38 Spl Wadcutters vs Traditional Ammunition

[Rockrivr1]

So what is the big difference when shooting a Wadcutter or a traditional lead or FMJ round out of a modern handgun? I'm wondering what people think of this specific kind of ammo. Is it more accurate than traditional ammo? Is there any benefit or negatives in firing this king of round?

Let me know what you think. Oh and yeah, I know it's expensive unless you reload. I don't reload, as it SUCKS! So, there's that.....

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

Long bearing surface teamed up with soft lead and light loads leads to accuracy.

Low recoil makes it very shoot able ammo which leads to better shooting. Realized accuracy. Not ransom rest accuracy.

Wadcutter shape cuts clean holes for easy scoring

 

[badshot101]

Not sure what's important to you. Wadcutters punch really neat holes in paper targets which is great in competition when you are trying to figure out if a shot broke the line to the higher point circle. I don't think they are inherently more accurate that other rounds - in fact my most accurate ammo was mostly loaded with premium JHP bullets. If you don't reload 38 then suggest just testing some different ammo to what is more accurate in your specific gun

 

[LakeTrout]

So what is the big difference when shooting a Wadcutter or a traditional lead or FMJ round out of a modern handgun? I'm wondering what people think of this specific kind of ammo. Is it more accurate than traditional ammo? Is there any benefit or negatives in firing this king of round?

Let me know what you think. Oh and yeah, I know it's expensive unless you reload. I don't reload, as it SUCKS! So, there's that.....

Makes perfectly punched aesthetically pleasing holes in the paper target.

 

[kalash]

I've been sold on wadcutters over time. On the rare occasion that I carry a snubnose .38 it's loaded with WCs.

 

[whacko]

Long bearing surface teamed up with soft lead and light loads leads to accuracy.

Low recoil makes it very shoot able ammo which leads to better shooting. Realized accuracy. Not ransom rest accuracy.

Wadcutter shape cuts clean holes for easy scoring

Beat me to it.

The most prominent attribute is the profile of the projo has more contact with rifling going down the bore. Also hollow base wadcutters allow pressure to expand the projectile into the rifling for even more consistent contact.

2nd is much easier target scoring for bullseye shooting.

3rd is they are simple as hell to reload.....just seat em flush or just proud of the case mouth and remove the flair. Done.

 

[whacko]

Makes perfectly punched aesthetically pleasing holes in the paper target.

Which are way easier to score in bullseye league.

 

[whacko]

So what is the big difference when shooting a Wadcutter or a traditional lead or FMJ round out of a modern handgun? I'm wondering what people think of this specific kind of ammo. Is it more accurate than traditional ammo? Is there any benefit or negatives in firing this king of round?

Let me know what you think. Oh and yeah, I know it's expensive unless you reload. I don't reload, as it SUCKS! So, there's that.....

Which target would rather score?
Remember if it touches a line you go to the higher scoring ring......check that target using standard ammo.....on some of those did the bullet actually touch the line....or did the paper split and break the line? Look at the one at the 10 o'clock position in the 8 ring....is that scored an 8 or a 9?

 

[BTSDOG]

i used to load 3 grains of bullseye under 148 grain hollow based wadcutters, seated flush to casemouth for my S&W mod. 52. Shot off of a bag, it would do a one hole, 5 round group at 50 ft.

 

[Rockrivr1]

i used to load 3 grains of bullseye under 148 grain hollow based wadcutters, seated flush to casemouth for my S&W mod. 52. Shot off of a bag, it would do a one hole, 5 round group at 50 ft.

The reason I'm asking is I'm currently looking at a S&W 52-2 and it seem like one solid handgun. Leaning towards buying it but have no experience shooting wadcutters.

 

[BTSDOG]

Easy to shoot, not a wrist breaker by any means. But you can ONLY shoot wadcutters seated flush to case, or they wont feed in magazine. I dont believe they are made anymore so parts are very hard to find. I inherited one that the original owner put a rail and a dot sight on. i wanted to put the original sights back on, but he had lost them. had to have a smith mill the slide and put on a ruger target sight which was very close, but took away the collectors value of the gun.

 

[JDL]

i used to load 3 grains of bullseye under 148 grain hollow based wadcutters, seated flush to casemouth for my S&W mod. 52. Shot off of a bag, it would do a one hole, 5 round group at 50 ft.

I loaded the same if I remember they were 650fps rounds.

 

[Fritz the Cat]

Wadcutter shape cuts clean holes for easy scoring

Why i shoot them

 

[JDL]

Easy to shoot, not a wrist breaker by any means. But you can ONLY shoot wadcutters seated flush to case, or they wont feed in magazine. I dont believe they are made anymore so parts are very hard to find. I inherited one that the original owner put a rail and a dot sight on. i wanted to put the original sights back on, but he had lost them. had to have a smith mill the slide and put on a ruger target sight which was very close, but took away the collectors value of the gun.

I have found that commercial factory ammo in 38 flush wad cutters never would feed correctly in my 52. I would have to do special reloads to get the correct feed and performance from my 52. This is a great Bullseye round for center fire, however if you don't reload you may want to rethink. I don't see any other use for the S&W 52 or 38spl wad cutters unless you are planning to shoot center fire Bullseye.

 

[whacko]

The reason I'm asking is I'm currently looking at a S&W 52-2 and it seem like one solid handgun. Leaning towards buying it but have no experience shooting wadcutters.

Fabulous target pistol. The triggers are stellar......the slide is very easy to rack as it's designed for low power wadcutter loads. They are amazing target pistols. Had mine almost a year and its just a pleasure to shoot.

