.380 Fun Little round

[rexherring]

I never thought I'd like the .380 but it's a blast to shoot in my Bersa thunder Plus (15 round). It's also a great little round to reload, a pound of Bullseye will load 3,500 rounds unless I spill some. I've been loading some Lee 105 gr SWC that size out to .356 and they seem to work just fine. I've loaded some Lee 125 gr RNFP's but haven't had a chance to try them out yet.

Anyone else like this little round?

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

I am on my second Ruger 380. My wife "stole" my first one about a week after I brought it home. I can carry it in a front pants or shirt pocket and it is so light it does not "print". About half of the PD here carry one as a backup. A local leathersmith makes a double mag carrier that incorporates a holster behind it that is invisible.

A friend was making fun of my "puny rat shooter". I asked him if he would stand 50yds down range and let me shoot him once with my little "puny rat shooter" since it was so ineffective. He not so politely declined my offer.

To me, they are like American Express ads, "Don't leave home without it...".

Rich

[Sakdog]

Amen, I have the older iteration of the thunder and it eats everything I throw at it. you are running the 105gn SWC? Do you like it pretty well? I am thinking of going to that mold (currently using the lee 102gn rn .356). I have pondered the 105swc. Not sure how it will feed in the TCP. My TCP demands a coal of .960 or less. What kind of COAL are you running on that 105SWC?

Its a fun shooting cartridge and its great to see it coming back to life!

[DRNurse1]

I have a 125gr HP mold for my 9MM. Any idea if these will work in my Walther P380? I do not see any information on these Heavy for Caliber boolits in the traditional sources, but thought someone here might have tried it.

Thanks in advance for your consideration.

[Sakdog]

Check Lyman, I think there is a load out there for 124 Grainers in one of the cast boolit print books. I've never gone that heavy though, most of what I have heard about doing so was negative. YMMV

[rexherring]

Amen, I have the older iteration of the thunder and it eats everything I throw at it. you are running the 105gn SWC? Do you like it pretty well? I am thinking of going to that mold (currently using the lee 102gn rn .356). I have pondered the 105swc. Not sure how it will feed in the TCP. My TCP demands a coal of .960 or less. What kind of COAL are you running on that 105SWC?

Its a fun shooting cartridge and its great to see it coming back to life!

I'm getting the COAL at .956 on the SWC. Haven't had a chance to run many through yet but they look promising so far. They seem to cycle o.k. with a 2 gr Bullseye charge. I need to run a few more clips at fast fire to see if they feed o.k. but that Bersa seems to feed just about anything once the proper length is set.

[EMC45]

I have shot that 105gr. bullet out of the Astra Constable with surprising accuracy. I think I am gonna load some up this morning now!

[fecmech]

I've shot the Ranch Dog 100 gr in my Astra Constable, very accurate little pistol but not pleasant to shoot. I had thought with the extra weight (over my Keltec) it would be a ***** cat but it's not. That extension under the hammer digs in tto the web of my hand.

[Gunnut 45/454]

Yep got a Bersa Thunder for wife, been casting the 105 gr Lee for ever since . Very accurate and cheap shooting. They are just a PITA to load!

[Dan Cash]

I have a pair of Colt nickle Government Model .380. They don't get shot a lot, largely because as one respondant said, they are a PIA to reload. The little locked breech Colts are amazingly accurate and very mild in the recoil department. It is a shame that the spin off Mustang was so unreliable as to give the whold family a bad name. the Government Model just flat works.

[John in WI]

A buddy of mine owed me a few bucks, so he gave me a Hi-Point .380 in trade. It sat there for years before I actually shot it and I was amazed at what a nice little shooter that thing is! For it's size and weight, I'm not sure why he would have bought the .380 (which looks about identical to the 9mm Nato). Anyway, it's never misfired and I've put everything through it. Mostly blasting with cheapo Blazer, but also with hollow point Critical Defense.

