Reloading 380 . . . talk to me.

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Prof Young

New member
Loaders:
Well, via other posts you'll see that I'm picking up a gun chambered in 380. So I'm more than likely going to start reloading 380.

My first question is What's the difference between 9mm bullets and 380 bullets. They are the same diameter . . . right? And can be in the same weight . . . right? So . . . ?

Case wise the 380 is the same diameter but different length than 9mm so . . .

Can I use the same dies as 9mm?

Any thing you've learned about reloading 380 I'd love to hear it.

Thanks.

Live well, be safe.
Prof Young
 
#16 or 223 shell holder..

Dies are exclusive. I think the case wall is thinner than 9mm.

Bullets are .355, but 100 gr max. 9mm Luger bullets start at 115.

I think bullet incompatibility is due to 115 gr eating too much volume.
 
you will see lots of .355 bullets sold under the 9mm caliber in 90gr. those are fine for both, like XTP's and Sierra Sportsmaster ext. you could run 115 if you do reduced charges of hp38 or titegroup, you'll be seating significantly deeper, so you really really need to watch the pressure signs. if you have a tinkerers desire to run 115gr, find something short like an XTP or other short HP, and you'll have to really reduce your loads, in the end it doesn't make much sense to waste a HP with low loads. I would personally just stick with 100gr and unders. extreme bullets sells their 380's for about the same price as 9's if just looking for practice ammo

the dies are exclusive since 9mm is a tapered round and not straight-walled like the .380. shellholders interchangeable

I will add that I HAVE used 9mm dies to do some small batches of .380 before, and it worked fine, but I doubt it is fitting the chamber 100% properly and is likely not ideal. maybe if using once-fired rounds from the same gun, it may not be a big deal
 
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Like 45/70, 32/20, or 45 Colt in some load books, I load 380 to 3 levels:
1) 10 ounce pistols with .27" feed ramp intrusion and thin chamber walls. Examples would be the Kel-Tec P3AT and Ruger LCP.
I load these with Power Pistol, 90 gr Gold Dot, and to the same level performance as Buffalo Bore +P 380.
2) heavier pistols like Kahr or Bryco with 0.215" feed ramp intrusion and thicker chamber walls.
I load these with 115 gr JHP and Power Pistol
3) The heaviest pistols Like Beretta 1934 or Colt 1903 with case support close to the 0.17" case web thickness and the thickest chamber walls. I load these with 158 gr and Power Pistol.
 
Best with 90-95 grain bullets. Don't even bother to try heavier 9MM bullets. Best powder I've tested was Accurate Arms #2. Seems it takes a faster pistol powder for velocity uniformity. Even Unique proved to slow in my tests with it showing high velocity variations. Your results may differ. Hornady's 90 gr. XTP proves to be an accurate bullet with reliable feeding in various pistols. I used AA's load data available on-line. You have to use a .380 die set. Only thing in common between 9MM and .380 is the small pistol primer.
 
I recently started loading for .380 auto. I worked up a load for my LCP using Xtreme 100gr, copper plated FN over HP-38. Using Hodgdon's max charge weight I was getting good groups at 7 and 10 yards and the HP-38 burned clean. Velocities were lower than Hodgdon's listed velocities but they worked great for shooting targets. One thing I learned was to make sure the primers are seated as deep as possible. The first several rounds I fired did not ignite. I went back an put more oomph ( more than should be needed ) into seating the primers and that solved the issue. I was using once fired PMC Bronze cases at the time. Last night I primed a couple hundred new 380 auto Starline cases and the primers seated with out any issues.
 
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some 380 pistols do not function correctly with heavy bullets
my Walther only worked with 90 & 95grs and does not like
plated bullets, my Colt has works with anything I have put
through it

some 380 cases have a thinner case where the bullet seats
and the original expander crushed the cases, RCBS sent a
new expander that works with these cases (no charge )
( case wall has 2 thicknesses, thinner at mouth )

I have been using Win 231, seems to burn cleaner than the other
powders I have tried in the 380
 
Can I ask what made them not function with heavy bullets? Cycling would need more powder, and feeding issue would need different OAL and likely less powder. What is wrong with plated bullets? I am just curious, not argueing with you.
 
