Cast boolits for 380acp

[trixter]

Long time caster, but new to .380 acp. What is your favorite boolit; nose shape and weight for this caliber.

I tried to do a search, but I couldn't get specific enough.

[jcren]

I have had the best results in my 2 380's with the Lee 95grain rf powder coated. Finishes at about 98 grains, size to 358, feeds well and enough meplant to smack yard critters with authority.

[sandman228]

I don't own ,reload , or cast 380 anymore but I used to . I used the lee 356 102 round nose mold ,it worked fine . that was before they came out with the 95 gr flat nosed mold though .

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

I have the Ranch Dog TL358-100-RF in a 6-cavity. Large meplat and rains boolits. Ranch Dog does not make molds anymore. I see that NOE does not have this one cataloged. Lee does have it in a 6-cavity listed as TL356-RF. I don't know what diameter the Lee drops. jcren's posting above says his drops large enough to size to .358. My original RD drops just over .358 with range scrap. Coated with just JPW, these work great in all three of my .358 ACP's.

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

I just stumbled onto this in the Active GB forum.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?296538-380-ACP-NOE-Ranch-Dog-TL-100grn-FN

[Outpost75]

My Accurate bullet is now identified as 35-122T, is in the online catalog and can be ordered.

Load 2.5 grains of Bullseye with OAL 0.95"

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[fecmech]

I bought the RD 100 gr rnfp and am very happy with it. 100% reliable in my Keltec,PPK clone and at least 3 Ruger LCP's. The Lee 95 rnfp is very similar.

[Ed_Shot]

I have good luck with the Lyman 356242 (90 gr) sized to .358 over Unique 3.4 gr in my Bersa .380 and brother's Colt Mustang.

[roharmon]

+1 on the Lyman. I powder oat them for my wife's Mustang and they shoot great



I have good luck with the Lyman 356242 (90 gr) sized to .358 over Unique 3.4 gr in my Bersa .380 and brother's Colt Mustang.

[Nocturnal Stumblebutt]

+2 for the Lyman, except I am using an older 358242 over 2.8 gr of bullseye with great results from my lcp.
I have good luck with the Lyman 356242 (90 gr) sized to .358 over Unique 3.4 gr in my Bersa .380 and brother's Colt Mustang.

[jimb16]

+2 for the Lyman, except I am using an older 358242 over 2.8 gr of bullseye with great results from my lcp.

Exactly the same load I use in my Colt Government, Erma "Baby Lugar" and my Keltec. Works very well in all three.

[wlkjr]

I have been shooting Bayou coated 105g truncated in my G42, but this week I loaded some 95g round nose Bayou and they were softer and more accurate than the 105's.
So I ordered a mold from Magma that appears to be the same 95g boolit that Bayou uses.

[warf73]

I've got 2 of the RD 100gr molds they shoot great out of 2 differnt Sig. P238's. As for lube I've used 45/45/10 and powder coat both shot great, one was smokey other wasn't. For powder Red Dot and CFE Pistol powders are great shoots, the CFE leaves a the handgun and shooter cleaner after a 100+ round shooting sesion. I sized both Sigs .357" as both barrels slugged at .355", make sure to plunk test before loading a lot of them up.

I'm currently casting said boolit above if you would like 50 or so drop me an IM I'll snail mail some off to ya.

PS MidwayUSA also carries this pretty close to the RD mold, Lee 6-Cavity Bullet Mold 356-95-RF (356 Diameter) 95 Grain Flat Nose

Warf

[StuBach]

I have MiHecs 360-93 4-cav and it has done very well in my testing. Mold drops at 93 grains for HP or 99 grains for solid TC.

Sized to .355 and lit with 2.7gr of Bullseye. Shooting in my S&W Bodyguard. Lubed with either my custom Felix lube or with Smoke PC, both performed well.

Like Warf, drop me a Pm and I can send you some test rounds if you like.


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[Pbr322]

I have the Lee 95 gr Rfn six cavity mold. It drops them around 98 grains but they mic at .358-.360. I run them through a Lee sizing die that squeezes them to .356. They chamber well and shoot well in my SW Bodyguard. Best practice loads are 2-2.5 grains of Bullseye.

[Bigslug]

I just stumbled onto this in the Active GB forum.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?296538-380-ACP-NOE-Ranch-Dog-TL-100grn-FN

Yep. We've got enough players, but are still taking sign-ups while Al gets caught up on his backlog of Keith SWC's.

