NOE TL 358-100-RF in .380 acp - data & suggestions?

[bedbugbilly]

I haven't loaded 380 ACP in a long time. I have cast up about 1,200 boolits in my NOE TL 358-100-RF - a great mold - 4 cavity and they drop like butter. I tumble lubed them today and am getting ready to load "work up loads" for the following pistols.

Beretta 84 and S & W M & P 380 EZ Shield

I loaded dummy rounds tonight and came up with the following. I kept trying until I could get they seated to the right depth to chamber in both pistols. I ended up with -

Cartridge overall length of .950 (Due to the profile of the boolit they needed to be seated deeper than RN)

Neck of casing after crimping - .371 - .372

The dummy rounds went in my "cartridge gauge" like they are supposed to.

Now - I need some info on data as I've looked for 100 gr lead - haven't been able to find much in the powders I have on hand to use.

I have Red Dot and Bulls Eye. I'll probably stick with RD if I can as I use it in 38 special, 45 Colt and several bottleneck rifle cartridges.

I'm not looking to push them fast - just a good plinking/target load BUT, I'd like to end up with something that will work in both the Beretta and Smith so I don't have to load separately.

The slide/recoil spring on the Beretta is "stiff" and of course the Smith .380 EZ is, well, "EZ"

My only other experience in loading for semi-autos is the 9mm and I remember that just .2 grains of BE made the difference of the loaded cartridge cycling in both pistols (Shield and SR9).

I'm sure others are using this mold/boolit in .380 and using the COAL of .950, it seems to just glide out of the magazine and chamber in both of my pistols using the dummy round.

I've looked in all of my my manuals - my best rescue is the Lyman Cast Boolit Handbook - 3rd Edition but it only has 92 gr and 121 grain 358-242s listed.

First - am I right when I think that 380s can be just as finicky as say a 9mm when it comes to hitting the magic spot for cycling? If so, then I'd be looking at what makes the Beretta 84 cycle and then use the same load in the Smith EZ?

Second - any suggestions on load ranges from min to max to use as a guideline for RD and BE with the boolit seated to .950?

My 3rd edition shows for the 121 gr 359-242 a min/max load of Red Dot for the 121 grain as 1.6 gr - 2.1 gr - BUT - that is with a COAL of .980 - .30" longer than mine seated to .950 with the TL 358-100 RF

For Bulls Eye, it shows a min/max load of 1.6 - 2.1 gr - same as RD

1.6 gr of either seems light to me but I'm not that experienced with loading the .380 and just what will cycle them.

The closest thing to the .380 acp that I load is the 38 Colt Short with a 115 gr boolit and my usual load for that cartridge is 2.0 gr BE and 2.2 RD. - but that is out of revolvers.

Advice, suggestions? Does my COAL sound correct with this particular boolit? Until I got to that length, the pistols would not go into battery completely with a slingshot racking and it appeared the boolit design was too long for the chambers until I got it down to .950 on my pistols. I just don't want to underlay and end up with a quip nor overload - just looking for a mid range plinking/target that will cycle both pistols.

Any unique or special bag of tricks for loading the .380 acp would also be appreciated. So many of them from pocket to larger ones like the Beretta 84, etc.

Thanks.

Also - as a side note - does the 4th edition of the Lyman Cast Boolit Handbook have more data than the previous for common cartridges with some of the newer design boolits and weights? While I don't use a lot of Lee molds anymore, it irritates me that their Re-loading Manual doesn't give at least some basic loads for many of their own molds that they make. I'm aware that a 120 gr lead boolit is a 120 grain lead boolit - but I wouldn't have wasted my money on their Manual had I know it didn't include their full line of molds. Several of my other Manuals, while they do have some lead boolit data, just don't provide a lot of the common powders - at least that I use and I'm sure others do as well. If the 4th edition of the LCBH has enough "new" info in it, it would be well worth the money to add it to my bench I'm sure.

Thanks.

[zymguy]

From Lyman cast 4th


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[JAC43]

http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/bin/...oadnotes01.pdf

[sigep1764]

Use at your own risk. I load a 105 grain boolit to about that length for my LCP and use 1.8-2.0 grains of red dot. Be careful when measuring charges that small.

[bedbugbilly]

Thanks everyone - that's a BIG help! From what I'm seeing, my starting loads I was thinking about are where they should be - I'lll start there and then work up until I find what works best in each of the guns.

sigep1764 - I know what you mean when you say "Be careful when measuring charges that small". I don[t trust my Perfect Powder Measure on charges that slammed usually start with measuring each load on the beam scale.Once I know what the load is that is needed (on small grain weights like that) I will make a dipper for that particular load - then label it for what it is for. I'm consistent when I use a dipper but still check very often with my scale. My shooting needs don't require that I load a lot up at one time so I often just "batch load".

Thanks again - will copy the info off and keep in my load file.

Jim

[reloader28]

I use 3gr Bullseye in about 10 different .380's with the Ranch Dog and it works good in all of them. My OAL is .918 and sized .358

[ThomR]

I have a M&P 380EZ and load it with 2.3 grains or red dot using the Lee 95 grain tumble lube round flat.

[KVO]

As a side note, has anyone measured and compared the actual Ranch Dog design to the current production Lee version? Not sure why they'd want to change it up but I've heard there were some modifications.

[Outpost75]

In the pistols you mention a charge of 2.5 grains of Bullseye with 100-grain bullet will not beat up the guns and should function reliably. I use that same charge with the Accurate 35-120H bullet in my Beretta M1934, Ruger LCP and SIG P230, but with the heavier bullet that is indeed a "full charge" load which should not be exceeded.

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