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Wadcutter ammo?

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  • jbgramps

    Active Member
    Feb 20, 2011
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    Wadcutter ammo for the range? Good or bad idea? Never shot it before, but it's damn cheap. Is it worth a try in a couple on 9mm pistols?
    Military Camp
     
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    scap99

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    Nov 10, 2010
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    Non jacketed ammo is usually forbidden at indoor ranges.
    Outdoor is usually fine.

    Some barrels don't like lead, so be cautious if you are shooting a polygonal barreled pistol.
     

    Andy

    Active Member
    Sep 13, 2013
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    Dallas, TX
    Wadcutter ammo for the range? Good or bad idea? Never shot it before, but it's damn cheap. Is it worth a try in a couple on 9mm pistols?
    I shoot semi-wadcutters in my 45 all the time, as do many folks. Might feed in your pistol, might not - worth a try, assuming you trust whoever loaded it.
     

    benenglish

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    Nov 22, 2011
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    Wadcutter ammo for the range? Good or bad idea?
    Great idea. Like the name says, it cuts clean holes in the target.

    ...it's damn cheap.
    That's not my experience. Where is this cheap wadcutter ammo available?

    Is it worth a try in a couple on 9mm pistols?
    Hang on. Do you mean wadcutter or semi-wadcutter?

    Wadcutter:

    38_Special_WC_zps342ab06f.jpg


    Semi-wadcutter:

    38_SWC_zpsa79575f4.jpg
     

    karlac

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    Depends, and arguments rage, but a few bazillion rounds of WC has been fired by target shooters by choice down through the years. In my old S&W 38 Airweight Bodyguard, there is noticeably less recoil when shooting factory wadcutters, and accuracy also improves noticeably, making it a whole lot more fun to shoot and encouraging practice. The two indoor ranges I usually shoot at not only allow WC/SWC, they sell it, but ask first.
     

    rushthezeppelin

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    Dec 28, 2012
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    It depends on what 9mm you have. Some feed swcs fine some choke up. My cz clone eats them like candy as long as I load the cases right. Looser chambers and polished shallow angle feed ramps help big time.

    Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S III
     

    jbgramps

    Active Member
    Feb 20, 2011
    285
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    Austin
    Great idea. Like the name says, it cuts clean holes in the target.

    That's not my experience. Where is this cheap wadcutter ammo available?

    Hang on. Do you mean wadcutter or semi-wadcutter?

    I guess I should have explained. I was at my brother-in-laws farm yesterday shooting my new S&W Shield. My brother-in-law, the taxidermist, does his own reloading. He offered to reload some wedcutters for me. He has a range set up on his farm and wadcutters are all he shoots for targets. He's an old revolver guy and hates semi-auto pistols. But anyway, I can get all the wadcutter I can shoot for almost nothing (He still owes me money for doing his taxes). I'm OK shooting it in my revolvers, but I think I'll hold off on my pistols for now.
     

    ShootingTheBull

    Active Member
    Jun 18, 2013
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    I never thought it was good for, or intended for, anything but range use.

    Wadcutters were the most effective anti-personnel round prior to the introduction of hollowpoints. The flat face causes a lot more damage than a round-nose bullet does. Wadcutters were quite popular in .38 Special revolvers before hollowpoints were commonplace.
     

    karlac

    Lately too damn busy to have Gone fishin' ...
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    And, IMO, they're still not a bad choice for SD for some folks. Lower recoil, often improved accuracy, and less likely to go through walls and/or cause collateral damage in the event you're forced to use deadly force (which just might take away an issue from that zealous prosecutor you will likely be facing). Trade-offs.
     

    shortround

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    Jan 24, 2011
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    Best used in Revolvers. Semi-Autos may or might not shoot them reliably.

    My favorite: .38 Special 158 grain lead. Nice clean holes in a target.

    Bonus: Impressive performance for SD.
     

    ROGER4314

    Been Called "Flash" Since I Was A Kid!
    Jul 11, 2009
    10,444
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    East Houston
    I cast, loaded and fired a bazillion of the true wadcutter bullets. They tend to be made of soft lead, do well if velocities are kept moderate but will lead the barrel if driven too fast and will tumble if driven too fast.

