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Is he making your .44 wadcutters?

No I have picked those up from a couple different sources over the years. I prefer 185 WCs, but the outfit I got those from was such a disaster I will never, ever order from the again. The single worst experience ordering bullets in 25+ years. Apparently I was not alone in my experience either.

The last batch of .44 wadcutters I picked up were 200 grainers from Rim Rock bullets of Montana. Great company, easy to deal with. I like both their prices and their bullets.

MIssouri Bullet company is another great outfit, though I don't believe they offer .44 WCs.

If you want to shoot them at more than target WC speeds try to stay clear of the common HBWC offered by Speer and Hornady. They will lead badly at all but the lowest speeds IME.

I shot up a couple thousand button nose WCs out of a Lyman mold that a buddy gave me. They were supremely accurate and swatted the snot out of rabbits. Cast about 12 BHN and greased with LBT lube there was no leading issues either.

Nice to see you back Mackay and an interesting topic...

Full charge 38 special double end wadcutters (dewc,) have great penetration , even when fired from a 2" snubbie. 3.5 grains Bullseye and a hardcast 150 grain dewc (NOT hollow base wadcutters, hbwc). Great self defense load.

Fwiw, loading a hbwc backwards (hollow base forward) does not give you penetration. It is not very effective for self defense (research results to prove it to yourself).

Ed Harris wrote about full charge dewc 38 special loading here:
https://www.grantcunningham.com/2011/11/ed-harris-revisiting-the-full-charge-wadcutter/

That's what I load in my S&W model 49 humpback "Bodyguard" snubnose. ( 3.5 grains Bullseye + 150 grain hardcast dewc sized 0.359"). Accurate to 25 yards. Near 1 inch groups at point of aim at 7-10 yards. I have actually taken my model 49 out squirrel hunting with it with good success. Fun.

More discussion on 38 special full charge dewc loads here:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...l-Charge-quot-38-Special-Wadcutter-Loads

44 mag full charge dewc reading here:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?387589-Anyone-loading-stout-44-mag-full-wadcutters

An internet search will uncover even more in on full charge dewc in both 38 special and 44 mag. It is a very good loading, and largely overlooked.

Atomic ammo from Texas loads the hbwc reversed.

Thanks Mackay.

Buffalo Bore loads a hardcast 150 gr. wadcutter to 850 fps from a snub barrel. It is my load of choice for my Airweight S&W's.

And Underwood also.

I don't know how the accuracy would be, but with a snub nose, you ain't gonna be doing any long range precision shooting anyhow. JMHO,YMMV.

not picking on anybody, but the above comment always reminds me of a woman first name myrna. she was the wife of a instructor long time ago when i was playing county mountie. At firearms training classes, she watched everybody shoot and make excuses, then she would pull out a little snub nose smith and do head shots on a target at 50 yards.
leaving the young troops in a state of awe.
Now unsaid she was a competitor, and fired thousands of rounds a year.
i would never have wanted to be down range of her.

also reminds me of fumbling with my first rifle a winchester 94 30.30. a guy was with us that date, about age 11 for me.
he was a cook at the restaurant my mother worked at. He got tired of watching me fumble, and proceded to show me how to do it. offhand, at 100yards, hitting a beer can and making it bounce. He said you need to shoot enough till you can do that.
I never forgot him either.

Underwood runs their load at 1,000 fps. That's just enough hotter that it gets a little nasty in an Airweight snubbie. Ok in a steel frame Chief's Special, Ruger 101, ect.

I just bought a batch of Missouri Bullet Company .44 coated lead 240 grain SWCs. I have not had opportunity to try them yet. I have used their other coated bullets in other calibers and have been very pleased with them. ACME also makes very good coated lead bullets. Graf & Son and Midway both carry these brands. Also, MBC sells directly. I really like a heavy SWC design coated bullet.

The Buffalo Bore is the only way to go!!

When my middle son carries his M60 3" Pro he uses that below. Thoughts?

https://www.federalpremium.com/hand...sonal-defense-hst-micro/11-P38HST1S.html

Ed - the Lucky Gunner video on that round is worth a look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXxbVP1mwGk

At 902 fps, I like the PPU 158 SWC's in my 642 Airweight. The hot HP's were getting to be a bit much on recoil since my hand injury. and who knows if the HP's are going to penetrate and expand, anyway?

The SWC's will penetrate and deliver a good chance of CNS disturbance.

https://www.sgammo.com/product/38-s...swc-158-grain-prvi-partizan-ammo-pph38ss

https://www.sgammo.com/product/38-s...swc-158-grain-prvi-partizan-ammo-pph38ss

As McKay mentioned, I carry an HKS speedloader or speed strips backup of HP's.

Thanks for all the input. I bought some Speer 158 grain semi wadcutters from Midway. They're on sale @ 8cents a bullet plus a rebate from Speer. Got free shipping today. She & I will practice with them. Then go & buy some factory loads made for the 38 LCR to CC with.

After reading the post by Mackay Sagbrush I ordered two boxes of Fiocchi 38 Special 148 grain LWC

Gotta see how they perform in my Wife's new J frame airweight.

I think lighter recoil will be a good thing for her, and it sure sounds like it will perform well.

Virgil B.

I shot a bunch of those Fiochhi wadcutters, very accurate in probably 2 dozen guns I shot them in. Be aware though that they are not a very powerful load. I wouldn’t want to get shot with one but they wouldn’t reliably penetrate a sheet of 3/8” rubber that covered our bullet trap. They’d rivet a little bit but just bounce off and fall to the floor. Not sure they’d be my pick for SD.

I suppose there is something to be said for practicing with the same ammo that you would carry for self preservation, but a tiny J frame is just not a lot of fun to shoot with full blown +P ammo. At self protection ranges, a standard practice wad cutter would not hit a target too much differently than a hot +P load. Why not practice with the mild stuff and carry the +P stuff?