Question about loading .380 with CB

[claudester]

Hello,
First post
This is my first post. I've been reloading rifle for over a year and now have gone to the pistol loads. I've come up with good loads for my .380 Bersa using FMJ JHPs and now am sitting at the bench with my first cast bullets. My question is this. The bullets are commercial 104 gr. FP and I've read where you have to insert the bullet to at least cover the lube ring. I have set up a few dummies doing so and they come out to a OAL of only .928. I cycled them through my gun and that's O.K. These just seem so short compared to all my other loads. I've been using Win 231 for the three other loads with jacketed bullets with loads of 2.9 to 3.1 but with this one going a little deeper in the case I'm wondering where to start. Would 2.7 be O.K.
Would appreciate the info

[Trey45]

Howdy, I don't have an answer for you, but I do have a Welcome to the forum for you. If you're the same claudester from the talkblade forum, then I've bought a few knives from you. Good to see you here.

[GabbyM]

.928" sounds about right for a truncated cone flat point. .930" is the COL listed in my Sierra book for the 380 with there TC hollow points. I use that length with my old Lyman bullet. 100gr TCFP that looks very close in profile to the Sierra 90gr HP bullet. The flat nose shortens the COL when compared to a round nose.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=32&pictureid=145

[claudester]

Howdy, I don't have an answer for you, but I do have a Welcome to the forum for you. If you're the same claudester from the talkblade forum, then I've bought a few knives from you. Good to see you here.


Yup! That's me and thanks for the welcome Trey. Still got a lot of knives but kinda lost interest in collecting them anymore except the KCs of course. Been doin the gun thing for awhile now.

[claudester]

.928" sounds about right for a truncated cone flat point. .930" is the COL listed in my Sierra book for the 380 with there TC hollow points. I use that length with my old Lyman bullet. 100gr TCFP that looks very close in profile to the Sierra 90gr HP bullet. The flat nose shortens the COL when compared to a round nose.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=32&pictureid=145

Thanks Gabby,
How does that 2.7 or 2.8 gr. of 231 sound to you?

[Echo]

I would start low (2.5/231) and move up .1 at a time until I got perfect functioning. Maybe add another .1 for grins...

[jungleman9941]

i have loaded Hornaday XTP 90gr hp with 3.2gr of Titegroup.
Berry's 100gr plated and 95gr cast LRN with 3.2gr or under with HP38 which is the same as Win231. these shot well in a Keltec P3AT.

[GabbyM]

Thanks Gabby,
How does that 2.7 or 2.8 gr. of 231 sound to you?

Yes.
My notes list 2.6 to 2.8 grains WW231 as light loads.
Lyman 4th list 3.1gr as max under the Lee 100 grain bullet with 945 fps. But it seats deeper than the TC flat point bullets.
I believe I loaded 2.7 grains ww231 for the Kel Tec P3AT. That’s plenty sharp for practice in that featherweight.

With an auto pistol it’s always a handy sign to see how far the brass flies.

[claudester]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

[claudester]

Yes.
My notes list 2.6 to 2.8 grains WW231 as light loads.
Lyman 4th list 3.1gr as max under the Lee 100 grain bullet with 945 fps. But it seats deeper than the TC flat point bullets.
I believe I loaded 2.7 grains ww231 for the Kel Tec P3AT. That’s plenty sharp for practice in that featherweight.

With an auto pistol it’s always a handy sign to see how far the brass flies.

Thanks much Gabby, I'll try too load some today. I also am going to start casting my own soon. I have bought several molds for what I shoot but just haven't gotten that far yet. Good point about how far the casings travel.

Well, I loaded some up and the OAL ended up at .930, 104 gr. LTC flat points, 2.7 gr. of Win 231. I shot them through a chrony that I'm using for the first time and got numbers that seem way to high but there was no bulging on any of the cases. I got 1592, 1580,1583 and 1563 on my last four shots. In between I shot one armscor 95 gr. to see if the chrony was reading right and that one went down to 525.2 f/s. In the Lyman book I see the Max for 3.1 gr. would be 1009 f/s. Is my chrony goofy?

[jungleman9941]

sounds funny to me, but i am no expert. when i loaded 95gr LRN with 2.9gr of HP38 they shot lighter than factory ammo.

[claudester]

I took a .22 L.R. and shot it through the chrony and got an average of about 1220 f/s so I think it's reading right but 1500 doesn't seem right.

[GabbyM]

You must of had your chrony to close to the muzzle balst.

[JIMinPHX]

I'll assume that the Bersa is a straight blowback gun & not one of the few locked breach .380s on the market. A 1,000fps load in a blowback .380 should slap your palm with a bit of pain. Around 750-800fps, most mid size framed blowback .380s start to get a lot more comfortable to shoot. How fast did your plam tell you it was going? 1500fps should get your attention very quickly. You would be fortunate not to blow out a case with a charge that stiff in a blowback gun. Gabby's assessment is most likely correct if you are not soaking your hand in ice right now.

[claudester]

You must of had your chrony to close to the muzzle balst.

I did have it to close, about 3 feet from the muzzle but now there are other issues

[claudester]

I'll assume that the Bersa is a straight blowback gun & not one of the few locked breach .380s on the market. A 1,000fps load in a blowback .380 should slap your palm with a bit of pain. Around 750-800fps, most mid size framed blowback .380s start to get a lot more comfortable to shoot. How fast did your plam tell you it was going? 1500fps should get your attention very quickly. You would be fortunate not to blow out a case with a charge that stiff in a blowback gun. Gabby's assessment is most likely correct if you are not soaking your hand in ice right now.


Hello, JIMinPHX,
Yes, Gabby was right . The recoil was normal but I shot with the chrony about 12 feet away this time and I got reading averaging 550 which can't be right ether. With the 2.7 and 2.8 I should be around 750 - 800 f/s. I googled problems with the chronys and found a bunch so tomorrow I'm going to try the fixes I read about. I really enjoy this reloading and sure would like to know the true speed of my loads.

[MtGun44]

Sometimes for a pistol you need a blast deflector - a sheet of corrugated cardboard with
a 3" hole will work. Put it about 4 ft towards you from the first skyscreen

Bill