380 cast tips

[fish0123]

Hello everyone, I'm a new member that is just getting into casting my own boolits.

So far I have completed about 1000 bootlits for my little Ruger LCP 380 with my LEE 102 grain mold. All of my other handguns are glocks so I am limited to the LCP for casting for now.

The problem is that I can't find data for the 380 anywhere. Currently all I have is Universal clays powder. Any tips would be appreciated. I am still relatively new to reloading as well so I am not to sure how to load ammunition without the exact load data available. I was thinking about using the 100 grain jacketed data in my lee manual and staying on the low end, but figured I would ask here first. Also, for the OAL, should I try to stick to the minimum value or midway between min and max?

[Iron Mike Golf]

You can use data for 100 gr jacketed loads.

Use the OAL in the manual as a guideline. Use your gun's barrel as a gauge. Your finished rounds should drop right in to the barrel and need no pressure to seat fully. The roud should stop going forward from hitting the casemouth, not the boolit hititng the lands. Adjust your OAL until this happens.

[fish0123]

This may sound dumb but how do you know if the case mouth is hitting and not the boolit hitting the lands.

I tried it and the boolit seats into the barrel fine and comes to a stop, I'm just not sure why it stopped, because the case mouth hit or the boolit hit, not sure which. This OAL issue could be the reason why I see small slivers of brass in my 9mm glock barrel after firing some reloads the other day.

My uneducated thoughts are that I could just seat a boolit into a case and push it the rest of the way using the barrel, or just try to copy the size of factory ammo?

[rintinglen]

The Lyman 4th edition Handbook of Cast Bullets lists .960 as the AOL for the Lee 102 Grainer. Start there, with 3.0 grains of Clays Universal. (Why the heck Hogdon thought it would be a good idea to use similar names for such dissimilar powders is beyond me--this is a lawsuit waiting to happen when someone confuses the faster Clays for the slower Universal.) Hogdon does not list Clays for the .380, however 2.3 grains worked well with the Lyman 358-242 92 grainer.

[fish0123]

Thanks glen, I'm ordering that cast boolit handbook right now!


The Lyman 4th edition Handbook of Cast Bullets lists .960 as the AOL for the Lee 102 Grainer. Start there, with 3.0 grains of Clays Universal. (Why the heck Hogdon thought it would be a good idea to use similar names for such dissimilar powders is beyond me--this is a lawsuit waiting to happen when someone confuses the faster Clays for the slower Universal.) Hogdon does not list Clays for the .380, however 2.3 grains worked well with the Lyman 358-242 92 grainer.

[Iron Mike Golf]

This may sound dumb but how do you know if the case mouth is hitting and not the boolit hitting the lands...

1. They sound different. You'll learn that as you go.

2. You can get a visual feel by seating a sized and taper crimped, but empty (no boolit), case in the chamber. Note where the base of the case sits. Mark the barrel hood with pencil, maybe.

3. You shouldn't need a whole lot of force to extract and assembled or dummy round. Maybe just gravity. Maybe a small tug with a fingernail. Might be snug from a tight chamber or thick-walled brass, but you should be able to grab the extractor groove and remove by hand. If the boolit is in the lands, you'll probably need to tap it out with a rod.

4. Check for the lands engraving the boolit.

5. If you don't have a real tight chamber and/or thick-walled brass and a fat boolit, you'll probably be able to rotate a chambered round. If it's on the lands, no way.

[fish0123]

Thanks Mike, that makes perfect sense!

[Catshooter]

Welcome to the site fish.

Don't think you can't shoot cast in your Glocks, you can. You just want to learn a bit more so you know what to do and not do and how to fix it.


Cat

[fish0123]

catshooter,

Yeah I figured it would be a little bit easier starting out with the good ole ruger barrel. Eventually I'll work up the confidence to try out cast in the Glocks. Im going to shoot my new boolits today so hopefully they go bang!

[Catshooter]

Good thinking. Good luck.


Cat

[fish0123]

Well the new cast boolits shot great out of the little ruger! I tried some loads with 3.0, 3.2, and 3.3 grains of Universal. I think I'm gonna stick with the 3.2 grain load cause that LCP is a snappy little gun. I'll give it a good cleaning later to see if there is any leading. I didn't size these boolits so they are a couple thousandths over my barrel size.

[Dickenscpa]

Anyone use this boolit with Win231? I made up a batch and loaded them over 2.8g of Win231 and got a 2' grouping at 10 yds. Horribly inaccurate.

Brad

[Gunsmoke4570]

I'm using the Mihec 95gr HP over 3.1 grains of 231 in my Bodyguard. Extremely accurate. YMMV.

[rintinglen]

2" at 10 yards would tickle me plum to giggles out of my PPK/s. Even out of my Berretta 84 that would be fine.

[Dickenscpa]

2" at 10 yards would tickle me plum to giggles out of my PPK/s. Even out of my Berretta 84 that would be fine.

Unfortunately it was 2' as opposed to 2". If a thug came at me sideways I couldn't hit him. LOL!

To be honest, the target I was shooting at was 2'X2', I was off paper on some shots so my grouping could have been infinity.

Brad