Coated or plated alternative to HBWC?

[Super Dave]

Hi all,

Has anyone found an accurate alternative to HBWCs that are coated or plated? I'm looking for something that will give me around an inch at 25 yards.

I tried some coated DEWC bullets a while back and my results were not that great. I'm willing to try again. But, wondering what kind of accuracy you guys are finding with the alternatives.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[robertrwalsh]

I have tried HBWC, DEWC, BBWC, cast, swedged and plated. I have come to believe that the final determination of accuracy is the shooter and the weapon and not the bullet, at least in these cases. But what do I know? I am not a hardcore bullseye shooter.

 

[springer99]

Hi all,

Has anyone found an accurate alternative to HBWCs that are coated or plated? I'm looking for something that will give me around an inch at 25 yards.

I tried some coated DEWC bullets a while back and my results were not that great. I'm willing to try again. But, wondering what kind of accuracy you guys are finding with the alternatives.

Thanks,
Dave

Dave, can you share more about the particulars in your shooting? Personally I'd be happy to have anything that would consistently shoot 1" groups at 25yds.

FWIW I doubt you'll find it with any plated bullets today, and I haven't yet gone down the "coated" road, so can't help you there.

 

[Magload]

You want to shoot 1 inch groups at 25 yards buy a rifle. Look at the test results of some of the custom 1911s. Les Baer on their custom 1911 wadcutter gun on guarantees a 1 1/2" and that is from a Ransom rest. If you are shooting a M&P you might get 3". Don

 

[PPCSHOOTER]

Berrys 38 Spl 148 gr HBWC 1000 Count

HERE YOU GO . JUST WHAT YOU ASKED FOR. PLATED 38 SPL 148GR HBWC. 1 INCH AT 25 YDS ARE NO PROBLEM. BUT AT 50 YDS THEY DON'T CUT THE MUSTARD. BEST I COULD GET A 50 YDS WITH THESE BULLETS WERE 5 INCHS. JP

 

[ontargetagain]

I have not shot these but here is your source to plated HBWC bullets.
https://www.berrysmfg.com/item/bp-38-357-148gr-hbwc

Karl

 

[H Richard]

With the velocity HBWC's are shot for accuracy, there is no need to have a plated or coated bullet. Stick with lead. The hollow base with soft lead expands under pressure to fill the lands and grooves to seal the gasses, and that contributes to accuracy. The rate of twist helps, as well as the precision fit of a custom built bullseye gun. Yes, 1" at 25 yards id possible as well as under 2" at 50 yards.

 

[Super Dave]

Hi,

Thanks for the info. I have a couple thousand more HBWCs on hand and they are very accurate. But, they do make a mess when loading and it would be nice not to handle lead...

Thanks for the 50 yard accuracy of the Berry's...think I'll pass...saved me some time and effort testing.

For me, one inch at 25 yards is my standard goal. If I can't get an inch or close to it then the gun is a let down (including short barrels).

Thanks,
Dave

I do enjoy the search for the right load.

 

[gwpercle]

I have been reading some articles about plated bullets and in most cases they do not seem to be as accurate as the other types. Buying the hollow based wadcutters and coating them , might be worth a try.

 

[rwsmith]

Soft Swaged

The most accurate combo I've seen out of a .38 we the soft swaged HBWCs that come from Speer or Hornady. They have a dry lube on the outside and if you keep the velocity down they are pretty amazing performers. Use a fast target powder. It seems like being machine made they would be cheap but being name brands, no-o-o-o-o-o. You can get them in boxes of 500 and I'd sure give them a try.

 

[Coastie762]

Another source of swaged HBWCs is Precision Delta. Along with their line of jacketed projectiles they make swaged 148 grain HBWCs. I've found them to be as accurate as the Speer and Hornady versions.

They market two versions, one lubed with "match" lube for a small increase in cost. This lube is not messy to load.

Current cost listed on their site is 87.00/1000 or 78.00/1000 if you purchase 2000. Shipping costs are included. The standard lubed version goes for 82.00/1000 or 71.00/1000 if you purchase 2000.

Now if you want messy, load some Remingtion HBWCs. Very accurate but that greasy graphite lube will get everywhere!

 

[Super Dave]

Thanks for the info guys. I have Hornady, Speer and Remington HBWCs on hand. I have not tried the Precision Deltas yet.

