Wadcutter Experiment - UPDATED

[Headhog]

I'm out of 357 bullet heads I use for reloading my 357 Mag loads for my BBS. (My order from Missouri Bullets won't be here until the end of October.) Well rummaging under my reloading bench, I found about 800 - 148 gr. wadcutters that I used for 38 spl. loads many years ago. So I've come up with an idea to experiment with these in 357 Mag cases and load them out about .25" so they are close to a 357 Mag cartridge. I put together a few dummy rounds to see if these would feed in the BBS and they worked through the action like butter. So now on to making some real rounds and test them at the range.

My plan is to load these to a recommended 357 Mag. round using Universal powder. Hodgdon list this combination in their data using 3.5 - 4.0 gr of Universal and developing about 880-989 fps. The only difference from Hodgdon's data will be the overall length. Their data shows this wadcutter loaded almost flush with the case mouth. (The way I've typically loaded these bullets.) I'll report back after i make my next range trip with these loads.

Paul

[JEBar]

sounds like a good way to make use of 800 wadcutters .... looking forward to your coming range reports .... hopefully you can post pictures showing the bullets beside some other regular 357's

[BigAl52]

One must use all his resources when things are in short supply

[fortyshooter]

Sounds like a great plan! Impressed that a full wadcutter will cycle thru the Henry.

[Headhog]

Here's the results of my experiment. There's good news and bad news, but first the good news.

These loads function through my Henry BBS perfectly. They shoot like a kitty cat sneeze. And appear the have very good accuracy. Below are pictures with the results.

The first picture are these rounds coming off my RCBS progressive press.

Press setup

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The second picture is for comparison. Left to right is the 148 gr. wadcutter I'm using for this load. Middle is a completed wadcutter load and right is a 158 gr. Nosler 357 Mag. load for comparison.

loads

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Final picture is the bench rest results of a 5 shot group at 35 yards.

Target Results

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As you cans see these wadcutter rounds produce a great group, have very light recoil and cycle through the action without a problem. Now for the bad news.

After loading 10 rounds in the mag tube getting the mag tube follower back is a little tricky. The tube seems to catch on some rounds as you slide it back down. Not a big deal just back it up a little and shake the rifle and continue on. After two or three tries you get the hang of it. Just a slight inconvenience.

I did run some over the chrono and the are running about 800 fps. I expected them to run over 900 fps but what the heck they are fun and easy to shoot. Just one last thought, because these loads are low pressure, the cases are very sooty from lack of expansion. Just like I would see on my 45ACP semi wadcutter Bullseye loads.

Paul

[CT_Shooter]

My plan is to load these to a recommended 357 Mag. round using Universal powder. Hodgdon list this combination in their data using 3.5 - 4.0 gr of Universal and developing about 880-989 fps. The only difference from Hodgdon's data will be the overall length. Their data shows this wadcutter loaded almost flush with the case mouth.

I'm curious, Paul. Why did you want the COL longer than Hodgdon recommends for that bullet in a .357 cartridge?

[Headhog]

My plan is to load these to a recommended 357 Mag. round using Universal powder. Hodgdon list this combination in their data using 3.5 - 4.0 gr of Universal and developing about 880-989 fps. The only difference from Hodgdon's data will be the overall length. Their data shows this wadcutter loaded almost flush with the case mouth.

I'm curious, Paul. Why did you want the COL longer than Hodgdon recommends for that bullet in a .357 cartridge?

I had a concern that loading the round flush (or just slightly protruding) might impact how the rounds fed from the magazine. I first experimented with some 38 spl wadcutter loads that I had and they wound not feed at all. I was getting 2 rounds at a time out of the magazine and it would jam up the action completely. I reasoned that for the magazine to feed properly a round has to be at least as long as a loaded 38 spl. with round nose bullet. So that lead me to load the wadcutters out.