Speer Plastic 38 Caliber Ammo Review
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- Опубліковано 27 тра 2014
- Sometime around 35 years ago, these plastic cases firing plastic bullets using primers only were developed by Speer. Still being made and purchased by American shooters, here is a rundown on this ammo for use in 38 Special and 357 Magnum revolvers...
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Just to share...back in the early 70's I had a reloading ammo business. Using old .38special cases that were no longer reloadable, I used a small drill to open the primer flash hole a bit, inserted a CCI 550 primer then pressed in a wax cast bullet. These were for target practice like in a basement or outdoor shooting. Surprisingly, they were very accurate, out to about 10-15yards. I sold many of these to my customers.
I was first introduced to these back in the 70s / 80s. My uncle had a bunch that he used in in .357 Magnum revolvers. His were orange then, with black bullets. I'm trying to locate some now.
I used to do something like this with .38 spl. I'd take a case, put a primer in it, and load it with one of those foam ear plugs. Worked great
Found these back in the early 70s. They were fun for awhile. They could be in them selves lethal. I learned the hardway that they could shoot through two layers of drywall. For the cost and trouble, a good bb,or pellet gun will work for target practice, plus no noise. Still there is one place I like to use them . I have an attraction to hinge frame revolvers and I found I can shoot these in either S&W . 38 or in old colts chambered for .38 Colt long. Here because of cost these thing work well. If you have a .38-357 mag try some there a shooting experience.
Thanks for showing these. I've been curious about them for quite some time now.
Like always you are just a big book of knowledge. Thanks Cookie
hancock brewer - Thanks for the good word...the rubber bullets available from Midway work better...
Interesting for sure. Thanks for sharing the great info.
I was wondering about these. Thanks.
I use a bullet mold and fill the mold with hot glue from a hot glue gun. Those bullets are reusable and accurate.
I`ve heard of these, but never actually saw any of them before.
I"ve never seen those either
Cowboy action folks use 45 Colt shells w/ drilled out primer pockets to accept shot gun primers and use glue sticks cut off as projectiles. Used for safety to prevent shooting off your foot.
pr4runner - and wax bullets are used in fast draw competitions as well...same reasons...Best Regards
So question even for .38 use large pistol primers?
seems like a good air soft substitution.
Could those plastic blanks go in a blank gun
I just found a box of these in a bunch of stuff i got from my dad. A few are used but most are new and i want to try them them out. I have one question though. Do you de-prime them using a regular sizing die or do you do it another way? I didn't want to try and break them plus my machine is set up for 45 right now.
beverwyck1 - all you need to deprime is a small punch or nail. Open the jaws of a vise bigger than the primer and smaller than the case head; put the case on the opening of the vise jaws; insert nail and tap out the primer - not advised to deprime unfired primers. Best to ya...
FortuneCookie45LC
Thanks cookie. I deprime live primers all the time on my dillion and rock chucker. I acquired 2,000 or so questionable rounds and reloading mistakes that i took apart and reloaded. Even a few with the primers in backwards. Unless you mean just doing it by hand.
beverwyck1 Thanks for letting us know about your deprime experiences. I read in some manual that live primers should not be deprimed - probably somebody popped one somewhere. But every reloader can get a primer in backwards or even sideways...My range takes faulty cartridges for disposal so the few I get go there.. Obviously, there still is a hazard, but from your data, the risk is small depriming live primers... Best Regards...
FortuneCookie45LC
I'm sure there is a potential risk but i really thing the primer has to be hit with force to go off. Admittedly though when i see one that is upside down i size-deprime it slower. On a side note i always keep a coffee can with water in it where i dump all the powder and primers that come out of cartridges i take apart. Don't want to start a fire in the garbage truck!
Mr. Cookie I know you referred to these as Speer, but I believe I saw a Norma logo on your box. Am I mistaken?
