38 SPL DEWC plated load

I been shooting 148gr Zero HBWC with 2.8gr BE in my 52-2 and they feed and eject 100% of the time.  Well I have a 1000 of the DEWCs from X Treme that I had bought for my GP100.  I don't shoot the Ruger very much so figured I would load them up and shoot them indoors at 20yds practice.  Thinking it would be nice not to have to change anything I loaded 10 with 2.8 BE.  They grouper well off a rest but would not eject even far enough to stove pipe.  Went up to 2.9gr and then got stove pipes.  3.0 today and maybe 80% will eject.  3.1 tomorrow I think will do it.  It has been a good lesson on how same weight bullets in a different style require different loads.   They do group nice so I will use them up for practice.  Don

FOLLOW UP
At 3.1gr BE the gun cycles fine but the group opened up so I will be saving the DEWCs for the GP100 with the 2.8gr BE.  Don

I bought some commercial “HBWC” 38 Special reloads that used a plated bullet.  Groups were AWFUL from my 52.  I shot it up in my Mod14.

Greetings Wobbley,

"I bought some commercial “HBWC” 38 Special reloads that used a plated bullet."

More details, please.

What was the Brand Name of the ammunition?

Cheers,

Dave

Over the years I have tried several times to get 148 gr DEWC bullets to group in an M52 with no success. The last time was with some coated 148 gr DEWC's. I've tried Bullseye, Clays, Unique and WST and nothing comes close to 2.7 or 2.8 of BE with Zero HBWC's.

We are creeping steadily toward the inevitable event. Someone is going to show up at a CMP match with a model 52 or a 1911 in .38sp wadcutter shooting plated bullets. It is totally legal now.

fc60 wrote:Greetings Wobbley,

"I bought some commercial “HBWC” 38 Special reloads that used a plated bullet."

More details, please.

What was the Brand Name of the ammunition?

Cheers,

Dave

It was made by MIWALL Corp.  which is a big ammo supplier at gun shows in CA AZ NV.  The box said “HBWC 38 Special Reloads”.  All were in Federal nickel cases.  Bought them sometime ago as regulat factory WC was unobtainium.

Greetings Wobbley,

Thanks for the added information.

I "googled" MIWALL and got some interesting comments.

Since they assemble ammunition from other manufacturers I cannot begin to guess where they bought plated HBWC bullets from.

H&N offer copper plated HBWC bullets and while I have not tested them a fellow shooter has with good results.

Another good reason to have a five years supply of components to assure non interrupted shooting when supplies locally run dry.

Cheers,

Dave

Berry's makes plated 148 gr DEWC and HBWC bullets.  I have not tried their .38 plated bullets but some years ago Berry's sent me several samples of their plated .45 bullets. As I recall it was 185 gr HBRN and 230 gr RN. I tried a number of different service pistol loads and could not get them to group out of a Range Officer based hardball gun.

I've had better results in my S&W .38 Master with HBWC than solid based wadcutters. 

I wouldn't use plated bullets in serious match shooting. The current plating process cannot be uniformly controlled over the bullet for consistent thickness.

Dave:

I have a reserve of match ammo including 38 HBWC factory mostly Remington.  The ammo purchase was for ongoing practice.  I reloaded on a single stage back then so I scoured the gun shows for 38 WC ammo to supplement my practice ammo.  I found this stuff in an ammo can and thought the brass would be better served with a Magnus HBWC.  I had never shot it before and I won’t be buying any more soon.