They all went BANG!!

[shoebox1.1]

So I’m new to the reloading world and as many of you know I asked for a mentor and our own dear Charlie98 stepped up and took on the challenge of helping me ( of which I am VERY grateful). So I went down the street from me and we loaded 10 on his equipment and 10 on mine. I needed some other components to complete this first batch, well i got my scale and trickler etc and sat down and loaded the remaining 30 rds to make this first 50 Berrys 148 DEWC 38 special wadcutters batch. charlie98 was kind enough to give me about 1/2 a pound of W231 and that was what we used. I setup my scale on an elevated shelf and zeroed her in… after 5-6 practice loadings I got the feel right to get our 3.8grains. Using my Lee hand press for all this. It was great de capping and sizing on the recliner, flare was no problem, but the seating seemed to be a little inconsistent. My Coal goal was 1.210 and my 30 I did at home measured between 1.205 and 1.216. Most of them right in the .210 range. So I sent pics of everything to the master and he “signed off” on the loads. Well the state of the art indoor range is down the street and open till 9pm. Headed over there with the reloads with my match champion Ruger and my new unfired 624 4 inch smith and ran 50 freedom munitions 240gr RNFP target ammo through the smith. Then the Ruger. All went well, nothing blew up, no squib loads. And accuracy was good, in fact on par with my precision one plated 148 wadcutters I carry in J frame. The Ruger match champion I used really doesn’t like wadcutters, it likes to eat 158 grain projectiles but these reloads shot just like the precision one wadcutters. The w231 powder provided a good snap and a seems to have shot clean. A firearm and brass inspection is next. Thanks again to Charlie98 for all his help and putting up with my constant questions! Here’s the reloads targets. All shot at 7 yards DA off hand

 

[Soonerpesek]

NICE…!!!…..Congratulations…..!
Ever notice when you shoot at a smaller target, the group tightens up……

 

[shoebox1.1]

Here’s the 624 targets. These freedom munitions target loads are great! Enough snap to make it fun but very pleasant. We need to work up a load like these, I thought I wanted skeeter loads but maybe these would be better

 

[shoebox1.1]

NICE…!!!…..Congratulations…..!
Ever notice when you shoot at a smaller target, the group tightens up……

I guess it does! Didn’t see that

 

[shoebox1.1]

Here’s the pair of lovely ladies

 

[nettlle]

I had a reloading mentor decades ago. So much more than books he taught me. They are priceless. My hat is off to Charlie98 and to you for having the wisdom to find a mentor. .

 

[Captain*kirk]

Well now...now that you found your sea legs...it's not that hard, is it?
Kudos to you for looking up a mentor. And Kudos to Charlie for stepping up. And welcome to the world of reloading!

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Did you snatch the primer from his hand, yet?

Excellent job! No kaboom is a good day.

 

[shoebox1.1]

Thanks to EVERYONE here. In all sections of this forum. I can’t think of a better bunch of folks. Here’s the cases after shooting. My wadcutters look just like the freedom munitions 44’s as far as soot goes. Every Winchester SPP went bang even with my 8 lbs Wolff hammer spring! Nice

 

[shoebox1.1]

Did you snatch the primer from his hand, yet?

Excellent job! No kaboom is a good day.

 

[bfalcon00]

This right here is why I love THR. Congrats and welcome to the hobby!

 

[Mark_Mark]

View attachment 1199894

it’s easy right! be glade you got a mentor!

I did the opposite and watch youtube videos.

 

[DMW1116]

Good job on all counts. I advised someone Saturday that 38 Special was a good place to start reloading. It’s accurate enough to reward your efforts, easy to shoot, and you generally don’t have to worry about running the gun like with 9mm. You only need enough velocity to clear the barrel. Hitting the triple point of accuracy, desired velocity, and function is sometimes a challenge.

 

[CQB45ACP]

it’s easy right! be glade you got a mentor!

I did the opposite and watch youtube videos.

We know

 

[CQB45ACP]

Oh Charlie....where are you? Come and take a bow

Yes he and many others here are quite willing to help online & offline.

 

[CQB45ACP]

Thanks to EVERYONE here. In all sections of this forum. I can’t think of a better bunch of folks. Here’s the cases after shooting. My wadcutters look just like the freedom munitions 44’s as far as soot goes. Every Winchester SPP went bang even with my 8 lbs Wolff hammer spring! Nice

First and last time you'll post pictures of filthy brass. Start a thread about wet vs dry tumbling.

 

[CQB45ACP]

Here’s the pair of lovely ladiesView attachment 1199882

Those are beautiful! All this reloading jabber just an excuse to show a picture of those

 

[Walkalong]

it’s easy right! be glade you got a mentor!

I did the opposite and watch youtube videos.

And before that we read books and magazines.

 

[lordpaxman]

All went well, nothing blew up, no squib loads.

Success!!
Congratulations and hope you kept good notes! Welcome to the addiction.

 

[CQB45ACP]

And before that we read books and magazines.

Interesting you say that. It wasn't until I had already started reloading did I find there were (or had been) actual magazines about it.

 

[DMW1116]

I don’t want to say I had low expectations but I will say the Berrys DEWC I’ve tried have shot well beyond what I’d hoped in terms of accuracy. They’re easier to load than the Hornady HBWC too. And they’re shiny. That’s the most important part. Look great in nickel plated brass.

How did you arrive at the charge weight to use? I typically use less but perhaps more is in fact better.

 

[Charlie98]

Did you snatch the primer from his hand, yet?

Well, Gus had to walk through the dojang to get to the Armory... that's only about half of the TaeKwon-Do trophies my daughter and I have earned through the years... so Gus will have to be pretty quick to snatch that primer out!!!

In all seriousness, we did run into a problem... maybe some of you have seen this...

In seating those Berrys DEWC's in mixed brass, several of the bullets bottomed out. Those were the ones that seated a bit long, even under compression from the press. In fact, some of the bullet noses deformed under the seating pressure. Doing my Inspector Clouseau impression, via text and pictures, we found a specific headstamp was causing this problem. I'm guessing the inside case taper is higher in these particular cases... so Gus is going to pull them, cull out all of that headstamp of brass, and discard them.

Anyone else that uses DEWC's ever see this? I'm guessing this would be a non-issue with HB wadcutters, but this is the first I've ever loaded plated DE's.

 

[Mark_Mark]

Interesting you say that. It wasn't until I had already started reloading did I find there were (or had been) actual magazines about it.

And I’m not a good reader. Reading a reloaded manual with not prior knowledge of reloading is like reading a 6-Sigma book

 

[shoebox1.1]

We consulted several books and charlie98’s years of experience came to the number. After the charge was selected I did further online homework and read multiple stories of the plated DEWC running around 100fps slower than equivalent lead round and they are good to 1250fps ( iirc). I was concerned maybe we didn’t load hot enough but had faith we selected correctly. It seems that we did. The cleanliness of gun and brass tells me as a
Novice we had complete combustion. Accuracy was on par with a well known name Brand round. I’m still high off all this 12hrs later!! Happy as a sissy in boys town as grandpa used to say lol

 

[Charlie98]

And I’m not a good reader.

I'm a great reader, but I don't learn anything by just reading it... I have to read it, and then DO it if I am to retain anything. Read-Do-Read has always been my mechanism to learn new things. After the 'DO' part, returning to the book once more pounds it in.

FWIW, I was very confident with the starting loads... W231 behaves well, and it was within the window with those 148's, even seated a little long.


Gus, as far as the .44SPC Skeeter load, see if you can find some of those Xtreme plated 240grn RNFP at Cabelas. I'll loan you some Unique, and we can work up that Skeeter load...