.380 woes

[billres]

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Hi Guys

Recently bought P 238 and enjoy shooting it . Can't seem to find much data on reloads for cast LRNFP . COL Hornady 90 gr XTP is .955 , federal 95 gr FMJ is.965 no issues with either one , reliability 100 % . Ordered 1000 LRNFP and reloaded a few , the only way to get the cartridge to chamber properly and lock up is a length of .920/.921 , this puts the lube band just even with case mouth , loading 2.9 gr 231 . Haven't been to the range yet , anyone see any problems or should I cut back on charge . Hogden gives COL from .955 to .980 for all loads ....The LRNFP has a straight wall just ahead of the lube band and just will not seat in chamber at these lengths.

[fecmech]

What weight is your rnfp??

[scrapcan]

Are you having feed issues and lock up issues or just lock up issues? Where did you purchase the cast bullets, it may give an idea of the design for others to look at.

[PB234]

How difficult are you finding engaging the safety with your shooting hand? Thumb to be exact. Beautiful little pistol, but can't understand the safety as designed. For me easy to sweep off and impossible to make safe without either changing my grip or on one example using my other hand.

Any concern about the cocked and locked of a single action without grip safety or is the manual and trigger safety enough for you? To me the trigger safety plus the thumb safety makes it seem safer than a Glock.

Obviously I am looking at them and thinking about getting one.

[billres]

Thanks for replies



Suter's Choice Cast Bullets 380 ACP (356 Diameter) 100 Grain Lead Round Nose Flat Point Box of 500

Product #: 847768 Midway

Bullet will feed up ramp and enter chamber but not far enough to lock up . At .921 works perfect

I have found that the bottom of thumb knuckle (joint ) or even the side works adequately although it is a little harder to engage. Have the beginnings of a callous there. No worries for me cond. 1 in pocket holster , everyday carry is 1911 just trying to keep manual of arms the same. Fun pistol to shoot .

[fecmech]

With that bullet you obviously can't use the oal's listed for a RN or the XTP HP as those bullets are longer than this one. I would load it to a length as long as it will chamber, feed and have the lube groove covered and work up from there.

[brucew]

With a Taurus TCP I was loading the Lee 356-102 at .910 to fit the chamber, no problems with 2.7+ BE.

[Blackwater]

Not sure what problem you've got, but I've known a few loaders who've had similar problems with autopistol calibers when they seated and crimped in a single operation. With straight walled pistol brass, it's sometimes necessary to seat the bullet to length, and then crimp in a separate step. This has usually solved their problems, at least in my experience.

What happens is that when the die is set to seat and crimp at a single stroke, the crimp sometimes bites into the bullet's sides just before the ram reaches the topmost part of its stroke, and thus, the lead has nowhere to go but be pushed up a smidge as the bullet is seated very slightly deeper when the ram reaches full top of the stroke. Then, the little curl of lead in front of the case mouth hits the chamber mouth, and halts the bullet from seating fully into the chamber. It really doesn't take much to keep a straight walled case from being able to fully seat into the chamber, and I've seen this happen a number of times, even sometimes with fairly experienced loaders.

Hope this makes sense, and maybe helps.

[Cherokee]

Being seated that deep, I would be inclined to start about 2.5 gr and work up. Load a few at 2.5, then 2.6, then 2.7 and see how it goes. Remember, there isn't much room in that little 380 case. My cast bullets of 100 to 112 gr are all seated to .950 to .960 for my 380's.

[1Shirt]

Have one of the little Rugers in 380: super little CC weapon. I feed it 90 and 100 gr. .335's from Matt's Bullets over an appropriate charge of Bullseye, and have no problems. Matt is reasonable and makes a nice blt. particularly if you want to try a few of a type before investing in a mold.

By the By- GRAF has once fired 380's for six something a hundred. I just bought 200 of them and just finished getting them ready to charge & seat. About half a dozen different head stamps, but very clean. There were about 10 ea. 9MM Luger's mixed in, but no big deal there. Good buy, and shipping is a flat fee for ins. and handling. Good people to deal with.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[Twmaster]

I had a similar issue the first time I reloaded .380

I ended up doing as others here have suggested. Seated a bit deeper and worked up a load from minimum.

One other thing to maybe look at...

How rough is the feed ramp and is the edge of the chamber sharp? That might help. Check you ammo to look for signs of the bullet or case digging in.

[Iron Mike Golf]

Don't get hung up on COL in the manuals. Consider them advice and a starting point. You have to tweak it for your gun.

When i polished my feed ramp on my PK380, I wrapped a cotton patch around a 380 case and used Flitz.

[Freischütz]

What diameter is the bullet? I have several 32 Autos that won't feed .311 diameter but have no problems with .309.