Wanging with wadcutters

American Handgunner, March-April, 2007 by J.D. Jones

Smith and Wesson introduced the M&P revolver and .38 Special cartridge to the world in 1902. This combination quickly became the "Standard" police combination in the US and was extensively used worldwide. Original ammo was a 158 gr. round nose that was long on penetration--just like all the .44s, .45s and others of its era--but short on what we now call "Stopping Power." It gained favor as a target cartridge due to its factory load accuracy and light recoil. The .38 hollow base wadcutter at about 750 fps was introduced to enhance accuracy and cut clean holes in paper to gain a competitor a point or two over a round nose slug that may not have "cut the line" of a bullseye target.

The HBW is swaged of almost pure lead with a very large hollow base that will adapt to any cylinder or barrel diameter. Shooters suddenly found it also cut clean holes in small and larger game--read people--as well as target paper. Gunsmiths converted Super .38 1911s to shoot the .38 Wadcutter. Jimmy Clark's version was the most popular. Army armorers cut the rim off and turned it into a rimless case called the .38 AMU. S&W introduced the M52 chambered for the .38 special wadcutter. Much later the original Hydra Shock ammunition was introduced with a HB wadcutter with a post in it. Now WW and Federal still make the target load.