    I never used them for SD rounds because they work best as moderate velocity target rounds.

    They do cut a very nice hole as compared to more pointed projectile.

    RE SEMI wadcutters.........My favorite bullseye load for 45acp uses a 200 grain semi wadcutter. I had a specially shortened slide spring for use with the reduced loads.

    None of this will fly in combat shooting or what ever they call it now. Lower velocities or lighter bullets will bump you out of "major" class and effectively disqualify you.

    Flash
     

    M. Sage

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    Jan 21, 2009
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    I guess I should have explained. I was at my brother-in-laws farm yesterday shooting my new S&W Shield. My brother-in-law, the taxidermist, does his own reloading. He offered to reload some wedcutters for me. He has a range set up on his farm and wadcutters are all he shoots for targets. He's an old revolver guy and hates semi-auto pistols. But anyway, I can get all the wadcutter I can shoot for almost nothing (He still owes me money for doing his taxes). I'm OK shooting it in my revolvers, but I think I'll hold off on my pistols for now.

    I've never seen wad cutters for an auto... Seems like it wouldn't want to feed. SWC, yeah. But some guns might not feed right.

    If he's casting his own, be aware that .38/.357 Magnum is .357" diameter and 9mm is .355" diameter. Shooting .357" diameter bullets in a 9mm will cause a rise in pressure, but with moderate loads you'd probably be alright, but non-jacketed stuff like WC and SWC would lead the living shit out of your barrel. Bullet/bore fit is fairly important in avoiding lead buildup, which is a pain in the ass to clean out (I don't generally like shooting stuff that doesn't have a jacket because of this).

    Also be aware that if you have a Glock or H&K pistol, your barrel most likely has polygonal rifling, and using that with lead bullets will lead to an blown-up gun pretty quick.

    Wadcutters were the most effective anti-personnel round prior to the introduction of hollowpoints. The flat face causes a lot more damage than a round-nose bullet does. Wadcutters were quite popular in .38 Special revolvers before hollowpoints were commonplace.

    From what I can tell, it's that they track straighter through tissue than round nose (which can veer way off line) when traveling through tissue.
     

    benenglish

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    Nov 22, 2011
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    I've never seen wad cutters for an auto... Seems like it wouldn't want to feed.
    With the .38 Special wadcutters or .32 S&W Long wadcutters for which they were designed, the Smith and Wesson Model 52 (.38),

    52_zpsf6ee98a4.jpg


    Sig P240 (.32 and .38, this one a .32),

    P240_zps314fe735.jpg


    a few Pardinis (such as this HP in .32)

    Pardini_HP_zpsde4a1387.jpg


    and a few others (mostly European, all .32s), feeding is just fine. In fact, those autopistols won't work with any ammo where the bullet protrudes from the case at all.

    Well, feeding is just fine when everything is tuned properly. To combat the finickiness of running rimmed wadcutters through autopistols, Pardini recently introduced a .32 ACP version of their gun and it is beginning to make inroads into Conventional Pistol competition in the U.S.

    PS on the Pardini - By rule, the competitions in which it was traditionally used prohibit compensators. Again by rule, compensators are defined as things that vent gas. To get around all this, Pardini designed an all-mechanical, internal compensator that doesn't rely on gas. It's really no big deal on their .32 guns but for their .22s used in ISSU Men's Rapid Fire, it has brought their brand to dominance.

    I can look at a picture, but I still can't figure out how it works:

    Pardini_HP_comp_zps4ef3ffdf.jpg
     

    Sapper740

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    Jan 21, 2013
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    Wadcutter ammo for the range? Good or bad idea? Never shot it before, but it's damn cheap. Is it worth a try in a couple on 9mm pistols?
    JB, you're probably talking about Semi-Wad Cutters, which function fine through any pistol I've shot them in. Over the decades from shooting IPSC competitions I've probably hand loaded and fired 40 to 50,000 .45 and 9mm rounds with nary a hiccup. The only caveat is to keep velocities around 1,000 f.p.s. or lower, depending upon the lead alloy, to avoid lead stripping and fouling your rifling.
     
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