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.