LCP 380 and cast

[Curly James]

It's been a long time since I was this enamored with a small pocket pistol. Since 1985 I have carried a NAA 22 mag as my "always with me" pocket gun. Last year I purchased a Ruger LCP 380 and have since fired 1119 rounds of an assortment of factory, jacketed reloads and now cast boolits through this little gun.

A year ago I would have told you I would never reload for a .380 ACP. The recent run on ammo changed my mind about that. I have two if these guns to feed (one belongs to my wife) and sytyarted reloading simply to be able to practice with them. There is a definate learning curve to shooting proficiently with this small of a handgun and the only way to develop thise skills is by live fire practice.

I only thought finding a set of dies was bad the Lee mold was a trial in and of itself. Back ordered for 1 1/2 months from MidSouth. it arrived with the right box and stampings for a Lee 360 mold but dropped the same boolits they show specs for as being their 9mm Makarov mold. I returned the mold with an as cast boolit and one that I tried to size down to .356 dia. It took Lee another month to return the proper mold to me. That one drops them withing spec and they work very well when tumble lubed and loaded on top of 2.8 grains of WW 231.

I carry the LCP either on my ankle or in a pocket pretty much all the time and can make a headshot on a silhouette at 10 yards on demand. It has never FTF, FTF or any other FT whatever. I once went over 200 rounds without cleaning and it still continued to work. I know many here dislike the .380 as a defensive round, but a CorBon 90 grain HP makes 967 FPS (chronographed) from that little short barrel. I'm pretty sure that will leave a mark when it hits. I also subscribe to the three Ps, placement, penetration, and prayer. Pictured with it are a Corbon HP, the Lee cast boolit, and a reload using a 95 grain "j" word bullet.

[Hang Fire]

That little .380 cartridge is easy to deride, but have found it easier to fall in love with.

Few years back the wife (who is a bit recoil shy) bought a Model 85 Bersa (all steel, 13+1) and I was very skeptical, until seeing her do a bit of shooting with it. Now a convert for sure, after seeing her able to quickly and unerringly empty the 13 rd mag into man sized targets at 10-15 yards. (faults, here in the desert I have to take the metal detector along to find her pesky little brass cases)

[wallenba]

I have one too, have not shot it as much as you. I see you have the new clip in yours. I got one of those, and a hat, when it returned from Ruger after a recall. Turn around was real quick, less than two weeks. Only complaint is the sights are hard to see. No ftf's in mine either, 350 rds.. I have even carried it in my shirt pocket, with a coat on of course.

[mtgrs737]

I blame the Ruger LCP for the current shortage of 380 factory ammo! LOL!! Ruger has sold a LOT of those little guns, and I too bought one at the last gunshow I attended. Like Curly I found I needed to cast for it and settled on the Lee RN design as it looked perfect for the cartridge. Finding a mould was the big problem, I ended up with a couple of friends helping out. One had some cast up from an early mould that cast 109gr boolits and he sent me a couple hundred, another friend loanded me his mould that cast 99gr. boolits and I cast up a bunch to keep me in boolits till my Midsouth back order came in. I load either boolit over 2.6 - 2.7grs of Bulleye, this load is milder than the factory loadings I have fired but still reliably cycles the action. I also size them in a Star .357" die with no problems with chambering. Factory 380 auto ammo is still hens teeth around here but I have no worries with my Lee die set and cast boolits.

The gun has not jammed yet! Ruger is going to sell even more of those little guys!

If I were Ruger, I would increase the barrel length 1/2", add 1/10" to the thickness of the slide (to add weight) and beef up the frame to frame insert for the more powerfull 9mm cartridge and get ready to sell a bunch of them.

[9.3X62AL]

Hmmmm.......I got out of the 380 ACP bizness a few years back after the Makarov proved itself to be utterly reliable. This Ruger could change my mind, although I don't get on well with smaller handguns.

[lawboy]

Nice gun but I shot one and my big old mitts just do not compute a gun this size. Simply cannot hold it and fire it worth a damn even when I have all the time in the world ti fiddle with it. I can't imagine being able produce it from concealment and get a shot off in anything resembling a timely manner under stress.

[shooting on a shoestring]

For a couple of college years, my bedside gun was a Remington clone .36 Cap & Ball. Never considered it to whimpy for the job considering that caliber has seen war. The .380 has virtually the same ballistics. 90 grs right at 1000 fps, its workable if applied correctly.