They all went BANG!!

Charlie98 said:
I'm a great reader, but I don't learn anything by just reading it... I have to read it, and then DO it if I am to retain anything. Read-Do-Read has always been my mechanism to learn new things. After the 'DO' part, returning to the book once more pounds it in.

FWIW, I was very confident with the starting loads... W231 behaves well, and it was within the window with those 148's, even seated a little long.


Gus, as far as the .44SPC Skeeter load, see if you can find some of those Xtreme plated 240grn RNFP at Cabelas. I'll loan you some Unique, and we can work up that Skeeter load...
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I want to shoot a Skeeter load in a .44 SBH!

.44 is my next venture
 
I have not encountered the problem you describe seating the bullets. I have a supply of police range brass in 38 Special that I use mostly. I did my testing with the Berry's bullets using various nickel-plated brass, but when I loaded the rest, I used whatever was on top of the pile. I typically check to see the bullets fit in my flared cases for the first 2 or 3 cases, then just go with it. If there is a little spring back in the brass, I wouldn't notice unless it caused problems. Then again, I've only loaded one box of these, so I'm sure I haven't seen everything they can do. Most of mine has RP, Sig +P, Federal, or Magtech head stamps. For what was basically a shoe box full of brass, that's not a lot of variety.

My Blackhawk tends to prefer minimum charges of W231, so that's what I use. It's just 3.5 grains to push a 148 grain DEWC. I got my load data from a solid button nose style wadcutter load in the Lyman Cast Bullet Manual. It should be noted the data there shows a longer overall length. I think if seated flush, I'd be near 1.150" while Lyman seats that bullet to 1.265". With the extra case volume, maybe a little more powder wouldn't hurt.

FWIW, I've found these bullets shoot well from a 357 Magnum too. Finding load data is a little trickier, so talk to Charlie about that. They might be pushing that 1250 fps limit Berrys uses on their box.
 
drband said:
Next comes a single stage or turret press and then a progressive!
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After using my little Reloader Special press, he went and bought a Lyman single-stage press... ;) I don't expect him to walk home with a Lock-N-Load press any time soon... but you never know! The way he's buying pistols, he's going to need something to feed them!
 
Charlie98 said:
In all seriousness, we did run into a problem... maybe some of you have seen this...

In seating those Berrys DEWC's in mixed brass, several of the bullets bottomed out. Those were the ones that seated a bit long, even under compression from the press. In fact, some of the bullet noses deformed under the seating pressure. Doing my Inspector Clouseau impression, via text and pictures, we found a specific headstamp was causing this problem. I'm guessing the inside case taper is higher in these particular cases... so Gus is going to pull them, cull out all of that headstamp of brass, and discard them.

Anyone else that uses DEWC's ever see this? I'm guessing this would be a non-issue with HB wadcutters, but this is the first I've ever loaded plated DE's.
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Yes, there is special cases with a thinner web for loading DEWC flush with the case mouth.
Me, I just seat them long and crimp DEWC in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd lube groove, like this.
Pic not mine, stolen off the interweb:
WCSeatedOut.jpg
jmo,
.
 
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Tilos said:
Me, I just seat them long and crimp DEWC in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd lube groove, like this.
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The Berrys plated DEWC's don't have lube grooves, so I set him up to seat them a little long, anyway, so the crimp would have something to hold on to. You don't realize how long that bullet is... in that tiny .38SPC case, and, as we found, not all cases are equal. One of the reasons I support loading by headstamp.
 
Charlie98 said:
The Berrys plated DEWC's don't have lube grooves, so I set him up to seat them a little long, anyway, so the crimp would have something to hold on to. You don't realize how long that bullet is... in that tiny .38SPC case, and, as we found, not all cases are equal. One of the reasons I support loading by headstamp.
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OH, OK
Yes, you can still seat them longer, and crimp into the bullet's diameter.
I buy RN bullets with no grooves, load them in both 9mm and 38SP/357, and crimp into the bullet diameter.

Doing that will allow you to load all the brass he has and not throw any of it away.
jmo,
.
 
Just wait until he finds out how hard it is to wear out 38 brass. I've got 357 brass with 8 or 9 loadings on it. Granted, much of that was reduced level target loads, but still.
 
When you get to it, you may find the longer case of a 357 Magnum shoots better than the 38 Special case. At least that seems to be the case with my older Ruger Blackhawk. Even with minimum loads for target use, that seems the case. I use 3 grains of W231 to push a Hornady HBWC from a 357 Magnum case. That was the load that convinced me load development was worth trying in handguns. They're moving so slowly you can almost run down range and move the target in front of the bullet. I could never get 38 Special cases to shoot the Hornady HBWC as well as the 357 Mag cases did.
 
DMW1116 said:
When you get to it, you may find the longer case of a 357 Magnum shoots better than the 38 Special case.
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That's what I did when I was working back and forth between pistols in .38SPC and .357MAG... the SPC got SPC cases, and the MAG got MAG cases. Gus and I haven't talked about that, just yet. Baby steps... ;)

Oddly enough, his .357 is the same as mine was... a 4" no-dash 686, so he will be in high cotton when he starts to load .357...
 
GeoDudeFlorida said:
A .44Spl in a SBH?
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My first and likely last .44 was one of those Lipsey's Ruger Flattops, 5.5" in .44SPC. I found nothing magical about the .44SPC, but I found I really liked the size of the Flattop, which is the 'new' New Blackhawk. Much more handy than my old porky big frame Vaquero. I've kind of sworn off SA's in general, and Ruger SA's specifically, but a 4 3/4" Flattop in .44SPC would seriously tempt me.
 
Charlie98 said:
That's what I did when I was working back and forth between pistols in .38SPC and .357MAG... the SPC got SPC cases, and the MAG got MAG cases. Gus and I haven't talked about that, just yet. Baby steps... ;)

Oddly enough, his .357 is the same as mine was... a 4" no-dash 686, so he will be in high cotton when he starts to load .357...
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I’ve got five 357 guns -all bad boys. All ready for whatever comes their way
 

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If you’re shooting for fun, you may look into cast and polymer coated bullets like Acme, Missouri Bullet Company, etc. After you get some more experience of course. They’re cheaper and lend themselves to target loads. For social work, the jacketed soft or hollow points get more attention.
 
Mark_Mark said:
Those Old Bulldogs look Good, but Skeeter used a Ruger? or was it a SAA??
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🤣 Bill Ruger was still studying partials when Skeeter Skelton was experimenting with heavy loads.

Edit: nope, my memory let me down again. Bill Ruger Sr. went to work for Springfield Armory in ‘38 so he was a contemporary of Keith and preceded Skelton. Oops.
 
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GeoDudeFlorida said:
🤣 Bill Ruger was still studying partials when Skeeter Skelton was experimenting with heavy loads.

Edit: nope, my memory let me down again. Bill Ruger Sr. went to work for Springfield Armory in ‘38 so he was a contemporary of Keith and preceded Skelton. Oops.
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Who are all these people you guys talk about? And why do you know them?
 
CQB45ACP said:
Who are all these people you guys talk about? And why do you know them?
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Elmer Keith and “Skeeter” Skelton were roustabouts who wrote about their adventures (give or take a lie or two) in firearms magazines. They were pioneers of the gunzine industry. Skelton and Bill Jordan were border patrol lawmen. Jordan turned inventor and writer. Lee Jurras was an entrepreneur in the bullet industry and J.D. Jones was a game hunter, entrepreneur and writer. Who did I forget?
 
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