PDA

View Full Version : 380acp lee 357-95rf powder



Saxmann10
02-05-2023, 01:56 PM
Just starting to ad 380acp to the reloads. I have small amounts of some Winchester wsf and waap-aaplus
Cant find load data. I also have other powders and a lot of commercial #1

Buck Butcher
02-05-2023, 06:56 PM
Sounds like you’re set on everything else but powder. If so, I’d look up what your manuals have for that weight that appears most on two fronts: the manual and the shelf, and then order some. Powder is finally available again, and at the very marginal appetite of the .380, you can still get quite a bit of bang for your buck. Even with shipping and hazmat. Hogdon seems to be what is available on the shelf near me.

Saxmann10
02-05-2023, 07:11 PM
I have powders that will work but was hoping to use the half pound of the Winchester

rintinglen
02-06-2023, 06:11 PM
I think WSF is a bit too slow for the 380, if you load 40 S&W or 38 Super, you could use it there.

ulav8r
02-08-2023, 12:10 AM
I've used 2.77 grains of Unique with Sierra jacketed of about 95 grains. It is the only loading I have done in .380 and got reliable feeding, so it is good enough for plinking/practice.

Used a Lee scoop, each scoop weighed 2.8 grains near as I could tell when weighed individually, but 10 scoops weighed together weighed 27.7 grains.

cwlongshot
02-08-2023, 07:06 AM
231/hp38 are popular.

I like Power Pistol

CW

Kosh75287
02-08-2023, 10:13 AM
I recognize your first propellant as WSF, but the 2nd one confuses me. Is it supposed to be WAP? If yes, then these two propellants appear to have a burn rate that is slower than Alliant Herco, but faster than IMR-800X. The burn rate is likely favourable for .38 Super, .357 (either), or 10mm, but not for .380 ACP.
Back in the day, when we ran out of (then) Hercules Unique on a .380 ACP project, we did a short work-up with Herco. We got it to work "adequately", but not really as well as Unique, nor Red Dot, nor IMR-700X (which seems to work pretty well in darned near every pistol (NOT "HandCannon") caliber. Red Dot gave us some of our highest velocities and tightest groups, BTW. Once the propellant burn rates get slow, case capacities drop, and chamber pressures dip under ~25,000 p.s.i., the faster-burning ones tend to shine.
I SURMISE that, when the "wheels" at wherever Winchester gets their propellants tested saw that WSF and WAP did not deliver better than "so-so" results in .380 (assuming they even tried it), they just quit bothering to work it up.
I WOULD expect that both the propellants you mention (if I have them right) would work pretty nicely in 9mmP, .40 S&W, and the other "major caliber" pistol rounds that I mentioned above. Sorry I couldn't find usable data for you.

rintinglen
02-09-2023, 01:39 AM
Ramshot Competition is supposed to be the same as Winchester AA Plus, and it is/was recommended for use in 12 ga. target shot shells. Made by Saint Marks in Florida, it was supposedly SMP-134, and originally sold by Winchester. But when General Dynamics bought the Saint Marks Powder facility, the head honcho over at Western Powder outbid Winchester for the rights to that powder, so AA + disappeared, and Ramshot Competition was born. It is apparently a very fast powder, similar in burn rate to Titewad, and was popular in 1 1/8 oz. 12 ga. target loads for it's economical, small charges.

A Western Load Data chart I have downloaded shows 2.0-2.3 grains min-max with a Berry's 100 grain Plated bullet. Since Berry's advice is to use cast data for their bullets, I'd load a few of the 2.0 grain loads and see if they will cycle the action.

crandall crank
02-10-2023, 12:24 PM
I have excellent luck using W231 powder. Very soft shooting and always cycles the slide. I use same exact bullet.

P Flados
02-10-2023, 02:24 PM
Check out https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?68299-Winchester-WAAP-Powder

The last post in the above was supposed to be in this thread, but I got mixed up.

Kosh75287
02-10-2023, 03:14 PM
ODDLY, Hodgdon does not list data in .380, using Competition with a 95 gr. bullet, but there IS data for 80 gr. and 100 gr. projectiles. I guess the OP could use these data with AA+, but charge weights & velocities are low, and the range between starting and max loads is narrow.

Kosh75287
02-10-2023, 09:41 PM
Ramshot Competition is supposed to be the same as Winchester AA Plus, and it is/was recommended for use in 12 ga. target shot shells. Made by Saint Marks in Florida, it was supposedly SMP-134, and originally sold by Winchester. But when General Dynamics bought the Saint Marks Powder facility, the head honcho over at Western Powder outbid Winchester for the rights to that powder, so AA + disappeared, and Ramshot Competition was born. It is apparently a very fast powder, similar in burn rate to Titewad, and was popular in 1 1/8 oz. 12 ga. target loads for it's economical, small charges.

<SMH> MAN, I wish I knew how to find out things like this...