Factory 38 Wadcutters Compared To Progressive Reloads 

That one cylinder probably was slightly larger in the throat and allowed the bullet to tip sideways when entering the forcing cone.

Perico De Lospalotes - Thanks, they are of a long gone breed...Best Regards to ya, FC

Oheeeoh - Thanks - I really do say that every time I shoot that gun. The Colt Python is regarded as the best revolver Colt ever produced. The actions are all tight, smooth and superb, and I have never heard of one that did not shoot accurately. I would never have purchased one back in the day except that I was competing in PPC at the time. You'd have to have a revolver custom worked by a gunsmith to equal it today - or buy a high end Smith and Wesson. Have a great day

My father bought a S&W model 28 Highway Patrolman .357 in 1963, brand new in the box for $65! I have inherited it and have since put over 11,000 very hot loads through it! It is extremely accurate and has not loosenedone bit since the dy dad purchased it! I have foond that wadcutters are only good for target shooting, as they were designed exclusively for that purpose, however, if you are shooting hollow case wadcutters, preferably plated and reverse the bullet, inverting the hollow base, and seating it out about a sixteenth of an inch from the end of the case and using a powder like Blue dot and boosting the velocity to around 1600 fps that they make devastating defense loads! My step dad and I developed these loads 30 years ago and went out to see what they would do. We used a 12"X12"creosote soaked gate post as a target and with only 2 shot were able to COMPLETELY sever the top 12"of the post! The expansion was simply amazing! These would be great loads for defense and when i carry the Smith, that's what I carry! Wadcutters are a waste for anything but target use and that's OK, but if you want to make them more versatile in .357 Magnum, try this loading and I think you'll find them much better than most factory hollow points in use today! I liked your video but didn't find it useful for me, personally as I don't compete in bullseye competition! Your recommendation of the LEE bullet mould is a good one for SWC bullets! Take care!

Kim Curtis - Appreciate your thoughtful comments - thank you for posting. I had a M28 Highway Patolman also - back in the Super Vel era - shot max hot lightweight JHP 357s out of that gun as fast as I could buy and reload the bullets. Yes, I have tried those reverse loaded HBWCs in that gun, and because the bullets are swaged lead and soft, those thing expand just looking at 'em. Driven to 950 fps, they will expand with gusto. At close range, those are incredibly expansive. However, if it ever came down to their use, the inevitable would be having to defend the use of "barbarian bullets" in a court of law not only in a criminal trial, but also the civil trial that would follow...Testimony would be given by forensic docs on the tissue destruction, etc. Best policy to use only factory ammo for any defensive application. Best to ya, FC

ScubaOz - Een though the revolver has almost disappeared in Bullseye shooting, the sport of PPC still uses lots of the wadcutter ammo. But the 38 wadcutter is too useful to ever disappear and go away...Part of the reason the Pythons were so accurate was the bore tapered down towards the muzzle by a thousandths or two increasing accuracy. Have a great day, and thanks for posting... FC

deadeye2658 - Congrats on being a Ransom Rest owner. Perhaps that is the main reason I've never seen a Ransom Rest used at either of our local ranges...the benches are on the mediocre side. If I wrote for a firearms magazine, I'd have one. And if I had gotten into NRA Bullseye shooting, the Ransom would have been very handy for accuracy evaluation. Closest I got was PPC shooting. If our WC reloads shot along with Winchester Match, we were happy. Best to ya for a fine 2017..!! FC

bobblenuts - If you powder coat those wadcutters, the powder coat is the lube. You won't need to add anything additional unless you want to see if accuracy is improved. Never hurts to add lube, and we have options on that - tumble lube 'em or traditional lube with a lube-size machine. But again, powder coating is all you need to give you clean shooting. If you measure your cylinder throats, just size the powder coated bullets .001" bigger and you are in business. Good shootin' to ya, and please keep in touch as to your progress... Steve Elvis has stopped making videos until further notice. That good dude is much missed...

