I am wondering what wadcutters advantage-disadvantage is over regular FMJ or HP or SWC bullets are. What does a wadcutter bullet do differently when fired? I have always wondered.
Thanks,

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Craig

I am interested in the answer also. To me, they seem to have less recoil,
and appear to be more accurate..

Wadcutters have a long bearing surface to stabilize them in the bbl. And their flat frontal surface cuts a perfect full dia. round hole in a paper target, for easier scoring. They are usually light target loads for 50 yds and under. I always wondered why hotter loaded wc wouldn't make a real bad boy defense load.

if your working with say ... 38 spec, or any other sub sonic caliber ... its probably one of the best shows in town for putting the hit to a target, above 1100 FPS they tend to tumble.
if you are talking about a hunting bullet where your apt to use em at extended ranges ... they are not a great idea since they dump energy en route like no other bullet of equal mass.

not to say I dont see their merit.
they tend to be quite accurate when used as directed and punch clean holes in paper when that is of importance.
Short range defense where they dont have the distance to get a flop going at top loads .... they are probably the nastiest thing you can offer a thug when you cant have a hollow point ... but that gets into some legal issues if you have an anti 2A DA at your hearing.

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it just needs more voltage

I shoot mostly wadcutters in my guns. As mentioned, they cut a nice big round hole in your target. They are also easy to work with for reloading.

Buffalo Bore makes a 150gr wadcutter that would be a good carry load.

I've been shooting full wad cutters for over 50 years in my .38 Specials. Good accuracy up to 50 yards or so. Deadly killers on squirrel & rabbits. Also snakes. I use Bullseye as I have lots of it. Semi wadcutters are better at longer ranges.

Along with what the others have said... below is a pic of a wadcutter and typical profile bullet with loaded rounds of each.

While the bullets are relatively the same length, the wadcutter is designed to be set all the way into the case. Since there is less case volume with the wadcutter pushed further into the case, pressures build with lesser amounts of gun powder. The wadcutter on the left has about 1/2 the powder charge as does the round on the right.

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In the old days of shotshells that did not have modern 'shot cups', one loaded the powder into the shell, then inserted a cardboard or fiber "wad". The wad kept the powder in place and acted as a cushion for the lead shot to some degree. It also provided a seal between the powder and the shot load so that the gases did not mostly blow through the shot. In the smokeless era it also took up space formerly filled with blackpowder.

Guess how these cardboard wads were made by reloaders?
With a hollow punch called- you guessed it- a "wadcutter".

The flat nosed target bullets acquired the name because they cut that perfect hole in the paper target- a wad.
That is why they are flat- it makes targets easy to score.
They are ballistically inferior, but it simply does not matter at target velocities and distances up to 50 yards.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

one more downside of a full wadcutter is that when you make a booboo at the reloading bench ... they get real hard to work with since there is no real nose to grab onto.
if you made a lot of mistakes, and have to pull bullets Pray to the Almighty that they werent wadcutters

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it just needs more voltage

Note to self-
Don't shoot reloads by VB

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Thanks for the quick explanation everyone, I always wondered and then I found some on sale and wondered if I should bother, but didn't have a clue how they shot or what they were for. Thanks to all your great answers I will pick me up some. Sounds like a really nice target round.

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Craig

There's a gadget called a kinetic bullet puller.... I heard tell it was easier than using ViceGrips.... might want to check it out.

Wadcutters come in two flavors - hollow base and flat base. The flat base ones can be used for full power defense loads. The hollow base ones should not be used with heavy powder charges, as there is a chance that the shallow nose of the bullet will separate, leaving the remainder in the barrel.

easy yes ... and time consuming
a collet type puller can cruise through large runs with less effort than a kinetic .... if you can use it

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it just needs more voltage

It's easier by far to pull bullets with a trigger.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

And more fun too. Though... technically wouldn't that be 'pushing' bullets rather than 'pulling'? Very confused now. Where's my Lyman 49th... gotta be around here somewhere

Yessir.........Lee wraps that up really well in one sentence!!!

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Craig

Good answer Lee. I agree.

that is my preferred method when possible.
Once upon a tine I cast a batch of like 1000 208grain wadcutters for a friend who was just getting into reloading.
he wasnt exactly clear on the difference between Universal clays and clays which he loaded with ... all 1000 of them

time vampire is such a choice phrase

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it just needs more voltage

Some people load the hollow base wadcutter upside down as a defense load, presenting a great big hollow point. I've never done it, only read about it.

SWC's are better all around bullets for me.

Years back (like in the 50's and 60's) it was quite common to load a hollow base wadcutter backwards into the case... the giant cavity facing forward. Made one heck of a defense load. Used to call them "flying ashtrays".

SWC Gas Check,Don't run 'em backwards.

DG

How many of you shoot the "target" wadcutters out of your .357's ?
Some say they make a mess in the throats (more than SWC,) and others say "no difference."

I want to try them (S&B) out of my 686, but I don't want to order 10 boxes if I'm not going to like 'em.

You'll like them. Very accurate, and leading will be minimal at the slow speed these bullets are driven.

Get a gun good and clean- really clean. DON'T grind it up, just run a brush through the bore and chambers every day for a week, letting it soak with the solvent in it between brushings. Every now and then push the crud out with a patch and wet it again.

Coat the throats and bore with a good space age lube like Tetra oil. If you have access to powdered molybdenum disulphide, coat the throats and bore with that.
This will decrease leading with WC's.

__________________
Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Flush seated wadcutters are the ONLY thing that will run in a S&W Model 52.

Ah, another happy subscriber to the Mershall Stanton (of Beartooth Bullets) school of gun cleaning. It does work. Properly sized bullets don't hurt either.