I am running low on my old supply of Speer .38 hollowbase wadcutters, although I do have some ancient Perfection wadcutters from the "Can 'o Lead".

What should I get? More Speer, Hornady, Zero, other swaged, bulk cast? Remington HBWC used to get good reviews but Midway shows discontinued.

For use seated plumb flush in M52, also revolvers.

I had good luck with the Hornady's and Zero's.
Karl

My choice is Precision Delta swaged 148gn HBWC with match lube. The price is competitive with free shipping and they are shipped very fast.


My model 52 and K-38s have gone through many thousands of them without complaint.

Hornady works great for me!

I second the Precision Delta in my 52.

I am tempted to buy some of the plated 148gr wadcutters from Summers or Chey Cast. Im out of lead too!
Jim

Delta Precision sells good bullets but I have a 850 rounds left of 44 mag that are a real leading problem. The plated wadcutters from Extreme are also good.

I had a lazy hot summer 2 years ago when I bought bullets rather than cast. I shot equally as well (or as crummy) with home cast, Speer swaged, Extreme plated, or Precision Delta swaged. One day I couldn't buy an "X" hit, the next day I couldn't miss the black Bullseye.

Now I save my money and cast with a Lee solid 148 grain WC 6-cavity mold that I run my RCBS pot at max temperature and get well filled bullets at about 1,200 per hour.

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S&WHF 366

I was casting the button nose solid base WC, now have the mold
for HBWCs. Will be casting after Christmas while it's cold. The Speer swaged bullets are a problem with leading even at target
velocities. I shoot several Speer jacketed bullets in my rifles with
good results but I don't want anymore of their lead pistol bullets.

I've shot Bullseye Pistol for years . I'll only use the Remington or Zero 148 HBWC swaged lead bullets . Much cheaper if you buy 2K at a time . Cast solid base will shoot almost as good from a revolver .

If I was buying them I would get swaged ones. They always seemed more accurate.
But I've got the Lee 6 cavity 148 grain wadcutter mold. It gives me all the boolits I need.

I don't "Melt...... but I am like you and have a few Speer HB left
and have 500 BB from Xtreme that I am just starting to test.

I have yet to try Rem, Horn or the other lead 148 HB bullets, so
no info to pass on, just that the Speer bullet can be accurate with
the right combination in 2" and 6" revolvers.

The BB at 1.25" OAL was fair and I am now testing at 1.16" OAL
to see if I can tighten up the seven powders I am using, for close
target use, with the snub nose.

Good luck.

I always had good luck with Hornaday.

+1 for Hornady, for highest degree of accuracy. Lead seems more accurate out of EVERYTHING than plated.

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Certified Curmudgeon

I've been using Hornady wadcutters for a long time and they are accurate in every gun they've been shot in. But I have seen some leading so in the future I may try some type of plated HBWC, possibly Berry's.

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"I gots to know"

Several years back I traded into a m25 83/8 that was in 95%+
condition. I had two boxes of factory Rem RNFP lead that I wanted to shoot up to get the brass. Me, Bro and a buddy shot
up the 100rds. Gun shot outstanding, even buddy who is not much of a pistol shot did well with it. Then loaded 242 cast WCs
solid base at 750fps and again they shot well, we were shooting
50'. Then I got Speer WCs and loaded them at 750fps. The three
of us fired 6 each in turn. Me first, they shoot good, Bro second
his shots were not quite his normal, buddy shot and did lousy
we didn't pay much attention to that because he is lousy shot.
That's 18rds at 750fps. When I started my second 6, my shots
were wild. I thought sight had come loose. Upon inspection the
barrel was leaded terrible. Almost like a foil coating, it came out
fairly easy. Shot no more of them. Then I bought a 19 with a
bunch of components with it. Speer swaged bullets among them.
They did the same thing in the 19 at around same velocity but
not as bad. I have shot a lot of Hornady lead bullets in several
different 38 & 357s and had no problems at all. I have run them
at 850-900fps no leading. I don't know how slow you would have
to run Speers to avoid leading. I cast WCs for my S&Ws and I
don't get carried away on alloy. I make them soft as practical and
I've never had a leading problem, this refers to LV target loads
which is about all I shoot in S&Ws. I have a Ruger SA for full
power mag loads that is my deer pistol.

Another Hornady user, but I intend to try some of the Zeroes. Hornadys are getting pretty pricey.

I believe you need to be a top level match shooter to note the difference between HB and standard wadcutters.

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Front sight and squeeze

Been running Precision Delta in my 52 , 14 and 15 .
Using match lube .
Good results.
Excellent customer service.

In my m52, Hornady and Speer SUCKED compared to Remington. Get Zero or Magus swaged hbwc.
What does "accurate" mean?
For me, it is 1" or less at 25 yds and less than 1.75" at 50 yds.
Define what you mean when you say accurate.

Back when I was serious about shooting, I loaded Star HBWC's. Probably haven't been available for 15-20 years now. I did buy 1000 Speer HBWC in .32 caliber which I shoot in several I & J Frame's as well as my 16-4. I'm well pleased with it.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I have used Hornady’s in my 52 but have recently heard good things about Matt’s bullets so ordered small quantities of wadcutters in various calibers for a try out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ve had good luck with the Speer 148 grain HBWC Bullets. I’ve read the hollow base skirt isn’t needed, but it does extend the bearing surface of the bullet a bit.

The only two things I can add: if I make sure to flare the case sufficiently - enough for the flare to be visible - they seat with no problem. Second, if I keep the speed up - no chrono here, but say 2.4 grains of Trail Boss, no less - I don’t get much leading. The Speers are very soft lead, but that presumably makes them fit the barrels of my Mdl 640 and 586 well. I get good accuracy, and they are very mild, even in the J frame.

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S&W Rover

Do you mean coated? Because AFAIK Summers doesn't do plated (not familiar with Chey).

Yes, I meant coated. My error.
Jim

For several years the most accurate .38 out of my PPC gun and others was the old black Remington 148 grain HBWC over WW 231. I have shot some amazing groups with that load out to 50 yards. I probably shot in excess of 10 thousand rounds of that bullet in PPC matches and league. Sadly I shot up my supply and haven't seen it in stock for probably ten years now.

I just recently saw that Midway had them in stock and I bought 2,000 of them immediately.

+1 for Hornady!

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Some Might Say.