380 reloading questions

[KnotRight]

Just got in a set of Hornady dies for the 380 along with a bunch of brass. I am tumbling and resizing the brass while deciding on what bullets to load.

I looked at Missouri Bullet, Blue Bullet and Extreme Bullet companies for plinking around. When ordering the dies I ordered some Barnes Tac-XP bullets not realizing they were packed 40 to a box.

Questions that I have are:

What bullet would you use for plinking around (prefer not just a lead bullet)
What JHP bullet would you use and weight
The diameter between the JHP and coated is .355 to .356
What power would you load? I have some Bullseye, Unique, 700x and 800X on hand. The loads that I am seeing in hand are showing 231 but I can not find any.

Have not got into casting my own bullet yet and not really sure that this is a caliber that I would want to cast.

[Hickory]

This is a good opportunity to experiment.
Keep good accurate records and save your targets.
Only you will know what is best for you & your gun.

[rexherring]

You can get Berry's plated for plinkers and Bullseye is great powder in the .380. I load 2.2-2.5 grains depending on the bullet I shoot a lot of 102 cast RN with 2.2 grains and they shoot well in my Bersa Thunder.

http://www.berrysmfg.com/product-i15046-c137-g8-b0-p0-380_356_100gr_FBRN___250ct.aspx

[jmar254]

I haven't order any "yet" but the prices and reviews seem favorable. http://www.evergladesammo.com/bullets.html?caliber=17

[rintinglen]

The 380 is an easy round to load. It is like a mini-45 acp in that regard. Now I use cast boolits virtually exclusively these days, the RD 358-100 and the NOE 358-88 RF HP molds make up the loads I use. I load WW-231/HP 38 when I can get it. In the past, I used bulk pack Winchester 95 grain fmj's and for defensive loads Hornady 90 grain FTX bullets. Load to recommmended OAL to avoid pressure spikes--in tiny cases a tenth of an inch means a lot.

[boho]

When i load plated pills i use 100 gr plated from rocky mountain reloading or berry's.

[Bonz]

When I load copper plated, I use Xtreme 100gr. Seems that the faster the powder, the better the performance. I would use Bullseye from that list of powders you have.

For JHP, they are sized at .356" I prefer the 88gr Remington JHP to get the FPS as high as I can from that short barrel in my Ruger LCP

[Eddie2002]

Just picked up 1,000 115 grain RN .355 cast bullets in a trade to be used in my little .380 Ruger LCP and have been loading them over 2.4 grains of Greendot. They came from Space Coast Reloading and are good for target shooting with not much recoil but gives a little leading. Think I need to use my own lube along with the blue stuff they came with. For 90 grain jacketed HP 2.6 grains of Bullseye works well. The Ruger has shot everything I've put through it either commercial ammo or reloads with only one squib which was my fault.
Check to see what diameter bullet will fit in your gun's chamber, my Ruger fits a .355 with no problem but is a little tight with .356.

[smoked turkey]

I am using a 95 gr RN commercial cast boolit over 3.0 gr W231. My boolits mic out at .356. I run them through a .355 sizing die prior to seating. Otherwise the .380 case had a bulge where the boolit was seated in the case. I just felt that I got a little better feeding by sizing at .355. I use a set of hornady dies with the seating die set so as not to crimp the case on seating. I have found that I get a bit better load if I taper crimp in a seperate step. If I had a custom boolit nose punch in the RCBS taper crimp die I would probably be able to seat the boolit and taper crimp in the same step. However when I tried it with the RCBS factory boolit nose punch in the taper crimp die it caused a fairly deep ring around the nose of the seated boolit because of the the improper nose punch. I have been getting great accuracy and zero leading and 100% reliability with my loads in the S&W BodyGuard. I have a Lyman 92 gr RN mold I am anxious to try as soon as I get a chance to cast up some. I really enjoy shooting the little .380.

[Bigslug]

What JHP bullet would you use and weight

In general, I wouldn't.

The thing with the .380. . .you might not have enough energy to get a hollowpoint to expand, but in the event that you do, the hollowpoint will likely reduce the bullet's penetration to the point where it will not have sufficient licks to get to the Tootsie Roll center of the Tootsiepop. Go for a cast solid or FMJ with a flat nose of about a hundred grains. NOTE: If you ARE going to roll with a hollowpoint, you probably won't top the Barnes you've purchased for penetration.

[Eddie2002]

Got to agree with not being able to get a jacketed hollow point to open up when fired from a .380 ACP. The test shots I've done with a 90 grain HP over 2.6 grains of BE showed no expansion at all when fired into a wet piece of 2x4, it just punched a nice clean hole through it. Even cast bullets don't expand much in wet wood. Don't know if it is safe to load a .380 ACP hot enough to open up a jacketed hollow point, I would move up to 9mm instead.

[gunoil]

xtremebullets.com copper plated 380's are great price.

l cast my own from hardlineindustries.com mold (115gr l use in cm9 and g-42).

[texassako]

I am another in the don't bother with jhp camp. They don't expand reliably; so I preferred a nice big meplat. Usually the RD 358-100 which Lee makes a pretty close copy of now. Cast, tumble in 45/45/10, and loaded with Bullseye or Unique. I sold my ppks since it was not accurate enough, but one day I will replace it since it was easy to load.

[paul edward]

Slug your barrel so you will know the correct groove diameter before ordering bullets. Berry's and Montana Gold both offer FMJ bullets suitable for practice loads.

Bullseye and Unique will both work. So will most of the faster pistol powders. Winchester 231 is the same as Hodgdon's HP-38. Invest in several loading manuals. Visit the websites of powder suppliers who will list starting and maximum loads.