and lubed with Lars White Label Carnauba Red. I seat the bullet with the first band out of the case and taper crimp on the last part of the first band. I seat the bullet with the sprue showing (that way I have PERFECT bases - and the base is the steering end of the bullet per Harry Pope).
These loads will shoot well under an inch at 25 yards from a variety of .38 Special and .357 magnum revolvers (all loaded in .38 Special cases).
They are terrific practice loads in my 642 and 638 pocket guns, also.
Dale53
Thanks Dale,
BUT, I am very new to this and really don't have the words/jargon down yet. Most of what you wrote went
OVER MY HEAD.
I will get it eventually.
Thanks very much for the input though, appreciated.
Bill T.
H&G #251 -- the mould for the bullet he's using (he casts his own bullets); it apparently produces a wadcutter bullet that has the same shape on both ends ("double ended") which makes loading them into casings easier (no need to worry about which end is up)
WW's + 2% tin -- this is the composition of the lead alloy he's using: wheel weights, and he adds some tin into the mix
sized .358" -- the diameter of the bullet is .358" (or 358/1000ths of an inch). This bullet is slightly over-sized, but since it's soft lead it will be squeezed down to the correct size in the barrel and make a good seal for the propellant gases behind it.
3.5grs of Bullseye -- he's using 3.5 grains of a powder called "Bullseye". 7000 grains to a pound, so he's using 1/2000th of a pound of this powder for his load.
lubed with Lars White Label Carnauba Red -- he uses this lube for his bullets. The use of non-lubed lead bullets will eventually leave a lot of lead deposits in the barrel, forcing cone, and cylinder chambers that are a pain to remove.
seat the bullet with the first band out of the case -- this is how far he's seating the bullet into the case
taper crimp on the last part of the first band -- the crimp is used to hold the bullet in place under recoil (you don't want bullets moving around in the casings before you shoot them), and to hold the bullet in place for the first few milliseconds after ignition to maintain pressure as the powder burns behind it. Once enough pressure builds, the crimp no longer holds the bullet and the bullet starts moving out of the casing.
seat the bullet with the sprue showing -- with cast bullets, the lead is poured into the mould through a little hole; this little hole causes a bit of extra lead to be cast on the bullet (the "sprue"), and this extra lead can be inconsistent. Seating the bullet with this sprue up means that the clean end is facing the powder, giving a consistent surface for the propellant gases to push against.
Hopefully I got everything (and got everything right; I don't cast my own bullets).
Dale53 said:
and the base is the steering end of the bullet per Harry Pope
I'm finding out that this is the truth; I've got some semi-wadcutter bullets with beveled bases, but the bevel is inconsistent from bullet to bullet (and the weight/density of each bullet seems to be inconsistent as well), and for the life of me I can't seem to get these bullets to group well at 50 yards through any of my revolvers with any load. On the other hand, I have some flat-base semi-wadcutters (that also seem to be very consistent in density and weight) that group very nicely at 50 yards with the same loads.
Every hole of the wheel was full of lead.
