.380 From 9MM Dies?

[EMC45]

Well fellas I am about to venture into reloading for my KelTec .380. As some here do. Here's my question: Can it be done with 9MM dies? I got a local buddy who has done it and it worked fine he said. I miked a fired 9MM case and a fired .380 case. ID and OD. Very similar. I then ran each through the sizer. Then miked again. ID and OD. 1-2 Thou difference was all. And I believe that can be due to case thickness. I have data for a 120 gr boolit in my Lyman Manual #48. I also cast said boolit. Sooooo I made a dummy round last night with my cast and seated to function in the mag and be able to clear the chamber for unloading purposes. It is seated to the driving portion of the slug's sidewall. Right to were the truncated portion begins. Plenty of space left in the case still. I then threw a powder charge in an empty case(1.6 gr Bullseye) for a visual depth check and that seemed to jive with boolit depth as well. So is there anything I'm missing here? I don't believe in taking overt risks with my equipment or safety, but I will venture into territory I've yet to venture into as long as it's safe. Any input would be great. Thanks, Evan.:castmine:

[Swagerman]

The biggest issue I would ask is, how is the taper crimp working. Is it keeping the .380 bullet snug in its seated brass?

Jim

[EMC45]

Didn't even flare it much. I "opened" the casemouth a little to prevent shaving lead and then seated the boolit. I believe the seater/crimper die will iron out any kind of flare I put on the case. I still have a good bit of adjustment left in it. I am using RCBS carbide dies BTW. The brass has a pretty firm grip on the boolit when it's in the case. P.S. The charge of 1.6 gr Bullseye is the starting load for that weight boolit. And that charge is really tiny!

[Dale53]

The main thing to look out for here is there must be sufficient case neck tension + taper crimp to ABSOLUTELY prevent the bullet from telescoping back into the case when feeding. Deep seating a bullet in a case with little capacity can be a SERIOUS matter. Other than that, you should be "good to go".

Dale53

[USARO4]

I had the same idea when I first started reloading. Unfortunately it never worked. I could never get enough neck tension to securely hold the bullets in place. You may have more success, but be carefull about bullets seating deeper under recoil in your Kel-tec.

[Swagerman]

Yes, that is indeed a dangerous idea to try and seat .380 bullets with 9 mm dies, just not enough holding tension on the bullet to stay in place from recoil factor.

You could blow up the gun if not careful...that could ruin you're day.

Please don't try it...get some .380 reloading dies. :)

Jim

[EMC45]

Alright fellas I will get some Lee dies from Grafs. I am thinking back now and the bullet did come out fairly easy with my puller last night. I will get 'em sometime this week. No sense in taking a risk!

[DeanoBeanCounter]

:| One last thought. Never trim 9mm shells to 380 length. If you pick up range brass, check the head stamp of every one of them to make sure that someone else didn't trim 9mm shells. They jam up the gun, that is if you can load them into the magazine in the first place. Good luck and good shooting. :coffee:
Deano

[EMC45]

I miked the rim diameter as well and there is quite a difference.

[9.3X62AL]

Yep--.378" (380 ACP) and .391" (9 x 19 Luger).

Now to REALLY screw things up.....the 9 x 18 Makarov has the .391" rim of the 9 x 19 Luger, straight walls like a 380, and splits the difference in case length between the two.

Enjoy.

In a pinch, a 223 sizer die might resize a 380 case sufficiently to enable safe reloading.

[EMC45]

Well I did a little homework (again) last night. I sized a case with a .223 die and sized one with a 9MM die. BIG difference! I then seated a boolit in each case (dummy round) The .223 sized brass had a good bit more tension than the 9MM sized brass. I did a crush test with pliers on both. The 9MM sized round telescoped the boolit down into the case, but the .223 sized round didn't budge! I am going to get a #10 shellholder (RCBS) tonight. It fits the .223 and .380. I will go slow and start low. But I am going to venture out on this one.