38 wadcutters

[bobcantshoot]

Be aware that given the same powder charge, seating a bullet farther out will result in lower pressures than seating the bullet deeper.
I personally load mine both ways with some seated with the nose flush with the case mouth, and some with the nose about 1/8” or a little more out.
HBWC and plain double-ended wadcutter loads are my favorites in the .38 Special.
They work well in .357 Magnum rifles too.

Slight wrinkling of 38/357 cases is not uncommon and doesn't appear to affect the accuracy at all. I will however say that I notice it more with 148 gr wadcutters than I do with 158 gr semi wad cutters. So, bottom line, as long as they fit into the cylinder it shouldn't really be an issue.

I also had a few buckle on seating but only with the plated wadcutters. Lead 148gr. HBWC never give me a problem. I also seat about .010 proud. I taper crimp .002 per side in the same step as seating on a Lee Turret. I found 3.5gr. of HP38 gives me avg. 725 velocity with quite good grouping in my 3" 605. Those bullets do seem to be the favorite revolver round throughout the forum.

 

[Phenix]

I also had a few buckle on seating but only with the plated wadcutters. Lead 148gr. HBWC never give me a problem. I also seat about .010 proud. I taper crimp .002 per side in the same step as seating on a Lee Turret. I found 3.5gr. of HP38 gives me avg. 725 velocity with quite good grouping in my 3" 605. Those bullets do seem to be the favorite revolver round throughout the forum.

The HBWC bullets being soft lead and having a collapsable skirt allows them to squeeze down a little if the interior case dimensions are a little too tight.
Different story with hard cast DEWC bullets.

 

[Phenix]

Me too; never had a problem and the taper crimp only needs to be slight. I've never done a side-by-side accuracy comparison of taper crimped vs. roll crimped but I would guess taper crimped rounds might have an accuracy edge. Some adhere to the "revolver cartridges should be roll crimped while semi-auto cartridges should be taper crimped, no exceptions", without questioning the reasoning. Many times that axiom is right but it's far from a firm rule and it's often worth the trouble to experiment.

I taper crimp in all calibers, but I don’t load real heavy loads in .44, .45, or .38/.357.

 

[rockquarry]

I taper crimp in all calibers, but I don’t load real heavy loads in .44, .45, or .38/.357.

Nothing wrong with that at all.

 

[Phenix]

Couldn't even begin to count how many 1000's of reloads I did using M41 ball brass (used to buy 30cal ammo cans full of the stuff (1x fired) for $3 a ammo can.

No wrinkles or bulged ammo is not a good thing or "common". Those are signs of using the wrong expanding die. I've posted about this before on this website. Most reloading dies are designed to be use jacketed bullets. Jacketed bullets are typically smaller in diameter and shorter bodied then their lead/coated counterparts.

You want an expander die & more specifically the expander button to be designed for the longer/larger diameter lead/coated bullets. Lyman makes a m-die (lee came out with their version this year) for the lead/coated bullets.

A lyman m-die button next to a factory lee expander button. Both are for the 45acp. You can clearly see the high water mark on the lee button left by the case mouth of the brass (line in the center). The lyman button goes twice as deep into the 45acp cases.

3 different home cast/coated bullets (.452") loaded in range brass (picked up in the grass) made using the lyman m-die. Interestingly enough the reload on the far left has extreme wear marks from someone sizing the "bulge" out of it repeatedly.

A factory lee 9mm expander button next to a custom expander button I made for seating lead/coated bullets in 9mm cases.

I cast and coat bullets for the 9mm's. I size them to .358" so I can use them in the 9mm's, 38spl's & 357mags. 2 different bullets I cast/coat. Both are sized to .358" and the red bullet is 1/10th of an inch longer than the green bullet. That red bullet is seated 2/3's the way into the case and there's no bulge. That bullet is a lyman 35870 150gr hollow based fn.

Anyway use the correct expander and the brass thickness will become meaningless. No more wrinkles, buckling or bulges.

I would like to know what powder coat you use, and about your process.
Those bullets look great.

 

[rwsmith]

I would like to know what powder coat you use, and about your process.
Those bullets look great.

They are indeed very purty. They look good enough to eat!

I like my black cherry HI Tek Missouri Bullets.

 

[noylj]

Get factory wadcutter cartridges and use for seating and very slight roll crimp.

For case sizing I like using a Lee FCD with crimping guts removed. I also use a flat seating stem, made by Lee with a recess in center if bullets have a raised nub in the center. Use enough case mouth flare to keep bullet straight. Any bullet tilt will damage but and accuracy

 

[Forrest r]

I would like to know what powder coat you use, and about your process.
Those bullets look great.

Nothing special.

A toaster oven & a #5 tub with airsoft bb's in it (aka shake & bake) method. I did switch over to using a pid controller for the casting pot and the oven used to bake the coating in 2018. Made a huge difference.

I find the no crimp/slight crimp thing interesting. I shot home cast wc's for decades using 38spl cases in 357mag revolvers.

Heavy crimp and seated long for the 357mag chambers in the cylinders. Those are h&g #50's from 2013/2014 timeline. Ended up selling the mold, just didn't shoot a lot of wc's anymore and that 10-cavity mold was getting harder to use as I got older.

 

[Phenix]

Nothing special.

A toaster oven & a #5 tub with airsoft bb's in it (aka shake & bake) method. I did switch over to using a pid controller for the casting pot and the oven used to bake the coating in 2018. Made a huge difference.

I find the no crimp/slight crimp thing interesting. I shot home cast wc's for decades using 38spl cases in 357mag revolvers.

Heavy crimp and seated long for the 357mag chambers in the cylinders. Those are h&g #50's from 2013/2014 timeline. Ended up selling the mold, just didn't shoot a lot of wc's anymore and that 10-cavity mold was getting harder to use as I got older.

Do you mix the BB’s in with the paint powder?

 

[Doriangray6]

I like to shoot cast 148gr poly coated DBB wadcutter and button nose wadcutter bullets from Acme in my 4" model 10 but have 148gr semi wadcutter, round, or taper nose bullets in my backup speed loaders because the extended noses makes them quicker and easier to get into the cylinder than wadcutters.
The poly coated bullets are as accurate but less expensive that jacket bullets, makes clean up easier after an afternoon at the range, and eliminate any problems with barrel leading.
They're all pushed by CFE pistol powder and crimped just enough to remove the flare by a Dillon Square D press that I use for all my handgun ammo.