380 OAL problem/question 95gr flat point

[n10sivern]

I just started casting and started off casting bullets for my 380. Lee 95gr flat point. They are powder coated and sized to .358 through a Lee sizing die. I dropped a regular FMJ into the chamber and compared it to my loaded ammo. I had to set the bullet back to a .900" OAL to get it to seat the same. I looked up in my Lyman manual and it showed a 95gr FMJ at .900", but my bullet just looks set back really far. Is this what others out there are sizing to?

[fecmech]

You do not use the same oal for a RN and a RNFP. The bullets are not the same length. A good place to start IMO is to put the same amount of bullet (RNFP) in the case as the RN. That will give you essentially the same case capacity as the RN and you can work up your load from there for feed and reliability. OAL's are not set in stone.

[9.3X62AL]

Yessir! ^^^

This might resolve the matter entirely. If not, the bullet's ogive may be interfering with the rifling origin in the throat's leade area. A truncated cone design might adapt more readily to your pistol's chamber/throat environment than the round flat nose.

[n10sivern]

Taking the OAL out of the equation, shouldn't the two loaded bullets (rn and fp) set in the chamber the same? The only way I could get the distance from the case head to the edge of the chamber to be the same between the two were to seat the FP down to .900". Forgive my ignorance with this as I've never loaded flat points before, or 380 for that matter. Plenty of 45's but this is my first to load cast bullets or 380.

[9.3X62AL]

Define "set in the chamber the same". To function properly, the bullet must have sufficient depth of seating to stay in place during the feeding cycle, and have a shape that lends itself to self-loading from the magazine into the pistol's chamber. After that, the ogive should make zero to very slight contact with the rifling origin to facilitate feeding. .900" seems over-deep seating to me, but I have no experience with the involved bullet.

[rintinglen]

I use the RD 358-100, the original of the 356-095, exclusively in my 380's these days. I load it to an OAL of .905 and blaze away. I use it in 4 380 pistols, a Walther PPK/s, A Colt Pocketlite, a Berreta 84F, and a Llama IIIa. The first three gobble 'em up. The Llama not so much, but it has not proven to be much of anything in the reliability department, no matter what the load. I have not had an opportunity to try it in my Ruger LCP yet.

[RobsTV]

.358 is pretty fat for a .380. Which .380 do you have and what did it slug at? FMJ will not be .358 and usually closer to .355, which will seat deeper into chamber, allowing longer OAL. I am guessing you are powder coating after sizing .358, which will increase diameter a tad more.

You don't need the OAL when seating in chamber to equal any FMJ or anything else, and instead need it to be as long as possible that still allows slide to fully chamber round and mags to feed. A better reference to visually see normal depth of round in chamber would be to use an empty case in chamber as reference to see how far the brass should go.

Have the Lee 95 RNFP but haven't cast any yet.
Still using up some prior casts of 356-102-1R.
But for reference, if a different mold helps any:

356-102-1R sized .356, longest OAL that will feed and function 100% are:
S&W Bodyguard .380, OAL = .963
Sig P238, OAL = .926
So as shown, same boolit, two different .380's two very different OAL's.

Also for reference, Lee 356-120-TC worked fine at OAL = .971 in Bodyguard.

And factory Federal 95gr FMJ OAL = .958 to .964, all fed fine in Bodyguard. Sig has only seen lead reloads.

[fecmech]

I do not have the Lee bullet you mention but I do have the Ranch Dog which I believe is what Lee copied. At one time I had two pistols a Keltec and Ruger LCP. The KT had a .355 groove and the Ruger .357 groove so I sized .358 for both. I just checked my OAL and it is .925 which worked just fine in those two guns. YMMV

[RobsTV]

Just finished casting a bunch with this mold, (very nice mold for casting a ton fast). These could probably be used without sizing as most dropped at .356.

OAL in Sig P238 is .940, which places nearly all of the bearing surface inside case, and what is exposed (Ogive) tapers inward. Can't see why OAL might need to be shorter.