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Chuck McCann

Chuck McCann

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should I be seating the 148 gr wad cutters I'm loading?:confused: They are being loaded into 38 special cases with 3.2gr of Unique powder. I loaded 50 but in order to get them to crimp and keep them close to the COAL in my old Hornady manual there is only about a sixteenth of an inch sticking out of the case. I've never loaded wadcutters before but I got nearly 1000 of them for next to nothing:) so I thought I'd give them a try.
Thanks
 
It would depend on whether they are hollow base or double ended and whether they have a crimp groove.You can seat them into the case fully but if they have a crimp groove,at least for me, they shot better seated out.
 
shotgunjoe said:
It would depend on whether they are hollow base or double ended and whether they have a crimp groove.
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shotgunjoe
These are hollow based and have a crimp grove, what is the difference? I've reloaded for 30 plus years but mainly jacketed bullets for rifles. The little experience I have with cast lead bullets is limited to semi wadcutter's and 15 years ago so any help is apreciated. Thanks
 
The double ended wad cutter is just that,it will look like the flat end of your bullets on both ends and makes no difference which way you insert it.They generally have a crimp groove that you can use if you want.It will depend on your gun if it likes what you are doing but the light loads with a wad cutter usually likes a crimp to help build enough pressure to size up to fit the bore.The hollow base bullets I usd did not have a crimp groove,it has been a while but I believe they were made by hornady and shot very well with 2.8 bullseye.I seated them just below the case mouth,less than 1/16 " and applied a moderate crimp.Hope this helps.
 
If you try to load the double end wadcutters flush, you may wind up with a brass bulge that causes you some feeding problems. This can be addressed by seating to the crimp groove, or running the loaded ammo through a Lee factory crimp die.

I prefered to avoid the damned things myself, and stick with the HBWC.
 
Flush with no crimp. You may find that Bullseye is more accurate for the .38 too. 2.7 or thereabouts is the old standard target load for 148 grain WC's and Bullseye.
 
Just for clarity, while no or almost no crimp is needed, you do need to adjust your crimp die to eliminate the belling. Since .38 special brass tends to be all over the map in length, longer cases will wind up with a slight crimp.
 
Thanks Guys. I shot the 50 I had loaded and was quite happy with the preformance. I'll stick to the HB's because that's what I got once they are gone I'll stick to the semi wadcutters.
 
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