The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

A guy is shooting 38 special loads but using 357 cases he is using what looks like paper wadding in front of the powder I'm guessing to keep the powder up close to the primer and fill the free space because of the small 38 powder charge..
Does any body else use this method. I all ways thought it was not the correct thing to do. But I might be wrong.

I've used .357 cases for light .38 loads right back to when i was loading for my S&W 686, and I've never heard of, or seen, anyone using wadding....

I thought it was a bit odd Im not sure what his logic is.

Yep. I've used 38spl load data using a 357mag cases. With low powder charges, like 5gr of powder, I never saw a problem with "powder placement." This is supposidly where powder accumulates in one location due to how the cartridge has been held (eg located near the flash hole, all piled up near the base of the bullet or laying along the sidewall of the case when it's laying sideways). Never used wadding.

The "urban myth" used to be that very small charges, i.e. 2.8 gns of Bullseye, could detonate rather than fast burn, (with the detonation doing very bad things to the gun, and possibly your hand) if the charge was laid along the length of the case, so it was all in contact with the primer flash at the same time.
(I do not know of anyone with 1st hand, or even 2nd hand, knowledge of this happening to anyone.)

To remove this risk, there was talk of wadding to keep all the powder at the back near the flash hole, but as i said, I've never known anyone to actually do it.

The reason I would dispel this myth is due to my experience with underlever guns. I load up to 8 in a tube. I'd assume that by the last round all the powder would be laying flat along the case wall. I don't notice any differences in recoil or shot placement on this last shot.

It seems that the myth is mostly discussed hand in hand with fast pistol powders. I would most likely assume that in reality there was on overcharge which the user would blame on this detonation effect. If you look at quickload for loads using bullseye etc, you will notice that the pressure rises exponentially around 1gr over maximum loadings. That's why I think these detonation loads are actually overcharge case events in disguise.

WelshShooter wrote:The reason I would dispel this myth is due to my experience with underlever guns. I load up to 8 in a tube. I'd assume that by the last round all the powder would be laying flat along the case wall. I don't notice any differences in recoil or shot placement on this last shot.

It seems that the myth is mostly discussed hand in hand with fast pistol powders. I would most likely assume that in reality there was on overcharge which the user would blame on this detonation effect. If you look at quickload for loads using bullseye etc, you will notice that the pressure rises exponentially around 1gr over maximum loadings. That's why I think these detonation loads are actually overcharge case events in disguise.

Yep, that was the general opinion amongst 99% of shooters.... as we were shooting revolvers at the time, the same would work with the unfired rounds in the cylinder, the charges would be laid flat along the case.

its fast pistol powder, it all burns at once anyway. usually the detonation stuff is talked about with small loads of slow powders, where the primer should start a little bit of it off at first and the rest burn, but it sets it all off at once as it is below the flash hole. that's the theory anyway.

Yes I get all that but why the wadding I don't understand why he thinks he needs to use wadding. Whats the purpose of the wadding.

to hold the powder back.... and risk his fingers and barrel

either that or he is using black powder?

how can you see what is in front of the powder anyway? or is he loading his ammo at the range then shooting?