Loads for Walther .380 PPK/S ?

[MUSTANG]

For the last decade, one of my carry guns has been a Bersa 383-A I bought quite a few years ago. The blued steel is getting a little wear and I had 2 very slight places where rust just started – caught it in time and addressed it. Well, I started thinking “Stainless” to go with the Stainless S&W Model 60 and Stainless Kimber .45 out of my carry options. So I did some investigation and decided on the Walther PPK/S in .380. Had a few days of a chasing around until I was able to locate one and have it shipped to the store I was buying from. Seems they are slightly difficult to find unless one pays a Large Premium – which I would not do.

Next issue is – What to Load it with? For the Bersa 353-A; a few years ago I loaded and shot a few Lee 356-125-2R boolits out of it; just as a test for using cast in it. This boolit is a tried and true for my Berretta 92FS - having fired a few thousand out of it. I moved to using this boolit with a Powder Coat as it shot well. Other than that initial trial; the Bersa has not had lead shot from it. Today I ordered a Lee 356-102-1R mold as I wanted to go with a lighter boolit.

I have on hand 700X, Bullseye, W-231, Red Dot, and Green Dot for powder. Thinking I will focus on the W-231 as I have more than 8lbs of that.

Anyone have any experience or “Pet Loads” for a .380? I would be particularly interested in any experiences with the Walther PPK/S with cast boolits. I am thinking of focusing on the Lee 358-102-1R as the prime cast boolit for the gun at the range.

[Minerat]

Both my wifes PPK/s and my Colt Pony like 3.2 gr WW231 under a PC'd NOE 357-100 especially the 90 gr large HP. Don't have any chrono data yet. The Walther has not had any feeding issues with the lhp.

[45_Colt]

The load I've been using in a PPK 9mm Kurz has been:

.380 ACP Bullseye 2.8gr 95gr FMJ

It is basically a light-ish factory load. Cycles with no issue, and spits them out.

45_Colt

[Bigslug]

Consider also the Lee TL356-95RF, also sold by NOE as the TL358-100RF, and Accurate as the 35-098R (tumble lube) and 35-098S (standard lube groove). This is the Ranch Dog WFN design that I've confirmed (NOE version) works in the Ruger LCP, PPK/S, Glock 42, Colt 1908, and FN-1910/22. It will give you a little more target disruption than the round nose.

I don't know that I'd call it a "pet load". . .I had .380 to load and a pound of Green Dot that had no other assigned future, and the results were acceptable. 3.1 grains got me to about 950fps.

[Outpost75]

I load .380 ACP for my original model Ruger LCP, SIG P230 and Beretta M1934. I cast Accurate 35-120H of my design from wheeleights, sized .357, lubed with 45-45-10 and loaded with 2.5 grains of Bullseye. A full-charge load which must not be exceeded, but is accurate and runs in all.

[Land Owner]

Oh yeah! 380 Walther PPK, 6-stack, a pair of 'em; one blue, one stainless. [Note: PPK/S is 7-stack].

Both digest Ranch Dog TL358-100-FN, 104 gr. x 0.356" (as cast) of 49-49-2 percent Pb-WW-Sn, air cooled, sized and lubed, over 2.4 gr. IMR 700X. I have the 6-cavity AL mold. When it gets hot it rains boolits.

The Lee 358-102-1R will probably be fine, though I think you can do better. NOE's TL358-100-RF-BE2 is quite similar to the RD but is SOLD OUT. I like the truncated FN boolit shape best.

[RickinTN]

I don't have any loads for you but I hope you have better luck with the stainless than I have. A Beretta 22 tip up, and Colt 1911, and a Kimber 1911 target all in stainless have rusted on me. The Colt is going back to the factory soon.
Good Luck!
Rick

[Messy bear]

Larry, I remember a post you did on that boolit in 380. I searched and can’t find it. Do you or anybody else have link to that thread?
Thanks

[lotech]

I don't know whether it's available online but might be worth it to check... there was an article either in HANDLOADER'S DIGEST or GUN DIGEST in the last ten to fifteen years about cast bullet loads in .380s. One of the test pistols was a PPK/S.

A few loads I had good results with was the RCBS 93 grain round nose design and 3 grs. 231 with a MV of 840, the Lyman 100 grain design, a flatnose with 3 grs. 231 for a MV of 893, and the SAECO 122 grain flatnose with 2.5 grs. 231, MV = 800. Consider all loads max. I tried five powders and 231 was easily the best.

