LCP bore dia?

[jstot]

Does anyone know what the groove diameters tend to run on the little Rugers? I should receive a Lee 102 gr mould today am too lazy to look for pure lead to cast a couple of bullets just to drive through that little pipe. I'll probably start with .357 unless I hear different.

The bore on my Ruger really rough so I don't know how my cast bullet experiment will go. If anyone has favorite 380 loads to share that would be appreciated also.
Does anyone load with Clays? I have a little 231 and Universal but 8 lbs of Clays. I have been loading some 38 special with good results with Clays but Hodgdon has no data published for the 380.

Been lurking here for a while...great forum!
Jim

[BABore]

Yes to all of the above, but I'm too lazy to remember it.

[jstot]

Guess I deserved that. I should have said I didn't have any other reason to go out and get any pure lead. Would I be able to drive a bullet cast of WW through the bore?

[BABore]

I use hollow egg sinkers from the tackle dept. They come in plenty of sizes. Be sure they're the soft ones cause there are some hard brands out there. Even pure lead can have a little bit of springback. WW,s have lots and are a bugger to drive through. So no to them. The hole through the center of the sinker gives the lead someplace extra to go. It's always best to slug your own bore so you know for sure. Saves you alot of headaches later on.

[mtgrs737]

I went down the same road you are in June. New LCP no factory ammo or bullets availible at a reasonable price. A member here was kind enough to lend me his Lee mould so I could cast up a bunch to get me by until my Lee mould that was on back order came in. I cast that same boolit from wheel weight alloy and they came out around 109 grs. I lubed them with Lar's BAC lube and sized them in a Star .357" die that produced actual boolit dia. of .3575". I settled on a powder charge of 2.6 to 2.7grs of Bullseye powder which gives positive functioning in my LCP. I checked the loaded rounds in my guns chamber and a Midway loaded cartridge gage and all was well. My little gun didn't experiance any leading with this load. I did try some 3.0gr loads but decided that the extra recoil wasn't something I needed for a target/practice load. My 2.7gr. load gave factory load felt recoil to the best of my feeling. I used Rem. 1 1/2 primers. I have had 100% reliable feeding and ejection with all the rounds I have shot so far. I am sure other powders will give similar results. Good luck!

No you didn't deserve that, IMHO!

[Curly James]

Mine slugged out at .355 and it too appeared rough but did not lead. My best and admittedly only cast boolit load is a Lee 105 grain rn sized to .356, tumble lubed in Lee alox, with 2.8 grains of WW 231 powder and a WW SPP. I've put about 400 rounds of this load though that little gun and everything functions fine with accuracy being comparable to any factory stuff. Another plus is I don't have to chase my brass all over the county with this load. Good luck, I have developed a real fondness for that little pocket gun.