Dual Purpose 380 ACP Load

[Pirate69]

I am trying to develop a load that will chamber in both my Ruger LCP and my wife's S&W BodyGuard. Neither one will allow me to chamber a boolit sized to 0.358". So I am sizing to 0.356" (don't have a 0.357" sizer to try). The Ruger LCP is a little more forgiving on COL; so the S&W BodyGuard is dictating the COL. I have two different boolits that I want to load. One appears to be OK on the seating depth but I am concerned about the other. Thanks to the Members on this forum, I have been conditioned to be aware of small changes in seating depth and significant changes in pressure with some powders. The following are the specs on the longest COL, for each boolit type, that the S&W BodyGuard will chamber. I would greatly appreciate someone with QuickLoad taking a quick look at the loads and see if there are any potential pressure problems as presented. I hope I have provided all the info needed. Thanks in advance. The loads:

1) TL358-100-RF
100 grain boolit sized to 0.356"
COL= 0.910"
Boolit= 0.414"
Case= 0.675"
Starting Load: 3.0 grains Unique

2) Lee 356-102-1R
102 grain boolit sized to 0.356"
COL= 0.980"
Boolit= 0.474"
Case= 0.675"
Starting Load: 3.0 grains Unique

[Ed_Shot]

I have no experience with your S&W but I load for two LCP's in my family. Both do great with either the Lee 356-102-1R and Lyman 356242 (90 gr.) sized to .358. I'm not familiar with the TL358-100-RF boolit but my Lyman 4th Ed. HB specs an OAL of .960 for the 356-102-1R. My 356-102-1R loads probably would not work either at an OAL of .980. I do load the Lyman 356242 (90 gr.) to an OAL of .980 as specified by the Lyman manual. What loading manual are you using?

[Pirate69]

The TL358-100-RF is a Ranch Dog mold. RD data has a COL listed at 0.924" for a 380 ACP loading and a max loading of 4.2 grains of Unique. I think I will be OK but I want to get some other opinions.

My COL for both loads are the length necessary to pass the "plunk" test.

[rintinglen]

I load the ranch dog boolit sized .357 to a OAL of .905 over 3.0 grains of WW-231 for excellent results in three of my 4 380's. The Colt, the PPK/s, and the Beretta all shoot it well. My Llama IIIA doesn't seem to like anything. Ranch Dogs Data is a tad on the warm side, and I can not get the Walther or the colt Pocket lite to shoot a longer cartridge reliably, so I take his max loads as a "Danger, Will Robinson" utter limit. That said, I think I would try a slightly heavier charge of Unique--3.0 seems like it might be too light for good function. I'd go 3.2 grains.

[Boolseye]

I have a Taurus TCP, which was Ranch Dog's test weapon, and about 150 rds of his 356-95 RF (well, the new Lee facsimile) loaded over 3.4 gr. BE to an OAL of .934" (.010" over his min OAL). This is less than his max load, but well over any other data I have seen. Has anyone shot his loads regularly in a TCP or LCP? I'm a little nervous. I have a Hi-Point I can blast them in if I need to.

[Pirate69]

I was concerned with the seating depth for the Lee356 more than anything else. I took the COL, length of both boolits and the case dimensions and calculated the depth that the boolit is seated. It looks like the Lee356 is seated 0.004" deeper than the TL358. The data for the TL358 is RD data for a load of 4.2 grains Unique. I am shooting 3.0 grains Unique. Think I am Ok at this point.

Boolit TL358 Lee356
COL, inch 0.924 0.980
Boolit, inch 0.414 0.474
Case, inch 0.675 0.675
Seating Depth, in 0.165 0.169
Case Depth Open 0.510 0.506