Do you WC-?

[Ed Bulldog]

QUESTION:

If you EDC a Snubby with WC (wadcutters)
1) what type - brand - gr.-?

I was at the range and shot WC Seller & Bellot 148 gr.

It was a great experience-!!!

Thank you

 

[ChiefTJS]

Wadcutters are great for target shooting and pure joy for plinking. I would absolutely not wish to be shot by one but the anemic level of power makes them less than ideal for defense. If the reduced level of recoil makes it possible for you to carry when a full powered load would stop you then it's perfect for you.

 

[jar]

I tend to carry wadcutters or semi-wadcutters in many of my revolvers but no particular brand.

 

[MarshallDodge]

Wadcutters are great for target shooting and pure joy for plinking. I would absolutely not wish to be shot by one but the anemic level of power makes them less than ideal for defense. If the reduced level of recoil makes it possible for you to carry when a full powered load would stop you then it's perfect for you.

The +P LSWCHP has been recommended by several experts as a good carry load in 38 Special revolvers.

 

[L-2]

There are pros and cons to using wadcutter ammo in a revolver.
Here's some ballistic testing on .38Special ammo:

.38 Special and .357 Magnum Self-Defense Ammo Ballistics Test - LuckyGunner.com Labs

We conducted ballistics gelatin tests for 38 self-defense revolver loads in 38 Special and 357 Magnum. Here are the full results along with photos and video

www.luckygunner.com

The testing is from LuckyGunner.com and there are other calibers tested if more research is desired.
There are limitations on ballistic testing, although I'm no ballistician or expert on the matter. LuckyGunner's rationale is explain somewhere on its website with more research. LuckyGunner is apparently using 10 feet as its standard test distance and using some type of clear gel. All this may vary from how the FBI may test, if that matters to anyone.

Some PROs which come to mind are:
-cost
-lower recoil
-faster shot intervals/splits

CONs might be:
-perhaps limitations as distance (but what distance?) lengthens on penetration, maybe accuracy
-perhaps harder to reload vs a conical round
-perhaps inadequate barrier penetration vs other ammo, like JHP

I haven't given my post too much thought and I've actually got to go shooting right now.
Please discuss further.

 

[crstrode]

Wadcutters are great for target shooting and pure joy for plinking. I would absolutely not wish to be shot by one but the anemic level of power makes them less than ideal for defense. If the reduced level of recoil makes it possible for you to carry when a full powered load would stop you then it's perfect for you.

A wadcutter is a bullet shape and has no bearing on power level, or recoil.
Wadcutters in my EDC snubby are full power and hit like a hammer.

 

[crstrode]

The +P LSWCHP has been recommended by several experts as a good carry load in 38 Special revolvers.

A LSWCHP is not a wadcutter.

 

[ChiefTJS]

The +P LSWCHP has been recommended by several experts as a good carry load in 38 Special revolvers.

What does that have to do with a Wadcutter? Apples and Oranges.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Hits with minor calibers hurt worse than misses with majors.
There used to be "pattern loading the revolver.' First 2 rounds, say WCs to let you get on target, get your opponent's attention, then more serious rounds.
For a reload if necessary I would rely on SWCs, something easier to reload.

 

[ChiefTJS]

A wadcutter is a bullet shape and has no bearing on power level, or recoil.
Wadcutters in my EDC snubby are full power and hit like a hammer.

What manufacturers offer a “full power” wadcutter? Original poster referenced Sellier and Bellot wadcutters which are far from full power. The vast majority of manufacturers except a few boutique houses load a wadcutter to very low target velocity.

 

[RevolvingGarbage]

A HBWC at 650 FPS looks "anemic" if you shoot it at a steel barrel or a car door or a thick chunk of hard wood or something like that, but people are not made of such stern stuff. I'm having a hard time picturing what such a round would fail to do to an aggressive actor that a 9x19 JHP would succeed at with the exact same shot placement. Both will make a nasty hole roughly 15 inches long.

 

[crstrode]

What manufacturers offer a “full power” wadcutter? Original poster referenced Sellier and Bellot wadcutters which are far from full power. The vast majority of manufacturers except a few boutique houses load a wadcutter to very low target velocity.

Underwood.
Buffalo Bore
Super Vel
Hornady
Federal
HSM
DoubleTap
Georgia Arms
. . . the list goes on.

 

[Speedo66]

An interesting note from the LuckyGunner test results is that the greatest bullet expansion, to over .70 in both .38Spl. and .357, was with 2” barrels, not the 4” as you might have expected.

 

[P5 Guy]

Loaded backwards IOW with the hollow base out over BE-86.

 

[ChiefTJS]

Underwood.
Buffalo Bore
Super Vel
Hornady
Federal
HSM
DoubleTap
Georgia Arms
. . . the list goes on.

As I said, the “Boutique” ones do, you may want to google the others on your list because they don’t.

 

[LAH]

I would personally cast them hard and shoot them as fast as possible

 

[ChiefTJS]

I've been shooting wadcutters for decades and definitions are very important. Walk into most gun shops and ask for .38 Wadcutters and you will not be getting defensive ammo. The wadcutter comes down to a couple different definitions, the "Target" wadcutter which is generally a swaged hollow based design although the full wadcutter without hollow base is also available, these usually run right around 700fps. Awesome accuracy and low recoil. Great for snubby shooting in guns that usually aren't a lot of fun to shoot. Next is the "Full Power" version that crstrode is talking about. The full power load is typically a hard cast non hollow based wadcutter and can hit very hard and can be driven to the full potential of the .38spl (or even .357 Magnum) recoil in a snub is basically the. same as any full power ammo and depends on how fast it's driven.


Any gun and ammo combination is infinitely better than no gun and ammo combination. If you like and trust a target wadcutter and it allows you to shoot something you otherwise wouldn't then it's good enough for sure.

 

[MarshallDodge]

A LSWCHP is not a wadcutter.

Correct. I was just adding to what you were saying.

 

[vanfunk]

I load double-ended wadcutters thusly:

.38 Special: 148 grain Rim Rock DEWC, Ramshot Silhouette powder, 850 fps out of my 2” Colt Cobra and 925 fps out of my 4” Python. Not a powder puff load and will penetrate deeply. Standard pressure too!

.44 Special: 200 grain Rim Rock hard cast DEWC, Unique powder, 825 fps from my CA 3” Bulldog. Again, formidable load and hits like a school bus. I load the same in .44 Mag at 1150 fps and it’s the hammer of Thor and very controllable.

 

[crstrode]

I've been shooting woodcutters for decades and definitions are very important.

So is spelling.

 

[ChiefTJS]

So is spelling.

Clever

 

[shoebox1.1]

I carry precision one plated wadcutters in my 638. Since I’ve got into hand loading I’ve made 200 wadcutters with Berrys DEWC in front of 3.8gr w231 at 1.210oal. These go around 800fps per others testing. Not powder puff but not plus P. These bullets are rated to 1250fps, you could turn them up. The Buffalo bore “anti personnel” round is a wadcutter that cooks at 1000fps. I would sleep real good at night with those BB rounds at the bedside or on the boulevard

 

[StrawHat]

The round on the left is my load in my edc.


I use a hardball dose of powder to boot it along at 850 fps. That is the SAECO 453, 240 grain, 45 caliber wadcutter. It is also a good load for whitetailed deer.

Kevin

 

[357smallbore]

I carry Federal 148 wc in my two 38 Specials. One in a 2in and the other is a 3in.

 

[dannyd]

I like a SWC and mostly cast my own.