Fishjager
Member
Recently I have a couple of friends who say I run down too many rabbit holes. I guess I am in quest of that "Silly Wabbit" while I am sitting around in retirement. My latest thing is the Smith & Wesson Model 52. I have fallen head over hills in love with this pistol. So much so that I found a 52-1 and bought it. I didn't stop there I also found a 52-2 and bought that. I know I'm sick. But they sure do shoot nice and feel nice. Rabbit hole one.
Now as a gun owner I am not happy with the standard gun. I have to add accessories to make it even better. So I ordered two Clark Match Barrels and Match Bushings from Clark. Well I got them and now had to have them fitted for the guns. So my good friend who used to work at Detonics managed to fit each barrel for me. His first time working on S&W 52's. He is a perfectionist and he did a beautiful job with the fitting. We even called Paul at Clark to ask for a couple of pointers. Rabbit hole two.
Ammo for the gun. Well this is the trick part. Most of you know how loading 38 special wadcutter can be a real pain. I have hand loaded for over 50 years and this one was a new rabbit hole for me. I thought well it can't be that hard? Wrong. When you are dealing with a match chamber on a barrel you need everything just right. I have a set of Dillon Carbide dies for the 38 special. So off to the race track. When I loaded a few I found that the outside diameter was around .376-378 when the bullet was seated. This is a little big for a chamber that is .375. Things don't always feed well. So I bought a powder funnel from Photoescape because I heard that it makes seating the bullet easier. Well it also is hard to get out of the case as it goes through the press. Need a lot of force. I was beginning to get frustrated. I was using 148 grain HBWC's from NE Reloading. They were sized .358 on the nose. So when seated they came out an average of .376-.378 as a finished round. Not very happy. I have a lot of money invested to make ammunition correctly. So I have fancy pistols that have a hard time chambering rounds. Ouch. I hit the internet again and started reading about my problem. I thought well the Dillon Dies have to be sizing correctly? Sometimes you learn not everything is true. I read about Redding and their new carbide dies and how great they are? You guessed it Rabbit hole three.
So here is the solution to my problem that has turned out a beautiful .38 special wadcutter. This is for all of you out there that don't want to play Elmer Fudd and look for that Silly Wabbit. I bought a set of Redding NxGEN Pro Series carbide dies. Polished up my original powder funnel on my Dillon 750. Invested in some Precision Delta 148gr HBWC's. (sized .356) I used my Dillon Seating die with a Dillon wadcutter stem for the 38 speical wadcutter. Redding special series Pro crimp die, and Redding Carbide sizing die. Put everything together and tried it. I have a little bit of everything in this set up. But it works and turns out a beautiful loaded piece of ammunition.
I am posting this just to say what a Wabbit Hole can become, and how I figured it all out. My loaded cases average .374 diameter which is great for a match chamber. I am finally happy! Fish/aka Elmer Fudd.
Now as a gun owner I am not happy with the standard gun. I have to add accessories to make it even better. So I ordered two Clark Match Barrels and Match Bushings from Clark. Well I got them and now had to have them fitted for the guns. So my good friend who used to work at Detonics managed to fit each barrel for me. His first time working on S&W 52's. He is a perfectionist and he did a beautiful job with the fitting. We even called Paul at Clark to ask for a couple of pointers. Rabbit hole two.
Ammo for the gun. Well this is the trick part. Most of you know how loading 38 special wadcutter can be a real pain. I have hand loaded for over 50 years and this one was a new rabbit hole for me. I thought well it can't be that hard? Wrong. When you are dealing with a match chamber on a barrel you need everything just right. I have a set of Dillon Carbide dies for the 38 special. So off to the race track. When I loaded a few I found that the outside diameter was around .376-378 when the bullet was seated. This is a little big for a chamber that is .375. Things don't always feed well. So I bought a powder funnel from Photoescape because I heard that it makes seating the bullet easier. Well it also is hard to get out of the case as it goes through the press. Need a lot of force. I was beginning to get frustrated. I was using 148 grain HBWC's from NE Reloading. They were sized .358 on the nose. So when seated they came out an average of .376-.378 as a finished round. Not very happy. I have a lot of money invested to make ammunition correctly. So I have fancy pistols that have a hard time chambering rounds. Ouch. I hit the internet again and started reading about my problem. I thought well the Dillon Dies have to be sizing correctly? Sometimes you learn not everything is true. I read about Redding and their new carbide dies and how great they are? You guessed it Rabbit hole three.
So here is the solution to my problem that has turned out a beautiful .38 special wadcutter. This is for all of you out there that don't want to play Elmer Fudd and look for that Silly Wabbit. I bought a set of Redding NxGEN Pro Series carbide dies. Polished up my original powder funnel on my Dillon 750. Invested in some Precision Delta 148gr HBWC's. (sized .356) I used my Dillon Seating die with a Dillon wadcutter stem for the 38 speical wadcutter. Redding special series Pro crimp die, and Redding Carbide sizing die. Put everything together and tried it. I have a little bit of everything in this set up. But it works and turns out a beautiful loaded piece of ammunition.
I am posting this just to say what a Wabbit Hole can become, and how I figured it all out. My loaded cases average .374 diameter which is great for a match chamber. I am finally happy! Fish/aka Elmer Fudd.
