What type of ammo is this? The bullet is set all the way into the casing.

[TheOtherOne]

A friend gave a bunch of these to me. His brother reloaded them. I know he does a lot of reloading and I trust him as I've shot plenty of reloaded 30.06 rifle rounds that came from him. I've just never seen anything like these and I don't even dare to shoot them. They came in a box with a bunch of other normal looking rounds, which I have shot. All I know about the whole box was my friend was told they were .38 specials but should only be shot in a .357 magnum and not a .38. He doesn't have a .357, so that's why I have them.

 

[Preacherman]

The bullet is a full wadcutter, designed to punch clean full-caliber holes in paper targets. I'm worried, though... the full wadcutter cannot (I repeat, CANNOT) handle a high-pressure load: the rear of the bullet is hollow, with a flat lead plate at the front, and if the load is too "hot", the front plate will blow out, leaving a nice lead cylinder in your barrel, perfectly positioned to intercept the next round! If these wadcutters have been loaded to .357 Magnum pressure levels, I would NOT fire them at all - rather disassemble them for their components.

 

[FPrice]

They look like 148 grain lead wadcutters, a target load. Unless there is something strange about them, like being loaded far above normal pressure levels then they should be fine to shoot in a .38 Special. But if you have any doubts, don't shoot them but take take them apart for components.

 

[SouthpawShootr]

These are paperpunchers. My dad used to assemble a fearsomely accurate .38 load using 148 gr HBWC (hollow base wadcutter). It would limp along at 700 and someodd feet per second. They're great target loads, generally speaking.

 

[Majic]

Not all wadcutters are hollow based. Plain based wadcutters cast of appropiate alloy can be driven to high speeds and pressure. If they were loaded in .38sp cases, but to ultra high pressures which would neccesitate the use of a .357mag then I wouldn't trust the reloader. It's ok to load your own ammo that way, but foolish to give them to someone else as you then wouldn't know where they may end up.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Plain based wadcutters can be shot as fast as any other cast bullet. I like a plain based wadcutter in a +P load in my Colt Detective Special as a defense load.

 

[thatguy]

Full wadcutters are usually very soft and lead horribly at high velocity. They also tend to tip and "keyhole" if pushed fast. I worry about the powder charge given the warning. My policy and advice is never shoot anyone's reloads but your own. I developed this policy after blowing up a .45 Colt with a friend's reload where he double-charged the cases.

 

[Sunray]

"...the rear of the bullet is hollow..." They may not. They may just be cast wadcutters.
"...should only be shot in a .357..." If he's telling you that, I'd pull 'em and reload them properly. 2.7 grains of Bullseye work nicely with .38 wadcutters.

 

[g56]

Wadcutters are intended to cut nice clean holes in paper targets, they are usually loaded to low velocity, but the only safe rule is to never shoot someone else's reloads.

When you get these mystery shells they are a pig in a poke, you don't really know what they really are, with the wrong load you could damage your weapon and risk personal injury. FREE ammo is too big a risk!

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Quote:
---------------------------
Full wadcutters are usually very soft and lead horribly at high velocity. They also tend to tip and "keyhole" if pushed fast.
----------------------------

Commercial hollow-based wadcutters are almost all swaged, and hence quite soft. Be that as it may, I loaded 148-grain wadcutters backwards in .357 cases before I left for my first tour in Viet Nam, and carried those (in a Colt Model 357) throughout my tour. Yes, they did lead -- but so did factory ammo in those days.

I will guarentee that a backward hollowbase will do a job.

I load solid base, cast wadcutters these days, to +P loads and have fired a couple of thousand, at least, in my Colt Detective Special out to more than 50 yards, and there's no sign of keyholing.

 

[Rangie]

When in doubt--throw them out.

 

[TheOtherOne]

Thanks for all the replies. I had heard of wadcutters before but, until now, never knew exactly what they were or what they looked like.

 

[Standing Wolf]

If they were loaded in .38sp cases, but to ultra high pressures which would neccesitate the use of a .357mag then I wouldn't trust the reloader.

Yep. Something's awry. Either the person doing the reloading doesn't have a clue, or he's mixed things up, or...

As far as I'm concerned, firearms are too expensive to take unnecessary chances with.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Quote:
------------------------------------
As far as I'm concerned, firearms are too expensive to take unnecessary chances with.
------------------------------------
Fingers aren't cheap, either.