38 HBWC woes...

[Forrest r]

I cast my own hbwc's for the 38spl's & 357's. Have for decades using a single cavity lyman mold. Did a lot of swaged hbwc's also. Several years ago I bought this 4-cavity mold.

Life is good

If I was a gambling man I'd say:
Too hot of a load
Bullets sized too small
The wrong expander was used on the brass and the bullets are being sized down even more when seated.

 

[mainegrw]

I cast my own hbwc's for the 38spl's & 357's. Have for decades using a single cavity lyman mold. Did a lot of swaged hbwc's also. Several years ago I bought this 4-cavity mold.

Life is good



If I was a gambling man I'd say:

Too hot of a load

Bullets sized too small

The wrong expander was used on the brass and the bullets are being sized down even more when seated.

Thanks for the responses all, sounds like I may have gotten a little excessive with my loading on these. I almost exclusively load HBWC loads, usually using Hornady #10208 bullets, with which I never have excessive leading left when fired. That said, the only thing different in this case was the bullet and also the powder charge to match. I did not use the loading data for the Hornady bullets however, rather I used data for Speer HBWCs instead, since they were closer in size and design. My dies and seating depths however all stayed pretty much the same, so I am reasonably sure they are not to blame.

Lastly, I gather that I may have erred in my choice of swaging dies for these bullets. I used a .357 swage die when I probably should have used a .358 instead. I'm probably not getting the desired expansion because of that on top of an excessive powder charge.

From now on, I think I'll be sticking to the Hornady HBWCs or Berry's plated DEWCs and the trusted loads I have for both. No more mystery bullets from the bargain table at the LGS.

Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

A Simple idea from cap and ball revolvers: Use a popsicle stick as a butter knife and smear some Crisco in the front end of each chamber. This will add more lube for the already loaded ammo. If you see improvement, but need "More" bullet lubrication. don't just add more Crisco. I up the thickness of the Crisco, by melting in a clean empty can, and add 50% Crisco and 50% Paraffin. When cool use popsicle stick method on chambers. (1 part Corn or any vegetable and 2 parts paraffin, works also)

You can buy muzzel loader lube in a squirt tube but I find it too thin.

Ivan

 

[AJ]

A Simple idea from cap and ball revolvers: Use a popsicle stick as a butter knife and smear some Crisco in the front end of each chamber. This will add more lube for the already loaded ammo. If you see improvement, but need "More" bullet lubrication. don't just add more Crisco. I up the thickness of the Crisco, by melting in a clean empty can, and add 50% Crisco and 50% Paraffin. When cool use popsicle stick method on chambers. (1 part Corn or any vegetable and 2 parts paraffin, works also)

You can buy muzzel loader lube in a squire tube but I find it too thin.

Ivan

Ivan,

Isn't that kind of messy in an auto loader?

AJ

 

[Nevada Ed]

Only if you are shooting a Glock.............

Can I use that "Word" on this site ?
I should have looked up the rules, before typing........... sorry.

 

[Protocall_Design]

An auto is easy. Just fill the magazine with Crisco and load it with ammo!

 

[Eddietruett]

An auto is easy. Just fill the magazine with Crisco and load it with ammo!

Best post I’ve read in a long time!

 

[AJ]

For what it is worth I just loaded up some HBWC .38 Specials. These are Zero Bullet 148 grain WCHB Swaged. I loaded them over 2.8 grains of Bullseye. I will try them out tomorrow. What really interests me is the face that the bullets seem to be lubed with graphite. The coating on them is black and sort of greasy feeling. Has anyone here used these?

 

[AJ]

Range Report

For what it is worth I just loaded up some HBWC .38 Specials. These are Zero Bullet 148 grain WCHB Swaged. I loaded them over 2.8 grains of Bullseye. I will try them out tomorrow. What really interests me is the face that the bullets seem to be lubed with graphite. The coating on them is black and sort of greasy feeling. Has anyone here used these?

Took them to the range this morning and shot them at 15 yards out of my S&W Model 52. Suffice it to say they are much more accurate than I am. Have not noted any leading due to the graphite coating that I mentioned. Anyone else using these?

 

[boatbum101]

The Zero's will shoot . One of the owners is a Masterclass Bullseye shooter . They are sized .357 & in a 52 or a Colt OMM / 1911 are quite accurate out to 50yds . S&W revolver check throats & bore as they can lead if undersize . The Remington swaged HBWC with it's nasty graphite lube is the king for paper punching & they run .359 - .360 . No hotter than 3grs of Bullseye or 800fps .

 

[tmd17]

... Several years ago I bought this 4-cavity mold. ...

I love my MP HBWC mold




I am not an expert on leading, but I tend to cast these with soft alloy and push them slow.

 

[Nevada Ed]

I love my MP HBWC mold


View attachment 623036

I am not an expert on leading, but I tend to cast these with soft alloy and push them slow.

Those are way too pretty to shoot !!

Frame them and put them on the wall !!

 

[max503]

Nice blue boolits.

Getting back to the HBWC woes...I've heard that if you over-drive a HBWC the skirt can actually separate from the nose and stay lodged in the barrel, causing havoc with subsequent shots. Anybody heard that?

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Nice blue boolits.

Getting back to the HBWC woes...I've heard that if you over-drive a HBWC the skirt can actually separate from the nose and stay lodged in the barrel, causing havoc with subsequent shots. Anybody heard that?

Yes, it can happen but it's not usual.

One good reason not to push a HBWC hard is accuracy. They are plenty accurate at target velocities but can become unstable with pushed very hard. Notice, I sad can become unstable but of course there are always exceptions. A nice HBWC bullet of 10-12 BHN leaving the barrel @700/750 fps is a classic target load.

When I load a 148gr HBWC it's over 3.2gr W231 which is one of my favorite loads.