I’m new to the forum. I’m getting back into reloading after a break of about 25 years. My experience is limited. Back in the 1980’s I reloaded about 500 or so 30-06 cartridges. That’s it.

For now, I’m going to be reloading for a 38 Special with Speer 148 grain HBWC’s. I have all the equipment and materials I need except for the powder. I was planning on using Bullseye but am open to suggestions. I want a powder that will work well with a variety of 38 and 357 loads in case I get tired of the wadcutters.

I bought RCBS 38/357 dies P/N 18212. Is the expander plug in the expander die for .357 bullets or .358 lead bullets? Or is it for both. Do I need a different expander plug for these HBWC’s?

The other things I’m not sure about is bullet seating and crimping. I’ve never done any crimping since the 30-06 didn’t need it. How do I tell how much crimp to apply with these bullets? Do I seat the HBWC’s perfectly flush with the case mouth with just a little crimp? The Hornady Manual lists the max. case length at 1.155 and the max C.O.L. at 1.550. I’m not sure what to do.

Also, how important is it to trim all the cases to exactly the same length (1.145) before loading them?

Thanks for any help you can give. I want to do this the right way. Any help will be really appreciated.

2.9 to 3.1 grains of Bullseye was the traditional target load for 148 gr. wadcutter and SWC bullets for many years. I fired 10's of thousands of that range of loads in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

I used Lyman dies at that time instead of RCBS, but found my Lyman dies worked just fine for both .357 and .358 diameter bullets, whether solid base or hollow-based. It is important with hollow base bullets to put a tiny bit of "flare" to the case mouth to give the hollow base an easy entry into the case. Once started, the bullets tend to act as their own plug for opening the case as they are seated. I'm sure some reloaders disagree and use a special oversize plug in one of the dies in their die set to open cases for hollow-base slugs, but I never found I needed to.

If you are using a die set which "roll crimps" the bullets into the cases, then trimming cases to the same length is very important before the first reload and about every 3rd-to-5th reload thereafter. Having the cases exactly the same length makes the crimp uniform, which improves accuracy and produces more uniform pressures when the reloaded ammo is fired.

With a taper crimp die instead of a roll crimp die, trimming is probably less important, so long as you measure the cases each time you reload, to make sure they aren't too long for the chamber. Some chambers are bored straight through all the way through the cylinder, and with them one really doesn't have to worry about the cases being too long, as the cases headspace on the rim, not the end of the case.

But, other cylinders are bored (chambered) in such a way that there is a "step down" in chamber size at the intended bullet end of the case. With such a chambering method employed, if the case is a little too long, the cylinder itself will either prevent a too long case from fully chambering at all, or will act to increase the roll crimp at the end of the case. Neither is a good thing, as both interfere with the uniformity of firing and/or pressures.

If you want to be able to use one powder for both light target loads and medium-to-heavy hunting loads, another classic powder used for many decades in the .38 Special was and still is Unique...formerly produced by Dupont, then by Hercules, and now by Alliant. Some folks found it a bit too dirty burning for their preferences, but there are many newer powders of about the same burn rate with similar flexibility, and with much cleaner burns. Anyway, as I asume you clean your pistol(s) after every firing anyway, Unique still is a fine performer.

Have fun, and remember to read everything you can get your hands on about reloading. The more info you have, the more likely it is you can build a perfect handload for your use in just about any application.

Thanks for the info. I'll probably start with Bullseye, Unique,or W231. I'd like to use a clean-burning powder if possible, so I'm open to any suggestions. Should I lubricate the inside of the case mouth before expanding it like I used to do on the 30-06? Is that standard procedure with straight-walled pistol cases?

If you want clean use power pistol!


I have a powder through expander, I do not use lube and never had any issue.

Unless you want to go through the hassle of cleaning the inside of the cases after you have sized them but before you have thrown the powder charges into them, then DON'T LUBE the inside of them. Lubing makes it a PITA to get small charges thrown by a powder measure all the way to the base of the inside of the case. Small grain fast burning powders tend to stick to the lube, and part of the charge ends up in the bottom of the case, and part of the charge is up near the top, stuck to the lubed areas.

After all, 2.7 to 3.1 grains of Bullseye is VERY LITTLE powder physically, even compared to a small capacity case like a .38 Special.

Having the powder spread all over the inside of the case, and some of it soaked with lube, is not going to help the consistency of the burn or the accuracy of your loads..

Anyway, with short, thin, straight-walled cases such as the .38 Special, you don't need to lube the inside of the cases.

And, I would recommend a set of carbide dies, so you wouldn't need to lube the outsides of the cases either. You can usually find a good used set of carbide .38 Special dies at a gun show for about $15.

And if you call RCBS and tell them your dies are new or almost new and that you want to upgrade to a carbide set of theirs, Ill bet they'd do that on an exchange basis for very little money if any. They tend to go way beyond what they have to do in customer service for new handloaders.

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:
Unless you want to go through the hassle of cleaning the inside of the cases after you have sized them but before you have thrown the powder charges into them, then DON'T LUBE the inside of them. Lubing makes it a PITA to get small charges thrown by a powder measure all the way to the base of the inside of the case. Small grain fast burning powders tend to stick to the lube, and part of the charge ends up in the bottom of the case, and part of the charge is up near the top, stuck to the lubed areas.

After all, 2.7 to 3.1 grains of Bullseye is VERY LITTLE powder physically, even compared to a small capacity case like a .38 Special.

Having the powder spread all over the inside of the case, and some of it soaked with lube, is not going to help the consistency of the burn or the accuracy of your loads..

Anyway, with short, thin, straight-walled cases such as the .38 Special, you don't need to lube the inside of the cases.

And, I would recommend a set of carbide dies, so you wouldn't need to lube the outsides of the cases either. You can usually find a good used set of carbide .38 Special dies at a gun show for about $15.

And if you call RCBS and tell them your dies ar new or almost new and that you want to upgrade to a carbide set of theirs, Ill bet they'd do that on an exchange basis for very little money if any. They tend to go way beyond what they have to do in customer service for new handloaders.

this is good advice...... i use 3.0 gr. of bullseye with that bullet and good accuracy from the s&w model 27 6"................

Thanks. Sounds good. I won't lube the inside of the case mouth. The dies I recently bought are the carbide version, at least the sizing die is carbide. So I won't be using any lube at all. That'll be nice. I should have time tomorrow or the next day to test the expander and seating dies.

quote:

Originally posted by Shilo:
Thanks. Sounds good. I won't lube the inside of the case mouth. The dies I recently bought are the carbide version, at least the sizing die is carbide. So I won't be using any lube at all. That'll be nice. I should have time tomorrow or the next day to test the expander and seating dies.

Good man, Shilo! You got the right stuff to start with. We gun nutz call it a set of carbide dies (plural), but actually, as with your set, only the sizing die has any carbide in it. And even that is just a small ring of silicon carbide at the bottom entry of the die.

One warning, be careful not to drop your sizing die on a concrete floor or some other surface of similar hardness. Because silicon carbide is so hard itself, it tends to be brittle, and if it hits just wrong, can crack or shatter. Again, I'm sure RCBS Customer Service would replace it free, but you might have to pay the cost of mailing it to them, and even if they didn't want the old one returned you'd be without a sizing die until the replacement arrived at your door.

Anyway, have fun. You've picked a great cartridge, and a great way to spend an otherwise possibly dreary winter day.