+jeffie8696 -- You have every reason to like plated bullets. The plated bullets were developed for the competition shooters who needed lots of clean, low smoke ammo faced with expensive jacketed bullet use. Ranier and Berry are the two leading producers of plated bullets. And some lines of factory ammo are loaded with plated. Shooters lament casting as time consuming and slow - but that's because they haven't fully realized the goodness of 6 cavity TL molds and today's use of 45/45/10 lubing and powder coating. My own cast bullets still beat out any purchased bullet for general shooting and economy. Have a great day, FC

+FortuneCookie45LC Do you think the plated hollow base bullets would be the ticket for polygonal rifling like Glock? I never fired any lead bullets in my Glock 19 , I only remember using 147 grain Silvertips with WSF powder which it liked. But I have heard concerns regarding polygonal rifling and lead bullets. I would like to see a side by side accuracy comparison of plated flat base and plated hollow base 124G 9mm bullets.

+jeffie8696 -- Reloads using weakened or old brass are hazardous for use in Glock factory barrels no matter what bullet is being used. I got around this issue by shooting only factory FMJ in my Glock 19 and 34 factory barrels and only shooting reloads in my after market barrels. Same with my Glock 21 and Glock 20. I don't shoot plated bullets very often, because plated bullets use cast bullet loading data - I'll just shoot cast bullets of my own. And now comes the era of powder coated bullets...I shoot them in my Glocks using the after market barrels...Other shooters have reported shooting lots of reloads in their factory Glock barrels without problems, but that is up to each shooter to decide... Good shootin' to ya, FC

Where might I find more info on the Lee 105 SWC you mention here? Thanks

Stefan Wolf - Always great hearing from you...If you have never tried wadcutters, I would recommend the Lee 357-158-SWC TL mold for your 357. It is a much more versatile bullet. Wadcutters are only for target shooting and perhaps small game hunting. The 158 SWC will let you do all the target stuff as well as go after medium game and even big game with you 357 ( big game as long as the perfect shot is presented). Best to ya

Troy Ortega - Thanks for posting. I have the original Python grip stocks. Any shooter interested in bullet casting should start collecting their base lead (I call that Stage 1 lead) You should inquire at the shooting range about their range scrap lead policies - Let them know you are a bullet caster. Do they have a time that you can pick up range scrap? Do they allow range scrap pick up during target changes? Please protect yourself from the dust if you do have to dig into berms. Picking up lead that is on top of the ground is easy and exposure to dust is not an issue. Do they allow shooters access to the range scrap that is picked up during range clean ups? A good source is to ask the knowledgeable rangemasters - the rangemaster at our range recently made a pickup of 700 pounds of lead in bricks...they know where the lead is. You might see if you can get into those deals they make. Another way would be to post a want ad on the range bulletin board - there are shooters out there with lead supplies they hoarded away and never got into casting. Free or low cost Stage 1 lead really makes bullet casting economical. Even if you have to buy your antimony and tin from RotoMetals, your cost per bullet will amaze you - I can load big bore ammo for less than $4 a box of 50. Good castin' to ya, FC

If you are getting that bad, (3 to5 MOA) at 50 feet you'd better do some load recalculation! Man, that's bad! You SHOULD, when reloading be able to get MUCH BETTER accuracy than factory loads! Work up different loads and find the BEST load that your gun likes! It should be LESS than MOA at 50 feet! I'm an old man and none of my reloads shoot more that ONE MOA at 25 YARDS! Best wishes. Hope this helps!

Kim Curtis - The loads were/are fine - 2.8 grains of Promo and 148 grains HBWCs were shooting 3/4" from unsupported barrel rest at 25 yards (one dropped shot probably from thrown powder charges). That is 3 MOA or 1 1/2" groups at 50 yards...The factory Winchesters were shooting slightly better at 25 yards. Happy Holidays to ya, FC

Kim Curtis - Just happened to come back and saw your comment again... Congrats on your reloads shooting 1" at 25 yards. We are probably talking definitions and semantics here, but I always thought that one MOA is one minute of angle or 1" at 100 yards - translates to 1/4" at 25. Since that is not a practical figure with handguns, I am assuming you mean 1" at 25 yards which is still amazing accuracy for all your reloads. So again congratulations are in order... Have a great day, FC

stolleteddy - Factory wadcutters will group into 1 1/2" at 5 yards from an accurate revolver. Ransom rest would be the way to test. My own wadcutter loads shoot into 2 1/2" at 50 - that is plenty good for our PPC shooting as we shot courses that included the 35 yard prone. But when the state boys came in and took over our PPC matches, there was a 50 yard prone included. I used my reloads for practice basically. A compromise that I used was some commercially loaded wadcutter ammo that I purchased in 1000 round bulk pack cartons.. They shot like my best reloads. .Wound up with a barrel full of 38 empties shooting that stuff...all loaded with w-W brass that I still use in profuse quantities today... Best to ya, FC

I've taken some of my wad-cutters apart with a regular kinetic energy hammer and even pushed out the live primer

Scott Free - we’ve all learned to wear ear plugs in addition to the muffs. And I supply all of that to new shooters I bring to the range. Ir’s good. Have a great 4th, FC Steve

I would too, but I could buy 2 or more S&W's for the same money.

