Please school me on .38 Special wadcutters consumables

With regard to a combination decapper/trimmer, I've never heard of one. I've never looked, though, because not only do I not trim revolver brass, I don't decap as a separate step either. When loading in volume, I tumble the empties in corncob for a couple of hours, which gets them clean enough so as not to damage dies. Then I simply run them through the Dillon progressive, with lubed hollow base bullets and 2.7 grains of Bullseye dropped from the standard Dillon measure, and give them a mild roll crimp with the Dillon die.

Without exactly meaning to stomp on any toes, we're making this all seem quite a bit more complicated, for a new fellow, than we need to. If I was in shoes I'd be considering a different hobby by now.
 
.38 Special said:
With regard to a combination decapper/trimmer, I've never heard of one. I've never looked, though, because not only do I not trim revolver brass, I don't decap as a separate step either. When loading in volume, I tumble the empties in corncob for a couple of hours, which gets them clean enough so as not to damage dies. Then I simply run them through the Dillon progressive, with lubed hollow base bullets and 2.7 grains of Bullseye dropped from the standard Dillon measure, and give them a mild roll crimp with the Dillon die.

Without exactly meaning to stomp on any toes, we're making this all seem quite a bit more complicated, for a new fellow, than we need to. If I was in shoes I'd be considering a different hobby by now.
Click to expand...

Lol. Naw, I've spent too much money to give up...and I just got started.

I found two lbs. of Titegroup in town today and scored another 1000 CCI SPP. No Accurate #2 or Bullseye. You can bet that from now on, I will be hoovering up all SPP and Accurate #2 that I stumble across. I'd like to have five years worth of components on hand for all my "important" calibers. A new hobby is born!

I also think that I'm just about done buying any new gear until I've gone through 1000 reloads or so. As @.38 Special stated, my plan (at first), is to tumble, then size & decap on the press. After that I'll have a better idea of what I'm doing. That would also be a good time to decide if it's easier to clean the press periodically, or decap before loading.

There's no such thing as too much information. I'm an obsessive person that doesn't really like to reinvent the wheel. I'd rather know what successful people are doing, and then do the same thing.
 
.38 Special said:
Well, you know with Titegroup, you really need to spread it out on a clean piece of paper and measure each kernel with a caliper.

I'll let the other fellows tell you which kind of caliper you need - and what brand of paper. :p
Click to expand...
you old timers got any range reports?
 
For what its worth, when I shoot a full wadcutter I prefer a hollow base. I usually buy Hornady or Speer. Used to be whichever one was cheaper, now its whichever one is available. I use Winchester 231 and I'm happy enough with it. I load mixed brass but I sort out matching headstamps when I shoot. I prepped 5000 cases including trimming and shoot them until they are gone. Then load them again. I only trim one time and expect to loose cases to splits before they need trimming again. The Dillon would be a good trimmer but I use a Lyman lathe type with a carbide cutter. I use CCI primers and I use a roll crimp.

Just a suggestion, load and shoot some before building a huge stock of components.
 
.38 Special said:
Just for what it's worth, I rarely trim .38 Special, even for competition - primarily because I was loading in batches of 1000 and there's just no way...
Click to expand...
When I was shooting revolver in IDPA, I was loading for myself and my partner and I trimmed a lot of cases for our competition loads

Each year I trimmer ~2000 once fired W-W .38Spl cases for sanctioned matches, which I had to leave on the range as these were "Loss Brass" matches. Good thing I started with a bunch of once fired cases from my PPC days
 
Last edited:
TacticalJanitor said:
I wouldn't mind trimming every couple of loads...but man, I don't wanna do it every time.
Click to expand...
You're confusing reloading for handgun and reloading for rifles. Trimming .38Spl cases is a once-n-done thing.

I've been looking at the Dillon RT1500.
Click to expand...
You're also over thinking trimming .38Spl cases. All you need is the Lyman E-Zee Trim Handgun Set (<$45), chuck the trimmer in a drill press (or hand drill, I guess), place a case in the holder and start trimming.