Douglas Gross - Sorry for the curve ball, but the box was just the nearest handy box since the Speer boxes won't fit the completed rounds…Best Regards
I got a box of these about twenty five years ago ,shot about twenty and I discovered the same thing that you did .Better with the bb gun ,nice idea though .
mark cooper - It may be that Speer keeps making these because there are new generations of shooters that will one-time-buy these things, find the same lack of usefulness, but keep 'em because "they should be good for something…" and "not worth returning", and "they are primed and ready to go". As for bringing new shooters along real slowly…is it possible to do it TOO slowly…look at the Russians during WWII - they just got the peasants into full power Mosin Nagants immediately - it was the power that would defend and preserve the Motherland… not too much difference in home and family protection Best Regards
Do these cycle in semi-auto guns or are these more suited for revolvers?
I've never heard of anyone trying to feed wadcutter profile bullets through a pistol.
@@DouglasGross6022 There is a very specific 1911 that only feeds full wadcutter 38 Spl. Was made some time ago. I doubt these would cycle.
@@TacticalTerry If you make a custom pistol, I suppose it would feed wadcutters. It wouldn't feed as well as ball ammo, though.
Try casting your own ones using hot glue instead of lead...
I keep the worn out casings I won't use anymore to reload live ammo, enlarge the flash hole by a couple of tenths of mm and use them to shoot rubber bullets. Seat thm by hand with just a bit of lube to wad cutter depth, and you can decide to what power factor you'd like to load them just by picking the primer.
With .38s, small pistol standards are good up to 6-7 meters and actually quite quiet, I use them in my garage on rainy days; magnums are good out to about 10 meters and garden plinking (without upsetting any neighbour...) is an option. I've used small rifle primers on the range, just to see if I could hit anything at 15 meters...
Accuracy is always almost as good as with fine live loads since the bullets are oversized, provided the distance is reasonable.
Have a wonderful day!
I'm off casting:)...
You beat me to it. Gluelits aren't hard to make. The trick is squirting the glue in smoothly and having a well coated mold.
Also, lots of people point out you want to use the lead-free primers if you are shooting indoors.
GunFun ZS I've seen videos of making glue bullets and wax bullet ammo. Looks fine, but whenever I hanker to give these a try, I just bring out my pellet trap, grab my Crosman, a tin of 22 cal pellets, and let fly...Takes me 2 minutes of total setup time to shoot, without the fouling of my bullet molds or mess and time of wax melting. Now if I were competing with wax bullets, that would be a different situation...then melt away just like making bullet lube...I like the lead free primer idea, but ventilation still needed because the smoke is still problematic. This is still personal preference, of course - it you get good accuracy and POI from your glue or wax bullets, they might even be great for short range small game hunting... Have a great day
I tried it as a way to help a friend garage practice with a percussion pistol. REAL type bullets were hard to get to fill out, but 45-230-TC worked well. You need to clamp the mold shut or the pressure tends to cause flashing and make butterfly bullets.
GunFun ZS Injection casting into our molds sounds great...I bet they shot just fine...Me?? I only want lots of lead going thru my molds. I've got those babies singin' and hot glue and clamping might just monkey wrench 'em up...But I enjoy learning about hot glue and wax bullets, though....Best Regards
ARE YOU MR SULU FROM STAR TREK
I bought these in the 1980s, I did not like them because the primers backed out and locked up my revolver.
I make hot glue bullets with magnum primers
I had fogotten about those.
I've had better luck with the newer black bullet version.
Perhaps some shooters like to replace the bullet.
Myles Nicholas - The plastic bullets are not as accurate as the rubber bullets for our home use (depends on distance of the shot - if like 10', plastic is fine rubber is good for 15'). But the plastic bullets have the advantage of not having to take our brass and drill out the flash holes... Best to ya, FC
I couldn't use these I'm inaccurate enough...
Gee!! Shooting guns in the house. What will they think of next. Seriously looks like you could teach proper gun safety and trigger control with minimal risk of injury or property damage.
mklean1 - and if the new shooter was being introduced to an indoor shooting range, the house work with the plastic bullets would be seamless…that's a good use for these rounds, and if shot at 8-10 feet, the accuracy would be OK but still low…Best to ya...