Wad Cutters

[rikman]

I've loaded 44Spl and 223Rem on my T Mag. I'm going to try my first 38 Spl's with lead wad cutters.

Any tips with seating bullet or crimp specifically with wad cutters?

Thanks,
Rikman

 

[GP100man]

use a good case expander ,not just a flaring die . Weither hollow or solid the bases go deep into the cases & is subject to being "sized" down especially on the swaged or soft cast varieties.

Hollowed based your kinda limited to how low or hi to go with the charge , not enuff & the skirt does`nt flair to seal the chamber , to hi & ya blow skirts .

Solids offer more flexability but must be fit to the firearm just as anyother cast boolit to see best results .

Some WCs have a crimping groove , you can use that or seat flush with a slight roll crimp to ensure the case will fit , no taper or profile crimp as your dealing with soft lead likely!

 

[GLShooter]

I make sure I have a gently rounded case mouth over the bullet. This aids in loading the cylinders when using speed loaders. Those that leave them perfectly, or almost perfectly, square don't do as well on the reloads in PPC etc.

I have used various brands of dies and the expanders have never given me squashed bullets that I kept the ammo from being X-ring quality. I am currently using Dillon and RCBS versions. I also crimp at a separate station after I seat the bullet. 95% of my ammo is loaded on progressives so it takes no longer to do this for me.

Greg

 

[Minnesota Wild]

Regardless what you're loading with, crimp in a seperate step. I've tried my darndest to figure out a way to do them in the same step, but it always shears off some lead. Also, the old timers have told me that you need a pretty good crimp with WCs to get good accuracy. I've followed that advice and my rounds are doing pretty good.

 

[rikman]

Minn,

Thanks, I just loaded some dummy rounds using Hornady 148gr lead hbwc. Got the seating die right to col per HRN manual. 1.180. I then crimped them with a Lee factory crimp die. Strange thing is , I kept an S&B to use as a reference, but the S&B looks like it has no crimp.....

 

[psyshack]

I load up Hornady WC's on Lee stuff with nary a issue. I set the basically flush with a slight roll crimp. No problems at all! The shoot great out of the wifes 60 Pro and my 686+.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I have always loaded a hollow base WC flush with the case mouth with a very light crimp.
With a DEWC I seat to the crimp groove and use a light roll crimp.

 

[Steve C]

Here is some help on where to crimp wad cutters. Use the roll crimp in your seating die or other separate crimping die that makes a roll type crimp.

 

[rikman]

Steve,

Great info & pics thanks!

Rikman

 

[kelbro]

You might also want to experiment with seating depths when using wadcutters. I have seen groups tighten up when the leading edge is closer to the throat (longer COAL).