•••44 cal WADCUTTERS•••?

[Shivahasagun]

Would wadcutters work okay, with less powder of course, from a .44 Russian case?

That might be a fun one to enter into my comp. program.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Would wadcutters work okay, with less powder of course, from a .44 Russian case?

That might be a fun one to enter into my comp. program.

Similar to using a .358” DEWC intended for .38Spl in a .38SC. You have to watch the pressures and seat farther out to compensate for the shorter/lower-capacity case. It’s common for habdloaders to work up such loads for .38S&W cases as well using HBWC where the skirt of the hollow base will fill the throats and larger bore. Care ought to be taken to make sure starting loads clear the muzzle . But, it’s been done so it can be done.

 

[the Black Spot]

These were charged with a .5 cc dipped of bullseye (@4.6gr)
Think I blew that flyer, but these were not scale measured loads.
Uberti cattleman

 

[Ovendoctor]

In my swapping and trading of molds I ended up with a Lyman 429 398 HBWC
looking forward to working up loads in the 629 S&W

Mike

 

[the Black Spot]

I got a peanut butter jar full of these WC’s at a yard sale and powder coated them, ran through a .432 sizer. I think they are a Hensley&Gibbs wc? 190 gr.

 

[Jackiesman]

Does the Lee set come with such a stem?

I modified a standard stem using JB weld to make it a flat seater. Found a huge source of 240 gr SWC’s that shot just as well so gave it to a buddy in Melbourne Florida. He makes his own wc’s and he’s still using it. I don’t have ANY absolute proof that it’s necessary to have a flat stem but it was fun messing around so I did it anyway.

 

[.38 Special]

I'm not a huge fan of the 429348. I suspect that two-diameter bullets are rarely as accurate as full-length wadcutters - at least that has been my experience - and I have found that this sort of "wadcutter-with-a-nose" needs to be driven harder than does a true wadcutter. I've even seen some evidence of key holing when using the 429348 with minimum loads.

I suspect the bullet may have some use as a "defensive wadcutter", for those who are interested in such things, but purely from an accuracy standpoint, I would stick with the more traditional WC design.

As for seating stems, I just grind one off flat, which is the easiest and quickest way I know of.

 

[wcwhitey]

Similar to using a .358” DEWC intended for .38Spl in a .38SC. You have to watch the pressures and seat farther out to compensate for the shorter/lower-capacity case. It’s common for habdloaders to work up such loads for .38S&W cases as well using HBWC where the skirt of the hollow base will fill the throats and larger bore. Care ought to be taken to make sure starting loads clear the muzzle . But, it’s been done so it can be done.

The bullet has to be looked at carefully like you say. A Double Ended Wadcutter with a crimp grove on both ends sits out of the case further than a Hollow Based Wadcutter so that does account for some of the volume added by the hollow base bullet. One would have to break out the beakers and check the volume of either bullet to see how much of a difference remains. I don’t know of any math that one could use to make a direct comparison. However, I have never had a problem starting at the lower end of data. DEWC’s are more economic powder usage wise but nothing will fit a barrel better than a swagged HBWC. DEWC’s are also a great way to develop defensive loads for rounds that don’t produce velocity enough for reliable expansion. A YouTube Channel “Loads of Bacon“ has some very good videos of loading and testing coated DEWC’s for .44 Special. Velocity, Gel Tests etc.

The pics are of .32 Long DEWC’s. I load them using the SWC stem RCBS dies. No damage to the bullet.

 

[mdi]

I have only used Matt's wadcutters in my 44 Magnums. IIRC the 250 gr. Excellent accuracy with light to medium cast loads in my Ruger SBH, S&W 629 and my Dan Wesson 44 H. For some reason (probably me) not as good in my 10" Contender...

 

[Riomouse911]

I bought a few different wadcutters from Matts Bullets, in heavier than standard weights, for a variety of revolvers.

I just haven’t had time to load any up.

I am hoping to reverse this issue in the near future.

Stay safe.