Identification of .38 special round???

[Frnc4891]

Ok got another one... Anyone know what this is???

[gun-nut]

Westren use to be there own co. till sometime i think in the 60's when winchester bought them up. The case was marked W-W. W-W= winchester westren But i think that the westren name has now been droped but not shure. Westren is how winchester got the Supper-X brand.

[Frnc4891]

Originally Posted by gun-nut

Westren use to be there own co. till sometime i think in the 60's when winchester bought them up.

Neat. Any idea what this particular round was for?

[cycloneman]

Originally Posted by Frnc4891

Neat. Any idea what this particular round was for?

practice punching paper.

[gun-nut]

Looks like a simple Wad Cutter to me. Nothing spl. Find a 38 spl and go have some fun putting holes in paper.

[gun-nut]

If you still have the box with all the rds in it and the box is in darn good shape it might look better on the shelf. JMO

[Twicepop]

Its a .38 Special Wad Cutter round, designed for target shooting to punch a neat round hole in paper targets. It also make a very good defensive load, it a punches neat round holes in zombies and gremlins as well.


those who beat their guns into plowshares, will plow for those who didn't

[Alpo]

Bullseye target shooting is scored by the highest numbered ring your bullet hit.

This target was shot with round nose ammo. Look at that one at 12:00. Is it all in the 9 ring, or did it juuuuust cut the 10? Can't tell. Round nose bullets tear the targets.



Now, this one was shot with wadcutters. See the pretty perfectly round holes? See the one at 3:00. There can be no question that it did NOT cut the 8-ring. Round nose bullet? You would not have been able to be sure.

[RJay]

Looks to be a .38 Special Wad Cutter used ni the Model 59.

[Alpo]

You mean the 52?

[X Ring]

Why not the model 10 or 15 or 64? Among others.

[Old Grump]

To expensive for practice so we shot 45 hardball in practice but then shot those WW 148 gr wadcutters with our S&W M52's in matches to clean the civilians clocks in the centerfire portion of the bullseye matches. When I got to All Army level they still issued us the 52 but only let us shoot hardball 45 in the centerfire match. I still have a few hundred of them but don't shoot them anymore because I no longer have a 52 to shoot them in and they shoot way high in my .357's. Worst yet they don't group nearly as well as my hotter loads.

[Alpo]

Originally Posted by X Ring

Why not the model 10 or 15 or 64? Among others.

This is true. It's just a 38 wadcutter. Nothing special about it. Would work fine in any 38 special revolver and the Smith auto. Maybe even the Gold Cup.

But a 59 was a 9mm, so I presumed he meant 52, which was a 38.

[mikld]

Originally Posted by X Ring

Why not the model 10 or 15 or 64? Among others.

The S&W Mod. 52 was/is a semi-auto target gun chambered in .38 Special and was designed to feed wadcutters. Note the wadcutter in the pic is seated flush with the case mouth, they did this to enable feeding. Most loads for the 52, I believe, were hollow based wadcutters loaded mild. Of course the rounds pictured will be fine in any gun chambered for .38 Special.

[Lanrezac]

As Old Grump says, the standard bullet weight for these 38 Special wadcutters was 148 grains. They were loaded to a lower velocity than the standard 158 grain RNL 38 Special load. My understanding was that the bullet weight and velocity was intended to match the older 38 S&W ballistics, since it was popular for target shooting in its day.

I believe they were called "wadcutters" because the neat paper circles they cut out of targets reminded people of the paper or card wads used in loading shotshells before the advent of plastic shells with plastic wads.

They were once extremely popular for target shooting. Even though their shape is very unsuitable for automatic pistols, both S&W and Colt made them for it. The Army Marksmanship Unit even had a special "rimless" version made, and special Colt pistols for shooting it.

They seem to be much less popular now. I don't see them much on ammo tables at gun shows.

32 S&W Long is also still available with 100 grain wadcutter loads. For that cartridge, the bullet weight and velocity are pretty much the same as the standard RNL load. I don't recall seeing other calibers with wadcutters as factory loads, but handloaders have used them in a wide variety of cartridges.

Just my $.02!

[Bud0505]

Wadcutters are great for target practice. I use 2.8 gr Bullseye with 148 gr HBWC. Shot 250 of them Wednesday morning and intend to load about a 1000 of them tomorrow morning.