My motivation behind launching that one was (a.) positive reviews and (b.) I was looking for a tumble lube cast bullet that approximated the shape of the Winchester Q4206 load, which I've found to be a reliable feeder in quite a few different guns.

Gotta hand it to Outpost75 though - he's been playing with the really heavy concept with both the .380 and .32. If you don't mind going off the reservation of existing load data, it's hard to argue with momentum.

[bstone5]

Use a 95 grain cast with a Magma mold on my Master Caster. Have shot several thousand from the mold.
The bullets are powder coated with a cola can gas check. The powder coat and the cola can gas checks keeps lead out of the barrel and the gas check makes the guns more accurate.
The round is a little difficult to reload due to the small size of the components but a little patience helps.

[rintinglen]

I am another happy Ranch Dog Fan. I have used the 358-100 in my Colt Mustang, Walther PPK/s, Berretta 84 and Ruger LCP. 3.2grains of WW-231 and Life is good. I also have the 314-75 which is the similar boolit for the 32's and it works as well.

[w5pv]

102 grain over 2.0 grains of titegroup,good for plinking and will put squirrels,rabbits and coon size animals in the cook pot also.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I don't have a .380, but I do have 3 guns that shoot the 9X18 Makarov round and I have 2 moulds for it.

One is the Lee 95 gr Round Nose boolit which runs very well. It is about $20 and well worth the money. The .380 version is identical except the diameter.

I also have a Saeco 95 gr mould that I bought for $50. It cost some poor fool $185 and then he sent it to Erik and it was converted to HP configuration for another $100+. It makes OK, but pretty useless boolits and it is also bevel based which I am going to cure. Big no no for handgun boolits as it encourages "Blow By" and thus leading. You want a Plain Based design.

The Lee mould is the one to get for these guns.

I have a Makarov and 2 CZ 82's to load for the basket has 500 9mm cases that were shortened to 18MM with the Lee Trim tool Shown.

Randy

[GWM]

I was looking at the Accurate 35-122S for possible use in the .380, has anyone tried it?

http://accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=35-122S-D.png

[mozeppa]

here's what i shoot out of a p-238 sig sauer .380 ....powder coated in john deere green.

they feed like no tomorrow!

http://accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=35-100Z-D.png

[wlkjr]

here's what i shoot out of a p-238 sig sauer .380 ....powder coated in john deere green.

they feed like no tomorrow!



http://accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=35-100Z-D.png

I was tempted to get this same mold but that particular profile sometimes does not feed well in my G42. I have shot a few thousand of the 105g Bayou with a similar nose and although it shoots pretty well, in my pistol it seems to hang up when I rack the slide to load for the first round. In my wife's and son's two G42s it works ok. I settled on a 95g round nose and it feeds more reliably and is more accurate with a lower recoil. That was totally unexpected. I would like to try some without the grooves as I'm using Hi Tek powder to coat with.

[GWM]

I settled on a 95g round nose and it feeds more reliably and is more accurate with a lower recoil. That was totally unexpected.

Sounds perfectly rational to me. A RN should have the edge in feeding and accuracy as it is less likely to be deformed in cycling, and probably center and take to the rifling better. The only advantage of the TC would be that it is considered to have better stopping power.



here's what i shoot out of a p-238 sig sauer .380 ....powder coated in john deere green.

Pictures? :)

[Cherokee]

I'm using the Lee 356-95 RF in my 380's. 3/3/94 alloy @.357 works for me, accurate and no leading.

[W.R.Buchanan]

"The only advantage of the TC would be that it is considered to have better stopping power."

The .380 is not known for it's stopping power, no matter what you feed it. Best to practice head shots a lot.

Randy

[Eddie2002]

Been using a round nose 115 grain .355 cast boolit over 2.4 grains of Green Dot. Not sure what mold the boolit came from, picked up two boxes of them at a gun show and have been using them as plinkers. Not much recoil and good for pratice with my .380 LCP. The 115 grain boolit over the 2.4 grains of slightly slower powder works great.

[pworley1]

One more vote for the 358242.

[GONRA]

Looong ago, GONRA used
93.5 grain .358 inch diameter Lyman U358242 boolits with Lyman lube,
4.2 grains SR-7625 powder, ALCAN small pistol primers
in a Remington M51 pistol.