Loading wax in .38?

The smaller hole can cause back pressure, depending on the pressure curve. That back pressure will push out the primer as there is not enough pressure to cause the primer to expand and grip the pocket sides.
 
gallen270 said:
for shorter lenght cases, like 38sw and 455. or do you just go with a shorter bullet still contained inside the brass.

*edit* just measure, they'll both handle 1/2'' no problem.
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I think we're on two different pages.:)

I thought you said you wanted the wax bullet to stick out of the case. I asked why you would want that.

If that's not what you meant, my apologies.
 
guys its is a Big no no to fire those out of your handguns at home! its is against the Law to do so
 
Quiet said:
I don't have a .38, or any personal experience with this, but I do have a complementary copy of the 1968 Popular Mechanics Encyclopedia volume 1.
(as a kid my cheap parents would always just get the introductory free volume of any encylopedia, so now I'm educated in all things that start with the letter "A")

Page 80: Ammunition: "Blast away indoors with wax bullets"

Basically, the casings primer holes are drilled out with a 5/16 drill, countersunk to fit shotgun primers. The bullets are made with a pan of paraffin wax 5/16" deep.

They advise that since the primers fit loose for easy reloading, the unprimed wax cartridges should be loaded into the revolver cylinder before putting in the primers.

For safety, they warn that it can break glass, put out an eye or bruise someone badly. They also warn that without a proper target trap, the splatter from the wax bullets "can spoil the appearance of a room or basement in a hurry."

There is a picture of a guy with a crewcut and a suit shooting his revolver at a target sitting beside his piano, in a room with a lot of retro wood panneling.

I imagine that unless his house was an approved range by the CFO, this would be illegal today in Canada.
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Wow, memories here. We had the same home project encyclopidia back when I was a kid. Red hard cover I believe. After reading the article my old man promptly took 12, 38 special cases to the "shop" at the oil refinery where he worked. Machinists there "modified" these cases to accept 209 shot shell primers. I can vividly remember the loud bang these rounds made when fired in the garage at paper targets. Shot these often in the late 1960's and early 70's. Made a mess of the handgun if I remember correctly. Just imagine firing a handgun in a suburban garage these days!!
 
Never tried using any powder with wax but I suspect that it might lead to poor accuracy and a lot of melted wax in the barrel. Could even cause a complete failure of the bullet from fragmenting or gas channels cutting into the sides. There is a segment of the cowboy action shooting that shoot from horseback to break balloons. Not sure what they use but I don't think its even as substantial as wax. Maybe sawdust?
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Years ago when TNN had American Shooter (I loved that program) they had a segment on horseback shooting competitions. IIRC they used cornmeal as "shot", not as fluffy as sawdust.
 
The only reason I was going to try this with powder, is because I saw a guy use some .38 blank rounds that he shoved soap into. I got a hold of four of these cartridges that he was using and was a little suprised at how much powder was inside the case: two of them had about 9 grains and the other two had about 18 grains. That seems a little excessive to push 10 grains of wax or soap. I don't know what was going on there, double charge or what, but it's more than cooincidence that the same weight charges had the same colour soap in them.

After talking with you guys, even the 9 grains seems excessive, when just a primer should work!

fyi: The guy was using these rounds for horseback shooting competitions.
 
Archibald said:
The only reason I was going to try this with powder, is because I saw a guy use some .38 blank rounds that he shoved soap into. I got a hold of four of these cartridges that he was using and was a little suprised at how much powder was inside the case: two of them had about 9 grains and the other two had about 18 grains. That seems a little excessive to push 10 grains of wax or soap. I don't know what was going on there, double charge or what, but it's more than cooincidence that the same weight charges had the same colour soap in them.

After talking with you guys, even the 9 grains seems excessive, when just a primer should work!

fyi: The guy was using these rounds for horseback shooting competitions.
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I seem to remember reading that its standard to load a few grains of black powder for horseback cowboy action shooting. Helps break the balloon and for show.
 
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