Wadcutters that keyhole!

[Chickencoop]

I loaded some 38 spl. cases with 3 grs. of Bullseye and Hornady wadcutter bullets.

The target was only seven yards away and every bullet keyholed!!!

The gun was a 2" stubby revolver. What gives?

Chickencoop

 

[Crazy4nitro]

Are the bullets shaped like the number 8?.....

J/K

C4N

 

[SDC]

Obviously not stabilizing, so I'd say that either the bullets are too soft to grip the rifling (check for leading, and see if you can recover a fired bullet or two), or the bullets are under-sized for the bore.

 

[Zippy06]

Did you seat flush to mouth? And crimp?

 

[Steve C]

Hollow base or solid bevel base? As others have said check for leading to make sure your rifling gets a grip on the bullet. If your bore is clean then try loading some 2.7 and 3.2grs to see if that improves the stability.

If you are trying to load HBWC's backwards as a defense load, good luck. I never could get one of those backward loaded HBWC's to stabilize out of my 2" Colt DS.

 

[qbpc]

The hollow base goes in the shell. To fast will cause it to be unstable.
They are best around 700-800 FPS. Check barrel for lead. Do not use a jacketed bullet to remove lead if it is leaded.

 

[Zippy06]

I have always shot, about 10 jacketed/plated, after some lead.
Helps with clean up.

 

[Ifishsum]

I've noticed that if I'm shooting targets you print out on regular paper, low velocity rounds will tear the paper weird - making it look like they're keyholing. Are all the "tails" in pretty much the same direction?