.38 Special Manstopper loads

[gun toting monkeyboy]

No, I am not making any claims that this load is a manstopper. But the bullet is based on the Manstopper bullets used at the turn of the last century by the British and the Dutch for their military revolvers. It is basically a wadcutter that has a slight taper in front of the driving bands and a nearly full-width meplat. This particular bullet is from a custom mold I had made to replicate the basic concept. I was going to have it turned into a hollow point, but I figure why bother? This one weighs 155 grains, with a gas check, and will chew the center out of a target very quickly. I will have to test it at long ranges, as the reports from a century ago say they lose accuracy after about 50 yards. On the other hand, I don't really plan on shooting much with it beyond handgun ranges, so that may be moot. I have 2 different loading that I tested today. One was at about 850 fps, and the other was at just over 1000 fps. The recoil was more or less the same, as was the accuracy. I still need to do some more testing, but for now I am pretty happy with them.

[Sauermonkey]

that will do it.

[ChuckDizzle]

Any plans on gel testing? I think it would be fun to see how some old school loads stack up when we mostly see modern stuff in gel tests.

[FeuerFrei]

Wadcutter dosed with a tad bit of semi-wad cutter?
Or is it the other way around?
Wondering how hard the original bullets were?


Sent using a long string & 2 cans.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

I don't know. I have some of the Dutch bullets that I could test. As for testing, alas, I'm not set up for that. I'm also going to try loading these into some .38 S&W cases to see how those work.

[scotchblade]

Matt's Bullets has these 157 grain wadcutters, with no gas check. Maybe I'll give them a try.

[Shakey]

Looks like a Keith style bullet.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

Matt's Bullets has these 157 grain wadcutters, with no gas check. Maybe I'll give them a try.

That is pretty much the same thing without the gas check. They are fun. Just seat them like a regular bullet. Not like a standard wadcutter.

-Mb

[003]

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=282

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=268

[gun toting monkeyboy]

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.ph...t_detail&p=282

It is a similar concept, except that the manstopper uses the same principle Elmer Keith advocated. By putting more of the bullet's weight ahead of the crimp, you end up with less of bullet in the cartridge's case. That means you get a lower pressure because of the increased case volume. That also means you can run them hotter than regular wadcutter loads. On a whole, this entire line of bullets for self defense relies on the exact same thing. Namely cutting holes through whatever they hit. I am using a fairly hard alloy of scrap lead. I believe Buffalo Bore uses a REALLY hard alloy, which is ideal for this.