I have a 38 cal snubnose and I want to know if it is safe to load the bullet hollow base forward, and what powder to use ,to make a load for a home- defense weapon. Has anyone tried this out on Wood etc. Thanks

My dad loaded 38 cal HBWCs back in the mid `60s for home use and used I believe Unique under them. I don`t recall much except they flattened on anything and one could peel them off a fence post as they didn`t penatrate hardly at all. It seems accuracy was exceptable for across the bedroom use.

I don`t know why but after some playing he dropped them and returned to JHP in his handguns.

Way back when, I played w/ inverted HBWC. They are incredibly destructive w/ shallow penetration. I have taken a dozen or so jackrabbits w/ them. I would use a target vel. load, like 4gr Unique for 750fps or so.
Better still, just go w/ a hot 125grJHP in any of the good +p loadings, or the 158grLSWCHP +p. These will be more accurate & do a fine job in your snub.

I used them in a Smith snubby for general purpose flesh destruction. Mostly sharks and 'cudas. About 3.0 grains of Bullseye and they will decapitate a 4' 'cuda. Never considered that they would penetrate a fence post but fish don't stop them.

No problem loading them backwards, however, you will not accomplish anything!

There are companies that make ammo specifically for snubbies. Check Corbon for one.There is a limit to how fast you can drive the HBWC as it is soft lead.

Back many years ago when I first heard of it, they were supposed to be The Thing for home defense. So, I made some up and discovered that I could never get what I considered very good accuracy with them. Went back to 110gr or 125gr JHPs depending on the revolver.

Then I read some article where they mentioned if you ever do need to Defend yourself, be sure to be carrying a Factory Load. Not because of the reliability, but because the Legal hassel that would ensue, would try to make you look like the Bad Guy for creating a Man-Killer Load.

So, that sounded like good advice and I carry factory ammo in the house. Even got some of the excellent Winchester Black Talon and as those of you who are old enough to remember know, it is apparently way to dangerous to use on people because it's design tends to kill them very effeciently. And our fine (protect the bad guys at all costs) clinton folks had Winchester quit making them.

Of course, Winchester actually improved the original design slightly, renamed them and now we have some of the finest and most deadly factory ammo available from ALL the Factory folks.
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I shoot my reloads, shoot and replace the factory ammo, and carry Factory ammo in all my revolvers and pistols (except when Hunting) as this is being whammed in. Always loaded - always ready, otherwise they are expensive hammers.

As to being sued for shooting someone with a handload, this was chewed over a while back.
It is an Urban Legend, never happened.
If you shoot someone you have a lot of troubles
just not that one.
Good Luck!

I always figured to tell the jury that I wanted to make sure the perp was dead...so he wouldn't sue me later. Criminal proceedings are bad enough, but Civil trials are a real nightmare, just ask OJ if you don't believe me.

Use to load 2.7gr/Bulleyes with 148gr HBWC worked great in my S&W 52. I just used mine for target shooting.

Do a web search for Paco Kelly 38 loads, and you should find some interesting writings on doing exactly that, and what said loads can do.

I would not call such a load useless, altho it has a specialized use and quite a bit of limitations.

I remember reading Skeeter Skelton talk up the reversed HBWC's back in the 1960's. He like them and used them to hunt. In the 1980's, I started to experiment with them. I loaded up a bunch with about 3.0gr of Bullseye. This was a fairly low-recoil for my wife to use. Then I tested them with my wife's snubnose and my K-38. I fired about 500 of them.

Accuracy was equal to factory target wadcutters up to about 15-20 yards. It was a little less at 25 yards. Things got worse from there. It was hard to get them onto a target at 50 yards. Interestingly, many of them at 50 yards were keyholed. I believe that they wadcutters were trying to reverse themselves like they were intended to be shot.

In shooting at various backstops (wet phonebooks, sand, earth, water), it often expanded in the classical sense. If not, it would usually flatten the skirt and plow sideways. Either way, the hole was pretty large. It never penetrated very far, but I would not want to be on the receiving end.

Anyway, it was perfectly adequate for my wife to use. Our bedroom is not more than the 15-20 yards in which it was accurate. If you can stand the recoil, there are better loads than this, but if you want low recoil, these would make a nasty wound.

Jim Cirillo of NYPD stakeout squad fame also did this when JHPs were harder to come by. He used his handload in several shootings. I don't believe he would recommend it over a JHP today.

Cor-Bon does make several .38 Sp. +P loads designed for short barrel revolvers. They used to make a 115 gr. load that used a 9mm bullet so that penetration would be enhanced vs. using a 110 gr. .357" JHP. I tried that little experiment and found that .38 Sp. brass would not adequately crimp the 9mm bullet. Made it work by trimming down .357 Magnum brass to .38 Sp. length and used 115 and 124 gr. 9mm bullets, mainly because I had an abundance of them. I guess Cor-Bon uses an expanding die that is small enough to do this with .38 Sp. brass. A Lyman step die might allow you to use .38 Sp. brass. Mine get crimped with a REDDING 9mm taper crimp die. Nowadays, I just use .357" 125 gr' JHPs and the loads are specifically for snub .357 MAGNUM revolvers in the short .357 Magnum case for revolvers with short ejector rods like the Smiths under 3" and 7 shooters that have been prone to have sticky extraction. If you do this for a .38 Special snub, MAKE SURE YOU USE .38 SPECIAL LOAD DATA.

Checked at http://www.nationalbullet.com and they make a 148 gr. hollow base wadcutter. There bullets are hard cast at 18 Brinnell and if the HBWC is cast to 18 Brinnell, I believe it would be a much better choice than a soft swaged HBWC. Shouldn't peel off of fence posts anyway! The cavity is not as deep as those on swaged bullets, so some expansion should take place and penetration should be much better than a swaged bullet.

Thanks All for contributing. I do remember J Cirillo but did not remember that he used that 38 load. What has always baffled me is that most shooters consider the 110 gr. Bullet HP. a real killer at a velocity of say 1300 ft/sec. in a 357 cal and a 110 gr. softnose US Carbine round going at 1900 FT/sec. mediocre. Maybe someone has the answer.I happened to find a box of 38 cal HBase WC and like to find out. I have a little 38 5 shot Taurus and thought the Hollow base reversed might be interresting to see. I live in the Peoples Republic of California and agree that using Factory ammo is a must. I`ll get back in a couple of weeks and report my findings. Thinking about it: Defense load is not a good idea. Marlin