Home Forums Reloading Handgun Reloading Berry's DEWC plated 148 gr

Couple of issues. I've scienced out a couple of loads for .38 Spl using Bullseye and Power Pistol and none of the 3 pistols I shot them in blew up. Loaded them IIRC about .05 off the throat to give me a little room for error as compared to loading flush with the case mouth and used a very slight crimp. Won't speak the loads right now because I don't want to rely on memory and they sure aren't factory tested. But would really like to hear what anybody else is doing with them. They make for a lot cleaner gun than plain cast lead with lube.

Another issue concerning plated bullets. Can they be hardened by quenching or other means. We shot up 250 rounds of the above mentioned rounds with no problem but I'd like the bullets to be a bit harder than pure lead if possible. These are to be carry loads in my wife's Airweight. Thinking a hardened and plated wadcutter should make a pretty good cookie cutter in a bad guy with enough hardness to say break a femur or other large bone if required and at 800 fps or so shouldn't be too hard to stay on target.

Loaded some with TiteGroup for my wife's 640, I like them a lot. I wouldn't worry about hardening them; I've fired Berry's 124's into hard ground from a 9mm and gotten very little expansion.

But if you really want harder bullets, order or cast some to the desired Brinnell and powder coat them.

Here is some test results that y'all may find useful that I ran fairly recently: Bullets were 138 gr., coated lead, solid base, button nosed, .38 wadcutters from BayouBullets.com. I tested them in two different 2" barrel guns, a .38 S&W M-36 and a .38 Charter Arms Undercover. Also tested in a .357 S&W M-19 4" barrel. All loads were with Titegroup powder and all primers were Winchester small pistol. Average velocities are from 5 rounds from each of the snubbies and 6 rounds from the 4" M-19.

M-19 3.5 gr. Titegroup 831 FPS
M-36 3.5 gr. Titegroup 765 FPS
Charter 3.5 gr. Titegroup 742 FPS

M-19 3.4 gr. Titegroup 839 FPS
M-36 3.4 gr. Titegroup 694 FPS
Charter 3.4 gr. Titegroup 746 FPS

M-19 3.3 gr. Titegroup 798 FPS
M-36 3.3 gr. Titegroup 695 FPS
Charter 3.3 gr Titegroup 718 FPS

Trying to find published load data for this bullet has been impossible, so far. I did get a verbal suggestion from an employee of the bullet manufacturer that seemed reasonable to me and these are the results. The day I tested them was cold and VERY windy. I made little effort to test them for accuracy. I mainly wanted to check velocity and get to somewhere warm before it started raining as well. There was no coating or lead residue in any of the barrels of the 3 guns. All cleaned up very easily. I think this bullet under 3.3 - 3.5 gr. Titegroup should do well for "business" use in a snubbie. Your thoughts?

It gets cold in Houston? Who knew?

Yes sir, it does indeed! Why I remember well our last big snow. It was Christmas eve 2004, just 16 years ago. Actually the cold I don't mind so much. I'm just a couple hundred yards from the bay, near the gulf. That damp cold wind is what chills me. I can tolerate a dry cold much better.

Good comments. Thanks