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Posted: 12/26/2016 1:52:37 PM EDT
| i bought some 158 grain copper plated semi wadcutters to load for .38 special. i cant find any load data in my hornady or lee book. hornady has load data for a lead bullet but not copper plated. what would be a good source of info? they also have a cannelure, so would i set them to that depth and crimp in the middle of the cannelure? i have never reloaded with a bullet that has a cannelure so any help is appreciated. |
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First step is
Get the Lyman 50th Manual. This is the gold standard for finding handgun loading data. The let bullets Hornady makes are Swaged and softer than hard case bullets. Plated bullets use the same data as hard cast bullets. Your OAL is dependent on the bullet. |
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Quoted:
i bought some 158 grain copper plated semi wadcutters to load for .38 special. i cant find any load data in my hornady or lee book. hornady has load data for a lead bullet but not copper plated. what would be a good source of info? they also have a cannelure, so would i set them to that depth and crimp in the middle of the cannelure? i have never reloaded with a bullet that has a cannelure so any help is appreciated. Yes crimp mid cannelure. |
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I use 3.85 grains of WW-231 when loading 158 grain lead semi-wadcutter bullets. Ten thrown charges weigh 38.5 grains. This load achieves 850 fps which makes it a maximum load using my components.
Plated bullets use the same load data as lead. My maximum load is much lower than any data I could source, almost 1.0 full grain below many publications. I use my chronograph to establish my limits. I never use more powder than any listed maximum. I never exceed the velocity of published maximums. |
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Every source I have seen for plated bullets calls for starting loads for lead cast bullets.
This is where I start (because I am careful ) but most times I find them to be weak loads and need to crank them up some. Plated bullets can be crimped at any length but if your bullet has a canalure you might as well use that as long as it gives you a proper length that fits all your guns. As someone else said the plated bullets are usually quite soft under the thin plating so they require a gentle crimp compared to what is usually used for lead or jacketed. When starting with your light loads be cautious of sticking a bullet in the barrel . A clue would be any round that seems quieter than usual |
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Thanks for the help and suggestions everybody. I went with 3.4 grains of bullseye. But now I am splitting cases. Am I not Belling the case enough? One was a nice long split down the side. I had another one that had 3 small splits right where the crimp was
This bullet is giving me issues. I have loaded .38 before and never split a case |
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