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Old October 8, 2017, 08:44 AM   #1
cw308
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38 wadcutter through a 357

Sold a S&W 38 SPL. auto that shot wadcutters only . I have a S&W mod. 65 3" 357 was thinking of shooting the 50 rounds of wadcutters through it , there lead so I would think cleaning the cylinders would be a problem , whats your thoughts?
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Old October 8, 2017, 08:49 AM   #2
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Fire away
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Old October 8, 2017, 09:26 AM   #3
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I like to use the mild .38 target loads in my SP101 to transition new shooters from rimfire to centerfire. Leading hasn't been a problem, but there are plenty of lead solvents that won't harm a stainless gun.
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Old October 8, 2017, 09:31 AM   #4
laytonj1
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Quote:
but there are plenty of lead solvents that won't harm a stainless gun.
Recommendations? I've yet to find a "lead solvent" that actually works.

Jim
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Old October 8, 2017, 09:34 AM   #5
444
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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.
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You know the rest. In the books you have read
How the British Regulars fired and fled,
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
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Chasing the redcoats down the lane,
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Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.
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Old October 8, 2017, 09:52 AM   #6
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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.
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Old October 8, 2017, 09:55 AM   #7
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I've always used a Lewis Lead Remover for the stubborn lead residue.
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Old October 8, 2017, 10:00 AM   #8
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I've never had any issue shooting them through my Rugar Blackhawk
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Old October 8, 2017, 10:32 AM   #9
shurshot
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I use wadcutters, never had an issue. I just scrub out the chambers good with a brush after allowing Hoppes #9 to soak in for an hour or so.
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Old October 8, 2017, 10:34 AM   #10
444
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"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.
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You know the rest. In the books you have read
How the British Regulars fired and fled,
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farmyard wall,
Chasing the redcoats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.
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Old October 8, 2017, 11:42 AM   #11
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I've been doing it for fifty years , cleaning after shooting is not a problem and keeps any , all blown out of proportion problems away.
99 rounds out of 100 in my 357's are 38 special loads. After 50 years , no harm-no foul .
Gary
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Old October 8, 2017, 11:49 AM   #12
T. O'Heir
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"...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.
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Old October 8, 2017, 12:07 PM   #13
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About 90% of my 357 shooting is with lead bullets.

Chore Boy wrapped around a brush has always worked for me when needed.
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Old October 8, 2017, 01:09 PM   #14
cw308
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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
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Old October 8, 2017, 01:13 PM   #15
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I have usually found lubricant residue more of a problem, but nothing a good brushing can't handle.
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Old October 8, 2017, 07:19 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 444 View Post
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.
Intriguing.

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.
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Old October 8, 2017, 09:15 PM   #17
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.38 special LRN has been fired in my 65 -3 a lot and .357 cases would stick. I soaked the cylinder with Hoppes 9 .44 brush , felt patches and finished with CLP . No problem after firing a few rounds .357 last range trip
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Old October 9, 2017, 09:18 AM   #18
saleen322
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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.
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Old October 9, 2017, 01:02 PM   #19
BigJimP
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Lead Away cloth ( cut a small patch from bigger cloth ) ...and run it thru each cylinder 5 or 6 times and the lead residue will be gone.
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Old October 9, 2017, 03:02 PM   #20
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Push a spent .357 magnum case into each chamber & it will scrape most of the .38 spl gunk off the chamber walls.

A few turns with a brush with Ballistol (for nickle plated) or #9 will take care of the rest.

I prefer to use a semi-wadcutter only because they feed better.
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Old October 9, 2017, 08:43 PM   #21
pete2
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99.9% of my ammo is cast lead in .357 revolvers. Not a real problem. I've used the Lewis Lead Remover, bronze brushes, Chore Bot copper pot scrubber, and lead away cloth. Normally, leading is minimal and no problem, I do shoot at .38 velocities NOT .357. I have shot full .357 loads with bullets cast of pure linotype metal with good results. I also shoot cast in the 45 ACP. I recently shot 1000 cast 124 gr bullets thru a 9MM 1911, no major leading problem in it either.
I nearly forgot, I've shot a lot of Hornady lead HBWC loaded in .357 cases, was my target load when I shot bullseye.
Shoot em up!
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Old October 11, 2017, 09:37 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dufus View Post
Chore Boy wrapped around a brush has always worked for me when needed.
^^^^ This ^^^^^ works wonders and is a whole lot cheaper than a Lewis.
For a .38/.357 I use a .40 cal brush for the cylinder; for a .45 I use a 20 guage brush.
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Old October 11, 2017, 10:02 PM   #23
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I have S&W 14s-15s-19s -27s. I don't use any of them for anything other that
target. 99% of shooting with cast WCs. In fact I only shoot WCs in my m25s
and 29s, 24s. Except a 83/8" 45Colt that I shoot 250RnFp cast for deer. The
only S&Ws I use SWC is in 57s, cause I have not found a good 41WC mold
Excellent accuracy if keep about 750-850fps in 357. Cast from straight WWs.
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Old October 11, 2017, 11:47 PM   #24
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Quote:
I will assume a battleship displaced 16,000 tons (that's a guess; probably more).
Guess you'll need to re-do your math, 16,000 tons displacement is a cruiser.

WWII battleships (all nations) range in the 40,000 -60,000 ton range.

.38 wadcutters in .357? fine, people have been doing it since 1935.

if crud builds up, clean it. Simple, really. IF you actually shoot enough wadcutters (or any .38) to score the chamber, get it fixed. You've already spent more in ammo than the cost of a new gun.
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Old October 12, 2017, 09:02 AM   #25
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Quote:
Mercury dissolves lead. Has other issues though
Quote:
weight of the slugs to sink a battleship
LOL. I love this place. AND... good answers in the process.
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