Loading .380 with a Lee .38 Short/Long Colt set

[texassako]

As I was patiently waiting for the GB Lee .380 RD mold the other day, I began to think about what else I needed. Lots of components but a big whoops in the die department. It is a tough one to find currently, but I am not in a hurry and decided to look through what else I had that could work. I have a set of Lee .38 Short/Long Colt 'dies' since I have quite a bit of that brass. It is actually a collection of other cartridges' dies with nothing actually stamped for the Colts: .38/.357 sizer, that will size .380 just about right for now; .38 S&W powder through expander, hmm the 9mm sticky at the top says that is what I should need for cast; and a .38 Super seater crimper that I ground 1/16" off of to get a better crimp on some really short brass. Pulled out a few 110gr #36072 RNs that I have sized to .358 to test my theory. The dummy cartridges loaded up just fine with the proper dimensions and hand fed through my Interarms PPK/S just like factory FMJ. If anybody else is looking for a die set to load cast in a .380, the .38 Short/Long Colt works if you grind the seater die a bit.

[.22-10-45]

Hello, texassako. When I contacted Buffalo Arms Co. about buying an RCBS .38 long colt die set, they told me the .380 dies would work as well..and are alot less money than the special order long-colt set. I am now using the .380 full-length carbide for .38 Spec. as well, as it doesn't oversize the brass for shooting cast as the regular .38/.357 RCBS carbide sizer does.