Handgun Hunting - non-hollowpoint

AmBraCol

New Member
Years back, when living south of the Equator, my constant companion while out in the backwoods was a Rossi 853 38 special with vent ribbed six inch barrel. I shot it a lot, well, as far as was possible with component availability being less than constant. Never did use it for anything larger than small game, partridge, etc.. My "standard" load came to be a Lyman or Ideal (I believe - never wrote info on the mold down, traded into it "in country") WC lubed with a home brew concoction of stingless bee wax mixed up with ??? - it's been too many years ago to recall. Methinks paraffin was a part of it as well. Anyway, the lube was melted and poured over the bullets in a pan then the bullets were cut out after cooling. Worked a treat, never leaded. ;) These were loaded over a 22 LR case full of Especial de Caça powder and lit off by whatever primer I could get my hands on. Various writers I'd read mentioned the usefulness of the WC for small game, and so it proved to be. Accurate, not much meat damage. Mostly BANG-flop. After trading into a Taurus 32 SWL with 4" barrel for my wife's personal gun, it got used too with a WC (Hornady's swaged number - never got a mold for it) and proved accurate enough for a head shot on a snake at about 20 meters or so. There's enough such in that area they are classified as varmints, and this kind was hard on the chicken population.

The one failure with my 38 spl WC load was on a medium sized egg sucking, chicken killing bitch. In true to local fashion, the neighbors had a bitch whelp - and never fed her. So she took to chicken stealing and egg sucking, causing a considerable loss to many in the neighborhood. One day I saw her come sneaking through the brush at around 50 meters or so. At that range I'd little confidence in hitting her, but decided to let her know she was "persona non-grata". To my everlasting surprise the report only slightly preceded her hitting the ground in her tracks. I'd held right about the base of her ear, and that's where the bullet took her. BUT that light load wasn't enough to produce much shock or penetration and it merely knocked her over, she then proceeded to proclaim her anxiety and pain to the world around here. Running up I placed two more rounds in her neck, with little effect, and managed to get around in front of her and finished with a shot to the brain from a couple feet or so away that anchored her and shut her down for good.

That load had accuracy going for it and made for a great general purpose woodsbumming/plinking load and small game getter. It just wasn't enough for larger, heavier critters.

Do any of you use the WC for small game hunting?
 

Glen

Moderator
Staff member
I love WCs for small game hunting. My preferred grouse load is a .32 wadcutter at about 800 fps or so.
 

AmBraCol

New Member
Someday I need to pick up another 32 resolver. That little Taurus was a sweet handling, sweet shooting little popper. 4" barrel, adjustable sights.
 

Dale53

Active Member
I have used wadcutter loads for edible small game (and some NOT so edible) for many years. However, I have always cast my own bullets so my wadcutters have been the solid base wadcutter in the .38 Special. I have two wadcutter moulds. One is an original H&G Six cavity mould for the #251 (a dbl. ended wadcutter) and the other is an original H&G #50 button nosed wadcutter in a four cavity mould. The six cavity is an iron mould that weighs nearly five pounds and for this (Certified Old Fart) is very tiring to cast with simply due to the weight. I do prefer that dbl. ended wadcutter for "serious" use, however. Ed Harris has an excellent article on the full charge wadcutter and I can recommend this without reservation:

http://www.grantcunningham.com/blog_files/75f11fe4e235da7c69cabf94daa7dbd9-932.html

I suggest that a person would have NO problems with this load on feral dogs whether two or four legged as well as great results on edible small game.

FWIW
Dale53
 
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358156hp

Guest
I'm thinking it's time to make the move to aluminum moulds, for the multicavity stuff at least. I have a terrible romantic attraction to old Ideal moulds, and I don't think that'll ever change, but Ideal four cavity moulds don't count towards my affliction because I consider them to be "modern". San Diego H&G moulds make honorable mention though.
 

Dale53

Active Member
I must admit that the five and six cavity NOE and Mihec moulds are the best moulds I have used for both production and quality. They just don't get any better. Mihec's brass moulds are works of art and I have both aluminum and brass Mihec's in several different bullet styles. I can cast quite productively with either. However, I DO tend to reach for the aluminum moulds due to their light weight.

FWIW
Dale53
 

Glen

Moderator
Staff member
I just finished a casting session with an NOE 5-cavity mould, and I could not agree more!