Mold for .380 cast bullet?

[Cherokee]

Lee 95 grain RF works in my 380's with 231 & WST and cuts a nice round hole in paper. The Accurate Mold 35-100B RF is also good. Have to play with OAL's for reliable feeding of 380's.

[KenH]

Yes, that Lee TL356-95-RF mold is the weight bullet I'd think good for a .380, but wasn't sure about the size of the bullet just outside the case. Looks like it will have to be seated deep? What is your OAL of loaded cartridge for reliable chambering? ARe you using in the Ruger LCR?

[gwpercle]

Give the Lee 358-105-SWC a try , it says SWC but it's more of a truncated cone than SWC .
It works just fine in light 9mm Luger loads and should be just the ticket in the 380 .
Gary

[KenH]

Well, the Lee 356-120-TC mold should be here tomorrow so I'll play with it some. BUT, I surely do like the looks of the 358-105-SWC bullet. I expect I'll most likely wind up ordering one of those also. Heck, $22 shipped - that's less than the wife spends on nail polish! We KNOW a new bullet mold is more important that nail polish! (she doesn't real this forum

[Echo]

My friend's Sig loves the Lyman 358242 RN. My mold throws it ~120 grs - Lyman also made it in a 91 grain version.

[georgerkahn]

Best wishes with your Lee mould! I have had a Colt Mustang, CZ27, Sig 230, Beretta 1934, and a fifth .380 I cannot recall manufacturer of, and in my experience, the bullet weight was not an issue.. I've cast and shot from 95 to 135 grain no problem. HOWEVER, at least with two (the Czech, and the Italian ones) were very finicky re the ammunition, and I cannot honestly advise if it was the bullet nose shape, OAL, or ??? On the recommendation of a "range buddy", who gifted me a handful or so of the Lymans, I quickly learned that this bullet functioned in all the .380s with no problem! This has been over a ten-plus year period -- e.g., all the different pistols. Bion, after getting gifted the bullets, I do believe I got the 2-cav mould off eBay at a most reasonable price. No handles, and used -- but it still drops great bullets.
geo

[KenH]

OK, I got the Lee .356-120-TC mold today. Casts just fine, I did swap the sprue plate for one I'd already enlarged the holes in and milled a trench between holes. Dropped bullets right around 121 to 122 grains, and .356/.357 diameter. One coat of Smoke's clear powder, loaded 3 rounds with 2.0 grains (weighted) Unique, seated bullet to .97" COL and it functions nicely. cartridges drop right in just as they should, eject brass right at feet making it easy to find brass. Stepped in backyard to test, Chrono'd 532, 538, and one that was seated to .95" chrono'd at 563 fps.

I think I'm going to like this mold, and think it just might work good for 9mm. Now to load up a few more to shoot some paper with tomorrow - all depending on how much wind 'n rain we get from the hurricane. It should be well to the east of us and not bother. Sure hope it stays east anyway - even better to die out in Gulf so folks to east of us won't be hit.

Ken H>

[WRideout]

When I first bought my Taurus TCP last winter, I had a supply of Lee 105 gr SWC that I started out with. I have only ever used Bullseye in this little 30 acp case. A short time ago I acquired the Lee 95 gr mold. It seems to feed more reliably, and accuracy is very good for a pocket pistol with alleged sights. I continue to have an occasional failure to feed, but now they can be cleared by simply racking the slide. With the 105 gr, I typically had to remove the magazine, and go through a regular dance to get the jammed ctg out.

The Lee 95 gr mold works a lot differently than the rifle and round ball molds I had used in the past. It seems to lose heat very quickly, and will cast small diameter boolits if not hot enough to get good fillout. I have to keep everything very warm, and it takes about ten or fifteen pours before the mold is up to temp. Once hot, it does pretty well.

Right now my standard load for 380 auto is 2.7 gr of Bullseye, WW SP primer, and Lee 95 gr as cast, tumble lubed with Bens liquid lube.

Wayne

[KenH]

Right now my standard load for 380 auto is 2.7 gr of Bullseye, WW SP primer, and Lee 95 gr as cast, tumble lubed with Bens liquid lube.
Wayne

Sounds like a good load, a bit more "peppy" than what I load for plinking with the .380 - I like the light loads so they drop the brass at my feet for easy retrieval rather than throwing the around. The .380 is a fun little round to shoot.

Ken H>

[Land Owner]

Not a criticism, since I "load small" in that cartridge too (2.7 gr. IMR 700X), but 2.7 grains of anything in that case just does not begin to fill the empty space and the margin for error at amounts that small increases exponentially. Be careful.

