Many here will recall the late Maj. George C. Nonte, whose byline once dominated the gun magazines.
He mentioned that, at one time, there was a factory .38 Special wadcutter full power load. That is, it was loaded to give the same velocity as the 158 grain RN lead ammo, about 860 FPS, at least in catalogs.
A recent article by Charles Petty leads one to suspect that handloading a HB wadcutter to that level may be unwise.
So: Was the factory load a solid base bullet? Is it safe to load the HB wadcutter to that level? Should one use the solid base bullet? And is there any real impact advantage to it over the SWC, which will have better flight characteristics beyond about 25 yards?
I thought this might be a useful load for S&W .38's made before 1957.
Your thoughts?
Lone Star
He mentioned that, at one time, there was a factory .38 Special wadcutter full power load. That is, it was loaded to give the same velocity as the 158 grain RN lead ammo, about 860 FPS, at least in catalogs.
A recent article by Charles Petty leads one to suspect that handloading a HB wadcutter to that level may be unwise.
So: Was the factory load a solid base bullet? Is it safe to load the HB wadcutter to that level? Should one use the solid base bullet? And is there any real impact advantage to it over the SWC, which will have better flight characteristics beyond about 25 yards?
I thought this might be a useful load for S&W .38's made before 1957.
Your thoughts?
Lone Star