Wadcutters for Defense?

[MCgunner]

My hog load is a 180 grain Hornady XTP at 1400 fps from a 6.5" Blackhawk, at least in .357 caliber. I also shoot a 165 grain gas checked Lee cast SWC at 1470 from the same gun.

My .38 carry is a 158 +P JHP. Wadcutters are accurate and put up around 200 ft lbs from a 4" M10. They'd be better'n a .380 ball, but that ain't sayin' much. Similar energy, better nose profile, more bullet weight for better penetration. I'll stick with my hollow points, though.

Another thing about wadcutters, PITA in a speed loader, slows reloading.

 

[ultradoc]

it's better than nothing.

 

[Drail]

Full wadcutters do indeed slow down the reload (from a speedloader). I was able to chuck some hard cast wadcutters in a drill press and cut a slight bevel on the 90 degree front corner and they will now chamber much easier. They may not expand or penetrate much but they should put a lot of foot pounds of energy on a target. They certainly look extremely menacing viewed from the front of the cylinder. I used to shoot pins with a 625 loaded with 255 gr. SWCs with a wide flat nose and those pins would do a double back flip off of the table and land 4 or 5 ft back with a good centered hit.

 

[ironvic]

A while back there was an article in Handguns magazine where the author tried several brands of .38 Special in short barrel revolvers. This piece interested me because I always carry a snub nosed revolver and long ago gave up on carrying anything bigger because I more often than not found some excuse for not carrying at all. Now that I live in the city, in a cheesy neighborhood, I never go forth without protection and my S&W 642 rides with me all the time.

I would not trust the hollow base wadcutter for this use, especially in snubbies or even 4" barrel revolvers. Penetration is shallow and the ability of the round to mushroom is not consistent when flipped over so the hollow base faces forward. Should the round begin to keyhole after leaving a short barrel, you are left with an innacurate and ineffective round hitting the target-not worth betting your life on that, I believe. The article's author tried a hollow base reload and was disappointed with the result, even though the load is a favorite. It seems the hollow base fills up with clothing material on impact and fails to both expand and penetrate deeply. His criteria was 12-15 inches of penetration with maximum expansion.

The best loads at the time were the Speer Gold Dot 125 gr +P, Hornady XTP 125 gr standard velocity and the Winchester XTP 130 gr +P. When it came to hollow point standard velocity semi wadcutters they were found lacking as well.

So, maybe I'll save my money on cheap coffee and ice cream and spend on the serious stuff. The ammo may be expensive, but the life insurance it offers is cheap.

This article is still posted in Handguns' website at http://www.handgunsmag.com/ammunition/pocket_dynomite/

In the url, the word "dynomite" is correct. The article's titled "Pocket Full Of Dynamite."

 

[VA27]

Technique is the key with wadcutters in a speedloader. Find some old cop or PPC shooter and get him to show you how it's done. Then practice. When you can fire 12 (10 with a 5-shooter) rounds in under 10 seconds, you're gettin' there.

 

[deputy tom]

I used HBWC loaded backward from the mid 70's thru early '80's.They were the in thing with our group.Moved on to factory JHP's then onto LSWCHP's from the late '80's to present.tom.