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38 wadcutter through a 357
- Thread starter cw308
- Start date
Recommendations? I've yet to find a "lead solvent" that actually works.but there are plenty of lead solvents that won't harm a stainless gun.
Jim
That is an interesting argument and it made me stop and ponder. I arrived at the decision that you meant the life's total of lead wadcutters you've sent through .357 revolvers, if all gathered up, are HEAVY enough in weight to sink a battleship.
What first occurred to me is that you were suggesting that with enough .38 Wadcutters, you could shoot a battleship to destruction.
Now either would be a feat but I sure wonder how long it would take to gun down a battleship with a revolver! I nominate Jerry Miculek just to speed things up.
What first occurred to me is that you were suggesting that with enough .38 Wadcutters, you could shoot a battleship to destruction.
Now either would be a feat but I sure wonder how long it would take to gun down a battleship with a revolver! I nominate Jerry Miculek just to speed things up.
"That is an interesting argument and it me stop and ponder. I arrived at the decision that you meant the life's total of lead wadcutters you've sent through .357 revolvers, if all gathered up, are HEAVY enough in weight to sink a battleship."
Either way.
Don't over think it, it's just an expression.
I have shot .38 Special wadcutters by the 10s of thousands in .357 revolvers and in my .357 Marlin carbine. Double ended wadcutters, hollow base wadcutters, plated wadcutters, sized and lubed wadcutters, Titegroup, Bullseye, in .38 Special cases, in .357 cases with and without the suppressor in the lever action ................ In fact, I typically load 1000 of them at a time. I have been doing this for probably 30 years. That is a lot of wadcutters.
Either way.
Don't over think it, it's just an expression.
I have shot .38 Special wadcutters by the 10s of thousands in .357 revolvers and in my .357 Marlin carbine. Double ended wadcutters, hollow base wadcutters, plated wadcutters, sized and lubed wadcutters, Titegroup, Bullseye, in .38 Special cases, in .357 cases with and without the suppressor in the lever action ................ In fact, I typically load 1000 of them at a time. I have been doing this for probably 30 years. That is a lot of wadcutters.
"...cleaning the cylinders would be a problem..." It's a 'must do', but isn't a big deal. A .45 calibre brush cleans the lube gunk out in one pass.
"...a "lead solvent" that actually works..." Mercury dissolves lead. Has other issues though. You do not need any special solvent anyway. The gunk left is just lube with a bit of carbon. A brush is all you need.
"...a "lead solvent" that actually works..." Mercury dissolves lead. Has other issues though. You do not need any special solvent anyway. The gunk left is just lube with a bit of carbon. A brush is all you need.
Thank you , everyone . I've shot 38's through my 357 , not wadcutters . Being the 38 case is shorter & the bullet being even with the end of the case , the build up at the end of the cylinder would get to be a mess pretty fast . I use the (leadaway) patch , removes the burn marks on the front of the cylinder like magic on stainless steel guns , could remove the blueing if used on blued guns. Thanks again , Chris
Intriguing.I have shot enough .38 Special wadcutters through .357 handguns to sink a battleship. Thousands upon thousands.
There is absolutely no issue with it at all.
I will assume a battleship displaced 16,000 tons (that's a guess; probably more).
At 2,000 lb/ton, that's 32,000,000 pounds. At 7,000 grains/lb., it's 224,000,000,000 grains.
A .38 wadcutter typically weighs 148 grains.
Which means you'd have to fire something over 1,513,513,513 rounds for the weight of the slugs to sink a battleship.
If you fired 50 rounds per week, or 2,600 rounds per year, this would only take 582,120.6 years.
Not including cleaning the gun afterwards.
I completed in a 38 revolver league for years using wc ammo. Used a model 28 and just wiped it down between matches; maybe cleaned the bore once a month--no problems. More guns are damaged from bad cleaning methods than were ever hurt by shooting. I used the same revolver in hunting season with 357 mags. Just cleaned it when switching ammo, again, no problems.