You also have to remember that trimming straight wall cases is a bit different as you don't have a case shoulder measure off of
 
Low budget and fast way to trim pistol is a lee quick trim, single stage press and a cordless drill. Works great, and the lee trimmer is shockingly consistent.
 
9mmepiphany said:
When I was shooting revolver in IDPA, I was loading for myself and my partner and I trimmed a lot of cases for our competition loads

Each year I trimmer ~2000 once fired W-W .38Spl cases for sanctioned matches, which I had to leave on the range as these were "Loss Brass" matches. Good thing I started with a bunch of once fired cases from my PPC days
Click to expand...
In IDPA revolver class, what gun did you shoot?
 
Lots of good advice. Only thing I would add (and sorry if someone else covered this already) is if using HBWC, don't go too low on the powder charge or you can wind up with keyholing because the skirt does not engage the rifling properly. This will also lead to a lot of leading.

Bullseye is great for 38 Special as is W231/HP38, Unique, Titegroup and Clays with Titegroup and Clays getting the nod for economical loads. That's my three cents worth (inflation).
 
9mmepiphany said:
When I was shooting revolver in IDPA, I was loading for myself and my partner and I trimmed a lot of cases for our competition loads

Each year I trimmer ~2000 once fired W-W .38Spl cases for sanctioned matches, which I had to leave on the range as these were "Loss Brass" matches. Good thing I started with a bunch of once fired cases from my PPC days
Click to expand...

I never was involved in any of those lost brass matches. Would have been too offended. I remember when my Bianchi Cup coach switched to a semi-auto and held everyone up by putting down a big tarpaulin before each stage. Which is to say that I learned to value my brass a little more than quite makes sense, maybe.
 
.38 Special said:
I never was involved in any of those lost brass matches. Would have been too offended.
Click to expand...
The stage crew splits the brass for their efforts running that stage during the match...plus stages go a lot faster when folks are picking up brass. Make a big difference when you're shooting 12 stages in a day...it's only about 20 cases per stage; < 250 for the match
 
I've been Googling like a madman all evening and found this accessory for Dillon dies and wadcutters:

.38 WC Powder Funnel

Any thoughts on this? The product information seems to indicate that the normal powder funnel on my standard .38/.357 dies will not be long enough to work properly when seating the bullet so low. If I understand it correctly, it also expands the case a bit differently than the factory dies?

And this:

Wadcutter Seat Stem

It sounds like the aftermarket seat stem will make it easier to insert the wadcutters properly?

As usual, I'm probably misunderstanding something here. Perhaps it would be wise to pick up some run-of-the-mill 158g plated bullets for my first attempt at loading for .38sp?

Thanks everyone. I'm getting shipping notifications that my toys will start to arrive this Friday!
 
If I were loading wadcutters, which I'm not, I'd get the longer powder funnel so as not to resize the wadcutter body was it is forced deeper into the case than other bullets...but that's only based on a feeling and physics; it might not make any difference at all.

The "Wadctter Seat Stem" you've linked is really designed to optimize loading SWC bullets. It "can also be used" to load WC bullets. So can the stem in the Dillon Seating die...you just have to reverse it in the body.

The biggest help to getting your WC bullets started straight in the case would be an expander with the Lyman M-profile to create a "seat" at the case mouth to hold the base of the bullet in place...especially between press stations
 
Wow, .38 + 750 = 4 pages in a day and a half. Glad my kids taught me common core math!
There is something special about .38 special, especially if it’s nickel plated! Complete with a leather bandolier.
My .02 - lots of good powders for your application have been mentioned, my tightest groups with my 686 have been with Titegroup powder and pretty much any bullet. Just be conscientious as a double/triple charge isn’t advised. It does burn really hot but meters very well in a Dillon. I’ve also found Clays, WST and N320 work very well with lighter target loads if you happen to see them on the shelf. I had great loads with IMR Target and Red, but they discontinued them.
Bayou Bullets sells a 138gr BNWC that I really like. Good luck and hope to hear how it goes.
 
