Loading cast in a 380

[1Shirt]

Picking up a new little Ruger next week as a CC. Have dies, 200 Starline new brass, and have 200ea. 90 grainers on the way from Mats Bullets etc. (I like his castings by the way-clean and well filled out, and reasonable. Good guy to deal with). This is one that I have never loaded, and probably will not load and shoot over a couple of hundred anyway. But you never know.

Anyhow, am looking for words of wisdom regarding loading for the 380, from some who have experiance loading this little 9. I thank in advance those who respond to this thread.
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[rond]

Titegroup works really well for me in 380.

[Carolina Cast Bullets]

I use HP38 or WW231 with a 100 grain RDO sized .356" I shoot a Taurus 738. Actually, its my Wife's carry and she loves it.

Take a look at Ranch Dog Outdoors for an interesting 380 ACP boolit. 100 grain wide FN that works in most 380's. The nose shape makes it "one you need to test" before relying on it.

Jerry
Carolina Cast Bullets

[Larry Gibson]

1Shirt

I've loaded cast bullets for several .380s over the years of blow back and locked breach designs, still load practice rounds for my AMT Backup. I use the Lee RN and SWC which are heavier and have found Bullseye to work very well along with similar fast burners. Not a lot of case capacity there and mine were just practice rounds so funtion reliability was the goal. Accuracy to 50 feet or 25 yards with most shooting done much closer was always very acceptable.

Whatever powder you choose start low and work up as most pistols made for this cartridge will function pretty easily. The standard RCBS FL sizer I have won't size some cases enough for a good grip on .355 - .356 sized bullets. I use a .223 FL die with those thinner cases and the slight taper it gives the cases does the trick.

Larry Gibson

[timkelley]

My LCP likes Lee lead up to about 115gr with Blue Dot.

[Glen]

I load the 90 grain RN over a middle of the road charge of Red Dot for my DIL.

[Curly James]

2.8 grains WW 231/HP 38, WW SPP, almost any case, and the Lee 102 grain tumble lube makes 750 fps from my LCP and drops the brass in a nice pile to my right. Also very accurate and easy on the gun.

[montana_charlie]

Uhh ... you boys might be on a path to rile the sheriff since he rote that new ord-i-nants about bringin' shootin' stuff here into Our Town.

Ah reckon he would want you to take up this kind of conversashun over in that section laid out for handguns, and the like.

Of course, if y'all would keep a ball of yarn tucked in yer shirts, when he comes around you could say you was just talking about knittin' ... or somethin'.

CM

[1Shirt]

Thanks Guys, Good info, Much Appreciated!
1Shirt!:coffee:

[FISH4BUGS]

I use a H&G S55 10 cavity 380 mould and load with 231. I shoot all my 380 out of a MAC submachine gun. Berry's Plated Bullets are used with a supressor......no lead through the can at all. The MAC has a generous chamber and the brass will bulge at the base when fired. Unless you know where your brass is coming from and what it was fired in, you need to fix that.
One piece of advice: use a Lee factory crimp die in station 4 on your progressive press (or as a separate step if you load on a single stage). It will guarantee flawless feeding.

[Finster101]

Take a look at this thread. I'm running the 105gr SWC through my Kel-tec my XD sub and a Smith. Haven't had a jam problem yet. The XD stove piped a couple of times till I bumped up the charge a little bit. Great mold and very versatile. I am sizing to .356 for all three pistols.


http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=105996


James

[casterofboolits]

I started my 380 loading for an FIE Pony ( intended for Colt at one time). I started with a Lyman #358242 09-95-RNPB sized .356 with Unique. Then switched to an H&G #275 09-125-SWCBB sized .356 and BlueDot.

I used this in the FIE and Two Colts. A Government model and a Mustang. Functioned perfectly in all three pistols and was quite accurate.

