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T. O'Heir · February 22, 2002, 02:48 PM

Two different things. A wad cutter is flat across the front end. Where the pointy end usually is. They're designed to make neat round holes that make target scoring easier. They're also easier to swage as opposed to casting. Swaging is literally press forming bullets out of lead tubes. WC's are normally very soft and the hollow base will expand to fit the barrel much better than a cast bullet. Therefore providing much better accuracy.
A SWC is designed allow heavier bullets that cut nearly the same neat round hole in paper but give a bit more whump at the receiving end. In the olden days, when cops carried .38 Specials, SWC's made it more effective on evildoers than the round nose bullet that was known to bounce off car windshields. These days, the cast SWC is usually only seen on target ranges as the HP is far more effective than a SWC.

February 22, 2002, 02:48 PM	#10
T. O'Heir Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 12,453	WC vs SWC Two different things. A wad cutter is flat across the front end. Where the pointy end usually is. They're designed to make neat round holes that make target scoring easier. They're also easier to swage as opposed to casting. Swaging is literally press forming bullets out of lead tubes. WC's are normally very soft and the hollow base will expand to fit the barrel much better than a cast bullet. Therefore providing much better accuracy. A SWC is designed allow heavier bullets that cut nearly the same neat round hole in paper but give a bit more whump at the receiving end. In the olden days, when cops carried .38 Specials, SWC's made it more effective on evildoers than the round nose bullet that was known to bounce off car windshields. These days, the cast SWC is usually only seen on target ranges as the HP is far more effective than a SWC.