[briankolakowski]

My grandfather gave me 5 boxes of 38. Special western super match 148 gr. Bullits.... i have heard they were calld wad cutters i have never seen anything like them... nickle plated casing and the lead stops at the end if the casing.. he said a cop gave them to him many many years ago... any idea wat they are or if they are ok to have

[au_prospector]

Sound like wad cutters to me. And if so they are okay, they make a great hole in paper.

[au_prospector]

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/910560/magtech-sport-ammunition-38-special-148-grain-lead-wadcutter-box-of-50

[JohnM]

Wad cutters, a target load.
Been around forever and still used.

[rcmodel]

Nothing illegal at all about them.

Mid-Range Match target wad-cutters.
They cut clean holes in targets for more accurate scoring.
And they are very accurate.

NRA Bullseye shooters used them by the rail cars full years ago.

Cops liked to shoot qualification with them because they have very little recoil.

rc

[Creature]

Not illegal...just old. And collectible.

[Dr_B]

Yep, just wadcutters for punching nice round holes in paper. I remember my dad using them back when he was a cop and cops still carried revolvers.

[Bud0505]

Wadcutters were the preferred defensive load in the days prior to HPs and all the defensive ammo we have today. I've loaded about a 1000 148 gr HBWC using Bullseye over the last couple of days and intend to shoot some of them tomorrow morning before it gets too hot to be outside.

[rcmodel]

Wadcutters were the preferred defensive load in the days prior to HPsNot so sure I agree with that.

Cast lead Keith SWC and SWC-HP were the prefered defense load when I came of age in the 1960's.

HBWC could not be loaded nearly as hot, and DEWC was always a lighter 148 grain bullet with less penetration.

rc

[ljnowell]

I shoot about 1K Wad Cutters a month. 120 to 150 of those are in competition, the rest in practice.

Here is what I use for practice:
http://www.missouribullet.com/details.php?prodId=118&category=5&secondary=9&keywords=

The pic below is a group that I shot sunday while practicing. It may not look spectacular because of the red left in the middle, but that was shot offhand at 25 yards(like we do in competition) double action, in 20 seconds. Good quality bullets, no doubt. That is 10 shots btw, one of those holes is a 3 holer and another is a double.

[MtnCreek]

but that was shot offhand at 25 yards(like we do in competition) double action, in 20 seconds.

Looks good to me!

[Salmoneye]

Not illegal...just old. And collectible.

/\/\THIS/\/\

Don't shoot them...If you do not want them, sell them to a collector, and then buy new stuff to shoot...

[Swampman]

Years ago (well into the 70s), there were no .357 hollowpoints that would reliably expand at the velocities possible in short barreled .38 Special revolvers. The best solution available for snubbies at the time was to load HBWC bullets seated backwards in the case so that the hollow base became a hollow point. These loads expanded very well when fired into wet newspapers or water at @ 750 fps (I didn't have a chrono to get actual velocities). The idea worked well for .38 belly guns, but was a disaster if loaded at .357 speeds. The soft swaged bullets leaded terribly and in some cases the bullets would actually expand while in flight and the whole front of the bullet would disintegrate.

[jdh]

What have we become as a society when a person has to go on the internet and ask if a garden variety ammo is legal for him to have?

[mdi]

While I haven't looked for wadcutters as factory ammo for some time, I hardly think they would be considered collectable. Way too popular being sold in the millions, for any collector's value. Mebbe in 50 years...

[jdownj]

Maybe not a collectible from the mega$ standpoint but vintage gun magazine(printed paper) and old ammo are kept for display by many people just cuz they are cool to look at...

[bigfatdave]

What have we become as a society when a person has to go on the internet and ask if a garden variety ammo is legal for him to have? good question!

[jdownj]

A few places out in ********** do ban certain bullet types, don't they? Thought I read something about the NRA being involved in a court case regarding one of those laws..

[firesky101]

For hunting, yes in some areas our ammo must be lead free. I believe it is NJ that bans hollow points for civilian carry. I am sure there are other weird rules out there.

[Jim Watson]

What have we become as a society when a person has to go on the internet and ask if a garden variety ammo is legal for him to have?

good question!

I see several things going on.
We have a general assumption of government intrusion into everything.

We have a break in the chain of education and mentoring. I was going to ask why Grandpa did not describe the ammunition, but I now think that he may not know what that cop gave him in the first place.

We have the Easy Button attitude; it is a lot simpler to make a three line post on the internet and let others do your research for you than it is to look stuff up. And not everything is on the internet for even the more studious to Google; I really miss the 50 year accumulation of books that burned in The Incident.

[Snag]

A few places out in ********** do ban certain bullet types, don't they?
For hunting, yes in some areas our ammo must be lead free.

Also no FMJ for hunting.