148gr wadcutters

[Ranger99]

I didn't put this in the bullet casting
forum because I won't be casting
anything, only loading after the bullet
caster has done the work.
The moderator will have to move it
if necessary

I'll likely be loading some cast wadcutter
bullets if things work out, and I was curious
if anybody has experience loading and
shooting any from 38spl.
I don't yet know if they'll be powder coated
or the tumble lubed variety. I do know that
they don't plan on using a traditional
lubri-sizer and such
I've been loading 158gr SWC for a long time
and this will be the first batch of wadcutters
I've messed with IIRC. Most likely Unique and
regular priming. Not interested in velocity,
accuracy is first and foremost, and any velocity
improvements will come later

Thanks

[Graybeard]

Bullseye or W231 are first choice powders for full wadcutter bullets. Mostly they are bought as swaged rather than cast but both types work OK. They are usually shot from around 700-750 fps.

Long ago I cast up some made of linotype and loaded them to around 1000 fps for a friend. He wanted them loaded over Red Dot cuz that was his favorite shotgun powder.

They were very accurate and he killed one deer with them.

[Ranger99]

Ok-  thanks

Powder and primers are still pretty scarce
in this area, so I'll probably use what I have
on hand if the bullet fairy blesses me

[Ranger99]

. . . They were very accurate and he killed one deer with them.

Man that lived at the far end of the
farm road from where I hunted used
to road hunt with a 357 single rifle (Handi?)
and used factory wadcutter 38spl for
all his poaching chores. Pretty effective
short range setup, and fairly quiet.
Not sure exactly what happened to him.
He either died, or was dirtnapped, or
incarcerated for flaunting the law

[Land_Owner]

Been casting, loading, and shooting them for a dozen years.  Wife's Charter Arms Detective Special is a perfect fit for her small and slender wrists and a minute charge of either IMR-4227 or -700X.  At a belly gun distance of 7 yards, her accuracy is stellar. 

She is not going to shoot 38 Spc. hot- or 357 Mag-loads.  Tried that.  Bit her wrist. Not going back. I do not blame her.  Just getting her to shoot "something" was an undertaking.  She is no slouch, but as a musician, a concert pianist, and 115-pounds soaking wet, loads that "warp" her sensibilities (and wrist) are out.

I would not want to be in front of her if she had the itch to shoot that 38 Spc. in my direction.

[Lloyd Smale]

i like bullseye and aa2. but unique will work. try starting at 4 grains. i pc all my bullets but in most cases you still need to size. not a big fan of tumble lube. now it will work just fine at those velocities but one tine i loaded about 2k of 38s with the 105 lee tumble lubed. stored them in the pole barn for 2 years and when i wnt to shoot them tumble lube had migrated into the powder and about half of them were squibs and misfires.

[Ranger99]

Well if they actually come to me
( if I actually get any at all) they'll
be ready to poke in filled cases
with no work on my part required.
I'm starting to think that the bullet
gifting is similar to the 7.62X39 AR
gift that was supposed to have happened
some time back.
I'm not exactly sure how many 38spl
cases that I have empty anyway.
A good while back, I made it a mission
to fill every empty of any kind that I
had the ingredients for to make up
proven loads with. The only for sure
empties that I'm positive of is new
44mag and new 30/30 that I just
haven't gotten around to assembling
for whatever reason it was.
My reason for wanting some of the
dingleberry's wadcutter bullets is that
my old reliable source for 158gr SWC's
is not an old reliable source anymore.
I think I might have 700 or so of those,
but when they're gone they're gone.