Am I playing with "fire?"

[m3mh0g]

I've just started loading .38 and .357 and was curious. Would I be inviting a squib load if I shot very light .38 wadcutter loads (think 3.2 gr of titegeoup or 3.6 gr of 231) out of my 20 inch Winchester 1894?

 

[Cheetos]

Assuming they are 158gr you should be good. That is the minimum load for titegroup in .38 special. I have used that load with LSWC and it worked great. As to using titegroup, I like Clays and Universal better for .38.

 

[m3mh0g]

148 gr full wadcutters

 

[Carl N. Brown]

The problem with wadcutters in .38/.357 carbine is feeding issues. I have used mine with a few wadcutters as a singleshot: hand feeding single rounds into the firing chamber.

The loads you describe, I don't know. Only shot my wadcutter handloads in a revolver. The wadcutters I have now, and used in my rifle, are a bit stiffer than my handloads. I suspect they were loaded to simulate service round recoil. But the big issue I have had with wadcutters in a leveraction is the issue of feeding through the magazine.

 

[Cheetos]

Sorry I thought this was for a revolver!

 

[89blazin]

3.3 gr of Titegroup is the lightest published load I have for LHBWCs. 1.16" OAL for .38Spl and 1.29" OAL for .357Mag.

 

[m3mh0g]

89- the lee manual goes down to 2.7 gr. I can't even get that low with my lee pro powder measure.

 

[beatledog7]

Probably won't squib--won't be able to squib 'cause they won't feed.

 

[buck460XVR]

Whenever shooting mouse fart loads outta my handgun caliber carbines, I always try to keep to loads that manuals claim produce a minimum of 850 fps in a handgun to avoid a stuck bullet. So far, so good.......

 

[joeschmoe]

With that much empty cavity doesn't that cause uneven powder burn? Potentially dangerously inconsistent?
Wouldn't it be smarter to switch to a larger powder type that would leave less empty cavity?

<still learning.

 

[m3mh0g]

Joe I think that is correct with slower powders like 2400,AA9,296, etc. I haven't had any problem with the fast powders so far. Biggest problem I see is I could not only double charge with titegroup, I could put 6 or 7 charges in a single case!

 

[HighExpert]

I will be really curious to see how you fair with even published loads for the .357 mag as far as leading is concerned. I have shot thousands of these bullets out of a S&W Model 52 and have not found any bullets yet that were even approaching hardened lead. They really can't work properly as far as the skirt expanding in a HB bullet and most of the double enders are not very hard either. Why not go with some nice lead 130gr RN and not have to worry about it?

 

[m3mh0g]

When in punching paper the full wad cutters make nice big holes. That is the only reason I like shooting them over round nose.

 

[243winxb]

38 Special

Both loads should be over 850 fps (hand gun data), i would guess they will make it to the end of the barrel in a rifle. Hodgdon data.

 

[m3mh0g]

Thanks for the help guys. I guess I'll just have to shoot and see. I'll let you know of they even feed.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Hodgdon has .357 Magnum rifle load data which includes a 158gr LSWC bullet and Titegroup. IMO you would be better off using that data than loading a 148gr WC for a Carbine.
http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp