38 full wadcutter question

[feal]

picked up a smith 52 so am starting to reload the 38 fwc. i have mixed 38 speical cases and when i use the cases without a cannelure, i get a slight bulge. is this normal or am i doing something wrong? The older factory ammo i have usually has the 1 or two cannelure, but some recent sellier & bellot doesnt - but i get the bulge when i reload those cases too.

82779

[DFBrews]

Interested as well i personally have never seen a jacketed wad cutter

[Great-Kazoo]

plunk one of the cases in question. A neighbor has one, he loads them slightly hotter , to cycle the pistol. I can ask him what he's loading for those 52's

[O2HeN2]

Interested as well i personally have never seen a jacketed wad cutter

Ditto.

O2

[Hoser]

Looks plated to me.

[feal]

So is bulge to be expected with a plated bullet?

[O2HeN2]

Looks plated to me.

I've never seen a plated wadcutter, either.

O2

[Gman]

Have you put a caliper on those projectiles?

[crays]

Interested as well i personally have never seen a jacketed wad cutter


Ditto.

O2


I've never seen a plated wadcutter, either.

O2

You fellas need to get out more...

[O2HeN2]

You fellas need to get out more...

I've been reloading for over 30 years. I'll chalk it up to wadcutters having never been high on my bullet list. I think I have a 30 year old partial box of really, really soft wadcutters in the cabinet. :)

O2

[crays]

[emoji1303]

Sent from somewhere...

[earplug]

A bulge is normal with none full wadcutter brass. Much of todays 38SPL brass has a inside web which is longer then old 38 SPL brass. Possibly factories using the same dies to make .357 and 38 SPL. So if you fully seat a wadcutter you will get a bulge.
You might try a LEE factory crimp die. This is a die to reduce the bulge after loading. It has a tendency to cause bullets to deform and become undersized. This causing leading in revolvers.
I'm betting your M-52 will digest them just fine since you don't have a cylinder gap or forcing cone to deal with.
I might have a LEE factory crimp die buried in my garage if you live in the Colorado Springs area.

[feal]

i measured the plated bullets = .355 - slightly smaller than the lead/alloy .356 wadcutter i pulled. these were berrys and i got some 148 xtreme that were the same diameter if not slightly smaller.

[feal]

A bulge is normal with none full wadcutter brass. Much of todays 38SPL brass has a inside web which is longer then old 38 SPL brass. Possibly factories using the same dies to make .357 and 38 SPL. So if you fully seat a wadcutter you will get a bulge.
You might try a LEE factory crimp die. This is a die to reduce the bulge after loading. It has a tendency to cause bullets to deform and become undersized. This causing leading in revolvers.
I'm betting your M-52 will digest them just fine since you don't have a cylinder gap or forcing cone to deal with.
I might have a LEE factory crimp die buried in my garage if you live in the Colorado Springs area.

thanks for the explanation and offer earplug - i havent used the lee factory crimp dies so i looked at some youtube videos and images - but it looks like the crimp is at the top of the bullet and case - how would that help the bulge at the bottom of the bullet?

[Erni]

That looks like a Berry?s bullet. I think they double strike then and it creates that funny dimple.
I see a bulge on my 38 brass all the time with my reloads. Look funny but plop right into the cylinder.

[Hoser]

Most likely they will chamber just fine. Long bullets seated deep like these will bulge some cases because the case walls start getting thick that far down.

[sportbikeco]

looks fine, does it chamber?

Id suggest switching to WIN brass.

Ive used some plated 38 WC, definitely prefer lead.

[earplug]

The LEE factory case die actually resizes the loaded round and crimps the bullet. As I mentioned prior it has a tendency to squeeze your bullets undersize when it resizes the loaded round if the brass is thick.