The HP load have nice expansion in water and wet-pack, but the penetration is on the shallow end. So I'm using a "dutch loading" and staggering HP/FMJ. It spends 99% of it's life as my desk drawer piece. Not my first line of defense, but the .380 is nothing to sneeze at. And with the weight of my pistol, recoil is barely there. As a self defense caliber, it wouldn't be my first choice but does have enough to be a contender. My concealed carry piece is normally a 9x18mm Mak which has just a hair more power. But if you do your part it should have enough to get the job done.

[rexherring]

It would be easier with a bevel base boolit but I just set the die to flare a little more and finish it off in the Lee factory crimp die.

[EMC45]

I've shot the Ranch Dog 100 gr in my Astra Constable, very accurate little pistol but not pleasant to shoot. I had thought with the extra weight (over my Keltec) it would be a ***** cat but it's not. That extension under the hammer digs in tto the web of my hand.


Shot my Constable today with the 105gr. SWC sized to .356 with 2.5gr. Bullseye sending it to target. Quite accurate, but this gun is snappy and the slide dug 2 nice lines into the web of my hand. The backstrap of this pistol also digs into my hand.

[quilbilly]

My Walther 380 loves the Lee 102 gr Rn. I just hate chasing down the brass after a session. I always seem to lose about 20%.

[EMC45]

Out of 50 I think I brought home about 18................nice..............I did shoot 100 rounds out of my nickle HE Smith .32 though so that made it hurt less.

[Roundnoser]

I have a Sig 238 that I purchased for summer-time carry. I've been loading it with a 95 gr. RN cast boolits for plinking/practicing with good results. I use a 95 gr. semi-jacketed soft point when carrying. -- Its not a tack driver, but its lots of fun to shoot.

[Shuz]

My Walther 380 loves the Lee 102 gr Rn. I just hate chasing down the brass after a session. I always seem to lose about 20%.

If your range area will permit it, lay out a large, el cheapo tarp, like the ones you can get at Harbor Freight, and stand in a place that will enable the tarp to catch most of the rounds. The size of the tarp, and where you shoot from will determine the number of cases retrieved. Helped me out a lot, but I still manage to loose a few.

[rexherring]

I hate trying to find them in the grass. The one shooting range I use has an indoor section and you shoot out a window. That makes it nice to grab a broom and dust pan for brass retrieval. I usually find extra brass in the brass bucket I can use. A lot of people here are buying the LCP Ruger for carry guns and very few reload them so it's win for me.

[Sensai]

One of my other hobbies is looking for civil war artifacts. It took me a while (I guess I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer) to put the two together. That metal detector does a really good job of finding my brass for me!

[fcvan]

My first .380 was a Berreta M70S which is similar to a Walther PP but single action. I loved that gun but sold it to a friend who had a M71 in .22 and wanted a pair. I loaded the Lee 356-102 1R and the Lee 358-105 SWC for it with 3 grains of Bullseye. Years later, I bought an FEG PA63 which is a PPK knock-off. It felt so much like the Berreta I didn't even try the double action trigger pull before buying. Horrendous is the only way to describe it. Single action is crisp and it shoots very nicely with the above loads.

After doing some research I found the double action pull is stiff by design for the European police contract they serviced. The fix, clip two coils off the main spring or replace it with a Walther main spring. I left it alone. If I have time to aim I have time to cock it. When shooting practical combat course of fire I don't really notice.

Last year, the wife bought me a Taurus TCP738 for our anniversary. It shoots well with the 102 RN boolit, I haven't tried it with the 105 SWC. I want to try the Lee 356-120 TC in the FEG but am afraid the lightweight Taurus might be a handful with a heavier boolit. Ya, I'll try it but I know the Taurus will nail soda cans at 25 yards with the 102 RN load. The latest .380 fired was a friends Taurus lightweight .380 J-frame revolver. That was fun! The only thing I didn't care for was that it was double action only. Not a deal breaker, I just think a revolver should have the ability to be fired single action. The .380 revolver uses full moon clips or can be fired without them but ejection is a pain. .380 is a fun cartridge! Frank

[meshugunner]

I just got an LCP and I am fixing to load some Ranchdog 100gr RF for it. Never loaded .380 before. Looking forward to it

I sometimes come back with more brass than I fired, but I never come back with all of mine. Last time I actually counted and it was indeed 80% that I recoverd.:) Must try the tarp idea.