38 Special Wadcutter Brass

Last year I rescued a S&W M52-2 from a black rifle and glock shop at a low price. A helpful member here sold me two magazines and Froneck made a trigger shoe to fix the trigger reach. It shoots pretty well with Zero 148 WC ammo.

I decided to reload 38spl for the 52-2 and bought 1000 pieces of used Winchester brass from Ken's Brass. While processing the brass (clean, size, trim to 1.145", sort out +P and WC) it looks like it will end up as about 750 pieces of regular 38spl brass, 150 +P and about 100 pieces Wadcutter brass.

At this point I think using the same case volume brass is most important. The wadcutter brass is interesting but will be set aside for now, as there isn't enough of it to really go into production with.

I'm really impressed with the L.E. Wilson case trimmer I'm using. Very consistent results. Very boring to use but the precision is exciting.

Is wadcutter brass very desirable? Does anyone sell wadcutter brass?

Just curious, have you checked case volume and wall thickness on all 3 to see if there still is a difference in STD/WC/+P.

Good question. Research leads me to think there would be, but I've had many professional successes by being skeptical of conventional thought and experts. 

Will check when able.

There probably isn't any difference.  Why would a manufacturer make 3 different brass cases for the same caliber?  Because of the head stamps they have to make two but that is a simple bunting die change.  But to make special thin walled "wadcutter" brass makes no sense as the whole drawing process has to change.

Wadcutter ammo is  cannelured differently as there is a case cannelure at the base of the wadcutter.  But that is a relatively simple change.

+p originally had thicker walls.

while I have a personal affliction for Winchester brass I only use it for the short line with the 38.. I run nothing but Remington brass for the long line..  some testing years ago convinced me it was better... even ran Winchester HBWC in Rem brass.

james r chapman wrote:Just curious, have you checked case volume and wall thickness on all 3 to see if there still is a difference in STD/WC/+P.

Running a t-gauge down a STD/WC/+P shows the WC has straight sides all the way to the base, and the STD and +P have the same taper near the base. I don't have a good way to measure wall thickness other than calipers, but all three measured the same.

The 400-500 pieces of Remington brass I have is nickel plated. The Zero ammo I shoot is nickel too, and the plating flakes make me nervous. I am expecting a jam someday from the flakes.

or a split case....

No real need for the cannelured brass cause the first time you resize it, it is gone(on the inside that puts a crimp at the base of the bullet from the factory).

Run what you have and personally would shy away from coated/plated brass for reloading.
I sell, give it away or chuck it in the trash.(great for new production ammo because of less friction, but sucks for the reloader; jmho).

Clarence

Wobbley wrote:There probably isn't any difference.  Why would a manufacturer make 3 different brass cases for the same caliber?  Because of the head stamps they have to make two but that is a simple bunting die change.  But to make special thin walled "wadcutter" brass makes no sense as the whole drawing process has to change.

Wadcutter ammo is  cannelured differently as there is a case cannelure at the base of the wadcutter.  But that is a relatively simple change.

Actually W-W factory wadcutter brass is thinner than the brass it makes for other loadings. Federal and Remington wadcutter brass doesn't seem to be as thin as W-W, but I've never measured it...just eyeballed.

OK this provoked me to compare some samples..
The + P Federal is only thicker at the web (base)
The Rem brass is sligthly thicker at the web than Fed or Win..
A few of the Rem samples were uneven..at the case mouth.. All were very close to the same thickness at the case mouth..
.009/.010
The case is extruded from blank stock.. IF, the extrusion punch relief begins to wear, or the punch is not centered in the die, the extrusion  flow will be uneven, resulting in a thick/thin condition..
So...not all brass is created equal..

A carbide extrusion punch...
You can see the relief and land that allows the brass to flow over the punch face and pull free when the punch is extracted..
Most punches are M-2 but we used many carbide punches..