Speer Swaged 38 cal 158 gr SWC HP and PC

[Hickok]

I have been PC'ing some Speer swaged lead .38 cal 158 gr.SWC HP's and loading them in .357 magnum.

From what I can find, they are about 8 bhn, as a member of this forum tested them.

I cleaned off the wax lube that Speer puts on them with mineral spirits, heated them up in the PC oven for a few minutes to get the wax out of the hollowpoint. These swaged bullets mic at .355"-.356" so I gave them two coats of Smokes signal blue powder, which brought the up to .359-360" depending on how well the coating did. I then sized them to .358".

Shooting a stiff load with Bluedot out of a Smith Model 19 with 4 inch barrel I am getting right at 1200 fps, accurate and no leading.

The patches pictured are the first and 2nd patches after 18 rounds fired. Just some powder residue. It is not real comfy right now out in the woods, so that was all the rounds I fired. Had the F150 locked down in low range just to off the hardtop.


Attachment 161189


Attachment 161190

[3006mv]

Good job thanks for posting, nice looking rounds

[Mica_Hiebert]

I miss the old speer 140 grain semi wad cutter, hollow point, half jacketed bullets

[Hickok]

I wanted to try this in a .357 Mag, because over the years, I have found the .357 will lead a barrel quicker for me more than any other revolver I shoot, if everything is not up to spec.

One thing I have found with PC. It seems older boolits don't PC as well as freshly cast boolits. These boolits were setting around for about 8 or so years. Even after cleaning, the first coat of PC was spotty, but the second did a fine job. The only reason I wanted 2 coats was to get the diameter up, as these boolits were small, @ .355-356".

Being soft lead HP's @ 1200fps, these boolits might be good for varmits and pests, as I fear they would have violent expansion.

Mica I agree with that. I liked all the Speer half-jacketed SWC's. They worked great for hunting.

My cleaning patches are too cute, as I grabbed a pair of scissors and a cotton rag/old tee shirt and snipped of a couple real quick.