Meister .38 HBWC confusion

[chickenfried]

Starting to think I bought the wrong bullets. I wanted a 148 grain HBWC for light .38 loads. I was planning on trying out 3.0 grains of W231 and seating the bullets flush. I ended up buying the bullets from meister.

Should I still seat the bullets flush or use the crimping groove? If I use the crimping groove does my powder charge change? Thanks for the help.

 

[.38 Special]

Either is fine. You will theoretically experience higher pressures and velocities by crimping at the shoulder rather then the crimp groove. In my experience you cannot tell a difference. Powder charge may remain the same regardless.

FWIW, Hornady swaged 148 HBWCs with the funky white lube are by far the best bullets for target loads, either with W231 or Bullseye, if you don't mind a bit of powder fouling.

Have fun!

 

[bouis]

It looks like it's got a nose on it -- no way you should seat that one flush with the case mouth. Are you sure it's a HBWC (hollow-base wadcutter) -- does it actually have a hollow base? Either way you mount the bullet, though, with such a low powder charge it doesn't really make any difference.

A swaged HBWC definitely has accuracy advantages over a cast bullet. Aside from the icky lube, the Remington 148 gr HBWCs Midway sells are great, and cheap too.

 

[.38 Special]

Hmm. Hadn't thought of the possibility of seating the meplat flush with the case mouth. I haven't tried it, but would guess it would be "bad". You'd be crimping air, if nothing else.

I know from great experience (I know nothing if not target loads in the .38!) that the case mouth may be crimped against either the shoulder of the bullet or the crimping groove with no ill -- or even noticeable -- effects.

As for lube, the first batch of Hornady wadcutters I recieved were greeted with groans: I looked at that foolish excuse for bullet lube and knew they would make a mess of the gun. I do not recall ever having been so wrong before or since.

< edit > And yes, that looks like a bevel base to me. Shoot 'em up and try something else.

 

[chickenfried]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll use the crimping groove and 3.0 grains of 231. I wasn't considering seating the cone of the bullet flush with the case mouth, rather the highest point on the bullet where it's still a full wadcutter. Here's the blurb on the midway site that made/makes me think it's a hbwc.

Meister Hard Cast Bullets 38 Caliber (357 Diameter) 148 Grain Lead Wadcutter Box of 500


Meister Wadcutter bullets offer a deep cavity in the hollow base which allows the low pressures of target loads to expand the base on firing, giving a more effective gas seal which promotes increased velocity and greater accuracy. Primary use of these wadcutter bullets is paper target shooting.

 

[benedict1]

I use 3 gr 231 with 148 gr DEWC from Meister and it is a fun load to shoot. When guys next to me on the range are shooting 44 mag's, etc my Ruger sounds like a cap gun by comparison. But my groups look pretty good compared to some of there's with a lot less noise and recoil.

Each to his own.

 

[Deanimator]

Should I still seat the bullets flush or use the crimping groove? If I use the crimping groove does my powder charge change? Thanks for the help.

In what gun will you be shooting them?

I have a number of .38/.357 revolvers and a .38Special Giles M1911A1.

I HAVE to seat flush with the Giles, as the rounds will otherwise neither fit in the magazine, nor feed properly.

In general, I've found that revolvers prefer the bullet to be seated out somewhat. For a revolver, seating out to the crimp groove should be just fine.

Personally, for revolver or semi-auto, I prefer 2.8-3.0gr. of Bullseye.

 

[benedict1]

Sorry--didn't mention the weapon.

Ruger New Blackhawk with 6 1/2" barrel. I have shot 3-400 of them and crimp them just above the lube line and below the end of the buller. They are fun to shoot and make the greatest little "cookie cutter" holes!

 

[chickenfried]

Thanks again. I'll be using it in a S&W 14-4 and 586.

 

[g56]

I've loaded 3.1 gr of WW231 behind a 148 gr HBWC Star swaged bullets for many years, that was my competition load back when I shot PPC competition, it is a very accurate load. The bullets are seated and lightly crimped into the crimping groove on the bullet.

I just recently ran those through a chrono, I was shooting my Ruger Blackhawk with a 4 5/8" barrel that day, I shot 2 strings of 10 shots, the average velocity of each string:

679.2 fps
688.1 fps

I'm going to go back on another day and chrono them through my S&W Model 10 with a 6" barrel to see what difference that might make, those velocities were somewhat low, the 6" barrel should make the difference.