Best HBWC for S&W 52

Have some Speer .357.5, Remington .358, Winchester .359 HBWC bullets. Where should I start.

2.8-2.9gr BE.  RR test, it might be start and end as well!  Watch for skirt separation.
AP

Are those all hollow body or flat nosed ?
The 52 magazine is tricky.

Make sure you crimp them enough. Easy not to
Jon

The best?  The consensus is the Remington will be best but the Winchester shot well for me.  The Speer shot OK and can be acceptable.  These look to be the old style Speers with knurled “lube grooves”.  For all of these keep the velocity under 800 fps.  2.7-2.9 BE or WST.  As Jon says crimp the case mouth over the front of the bullet, use a factory wadcutter as a guide in setting the crimp.  

The Remington and Winchester bullets have been discontinued for sale as components.  Alternates are out there and some have good luck with Zero and others.

3.1gr of Win 231 should also be a good load in the 52 if you don't have Bullseye or WST. I use 2.7 of WST myself in a revolver.

Once you need more projectiles, Zero, Magnus and Precision Delta have all received positive comments on this board.

2.7 WST is considered "the load" for the 148 HBWC.  2.6 Titegroup is also a good choice.  Both have given me very good results.  The good ol' standby of 2.8 Bullseye is hard to beat.

oldsalt444 wrote:2.7 WST is considered "the load" for the 148 HBWC.  2.6 Titegroup is also a good choice.  Both have given me very good results.  The good ol' standby of 2.8 Bullseye is hard to beat.

Wouldn't your WST load be a larger drop than your BE load? WST is known to be not as hot as BE.

Jon Eulette wrote:Make sure you crimp them enough. Easy not to
Jon

Roll or Taper?
When I acquired my first M52, I searched all over and found roughly a 50/50 mix between the two.
So I purchased a Redding Taper Crimp for .38 Special and have done that ever since. Never had a feeding issue either other than excessive leading with a particular brand of HBWC.

Referring to the OPs post:
Personally, I'd use the Speer for practice/training. Save the Remington's for the long line (if they are the HBWC black lube). Give the Winchesters a whirl at the long line too.
For a long time, I used the Hornady HBWC and I think they shot rather well, even at 50 yards.
I also prefer the Zero HBWC and the Remington HBWC (with the nasty black crud lube)
I do not bastardize the bullet with changing the lube, they travel to the target as they left the shipping container, only a little faster.

zanemoseley wrote:

oldsalt444 wrote:2.7 WST is considered "the load" for the 148 HBWC.  2.6 Titegroup is also a good choice.  Both have given me very good results.  The good ol' standby of 2.8 Bullseye is hard to beat.

Wouldn't your WST load be a larger drop than your BE load? WST is known to be not as hot as BE.

I've wondered about that myself.  Can't account for the why and how of it, but I do know these loads produce some good groups.  Tried and true.

I have had great luck with Precision Delta and Hornady 148 gr. HBWC behind 2.5 gr. of Bullseye with a slight taper crimp (Lee Taper Crimp Die) so they feed reliably in my 52, and accurate too.

Does anyone have any experience with Alliant Sport Pistol powder for 38? There was a thread on this forum, but can’t get the search function to combine “sport” and “pistol”, so I get several hundred results. It seems to be compared with VV320 which I am unfamiliar with, seems to get good reviews on some other forums?

oldsalt444 wrote:

zanemoseley wrote:

oldsalt444 wrote:2.7 WST is considered "the load" for the 148 HBWC.  2.6 Titegroup is also a good choice.  Both have given me very good results.  The good ol' standby of 2.8 Bullseye is hard to beat.

Wouldn't your WST load be a larger drop than your BE load? WST is known to be not as hot as BE.

I've wondered about that myself.  Can't account for the why and how of it, but I do know these loads produce some good groups.  Tried and true.

If I'm not mistaken the late Jerry Keefer recommended the 2.7 of WST. I shot some today through a S&W Model 15 and it was impressive!

There is a damn good 700X load as well that I won't guess at right now, but accurately dropping light charges of 700X can be challenging...

One thing that has not been mentioned, is that you should make sure to trim cases to 1.15 exactly. The Model 52 is so much happier with cases that are 1.15 or less and groups best when they are all the same length. I shoot HBWC Remington bullets in matches, 2.8 Bullseye, and a good crimp.

Stay away from the button nose wadcutters.  Best I remember they won't work in a 52.  That little nose won't fit.

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