As far as 38 wadcutters......expensive to buy factory.......but reloading them is easy has hell.

 

[whacko]

i used to load 3 grains of bullseye under 148 grain hollow based wadcutters, seated flush to casemouth for my S&W mod. 52. Shot off of a bag, it would do a one hole, 5 round group at 50 ft.

I load as low as 2.8 grains of bullseye and they are stellar accurate and operate fine in my model 52.

 

[T-Unit]

A non magnum out of a short barrel has fukk all for velocity in regards to hollow point expansion, so when you can't get a bullet to expand use a solid bullet and if it's going to be a solid bullet a wadcutter not only doesn't overpenetrate, it appears to do more damage and is quite accurate.

The wadcutter for self defense even breathes new life into old calibers like .32 S&W Long and .38 S&W, which were made on I frames and similar size revolvers.

Wadcutters in big bores like the .44 Special and .45 Colt are down right nasty. Some might say there's no benefit over a raging semi wadcutter, but no, you can't beat the full hard on wadcutter for effect.

 

[Zappa]

When I started shooting in the early 80's, wadcutters were the least expensive .38's you could find, there were plenty of commercial reloads available for short money.
There was a place called B&D Reloaders in Hyde Park that cranked them out by the thousands.
Buy a few boxes, shoot them, bring back the empty brass and get more.
Side note about wadcutters, if you carry them for defense, that perfect hole it makes doesn't close up after you shoot someone, they'll bleed like a pig.

 

[appraiser]

when I used to shoot at Cape Ann Sportsmans there was a guy there on Sunday morning that was selling boxes of .38 wadcutter reloads for $5 a box with brass exchanged.

My Model 13 loved them.

 

[BTSDOG]

When I started shooting in the early 80's, wadcutters were the least expensive .38's you could find, there were plenty of commercial reloads available for short money.
There was a place called B&D Reloaders in Hyde Park that cranked them out by the thousands.
Buy a few boxes, shoot them, bring back the empty brass and get more.
Side note about wadcutters, if you carry them for defense, that perfect hole it makes doesn't close up after you shoot someone, they'll bleed like a pig.

Used to go there all the time for wadcutters until we started reloading our own. It didn't take long to load some hollow based wadcutters backwards with a little more powder, shoot out of a six inch revolver and blow up water filled milk jugs......

 

[JuergenG]

load some hollow based wadcutters backwards with a little more powder,

We've called these the "poor man's hollowpoints" up until 2003, when HP bullets for handgun became legal over here.
Less than a week after the ban was lifted I came back from a business trip to NES Country, having 800 Speer Gold Dot bullets in .355, .357, .451 and .429 in my suitcase

 

[PatMcD]

Which target would rather score?
Remember if it touches a line you go to the higher scoring ring......check that target using standard ammo.....on some of those did the bullet actually touch the line....or did the paper split and break the line? Look at the one at the 10 o'clock position in the 8 ring....is that scored an 8 or a 9?

View attachment 936386View attachment 936387

That's obviously a 9.

 

[Coyote33]

some reading for you:

1. 38 Special 150gr. Wadcutter Black Cherry Coated Hard Cast Hunting & Self Defense Ammo
2. Semi-Wadcutters vs. Wadcutters for defense.
3. Wadcutters for defense?
4. Wonderful Wadcutters: From Target To Tactical
5. Wadcutter Ammo for Self-Defense - Lucky Gunner Lounge
6. What Is A Wadcutter? - Wideners Shooting, Hunting & Gun Blog

 

[M1911]

Wadcutters typically have low powder charge so low recoil. The sharp edge of the bullet cuts nice sharp holes in targets. They are typically used for target shooting.

For action sports like IDPA, round nose bullets are far easier to reload quickly as the bullet noses won’t hang up during the reload.

 

[Steve600]

Anyone ever see the Paul Harrell video where he shoots the meat target with all kinds of JHP and then the SWC? The SWC did as much damage as the high priced JHP. This was done with his 1911. I miss watching his videos.

 

[Love Machine]

148gr wadcutters also have pretty solid ballistic gel performance and won’t skip off a skull.

 

[pdm]

Anyone ever see the Paul Harrell video where he shoots the meat target with all kinds of JHP and then the SWC? The SWC did as much damage as the high priced JHP. This was done with his 1911. I miss watching his videos.

His brother is keeping up the channel. And Paul is still in the intro.

 

[T-Unit]

Used to go there all the time for wadcutters until we started reloading our own. It didn't take long to load some hollow based wadcutters backwards with a little more powder, shoot out of a six inch revolver and blow up water filled milk jugs......

Reloading wadcutters is really easy, especially the Berry's double enders. Reloading means you're able to actually use wadcutters in magnum cases, which is nice as the industry keeps them to .32 or .38 for reasons, but reloading a wadcutter in a magnum gives you a bit more power you can play with. I don't push my wadcutter reloads that hard tho, there's not much need to.

I tried reversing the hollow base wadcutters once in .32... didn't care for it, they don't shoot as well and I doubt there will be any expansion. The hollow base will deform, so I'd think they do less damage than if loaded the way they're intended.

 

[DW357]

I know it's expensive unless you reload.

PM sent. Just a hair over $14 a box shipped for 148 gr WC ammo isn’t terrible for non-reloaders

 

[kalash]

PM sent. Just a hair over $14 a box shipped for 148 gr WC ammo isn’t terrible for non-reloaders

I think I need that PM...