Underwood 38 Special Wadcutter very short review

[Norton 750]

Colts like it too...vintage Colt Cobra. I like the snag free Smith above, but I shoot the Colt better, which I attribute to it being slightly larger and mostly to having WAY better sights than the Smith and Wesson Body Guard. Guess I need to get a factory shroud Cobra or Agent for those summer day, low risk pocket carry situations.

 

[cherrypointmarine]

I buy a lot of w/c's from Georgia Arms . They have what they label " New Ammunition" , because most of theirs is remanufactured . Their new is loaded in Starline brass , so if you reload you're really in luck . I've been using their reloads for close to 30 years , never a hiccup .

 

[Rock185]

With all the good factory .38 loads, and bullets for reloading, available now days, don't think I'd bother with high velocity wadcutters. The lightly loaded factory target wadcutters are accurate and a real pleasure to shoot. There was a time when they were recommended for self defense in snubbys. Then loading hollow base wadcutters backwards for snubbys became a thing. I tried that. OK close up, but terrible accuracy much beyond halitosis distance.

BTW Magnum_PI, I was issued the Federal Hydra-shok 129 grain +P .38 Spcl. for years. I didn't get in any shootouts using that load. But I later noticed that the .38 Hydra-shok did not fare particularly well in the Luckygunner gel tests..

 

[71vette]

Try some std velocity 148 wadcutters 700 fps, punch clean hole, hard to deflect, goes deep, doesn't need to expand.
It works as good today as it has for the last 100 yrs.
My .02

This. My parents are 81 and can’t handle much, but they can manage my 148gr DEWC Tightgroup load.

148gr Acme DEWC
3.1gr Titegroup, 1.16” COAL, Remington SP

4” Trooper MkIII: 775fps
2” 10-9: 700fps

It’s a total pussycat in dad’s 6” 686 and mom’s 4” 65. Dad bought his 686 new 30 plus years ago. Mom’s 65 was purchased used from the EE of this board about the time I joined.

I know there’s a lot of “back and forth” on Luckygunners gel testing, but this load closely mimics the Winchester 148 HBWC they tested. I feel confident it will cut a full caliber hole past the 12 inches that the Feds recommend. I pray they’ll never have to use them, but at least they can.

 

[Sgt. Buzzard]

Wadcutters are normally pretty mild. Try a different brand like Fiocchi for example. They are relatively cheap from Midway.

My favorite WC round is Fiocchi. Why? Because simply it is so lightly loaded.
I'm 75 have arthritis in both hands, wrists and thumbs. The round is very accurate and with a light enough recoil that I can comfortably shoot it in a 442 pretty much as much as I want, I buy it by the case.

I shoot it in my LEOSA qualifications along with 8 speed strips. Even with WC's I'm really pretty good with the reload. 51 years of steady practice helps.

Thanks for posting this, I might try the Underwood for a carry load if I can find any. Smoke won't bother me under those circumstances. I've read that Winchester makes a fairly hot WC load. Not much available around here anyway which is another reason I buy by the case.

 

[geeollie]

A 158 grain hard cast +p from Underwood is my favorite but only when hiking in black bear country. Black bears are not really prone to bother people and but since it does happen…..that load will work.
Supposedly goes through several feet of ballistic gel and as designed never expands!!!

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Repeat - a while back now, my Buddy Milt had to shoot a Treed Bear several times.
He was shooting JHP 357 Silvertips.
They expended upon contact and he got almost no penetration.
Only time I ever ate Bear Meat. Cooked it Sauerbraten style.
Probably an acquired taste.

 

[sigp220.45]

I worked one homicide with a .38 Special wadcutter. A woman had reached her black-eye limit and shot shot her beefy abuser just once in the armpit. He said “oh”, sat down in his recliner, and began the process of assuming room temperature.

The medical examiner found that little lead soup can in the guy’s pelvic area. It had taken a tour through most of his vital organs before coming to rest, completely undeformed. You could have loaded it again.

The gun was a cheap RG snub and the round was a garden variety target load, nothing fancy.

 

[Sgt. Buzzard]

I remember one homicide that was an Albanian retribution thing. Husband knows wife is cheating, hands her a 2" .38. Tells her you do him or I do you both. She does her lover in the head. It's a wadcutter that does a couple of laps around the skull cavity.

Yeah the recovered bullet has the beer can shape except the leading edge which was ground off doing the laps around inside the vic's head. Extremely effective.

 

[pete950]

This is my snub carry load,
gets 750 fps from a two inch penetrates 16 inches of 4 layered denim covered clear ballistics gel plus slightly expands.

 

[Lucnic]

I use Underwood 150 grain Black Cherry hard cast wadcutters in my steel J frames and Georgia Arms Unlimate Defense 148 gr hard cast wadcutters in my Airweights. The Underwood’s have a little more bark than Georgia Arms. Both shoot point of aim and cut nice holes in paper. I reckon they will both do the intended job.

 

[Sgt. Buzzard]

Pete950 and Lucnic, thanks for the heads up on the Georgia Arms Ultimate Defense wadcutter load. I'm a regular 442 carry guy and this sounds about perfect for my gun. I'll still stick with Fiocchi for practice and qualifying. I'm going to try three boxes to start with.

I shoot pretty regularly with other cops, deputies and special agents. They all have J frames. For some reason I'm the only one who carries and qualifies every year with mine.

 

[BrBa]

Hot rodding wadcutters sounds like a solution looking for a problem.

 

[D Brown]

Hot rodding wadcutters sounds like a solution looking for a problem.

That took a while.

 

[Autonomous]

In New Jersey you can only use hollow points for home defense or hunting.
A hot .38 Special wadcutter would be a good option on the street there.

 

[kaaskop49]

Drug out my old copy of Pistols - A Modern Encyclopedia by Stebbins. On pg 222, he mentions the full-charge wadcutter load at 870fps was discontinued due to lead-spitting in older guns with timing issues, less likely to happen with standard velocity WCs.

After decades of shooting, as to SHTF situations, I have learned not to disparage ANY load/round regardless of bullet weight and composition. They all hurt and/or worse.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

P.S. Don'cha just love ammo threads like this?

 

[38SPL HV]

Just pickup a factory box of 148 gr wadcutter loads…my preference are the Remington variety.

(…if you reload, 3.5grs Bullseye under a 148 gr cast DEWC (NOT swaged HBWC) for a full wadcutter load. Nowadays, I use 3.3 grs W231 with the 148 gr DEWC…pretty much duplicates standard factory wadcutters. Reloads are great way to practice…just drop in the factory versions for the ride home (with applicable permit of course).

 

[Greyman50]

Loading and testing ones own loads is hard to beat. Casting projectiles allows one to get what they want. Lots of fun too.

 

[cowboy4evr]

I reloaded some 148 gr WC's that I had cast using a LEE mold . Seated them over 3.5 grs of Ramshot Zip and discovered a very very smooth easy shooting load in my 442 snubby . If struggling with recoil ,arthritis etc , in your J-frame , give this one a try . Regards Paul

 

[glenwolde]

If the Underwood are poly-coated I don't know why they would smoke that much? Back before powder coating I used a soft sticky lube on my cast bullets and that stuff smoked like black powder. You had to wait a few seconds for the smoke to clear so you could see the target.

I wonder what powder they use.