Charles Frazier Oh, I don't disagree, they are stupid expensive. A Korth would be great too. I just want one really really nice revolver. The MR-73 would really scratch that itch. Very robust gun and a trigger that is almost unmatched.

mytmousemalibu - You've got good tastes, Chris. I only have that Python because of its use in PPC shooting - that gun has shot a lot of rounds, but you wouldn't know it to look at it. The holsters we used were PPC holsters - not very secure, but didn't wear the gun much. I should have bought more Pythons... Best to ya, FC Steve

Willie Bulletman "...very lucky..." "Those who fail to plan, plan to fail." Buy one / move to where you are FREE to do so ...

Ed Knutson - Thanks for your comment, Ed. You sound like a fine shooter perhaps competition. I don't own a Ransom rest because the handgun benches at the range I shoot at are not worthy of one (see some of my videos). In 40 years of shooting on several ranges, I have never seen a Ransom Rest being used by anyone bar none. But that's not even all of it. - Look at all the work shooting off sandbags today - If sandbags were Ransom rests, then why is the sport of benchrest shooting so challenging? Sandbags do not test ammo accuracy either as if the group shot is unacceptable, how do we know how well that particular shooter can shoot off sandbags? It could be world record .007 MOA ammo shot by a lark. And when Ransom rests are used, how do we know the RR was set up properly with the proper inserts on a rock steady bench, etc if the group is "big"? If we really want data, we need multiple 10 round groups and Sierra Bullets shoots from immovable test barrels on their 300 meter underground 0 alibi range. To statistically establish ammo accuracy, we would burn out barrels doing so. How did shooters of yesteryear, before there were benches, rests and sandbags establish ammo accuracy? They knew when the ammo was accurate because when they touched off a round and called their shot, the bullets hit right where they were supposed to. And then they repeated that several times...the bullets kept hitting where they were called (or near enough to fall into the accuracy criteria)...the shooter knew the ammo was "accurate". And this can be established shooting offhand if the shooter is able to "touch off" and call the shots offhand. Now if a shooter cannot "touch off" off hand, then the nearest fallen tree trunk or rock with saddlebags thrown over it will suffice. When I show a group I shoot offhand and say the ammo is accurate, it is because the ammo is more accurate (not less accurate) than I can shoot. And if a better shooter is behind the wheel, then the groups will be smaller. If worse, then larger. But we can all determine the accuracy of the ammo... Best Regards to ya, and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays..!! FC

mike messier - Thanks, mike..!! You use few words to convey a lot of experience, knowledge and wisdom. Appreciate your posting... Continued good shootin' to ya, FC

gerard sansano - This was a comparative video only and did not require a Ransom rest. But you are certainly right - trying to duplicate the Winchester factory match wadcutters (1 1/2" at 50 yards) would be a very admirable project. Best to ya, Steve

I'm about to start loading WC on my 550. I see UniqueTek offers special powder drops and seating stems for this.. Do you know if these items have a noticeable advantage?

@@fenomeno71 I saw their site, the powder drops are for polymer coated bullets. I shot hard lead SWC, so no special seating stem was needed. I have seated the bullets base up, with the Dillon seating die, though I did not make a lot of them. Honestly I never considered whether the flat wadcutters needed a special seating stem.

taylorman1949 - I find that the rest used really doesn't matter that much. My Calwell pistol rest has a yoke for the barrel so resting the gun there is fine. But the customary way of resting the wrist or edge of hand on the rest with gun not touching the rest works just as well (the thought of that is that the gun behaves same as offhand hold). But the differences are not significant at pistol ranges. The sharpness of the eyes matters much more especially since that degrades well before any trigger finger issues. The younger shooters see the world in sharp relief and have no reference point otherwise. But in time, they will know. Best to ya, FC Steve

AbitNutz - Earlier Pythons had a very slight forcing cone to barrel crown with a slight taper down for maximum accuracy...That was unique to factory guns...Best to ya, FC

When will you be putting videos on Rumble?