unusual reload

Question
Hi. I expect you to regard this as a ridiculous question but here goes: Is there any safety reason, a technical reason, why a hardwood bullet could not be fired down the barrel of a revolver? I have determined that a 5/16 birch dowel rod would probably seat reasonably well in a .38 special casing having been moderately beveled at one end with a pencil sharpener. The gun is 357. This would be for close-range practice.

                               Thanks, -Jim S.

Answer
Jim,

Your idea has been tried in military organizations around the world, but not to my knowledge since the end of the cold war.

Of course, you would want to use primers only, no powder, as powder would cause velocities that would have the wood disintegrate.

There is a much easier way of doing what you want to do, however. If you go to Dillonprecision.com they probably still sell rubber bullets to be used primer powered.

An older, easier, and cheaper round is simply to take primed cases and a thickness of paraffin wax and use the case mouth to cut projectiles into the mouth of the case.