Unusual wadcutter

[theHeretic]

A friend just gave me a supply of cast strange wadcutters.
Diameter – 0.355
Length - 0.355
Weight - 76 grains [+ or -]

The mold was a Lee single cavity aluminum type.

I don’t think they were intended for 9mm, but they are a bit small for .38.

Any information as to the original use of these and/or loads would be appreciated.
[current powders on hand RedDot, Unique, W231, AA #5]

 

[Walkalong]

We used to call them "button" wadcutters. Don't know what they are really called.

As far as the diameter, I don't know what they were intended for unless, because of the alloy used, they just came out undersized.

 

[ReloaderFred]

They were for "gallery" loads in the .38. They were used mainly for indoor shooting, with very light loads.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[shc1]

Just a guess, 380?

 

[LeonCarr]

Hensley & Gibbs used to make a .38 wadcutter and the finished bullets weighed 66 grains and looked like an aspirin tablet .

Gunwriter Wiley Clapp loaded four of these inside a .357 Maximum case and called it the .357 Quadrimaximum. Nice .

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[rcmodel]

That appears to be Lee's copy of the old Lyman 358101 coller-button wadcutter. It had a nonimal weight of 75 grains.

Intended for short range target practice.

Lyman #45 manual shows .38 Spl loads:
Bullseye = 2.0 start, up to 3.0 max.
Unique = 3.0 start, to 5.0 max.

rcmodel