Speer lead bullets

TruthTellers

New member
Speer has a rebate going for their bullets, 20% back, so that's a really good price. Their lead bullets are really cheap and I'm looking at getting 500 rds of their 200 grain .45 SWC and 158 gr .38 lead SWC-HP.

I've read these bullets are very soft. That's fine for the .45, I was looking at loading them in .45 Schofield cases, but the .38's have me intrigued because they are a hollow point.

How does the .38 hollow point do with expansion? Is there a certain velocity I should hold them to for ideal expansion and accuracy?

Overall, what are your experiences with Speer's lead bullets? I've generally stayed away from them because they look mishapen in the pictures I've seen, but 20% back is hard to pass that kind of deal up.
 
Speer recommends that you keep their 158 gr LSWC-HP to velocities of 1000 FPS or less. Because they are soft swagged lead I'd guess expansion at that velocity would be fine, but performance would not be like a dedicated SD bullet. For target practice and plinking at the range, for the cost, if they don't lead your barrel, I'd say go for it.
 
The swaged lead is so soft I would expect to see the hollow points open even at target velocities. If you get some, try them out with small doses of a quick pistol powder to see if 750 fps and up doesn't work well enough.

With all soft bullets, low pressures and anything you can do to limit deformation or entering the bore cocked to any degree will help. I shot a lot of 44 Special and 45 Auto loads at pressures below 10,000 psi and got some excellent accuracy from swaged bullets (Hornady and Star back then). These were 700 fps or sometimes less. Great for plinking. Some very good accuracy can be had from these loads at short ranges and without producing excessive leading.

For all loads with soft bullets, to minimize cocked entry into the forcing cone or throat, I recommend the cases be expanding with a Lyman M-die profile. This profile is on Lyman's Multi-expander kit for multiple handgun calibers and with powder-through capability. This profile allows the bullet to be set straight up and down in the case for seating and does a lot to eliminate in-case initial tipping. Some other brands now make the same profile, so check yours for it.

If you don't want a filthy gun, you want a quick powder than can burn pretty completely at low pressure. Lots out there to choose from. In the above-mentioned cartridges, a lot of mine were at about 80% the maximum powder charge listed in order to keep the soft lead performing without leading. You can run them hotter, of course, but be prepared for more cleaning effort after fewer shots.

For revolvers, it is best that your chambers are at least 0.001" to 0.002" over groove diameter and matching the bullet diameters as closely as possible. Rough bores are very grabby with soft bullets. If yours is not smooth, the LASC used to have some information up about rolling a bunch of bullets in JB Bore compound and firing them with pipsqueak loads to polish the rough spots. Firelapping with stronger abrasives is needed in some instances, depending how bad the bore condition is. Constrictions cause leading and should be lapped out. For alignment purposes, the timing should be good on your revolver. That is, the cylinder should latch in place when you cock it, and that place should be with the chambers aligned as perfectly as possible with the bore.

For semi-autos, seat bullets out as far as you can without the case head sticking out beyond the back end of the chamber during the plunk test with your barrel acting as the cartridge gauge. This causes the cartridge to headspace on the bullet's contact with the lands, which centers the cartridge best. The practice both reduces group size and leading significantly. The lead (even hard cast lead) is too soft for this to raise pressure appreciably. It does make start pressure more consistent. The only limitation is that in some guns, some bullet shapes cannot be seated out this far and still feed reliably. You will have to test for that.

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Sounds like these would be good bullets to use with Trail Boss. That is my favorite powder for revolvers, but I wasn't thinking of using that powder for these.

No real interest in using in an auto, I stick with Berry's plated and JHP for that.
 
I am most of the way through a box of these I bought a few years back. Definitely target bullets. I have had no problem with leading at 800-900 fps.
 
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