These are the 2 Xmetal bullets that I bought and am loading in 38 Special, for rifle and handgun, for CAS (Cowboy Action Shooting).
I've also loaded some in 357 Magnum for CAS, plinking and a bit of whatever.
If there are other shooters must be using Xmetal bullets, for CAS and ???, and you have a pet load that is working well for you, would you mind sharing?
Optional reading, The story:
As so often happens, a seemingly small change, like the purchase of another gun, can open many rabbit holes. I have decided to participate in Cowboy Action Shooting, and after 2 meets it became apparent that some firearms are better suited to the game than others.
I had an opportunity to buy a 1866 Yellow Boy Trapper in 38 Special. Before slapping down the cash I did a bit of research and the specifications say that the magazine only holds 9 rounds. A 9 round rifle in a 10 round game isn't a good fit. I had the seller check, and 10 rounds will fit, so i bought the rifle.
10 rounds will fit, but they can't be full length. The SAAMI spec for OAL of 38 Special ammunition is 1.275" min to 1.550" max. None of the bullets I cast or had on hand seemed to be ideal, so I looked for other possibilities. I decided that the Xmetal Comanchero .38 125gr Hi Tek would be an ideal candidate. It was short enough to allow for 10 shells to fit in the magazine, but there was a downside. The downside is that, and rather than put it in my own words I'll quote Google;
"One of the most critical things to a lever action rifles operating efficiency is the over all length of the cartridge. Winchester rifles were designed to operate optimally with a cartridge length of 1.600”. Winchester’s repeating magazine is operated by a carrier block which captures a round from the magazine tube and elevates it to the firing chamber. However before the carrier can elevate the captured round upwards, it must also “shear” the next round in the magazine (slightly hanging out into the carrier) back up in the magazine tube to wait its turn. When a given cartridge is too short, part of the next cartridge in line will come back even further into the carrier and cause the action to lock up, run very rough, or barely operate. This is seldom an issue with calibers like the .45LC, .44-40, 38-40 etc., and can go un-noticed in rifles without action jobs. However, using .38 specials can sometimes pose problems. We do our best to make our rifles feed .38 special since it is the competitive caliber to shoot. However any 1873 must be fed a cartridge with a minimum length of 1.450”, any longer than this will only allow the rifle to operate smoother and more reliably with a full magazine. Many individuals will use .357 mag brass when reloading their .38 rounds. This allows them to achieve a longer length without seating the bullets out of the case. The other alternative if your .38’s do not fall with in the required length is to seat your bullets out of the case further. They do not need to be crimped in the crimp groove. the lifter on the '66, and the '73 as well, is also the cutoff for the magazine."
This lead me to my second purchase, 1000 Xmetal .38 Bullets 147gr Hi Tek. These, to my way of thinking, can be tailored to any length, restricted only by body and ogive design. The ogive is a bit long, precludes any ammunition with an OAL much shorter than 1.5". 10 rounds of 1.5" ammo will fit. I checked to see if the follower or spring could be "tuned up", and inspection revealed Bubba had been in here already, I just cleaned up the burrs and put her back together.
Cowboy loads, not being anywhere near max, don't require precise data, so I just used something close to the starting load for Tin Star as listed in the Vihtavuori manual. I was interested more in functionality that load development, and as soon as the weather is nice enough, I'll get out the chrono and do a bit more testing.
I've searched CAS and for handguns, the velocity most often cited is 750 FPS, (the rules state Max is 1000 fps.) For rifles 1100 > 1200 fps seems common, (Rules Max = 1400 fps)
Rifles are a bunch easier to load for than revolvers, so my testing turned to some testing with my Blackhawks. I used the Blackhawk that is a bit fussier on ammo. It is older and with it's rougher forcing cone has a tendency to lead before my newer one. If a load will work well in it, it will be good to go in the others.
At this point it became abundantly obvious that data specific to my Xmetal bullets was lacking. None of the Lyman cast bullets are similar, (weight, shape or OAL), enough to have applicable data. Close enough to get a safe starting load, but not good enough to determine an optimum powder.
My testing is very preliminary, and after going from 357 Mag brass, to 38 Spl brass, and back again to 357 Mag brass I ended up way off course, testing some hotter than cowboy loads in 357. At a pressure and velocity above 38 +P, the 125 grain bullet seemed to be a real reformer. Ahead of 6.5 gr of CFE Pistol it was nice to shoot, recoil was manageable and it shot just a bit lower than my cowboy loads. These coated bullets were what I'd expect out of a plated bullet, were it not for the slight bit of leading. So: what if I were to size and lube the Comanchero 38 Hi Tek, would it work even better. BTW, I did get the following advice from XMetal; "Xmetal Targets will not guarantee any resizing…. Our bullets are sized for the normal calibers."
I used a 358 die in my 4500 to lube the puppies, and as predicted, they run clean.
Nitro
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