38 Spl FULL Wadcutters for 52.2

[renaissance]

I have two versions of .38 spl Double Ended Wadcutter bullets
148 Hard Cast Lead - two lube rings wax filled ( They are "Zero" brand )
One is full flat on the business end
and
The other has a "Little Bump" in the center

I intend to put them over 2.5 of CLAYS

Question is:

Do I seat them exactly to the mouth of the case...
.005 -.010 below...or
.005-.010 above the rim.

I will taper crimp them just back to sizing diameter of course

These will be used mostly in the 52-2...but shouldnt they be just fine in a J frame 2" revolver as well ?

I know its taper crimp instead of the traditional rollo crimp for revolvers
but
What do you all think??

 

[Deanimator]

I shoot a Giles .38 Special M1911.

I seat 148gr. wadcutters slightly below the case mouth and crimp over the bullet.

 

[Bad Flynch]

You should try seating your wadcutter flush with the case mouth and then roll crimping. The roll crimp will lower the bullet a little. A heavy roll crimp will also help the case slide up the feeding ramp. This sort of ammo is what one sees in factory ammo, which is very hard to beat for accuracy.

I prefer to use the Redding Profile Crimp die for this operation, but the Lee Factory Crimp die sh0uld work well, too.

 

[nitesite]

Actually, I think the general rule is taper crimp for auto pistol cartridges (headspaces on the case mouth) in pistols, and roll crimp for revolver cartridges (headspaces on the rim) in revolvers. The one exception I can think of is to roll crimp when loading for the Model 52, just to aid in feeding.

 

[SSN Vet]

on my plated Berry's 148 gr. DEWCs I seat them ~.020" proud of the case mouth and very lightly roll crimp with the LFCD. The roll crimp presses the case mouth just to the rounded edge (fillet) on the bullet end.

no problems so far....and the bullet doesn't move when crimping.

I don't like the idea of the crimp setting the bullet deeper....I don't feel like I have good controll over min. OAL, esp. when the bullet is seated so deep.

but what do I know!

 

[bfoster]

I shoot a Colt National Match Mk III (38 Special).

I seat the bullet flush when using the 38 special case and apply a medium roll crimp. When doing this I invariably roll a case cannelure positioned just below the base of the bullet- between the cannelure and the crimp the bullet is firmly held in position until the cartridge is fired.

FWIW, I prefer to use a hollow base wadcutter having a crimp groove placed so that I can maintain the overall length of 1.150" while using 38 Long Colt brass. The case mouth crimps nicely into the groove of Ideal 358395 giving just this length. BTW, if you're using a bullet alloy having the hardness adjusted just right for the peak pressure developed and using 50-50 alox-beeswax you'll find that many pistols will shoot tighter groups when only 1 groove is filled with lube.

Bob

 

[Bad Flynch]

>headspaces on the case mouth<

Not in this case, else the factory roll-crimped would not work in the semi-autos. The .38 Special had problems and this caused the guns to be flaky sometimes, so the .38 AMU was developed to solve the problems.

 

[cdrt]

Just an observation. I still have a few boxes of factory Remington 148 grain lead wadcutters (stock number R38S3). These cartridges are taper crimped; not roll crimped. The bullets are seated below the rim of the cartridge, but so slightly that only a sliver of the brass is exposed on the inside of the case; hardly enough there to measure.
I've shot these out of my Clark 1911 conversion with no malfunctions. As far as reloads, I've tried both roll crimped and taper crimped and both work equally well; which probably has a lot to do with the Colt Gold Cup magazines that the Clark utilizes. I generally use either the Hornady, Remington or Magnus HBWC bullet for matches and I have some Western Nevada DEWC cast bullets that I use for practice since I got a good deal on them ($26 per thousand; that probably won't ever happen again ).

 

[ilbob]

I have a 52-2. I shoot the Ranier plated DEWC over 3 grains of Bullseye, with the bullet seated just below the rim.

I have experimented with crimping from no crimp to speak of to a mild roll crimp. It does not seem to make much difference.

I am inclined towards a slight roll crimp.