Last week, we took a quick look at boat tail rifle bullets. I wanted to follow that up with another bullet type that tends to be the subject of customer inquiries, and that’s the venerable wadcutter.
One of the advantages that revolvers have over semi-autos is that they aren’t dependent on the shape of the bullet to operate properly, so you have a much wider bullet selection. On the down side, this can make things a little confusing when you go ammo shopping. To help clear that up a little bit, here’s a quick video covering wadcutters and semi-wadcutters, some of the most common revolver-specific bullets.
Video: Wadcutters Explained
Wadcutters in Semi-Autos?
The video covers the basics of wadcutters and semi-wadcutter bullets for revolvers, which is where they’re almost always used, but there are some exceptions.
Full wadcutter bullets won’t feed at all in semi-automatics unless they’re specifically modified or designed to do so like the Smith & Wesson model 52. This semi-automatic was based on S&W’s very first semi-auto design, the 9mm Model 39. The Model 52 was made to run wadcutter.38 special loads, with the intended purpose being bullseye shooting competitions. There was also a version of the Colt Gold Cup 1911 that was modified to fire .38 wadcutters for the same purpose. Both of these pistols have been out of production for many years, and they command premium prices on the used market.
Semi-wadcutters are much less problematic for pistols than wadcutters, and can sometimes be used in an unmodified semi-automatic. They’re most commonly used in .45 ACP, usually for target shooting with the model 1911. A small handful of ammo manufacturers have loaded semi-auto calibers with semi-wadcutter bullets, but most shooters who use these bullets in pistols are hand loaders, often casting their own bullets.
As always, if you have any questions about a particular load that you see for sale on our site, get in touch with the Lucky Gunner customer service team, and they’ll help you find the right ammo for the task.