.38 wadcutter loading

[NJROTC Inst]

Have a new (to me) Smith model 52. Since .38 wadcutter ammo is virtually non existent, and I have never loaded wadcutters before, can I use my regular .38 bullet seating die or do I need to get a special one somewhere? Thanks.

[jconrad2754]

I load for my 52 with a standard Lee .38 die set. Just set the bullet flush with the top of the case.

[Rover]

Yep. Flush or almost flush with a bit of a roll crimp.

You may find your bore is .355" as they used "9mm" barrels.

[Ttgoods]

My friends shoot model 52s need to be flush or even sunk 1000s of an inch.

2.7\2.8 bullseye is a known load for that gun good out to 50 yards. crimp is critical but once you get it down they work good.

Get the flat double ended wadcutters because some with the curve on top could feed poorly. So stay away from hollow base wadcutters.

Cjn casting makes a nice bullet, penn too.

make sure your dies are clean.

[midegim]

I found that my best accuracy actually came with the hollow base wadcutters. I had several double ended types that would shoot fine in my 14-3 but only so-so in the 52. The Remington 148 hbwc were messy to load but for me shot better then anything else. I loaded 2.7- 2.8 Gr of Bullseye, seat the bullet just below the neck with rice roll crimp and it was reliable and would shoot x's all day long as long as I did my part. Follow through is critical with the 52.

[Tom]

Hiya,

I'll throw in my 2 cents for the 2.7-2.8 BE loading with a Remington 148HBWC seated .010 below the case with a slight taper crimp on my Dillon 550. If I do my part it will take the X ring out of the target. The powder and bullet are both dirty but they shoot, especially at 50 yards. For matches, I wipe every round and use nickel cases, maybe it's habit but it's served me well. For practice or 25 yard short courses, I use a DEWC cast to save a little $ with no noticeable difference in score. If it's really hot out and a 25 yard reduced course, I'll drop it down to 2.6 with the DEWC.

I have tried a lot of the fast burning pistol powders in the gun over the last 25 years or so of shooting it, they all work fairly well with one exception, Accurate Arms #2 was a failure. It shot well enough however, it's small granules of unburnt powder managed to get between the trigger and the rebound stop and kept the disconnector from resetting in timed fire. thankfully I found this out in practice and not a match.

My 2 cents,
Tom

[chiltech500]

Tom, are you seating the DEWC's the same depth as the HBWC's, also on the crimp, are you crimping just enough to remove the bell or a bit more than that?

Thanks, Bernie

[RandomShotz]

I have seen, on this thread and others, Model 52 shooters who insist that 1) hollow base is the only way to go 2) DE wadcutters work best 3) it doesn't matter - load what you like but do it consistently and anything out of the 10 ring is your fault. I have also seen some shooters insist that a) a slight taper crimp is best and b) only a roll crimp yields accuracy and c) it doesn't matter - handloads will not be as accurate as factory ammo in a 52 no matter what you do.

Is this a matter of significant individual differences between guns or are there a lot of opinions out there based on one afternoon's testing off of sandbags and then clung to like the need to wear one's lucky socks during competition?

Roger

[Tom]

Hiya,

Yes, no difference in seating depth, just a smidgen below flush. On the taper crimp, just a slight bit more than taking the bell out, I don't like to work the cases anymore than I need to.

As far as dropping the powder down when it's hot out is because the gun works easier when it's hot, not as much oil drag as when it's cool.

And Randomshotz is correct, what woiks' for my 52 may not for yours. I use Remington HBWC's because I bought a pallet of them on a super deal years ago and haven't had to try anything else. I use some locally made DEWC's, again, I don't know if another brand would shoot better. I load my ammo for 100% reliability because it doesn't matter if your gun and ammo will hold to half the size of the x ring if you don't get all the rounds off.

My 2 cents,

Tom

[Misny]

I have seen, on this thread and others, Model 52 shooters who insist that 1) hollow base is the only way to go 2) DE wadcutters work best 3) it doesn't matter - load what you like but do it consistently and anything out of the 10 ring is your fault. I have also seen some shooters insist that a) a slight taper crimp is best and b) only a roll crimp yields accuracy and c) it doesn't matter - handloads will not be as accurate as factory ammo in a 52 no matter what you do.

Is this a matter of significant individual differences between guns or are there a lot of opinions out there based on one afternoon's testing off of sandbags and then clung to like the need to wear one's lucky socks during competition?

Roger

Over the years, I shot a lot of factory match .38 SPL 148 gr. HBWC. The Winchester seemed to have a taper crimp (sharp mouth). The Remington had a slight roll crimp, as did the Federal. They all shoot very well in my S&W model 52-1. I think the roll crimp came about because of PPC shooters who wanted rounds that were easier to load in their revolver cylinders.

[Rover]

Roll crimps were around long before there was such a thing as PPC.

In NRA testing, the roll crimp proved more accurate when loading wad-cutters.