[KenH]

Not a criticism, since I "load small" in that cartridge too (4.5 gr. IMR 700X), but 2.7 grains of anything in that case just does not begin to fill the empty space and the margin for error at amounts that small increases exponentially. Be careful.

4.5 grains of Hodgdon IMR 700X is more along the lines of a 9mm load, not .380 isn't it? Of course it depends on bullet weight. I see on the Hodgdon site 4.0 grains with 700X is the max load for a 124 grain bullet in 9mm. for .380 with 100 grain bullet it's listed as 2.7 grains of 700X. I realize these are low numbers. I wish my version of QL had 700X listed. Is 700X a new powder? OR an old powder like PB which isn't listed either.

Now, with all that said, I like a powder that will just about fill the case, or at least 70% full. Per QuickLoad it shows for Unique that 3.3 grains is max load. Problem is QL gives wrong fps when tested in my G43 or the .380. By changing the Burn Rate setting of Unique powder to the value that gives a fps to match my chrono, then 3.0 grains because a max load. Since I'm punching holes in paper I don't need max load, only enough to reliably operate action which is 2.1 grains of unique with a 120 grain cast bullet. Per QL 2.1 grains of Unique with the Lee .380-120-TC bullet seated to .960" is 67% of case filled so there's not much change of double charge. While I don't normally weight each powder charge, I do weight a good number of them to be sure the powder measure is still throwing correctly.

Thanks for your comments.

Ken H>

[Boolseye]

4.5 grains of Hodgdon IMR 700X is more along the lines of a 9mm load, not .380 isn't it?

Gotta be a typo. He must have meant 2.5 gr. 4.5 gr. 700x would be a proof charge, or more, in a .380.

[KenH]

Thank you for comment, I thought typo myself, but reading his statement I think he was thinking of a different cartridge being loaded, not the .380 cartridge. He says:

.......in that cartridge too (4.5 gr. IMR 700X), but 2.7 grains of anything in that case just does not begin to fill the empty space and the margin for error at amounts that small increases exponentially. Be careful.

Note he says "2.7 grains ...... not..... fill empty space". I'm not sure how full the case would be with 700X, but with Unique 2.7 grains is >80% of case capacity with the Lee bullet.

Ken H>

[Boolseye]

Yeah, that sounds like a 45 ACP charge under a 200 or 230 grain slug.

[Land Owner]

Did not mean to be silent for this long. By my own hand I have mistyped. That IS my 9mm load and 2.7 gr. is MAX for my 380.

I apologize and have corrected that above. thank you for being Eagle eyed...

[KenH]

Thanks for coming back to comment. As I said, I suspected a 9mm load. That's still a fairly sporty 9mm load - isn't it?

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

Ranch Dog's design.

[Land Owner]

KenH - 4.7 would be max (interpolating for 104 gr. from my alloy) but 4.5 gr. is mild against my "ham hands" that can palm a basketball and are supported by 6'-04" height and 280#'s of bulk...but maybe that is TMI (I've omitted eye color and Mother's Maiden name for security purposes).

[Cherokee]

Yes, that Lee TL356-95-RF mold is the weight bullet I'd think good for a .380, but wasn't sure about the size of the bullet just outside the case. Looks like it will have to be seated deep? What is your OAL of loaded cartridge for reliable chambering? ARe you using in the Ruger LCR?

My OAL is .927 for several 380's. I tried .925-.930 and found .927" seem best. No Ruger, KelTech, Browning 1911, Star Pony.

[KenH]

Thanks for the comments - yep, your .927" is about right for a round nose bullet. For the 2R and 1R Lee bullets my .930" is about max for reliable functioning. I just don't like the cartridge with almost all the bullet inside the brass, no reason why, just "seems" like there should be more bullet outside the brass? I've come to like the Lee .355-120-TC bullet pretty good. It works equally well in my 9mm as well as the .380 so don't have to cast up different bullets. Not sure why that matters - got all the molds, and plenty of room to store the bullets so what difference does it make to use different bullets for 9mm and .380?

Looking back at my loads and yes, you're right - 4.7 grains 700X wouldn't be a major heavy load for 9mm. Of course, bullet weight would factor in big time - 102 grain bullet vs 148 grain. I've been working up a pipsqueak load that's easy for grandkids to shoot. Just enough to reliably work the action is enough. Those pipsqueak loads work good for me also. My 6'-4", 220 lb frame doesn't help the arthritis in my wrists and hands. As a result I tend to like the light loads. Bad shoulders keep the rifle loads light also.

Again, thanks to all for comments.

Ken H>