Well, I think I'll stick with the tried and true HBWCs.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[Magload]

Hi,

Thanks for the info. I have a couple thousand more HBWCs on hand and they are very accurate. But, they do make a mess when loading and it would be nice not to handle lead...

Thanks for the 50 yard accuracy of the Berry's...think I'll pass...saved me some time and effort testing.

For me, one inch at 25 yards is my standard goal. If I can't get an inch or close to it then the gun is a let down (including short barrels).

Thanks,
Dave

I do enjoy the search for the right load.

Nice groups dave and nice guns also. I really like my Matchdot I have it on my 9mm Pro L right now. I see why you are getting the 1" at 25yds you are using the right guns. Don

 

[Nevada Ed]

My M49 S&W with the 148gr Speer and Bullseye powder shot one third the group size of the Remington factory loaded 148gr wc, at 15 feet, with a speed of 628 fps at ten feet.

Hard to lead a barrel at this speed and amount of powder used.

 

[Super Dave]

Thanks fellows.

The Ultra Dot makes precise shots much easier and speeds up testing...with less eye strain.

Sometimes I take it too far.

 

[MJFlores]

I load Berry's plated bullets exclusively in .357 and .44 and will say that both loads are far more accurate than I am. In .357 I use Berry's plated 158 grain round nose out of a S&W 581 and it shoots surprisingly nice. If I were to try from a bench and I believe I'd have some very tight groups. I'm able to pull off 2 to 2.5" groups at 15 yards standing. A seasoned Bullseye shooter I'm sure could do much better! Admittingly, with my handguns I'm a steel plate plinker first and foremost.

 

[Steve C]

I like the dry lube used on Speer lead bullets. As clean as plastic or copper coatings. As H Richard said, you don't need copper or plastic coating on HBWC's as they produce no leading at the low velocities you can shoot them at.

If you want 1" groups at 25 yds you need to work your load to mathc your gun. Likely a load that will produce that 1" won't do it with another gun even of the same model. No such thing as off the cuff 1" group capability unless you accidentally fall into it. Very few shooters are good enough to get that 1" consistently even if the gun and ammo are capable of doing it.

The link below is to a PDF copy of an article in Handloaders magazine 1978 by Ken Waters. A good read if you want to load .38 spl wad cutter ammo.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B47DvNGUidTIalJMTTNQTUpUTEE/view?usp=sharing

 

[ChuckS1]

You want to shoot 1 inch groups at 25 yards buy a rifle. Look at the test results of some of the custom 1911s. Les Baer on their custom 1911 wadcutter gun on guarantees a 1 1/2" and that is from a Ransom rest. If you are shooting a M&P you might get 3". Don

I have a Les Baer bullseye M1911A1 with the 1 1/2" guarantee. Note that the guarantee range is 50 yards, not 25. Mine will do that with a 200 grain SWC and 4.2 grains of Bullseye, off a sandbag and UltraDot sight.

My avatar was shot with that pistol at 25 yards, 185 grain H&G 130 cast bullet and 3.6 grains of Bullseye.

 

[noylj]

What is wrong with the L-HBWCs that exist? They are certainly cheaper than coated/plated/jacketed and have proven over time to be best.
Best I have found, and the least expensive, have been Remington from MidwayUSA $146/2000 (7 cents/bullet) and that is a huge increase over a year ago. Some don't like the lube (vaseline and graphite, it feels like), but it works perfect and is super accurate.
Coated might be fine, but I just don't see the advantage. Plated were an utter and complete waste of money. At 25 yards, I think my 12 gauge with Full choke makes smaller groups.
Never saw a jacketed HBWC, but again, I just don't see what you would gain for the additional money.

 

[PPCSHOOTER]

Thanks for the info guys. I have Hornady, Speer and Remington HBWCs on hand. I have not tried the Precision Deltas yet.

Well, I think I'll stick with the tried and true HBWCs.

Thanks,
Dave

DAVE ; AFTER DOING EXTENSIVE RANSOM REST TESTING AT 50YDS THE REMINGTON ARE THE MOST ACCURATE BY FAR. YES MESSY AS ALL HELL, BUT WORTH IT IF YOU WANT TO WIN. ZERO 148 HBWC ARE SECOND AND THE DELTA PRECISION ARE A LAGGING THIRD. JP