Riomouse911 said:
I quit shooting uncoated/unplated bullets when I started having to do all my shooting indoors. Bare lead/lube bullets really smoke up a room, when the range is full I don’t make many friends leaving a lingering cloud after every cylinder full.
Click to expand...

Agreed, before I dropped traditionally lubing my cast bullets and started powder coating them I would buy plated bullets for indoor use. The remaining lubed bullets I have are for the outdoor range where I can enjoy the smoke show..:D
 
I have some very accurate .357 loads with Titegroup. I like Berry's plated bullets in 125 gr and Berrys HB wadcutters. Maybe I am not smart enough to worry about a base coming off. I do not load in .,38 special cases. I do not have a .38 special gun. I really like my Redding Competition seating die and M type expander. Do you have enough stations on a progressive to do that? Yes the TEK coated bullets have a strong odor when shot. I have never loaded Bullseye so it could be worlds better than Titegroup for all I know. My loads are good enough for me so I will not try it.
 
Last edited:
lordpaxman said:
Wow, .38 + 750 = 4 pages in a day and a half. Glad my kids taught me common core math!
There is something special about .38 special, especially if it’s nickel plated! Complete with a leather bandolier.
My .02 - lots of good powders for your application have been mentioned, my tightest groups with my 686 have been with Titegroup powder and pretty much any bullet. Just be conscientious as a double/triple charge isn’t advised. It does burn really hot but meters very well in a Dillon. I’ve also found Clays, WST and N320 work very well with lighter target loads if you happen to see them on the shelf. I had great loads with IMR Target and Red, but they discontinued them.
Bayou Bullets sells a 138gr BNWC that I really like. Good luck and hope to hear how it goes.
Click to expand...

My little pistols with fixed sights will only shoot to the sights with 148 or 158g bullets...so I'm kinda stuck with those weights (shooting at speed using Kentucky windage is not really fun for me). The small amount of lightweight bullets I've tried hit more than a few inches low. Thank you for the tip!
 
9mmepiphany said:
If I were loading wadcutters, which I'm not, I'd get the longer powder funnel so as not to resize the wadcutter body was it is forced deeper into the case than other bullets...but that's only based on a feeling and physics; it might not make any difference at all.

The "Wadctter Seat Stem" you've linked is really designed to optimize loading SWC bullets. It "can also be used" to load WC bullets. So can the stem in the Dillon Seating die...you just have to reverse it in the body.

The biggest help to getting your WC bullets started straight in the case would be an expander with the Lyman M-profile to create a "seat" at the case mouth to hold the base of the bullet in place...especially between press stations
Click to expand...

Ah, thank you for explaining that. I suspected that there were multiple seating stems in the Dillon dies. How they work and what they do wasn't really clear to me. We will give them a try first.

And, the tip about the M-profile die is a very good one. It has come up in some literature I've read, but again, it didn't really "click" for me when they were explaining why it was needed.
 
Last edited:
Another option is plastic bullets sold by Speer. The plastic bullets insert into the plastic cases provided and are propelled by the primer. They can penetrate a cardboard box and be reused. You can also cast your own bullets with glue gun sticks that are rated low because they won't stick well..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
  • Locked
.38 Special load in .357 Mag case..
Replies
17
Views
918
AJC1
AJC1
S
  • Locked
Why are factory 38 Special wadcutters so expensive?
Replies
24
Views
5K
loadedround
L
jell-dog
  • Locked
38 special wadcutter brass?
2
Replies
38
Views
3K
Walkalong
Walkalong
ShyadowUP
  • Locked
38 special 65 grain wadcutter
Replies
11
Views
741
ShyadowUP
ShyadowUP
wanderinwalker
  • Locked
Reloading .38 Super, Questions
Replies
5
Views
1K
RainDodger
RainDodger
Back
Top