Wonderful Wadcutters:
From Target To Tactical
Buffalo Bore Ammunition and Lost River Ammunition Company
offer nice selections of full wadcutter defensive ammunition.
The “Keith” semi-wadcutter is a nostalgic favorite of mine for many reasons. Besides possessing all-around versatility and accuracy, the man who designed it has hero status by my way of thinking. Its design is relatively flat shooting, flatter than the more modernly designed LBT cast bullets Veral Smith designed for his excellent bullet molds.
Veral’s radiused flat-nose bullets carried more weight outside the cartridge case, increasing case capacity so more powder could be added to the cartridge case. Like Elmer, he also knew that flat-nose bullets created larger, permanent wound channels.
The larger the nose flat, or meplat, the larger the wound channel and the harder the bullet hit or slapped the animal being shot. Veral had various nose profiles, ranging from long, flat-nose designs to wide, flat-nose designs.
Tank’s practice handloads came from homecast RCBS .32 98m
grain and LEE .38 148-grain wadcutters loaded over 231.
The Ultimate Flat Nose
The full wadcutter is the ultimate flat-nosed bullet design. Originally designed for target use because of the large, perfectly round holes they made when punching through paper, competitors wanted any extra “edge” they could obtain by stretching the limits of the hole their projectile made.
It didn’t take long for someone to figure out if full wadcutters punched nice, neat holes in paper, they’d do the same to living flesh. Hence, carrying full wadcutter loads became a viable option for those preferring small revolvers, mostly S&W J-Frames, as their concealed carry shooter of choice.
Their downfalls? They have the ballistic coefficient of a brick, and reloading can be tricky with those blunt, full-caliber-sized noses. Reloads are best with SWC bullets or those with radiused-nose profiles.
Wadcutter loads have much lower muzzle blast than magnum loads while being known for driving straight and true through their intended target. They are perfect for close-quarter encounters when escape or avoidance is impossible. Savvy shooters know this, choosing to carry factory wadcutter ammunition in their beloved J-Frame-sized pocket guns.
The .38 Special is hands down the favorite cartridge for self-defense-minded citizens. Recently, .32 H&R has made a popular resurgence due to the introduction of Lipsey’s Ultimate Carry S&W J-Frame revolver. Its mild manners, recoil-wise, while exhibiting wonderful penetration in ballistic gelatin testing, have opened quite a few eyes in the self-defense field.
Lost River 125-grain TC .38 Short Colt, 100-grain .32 H&R, and 148-grain .
38 Special wadcutter loads. Buffalo Bore 100-grain .32 H&R and
150-grain .38 Special wadcutter loads. Tank’s handloaded wadcutters.
Lost River Ammunition Co.
Lost River Ammunition Company is owned by Ted McIntyre, a military veteran with a professional background managing U.S. Embassy Armories overseas, competitive shooter, hunter and woods bum. Besides that, he’s a heck of a nice guy!
I met McIntyre in Raton, N.M., back in June of this year. He’s a relative newcomer to the ammunition market, but he delivers a great product. One of the things I enjoy about his product is the use of poly-coated bullets.
For this subject, he makes two great wadcutter loads. The first is a 100-grain full wadcutter in .32 H&R, which I had the pleasure of shooting in Louisiana back in February for a conference sponsored by Lipsey’s and S&W for the unveiling of the S&W Ultimate Carry (UC) J-frame revolver. The little 100-grain wadcutter surprised everyone as it penetrated 24” of ballistic gelatin with a velocity of 794 fps from the 2” barrel of the UC.
To say the mild-mannered load opened some eyes among veteran gunwriters would be an understatement. Who wouldn’t love an easy shooting, hence, more accurate gun, capable of 24 inches of penetration? The .32 H&R UC was the more popular of the guns bought by those in attendance by about 2-1.
Lost River also makes a dandy 148-grain .38 Special full wadcutter. Listed at 800 fps, I averaged 780 fps from the 2” UC, according to my chronograph.
Another interesting load they make was designed for older shooters or those having severe arthritis in their hands — which is the curse for many who shot actively for years.
Loaded in .38 Short Colt brass, it’s a 125-grain poly-coat, truncated designed bullet listed at 850 fps. It too, is very light shooting, especially in your favorite .357 Magnum gun. So now you can dust off your favorite shooter and enjoy shooting it, free of pain, during and after range sessions.
Simply Rugged’s “Boomer” holster is the perfect way for
packing a J-Frame sixguns. This .32 H&R UC is loaded
with wadcutter loads.
Buffalo Bore Ammunition
Buffalo Bore Ammunition owner Tim Sundles is already established as an ammunition manufacturer known for quality, high-velocity, accurate ammunition. It didn’t take long for Sundles to develop a .32 H&R 100-grain full wadcutter load after the release of the .32 H&R UC. His load is listed at 900 fps from a 2” UC gun. Like most of his claims, the actual velocity exceeded the listed velocity at 905 fps from my chronograph.
Sundles also makes a dandy 150-grain .38 Special full wadcutter listed at 850 fps. He describes it as standard pressure short barrel low flash heavy non +p. From the 2” UC, I averaged 860 fps from my chronograph.
Ruger SP-101 loaded with Lost River 148-grain wadcutters.
Handloads
For .32 H&R, I used home-cast full wadcutters from my RCBS 98 grain mold. Loaded over 3.5a grains of 231, I averaged 843 fps. For .38 Special, I have a Lee Precision 6- 6-cavity 148-grain full wadcutter mold (90380). Loaded over 4.0 grains of 231, velocity runs 820 fps. I only use these as practice loads, saving factory ammunition for daily carry.
Full Wad Wrap-Up
The one thing all these bullets have in common is they’re made from hard-cast lead alloy, not soft-swaged lead. This makes a big difference in penetration, leading of the gun barrel and velocity in which the bullets can be driven. None of these loads leaded the barrels in the guns they were shot from.
Savvy sixgunners (and five-shot) know the effectiveness of hard cast full wadcutters when it comes to self-defense. The full-diameter meplated projectiles at moderate velocity produce wound channels much larger than the bullet itself, as it plows through flesh with minimal muzzle blast. What more could you ask for?
