Hey Guys and Gals,
Ive been getting set up to reload 380ACP recently. After buying the Dillon 550 conversion kit and dies, the last component was a mold. Ive read good things about the Lee 358 105 SWC, so I started calling around the St. Louis area to see if a shop had one. Grafs had a 2 cavity with handles on the shelf for $22! I hopped on the motycycle and hightailed it. I could not believe how tiny this mold was. I had only worked with 4,5, and 6 cavity molds and only one Lee that dropped too small after reading here years ago. This little 2 cavity was a joy to cast with. Light weight blocks and handles made it too easy to run for 4 hours straight. Boolits just fell out of it. Casts at 358-359 at 108 grains with WW or Lyman #2.
Tumbling the brass right now so I can plunk test, set the dies, and load up some ladder charges. The Lyman 49th Edition shows no 100 to 110 grain load data. With regards to using at my own risk, does anyone have load data to start with for Red Dot/Promo? Depending on the plunk test, I was thinking 2.0 to 2.4 grains looking at the available data in the manual. Will be loading for an LCP. Never thought I'd be loading for it, but 380 ammo isn't cheap and I really love throwing this thing in a DeSantis in my back pocket when riding the motycycle or a quick run to the store. This site has been such a wealth of knowledge over the last few years. Has really helped to stretch the dollars and expand skills. Very much appreciate this place.