[9.3X62AL]

Been quite a while since I did any work with a 380 ACP. Like its larger brother the 9mm Luger, its groove dfiameter isn't always on spec at .355", and can run larger. Slug throat and grooves--my last 380 (SIG P-230) wanted .358" boolits to fit throat--not lead the bore--and shoot accurately.

I'm thoroughly recalcitrant, so responding to the thread as found/where found fits my incorrigible M/O nicely. If the leadership sees fit to move the thread, that's fine with me.

[Recluse]

I, too, have found the fast-burning powders to work best. My preferred boolit for the .380 is the Lee 102RN, and more often than not, I simply tumble-lube it. It feeds well and has never jammed on me.

Only problem with reloading for .380 is that my brass seems to fly everywhere, and I'm always on the floor at the (indoor) range looking for it.

:coffee:

[1Shirt]

Got to range yesterday. Put half a box of factory 90 grainers thru the little Ruger, and 20 rds. of my handloads w/87gr. HP rems. over Tightgroup. Shoots well! Was able to stay on paper w/most in the black on T-4 targed at 10 yds. Was supprised at the recoil. Not by any means bad, but much more than I expected. Only drawback with the little gun is that it throws brass all over the place, and cases are very easily lost. Will probably try Unique next. A fun gun! May the the reason I end up going for a CC permit.
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[9.3X62AL]

[QUOTE=1Shirt;1302683 Was supprised at the recoil. Not by any means bad, but much more than I expected. 1Shirt!:coffeecom[/QUOTE]

That's a common comment from shooters unfamiliar with the 380 ACP. My old agency authorized the caliber for off-duty and plainclothes carry, and quite a few deputies carried them before the sub-compact Glocks came online. They do jump around a bit when fired--some of that has to do with the diminutive grips, and some has to do with blowback operation. It's all physics, in any event. In times past, I had the use of a Colt Government Model 380 ACP, and it had toggle-link recoil operation very much like a 1911A1. It was a delight to shoot--very tractable recoil impulse, and with Pachmayr grip panels it was a kittycat to manage. Quite accurate, too.

[GH1]

I load 98 gr cast RN on top of 3.0 gr AA#2. They work well in both my Bersa and Kel-Tec.
GH1

[1Shirt]

Loaded some unique next. Btroj and my daughter both shot the little Ruger. A bit tough getting used to the trigger on the little feller, but once you do works well. All of us had no problem keeping it on paper at 10-12 yds, and for the most part centered. Can't ask much more for a CC weapon.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[STUGOTZ]

My LCP likes 150gr RN with 1.6gr of bullseye, it is a very sweet load, and you are throwing a little bit more lead.

[1Shirt]

I like the 90 gr. from Matt's blts w/unique. Burns cleaner than Tight Group, and seems to be a bit more accurate. Stugotz, that seem way heavy blt wise, any idea of vol?
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[Treeman]

The .380 is quite easy to develop decent loads for....but the little cases are easy to crush if you get sloppy and ham handed and some powders can be difficult to dispense accurately in such small doses from some measures. My current preferred load is 4 grains of 4756 under a 100grain TC boolit (The group buy that Rattlesnake Charlie ramrodded). It is clean and consistent...and not "flashy".

[fecmech]

I like the 90 gr. from Matt's blts w/unique. Burns cleaner than Tight Group, and seems to be a bit more accurate. Stugotz, that seem way heavy blt wise, any idea of vol?
1Shirt!:coffeecom
2.0/BE and a Lee 120 TC runs 663 FPS out of my Keltec, 4.0 Blue dot gets it up to 690 fps. That has to be an interesting looking load with a 150 in a .380 case!

[mtgrs737]

The little Lee 95-105 gr. round nose boolit cast of WW over 2.7 grs. of Bullseye makes a nice practice load. I have loaded 3.0 grs. of BE but found it to be a little stiff for practice loads. I size my boolits to .357" dia. and have no problems chambering as they drop in by gravity alone and produce no leading.