AJ
US Veteran
To me and for my purposes I have found 2.8 grains of Bullseye with a 148 grain HBWC does very well. In fact that loading is what I shoot in all my .38 Special chambered handguns.
Reloading for the S&W Model 52.
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noylj
Member
I tried two different brands of factory wadcutter and they both gave groups at least half of any of my reloads.
To come close to factory loads, I had to:
Use unsized cases that were only good in the M52 they had been fired in.
Remington 148gn HBWC, only. All other swaged bullets SUCKED in all three M52s. Don't know what to do now that I am running very low on bullets.
Over flaring case mouth so bullet went about ¼ of bullet in case and was held straight.
Had Lee make flat seating stem with centered drilled out so it wouldn't touch the nose bump.
Use of Redding Profile Crimp die to very slightly roll case mouth. Use of 5 other roll crimp dies were complete failures.
Bullseye, AA2, or 231/HP38 powders.
Factory wadcutters are made to be accurate, just as 32 S&W long wadcutters are made for accuracy.
To come close to factory loads, I had to:
Use unsized cases that were only good in the M52 they had been fired in.
Remington 148gn HBWC, only. All other swaged bullets SUCKED in all three M52s. Don't know what to do now that I am running very low on bullets.
Over flaring case mouth so bullet went about ¼ of bullet in case and was held straight.
Had Lee make flat seating stem with centered drilled out so it wouldn't touch the nose bump.
Use of Redding Profile Crimp die to very slightly roll case mouth. Use of 5 other roll crimp dies were complete failures.
Bullseye, AA2, or 231/HP38 powders.
Factory wadcutters are made to be accurate, just as 32 S&W long wadcutters are made for accuracy.
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boatbum101
Member
R-P brass cases have thinnest walls as do factory WC cases . Great when you're seating Rem 148 HBWC's the fat black nasty ones that shoot like a house on fire . I too agree with as little working of cases possible . Take a Lee FCD , remove all the innards except carbide ring & sling 'em in the trash . Die body with ring is now your sizing die . A Lyman " M " die or similar expander as needed . Seater with stem made to fit bullet profile . I taper crimp ( Redding die ) to .369 . Worked for me awhile so I stick with it .
AJ
US Veteran
Fat black nasty ones? I was loading 148 grain HBWC made by Zero yesterday. These were coated with some kind of slick black graphite? Very messy. Needed 10 minutes with a scrub brush to get my hands clean afterwards.
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noylj
Member
I found even using a fcd with guts out hurt accuracy. For best accuracy, unsized was it.
I would love to know what and how the factories work their magic
I would love to know what and how the factories work their magic
boatbum101
Member
Zero must of changed their lube , for years they used a honey colored grease a tad stiffer than #1 . Remington has used that powdered graphite crud , last case of 148 HBWC were coated much thinner however . FWIW last batch bought 2016 .
AJ
US Veteran
These that I have came from an estate the local gun dealer had purchased. He does not do reloading supplies/equipment. A friend and I bought all the reloading supplies and equipment for $750 and split it. We priced each piece and came to about $2500 worth of stuff. We kept about 95% of it and sold the rest for about $200. Some things date back to the 1970's.
boatbum101
Member
Late Jerry Keefer used to wash factory lube off & relube with LLA . White Label 45-45-10 is dirt cheap & less mess . Also works well on hardcast commercial bullets with crappy lube .
AJ
US Veteran
No, have not. Do not see the need to do so. Maybe someone else will say something.
Never owned a 52 but got varying degrees of accuracy with home cast HBWC. Best was dead soft, dental lead used in old style x ray machines. Alloys labeled as pure did well also. Harder alloys, like ww or anything with antimony approached the accuracy of standard wc's. Nothing wrong with that just not outstanding.
I was fond of the tried and true 2.5-2.9 gr. of Bullseye, ran into a good quantity of Titegroup and found 3.0gr. of Titegroup and the good old 148gr. HBWC does the deed. I have a DEWC six-gang mold by Cramer that although a beast to operate does produce a very nice bullet that works in a pinch and I figured if my supply of HBWC from Speer ever dries up I can still operate. The target I shoot is done at 15yds on the weekends...the Virginia Slims Invitational, rough crowd.
noylj
Member
M-52s love HBWC. My various cast wadcutters tended to average about 3.5" at 25 yards in three different M-52s.
So, if you want to cast your own, shoot them unsized and only lube bottom lube groove. For the sake of the gun and irreplaceable parts, keep velocity well under 800 fps.
Using HBWCs, you need to avoid going over 800 fps because the skirt can be pulled from the rest of the bullet and either lodge in the barrel or you'll find two holes in the target from one shot.
Common HBWCS gave me an average of about 2.5" at 25 yds.
Discovered inexpensive Remington HBWCs and really worked over variables. Just shooting Remington bullets gave me group average of about 1.5" at 25 yd. Of course, Remington found out about my results and immediately ceased production without making any announcement...
So, you gun is like mine, just cast, lube and shoot. I simply could not get cast bullets to shoot accurately to fine tune.
Bullseye, AA2, Red Dot, and 231/HP38 are all great choices.
So, if you want to cast your own, shoot them unsized and only lube bottom lube groove. For the sake of the gun and irreplaceable parts, keep velocity well under 800 fps.
Using HBWCs, you need to avoid going over 800 fps because the skirt can be pulled from the rest of the bullet and either lodge in the barrel or you'll find two holes in the target from one shot.
Common HBWCS gave me an average of about 2.5" at 25 yds.
Discovered inexpensive Remington HBWCs and really worked over variables. Just shooting Remington bullets gave me group average of about 1.5" at 25 yd. Of course, Remington found out about my results and immediately ceased production without making any announcement...
So, you gun is like mine, just cast, lube and shoot. I simply could not get cast bullets to shoot accurately to fine tune.
Bullseye, AA2, Red Dot, and 231/HP38 are all great choices.
