.380 ACP From ?

[Eddie2002]

Here's an interesting conversion which almost works. Just playing around in the reloading room and found that the base of a .223/5.56 case is pretty much the same as a .380 ACP base. I cut a few .223 cases down, trimmed them to .380 ACP length and ran them through a FL resizer. Well it almost works except the case wall of the converted brass is around 20 thousands thick at the neck which caused all types of chambering problems with the dummy rounds I put together. Didn't measure the volumn of the converted cases but I'll bet they are a lot smaller than true .380 ACP cases. Oh well, maybe they will be good for shot shell development.

[Stephen Cohen]

I would imagine one could run a reamer into the shell, as is done converting 30/06 into 45 Super shells.

[jrap]

If you had a lathe I'm sure it could be done

[w5pv]

I tried it a couple years ago and ran into the chambering problems also.Unless I run out of 380 brass and cain't find 380 brass the troubles you run into isn't worth the time spent correcting the problems.

[Eddie2002]

I agree, it's not worth it converting the brass over even with a micro lathe. The biggest difference between the two is down by the base where the rifle brass curves into the center while the pistol brass has more of a 90 degree angle. Couldn't seat a bullet very deep in the converted case, the brass gets thicker the closer to the base you get. Also the volumn of the case is a lot smaller than a regular .380 ACP.

[Charley]

Easiest conversion for .380 (9mm Browning short) is to cut down 9mm Browning Long. Since it has been unobtainable for the last 50-70 years, the second easiest conversion is to convert cash into .380 brass.

[Motor]

Yeah you would think since it's a 9mm short and uses the same diameter bullets as a 9x19 that you could trim down 9x19 to make them. Not so eh? I never really looked at them but do know they use different shell holders.

Yep. Different case head. With as many 380s that I had to weed out of my 9mm's I thought I would have noticed.

Motor

[Hooker53]

So far when it comes to .380 brass I hope Charley's way keeps working for me. So far, my failure rate is quite small. Ha. Ha. I just need some empty .380 ammo boxes.

Roy
Hooker53


Easiest conversion for .380 (9mm Browning short) is to cut down 9mm Browning Long. Since it has been unobtainable for the last 50-70 years, the second easiest conversion is to convert cash into .380 brass.

[Hooker53]

This has been a very informative thread. I just found and ordered some Imperial from a great seller on Epay. Good seller and great shipping.

Roy
Hooker53

[Eddie2002]

I gave converting 9mm into .380 a try also. Had to trim the base down, recut the extractor grove and then trim the case down to length. Needing to trim both ends of a case made it labor intensive, it's better just to buy the brass.

[skeettx]

Best way it to go here
http://www.gunbroker.com/Reloading-Supplies/BI.aspx?Keywords=380+brass

As said before convert copper(cash) into brass

Mike

[6bg6ga]

Sometimes its just cheaper to buy them once fired. When you consider the time its smarter to just buy them.

[Eddie2002]

Totally agree, buy them, don't convert them. It was a rainy afternoon and I had an itch that needed to be scratched.