I may be a whee bit ahead of myself here. I recently ordered up a new barrel for a project Pietta 1858 so while I assume the .36 is going to require some fat boolits for a conversion, I haven't been able to slug it. Maybe I'll get lucky.
Anyhow, my plan should it be .380 is to use some heeled bullets in LC length cases over a charge of 3F, no balloon heads here. In looking at some of Accurate's molds and reading through the CAS forums a couple points jumped out at me. Longer heels are said to have negative effects on accuracy and some of the gas check mold drawings show a .354-.355 diameter.
Would I be out of my mind to bump up the diameter to .357 (or even skip that) crimp into the lube groove and use a gas check model as a mini-heel? I'd think it would give me a little extra case capacity (maybe inconsequential?) and maybe improve flight. Or would the bearing surface in the case be too short for any cartridge durability?