[jdgabbard]

The most accurate load I have found with my Bersa Thunder is the 92gr 358242 over 2.4gr of Red Dot. But I also found that the same boolit over 3.4gr of Unique is a very close second. And is a little easier to throw reliably on my Auto-Disk.

That said, I think working up a load with Red Dot with the Lee should be relatively simple. And will probably net a very accurate load for you.

[rintinglen]

The Ranch Dog mold is my favorite for use in 380's. 3.0 WW-231 loaded to .905 OAL works well for me in my 380's.

[ioon44]

I have been loading 3.2gr Win 244 under a .356"100gr RN from Berrys with an oal of .945".

One problem I ran into with my 1990 Interarms Walther PPK/S was the bore size which slugged at .357". I tried some 115gr SWC that I cast but when sizing them to .358" they would not chamber and if I sized them smaller, they would lead badly.

So, I have stopped trying to load cast for my PPK/S, but I carry it a lot with Hornady factory loads.

[mainiac]

The most accurate load I have found with my Bersa Thunder is the 92gr 358242 over 2.4gr of Red Dot. But I also found that the same boolit over 3.4gr of Unique is a very close second. And is a little easier to throw reliably on my Auto-Disk.

That said, I think working up a load with Red Dot with the Lee should be relatively simple. And will probably net a very accurate load for you.

My bersa 380 shoots best with this same bullet,,although i use 3 grs of hp38.

[paul edward]

My my PK380. works well with 4.4 grains of Power Pistol with cast Lee TL356-95 RF and 100 gr FMJ.

[WRideout]

I am also a fan of the Lee 356-95 in my Walther clone FEG PA63. I shoot them as-cast with Ben's Liquid Lube. The pistol is the commercial version that came from the factory chambered in 380 ACP rather than 9mm Mak. I use 2.3 gr Promo (red dot equivalent) which is a midrange load, according to the 1973 version of the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook.

Wayne

[jdgabbard]

My bersa 380 shoots best with this same bullet,,although i use 3 grs of hp38.

The one I use is a 120gr mold that was "shaved down" by the former owner with a milling machine. Drops right on the money. Too bad it's only a single cavity mold. But it shoots like a laser beam.

[GooseGestapo]

My load is the Lee TL95gr RFN @.357” powder coated with Harbor Freight Yellow; over 3.2gr of HP38.
Both mt S&W Bodyguard and Beretta 85BB are accurate and 100% reliable. Runs mid 900fps..

[LabGuy]

Mustang, I assume you mean the Lee 356-102-1R. I use that for my 380 loading, but unfortunately I do not have a Walther. I load for a S&W 380 Bodyguard. This has been one of my more difficult loads to develop. Using HP38 or Bullseye, any of the loads in the Lyman Cast Bullet Manual #4 group < 2” at 10 yards if I squeeze the heck out of my grip with the loooooong trigger pull. But maximum loads do not reliably lock the slide back reliably. As much as I hate to admit it, my last loading was with Bullseye at 0.1 grain over the max published load. I have fired about 25 with no locking issues yet. I’ll need a larger sample size before I can say it worked. I’ll probably try a few more different powders now that options are more available.

[MUSTANG]

Received the Lee 356-102-1R mold earlier this week.

311174

Smoked the cavities and cast some boolits this morning. Powder coated them with Eastwood Powder Coat; Blue and baked them.

311175


Not going to be able to get out to do any shooting for a couple of weeks. I am thinking of trying 3.1 to 3.5 grains of W231 based on comments in this thread; and also in a parallel thread on .380 Loads:


https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?453642-380-Loads-with-Win-231&highlight=W231+.380

[pworley1]

With that bullet I would start at 3g of 231 and move up until I get what I want.

[Kosh75287]

All the .380 reloading I've done amounts to maybe 250 rounds, but I recall Unique and Red Dot giving best results and highest velocities. This is back when locking-breach .380 Llamas were not outrageously expensive, and (in retrospect) we seemed to be trying to blow them apart. Obtained some serious performance improvements, though...

[jdgabbard]

All the .380 reloading I've done amounts to maybe 250 rounds, but I recall Unique and Red Dot giving best results and highest velocities. This is back when locking-breach .380 Llamas were not outrageously expensive, and (in retrospect) we seemed to be trying to blow them apart. Obtained some serious performance improvements, though...

I am still kicking myself for not buying one of those. I always liked the Colt Mustang, but considered the Llama to have some interesting features that the Colt lacked, such as the grip safety and better sights.