HBWC seating depth.

[GypsmJim]

Most reloading manuals state a cartridge over all length. OAL.

That's the MAXIMUM length. Any longer than that and it will stick out the front of the cylinder, or won't fit an autoloader chamber.

If you shoot a very light boolit, you can never get even close to that.

We are talking about PROPER length here, and there is no manual that can specify that, unless its for a specific boolit.

 

[Nevada Ed]

Many years ago I tried the Speer HBwc in my model 19 with a long OAL of 1.20".

It did no better in accuracy, so I kept all my HBwc at flush OAL, in case they saw M52 use.

I will set the BBwc a little longer if I need more powder in the case, for special loads.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

My HBWC's are loaded to be flush with the case mouth.

I shot PPC so I have reload a ton or so of lead.

 

[Model52guy]

I trim all my M52 38 spec brass to 1.145” Needed for the model 52. I use older nickel brass as it is easy to pick up at the range. Not many people shoot nickel 38 brass. I have a Dillon 450RL set up just to do `38 wade cutter ammo. I normally use 3.2 gr Winchester 231 or HP 38 for my loads but 2.7 bullseye is just as good.

 

[pasound]

I set all my HBWC and BBWC loads flush with the case mouth. Have been seeing if my Lee factory taper crimp die does a better job than a roll crimp while seating. So far, not noticing any difference in accuracy. My favorite is also 3.2gr of 231. When that runs out, 2.7 of Bullseye.

 

[glenwolde]

I'm not sure why you would load them to LRN or LSWC OAL when Hodgdon lists an OAL for the .38 wadcutter. 1.160. Which is pretty much flush.

The Hodgdon load data makes no sense to me. The 158 LSWC is listed at 3.1 to 3.7 of W231 while the 148 gr HBWC is listed at 3.5 to 4.0 of W231. Considering the small difference in weight and the depth of the wadcutter it doesn't seem to make sense. Look at the charge weights in Lyman Reloading Handbook 48th.

I've always used 3.0gr of W231 with the HBWC seated flush and 4.0gr of W231 with the LSWC.

 

[H Richard]

I always loaded my .38's just a visible line above case mouth, and used a taper crimp of .003. That and 3.0 gr 231 proved very accurate in my 52 as well as all my revolvers.

 

[Green Frog]

Many years ago I tried the Speer HBwc in my model 19 with a long OAL of 1.20".

It did no better in accuracy, so I kept all my HBwc at flush OAL, in case they saw M52 use.

I will set the BBwc a little longer if I need more powder in the case, for special loads.

Agreed, Ed. When I decided to go more “real life” in PPC, I was quick to change from HBWCs to SWCs to shoot from my tuned Model 66 ND. Those tapered noses went into the chambers a lot quicker with my Safariland Speed Loaders! Accuracy in the PPC situation (and in my hands) in the M 66 was comparable with both bullets.
Froggie

 

[Forrest r]

Agreed, Ed. When I decided to go more “real life” in PPC, I was quick to change from HBWCs to SWCs to shoot from my tuned Model 66 ND. Those tapered noses went into the chambers a lot quicker with my Safariland Speed Loaders! Accuracy in the PPC situation (and in my hands) in the M 66 was comparable with both bullets.
Froggie

+1^^^^^^^^^

Not a hbwc and a little thread drift. Was hard to beat the accuracy and ease of loading the old lyman 358311 158gr cast rn bullet. Used/shot countless 1000's of them in different 38spl's and 357mags.

 

[Forrest r]

some people have loaded wadcutters like that to alleviate fear of chamber jumping having an impact.

Its also fun when you use the older powder loading data

Or:

Looking for accuracy, a 220gr hbwc that I cast for the 44cal's.

A s&w 624 44spl that I tested those cast 220gr hbwc's in. Tested:
seated/crimped flush
seated/crimped top lube groove
seated/crimped bottom lube groove
The same seating combos with both lube grooves lubed. 1 lube groove lubed. Tumble lubed & both lube grooves lubed + tumble lube.

The throats in the leade's of the cylinders were .431". I sized the bullets to .430" so that the bullet would sit in those leade's if need be.

Couldn't even count how many 1000's of the cast h&g # 50's I loaded/shot that were sized to .357". Lubed only 1 lube groove and seated/crimped them long, in the middle lube groove.

Doing this gave me the same seating depth/case volume as using the lyman 358477 or the cramer #26.

Once I found an accurate load for the 38spl or 357mag using any of those bullets. They all could be used for the same load give the same excellent accuracy.

 

[Forrest r]

I've bought very little hbwc's over the decades. Cast and swaged a bunch of them preferring the cost of making my own (free).

Got to where I could swage a pretty accurate 150gr hbwc. Found it didn't matter if I bought them or made my own. I was only so good with them/shooting skills.

Still like swaging my own hbwc's, the last batch I made were jacketed hbwc's. Made them out of 9mm cases and then bonded the cores (12bhn) to the jackets.

Accuracy wasn't the greatest, about the same as the average cast wc. So I decided to do a little testing with them in a snubnose (2" bbl'd) 38spl. Did a little head to head testing:

158gr penta point hp VS 150gr jacketed hbwc loaded backward/huge hp.

The jacketed hbwc's were pretty impressive. They had a cookie cutter effect cutting huge holes in anything they hit. Along with the jackets opening/splitting/slicing while the bonded cores stayed intact. The bottom 2 were 35cal, the top 3 were 44cal (shot in a snubnosed 44spl).

 

[old tanker]

With a Model 52 to feed, I load my HBWC flush with a mild crimp an 2.7 gains of Bullseye, just like a bunch folks have already said. For more casual use, I have a boatload of cast wadcutters I seat in the crimping groove just because it makes cheap and easy shooting in all the revolvers.

 

[StrawHat]

For nearly a decade of PPC competition, I loaded wadcutters with about .1” or .125” showing above the mouth of the case. 2.8 grains of Bullseye was the powder and charge. No crimp, just enough to remove the slight funnel needed to start to bullet. I stopped competing 3 decades ago but still shoot a wadcutter bullet, only now, it is a 45 ACP. Seated as shown, on the left,

What I found by seating them out a bit was much better feeding from the speedloader into the chambers. Same whether the Special case or the ACP case.

Kevin

 

[Nevada Ed]

In my revolvers, I get different accuracy results with both the
HBwc and the BBwc design bullets that I use.

One reason, that I load the BBwc bullet a little out of the case,
so I know that it is NOT a HBwc lead bullet, for the different firearms,
that I take to the range.

I also use different type powders and different fps loads, so bullet ID is very important
as well as well marked data, with the ammo, if not Factory stuff.

 

[AJ]

For both my S&W 52-1 and the Colt MidRange, I loaded HBWC's. I seated them flush with the case mouth and used 2.8 grains of Bullseye. Works good for me! Your mileage may vary........

 

[smoothshooter]

Flush to the case mouth is correct for that projectile. You do a very light roll crimp over the front edge of the projectile

Here is the current factory image for Federal HBWC ammunition

Image courtesy of Federal Ammunition​

A very slight taper crimp has always worked well for me.
BTW, I taper crimp everything shot in a handgun.

 

[AJ]

what did you do that 45 to get those to feed well

Throating the barrel properly will get it done. When I do a throat job on my barrels they will feed empty cases.