Like others said ....you need separate dies..

I don't load a lot of .380 ( maybe 2,000 rds a yr is all )...and all of it was with Montana Gold FMJ RN 95 grain ...and Hodgdon TiteGroup..../ and they were up around 950 fps.../ they ran 100% in my Son's .380 Sig... ( Montana Gold is a true jacketed bullet...not plated )...but I'd suggest using Berry's plated if you don't want to go with a true jacketed bullet.

No tricks to loading a .380.../ its straight forward...

( I'm just not a big .380 fan ....don't have a gun myself in that caliber ) so I just keep the supplies around for my adult son to load them ( but I end up doing it for him 99% of the time...he's busy with my grandkids )...
( myself, I shoot about 20,000 rds a yr in 9mm ...)...and I just like it a lot more than the .380.../ 9mm guns fit my hands better, etc...
 
SKIZZUMS--

100 &102gr cycled very hard and broke the spring almost as much as the 115gr did, when I lowered the powder charge they would not cycle the action

plated bullets gave every type of malfunction and were not accurate
in the Walther
other people with Walthers do not have the same problems
maybe I ended up with a picky gun

My Colt Mustang is not picky as to what I shoot in it
I have shot all the odds and ends of the loads I tried in the Walther
and had no problems, or a broken recoil spring

now I have good loads with 90 and 95gr bullets and see no need to make
anything that does not work in the Walther because I carry both
depending on what mood I am in
The Colt is smaller and lighter but the Walther is double action
(winter carry is a S&W 3913- 9mm)
 
The .380 I load for is a Sig P238, the same as your new baby.

Plated bullets have been working fine - I have been using the X-Treme 100 grain. I use 3.2 grains of Unique and they are pretty soft shooting, with reliable action. You probably don't need any more convincing that 9 mm and .380 take different dies and shell holders, but they do. ;)
 
Thanks for all the help.

Thanks for all the help. Will get to shopping for a set of 380 dies, and order up some bullets too.

Live well, be safe
Prof Young
 
Can I use the same dies as 9mm?
Click to expand...

No. Different taper.

My first question is What's the difference between 9mm bullets and 380 bullets. They are the same diameter . . . right?
Click to expand...

Right

And can be in the same weight . . . right? So . . . ?
Click to expand...

"Mmmmm. Maybe".

9x19 bullets tend to be heavier. I have loaded .380 with 110 grain bullets intended for 9mm. It was a long time ago, but I don't recall that there were any problems.
 
The carbide sizer dies for 380 are between 0.367" [sizer]and 0.372" [factory crimp carbide].
The brass will spring larger by ~.001" after it comes out.
The SAAMI chamber it has to fit into is a minimum of 0.3773" at the narrowest part of the taper at the front.

The carbide sizer dies for 9mm are between 0.370" [sizer] 0.379"[factory crimp carbide]
The brass will spring larger by ~.001" after it comes out.
The SAAMI chamber it has to fit into is a minimum of 0.3810" at the narrowest part of the taper at the front.

If you read those numbers and understand them, you may be thinking you can reload 380s with 9mm dies.
But first you must seat a bullet. Either the cartridge is too big now, or it did not grip the bullet.
Next it must feed from the magazine. Bottle neck cartridges in bolt action target rifles may feed with skin tight ammo, but semi autos with straight wall cartridges may jam. If you knew what you were doing, you might get away with it or it might have to be fed single shot.
 
I load only plinking rounds. 95 grain .356 plated bullet, 25mm OAL, 2.5 grains of vv N320. I get 885fps and the Beretta 84F cycles fine. Recoil is nil.
 
.380 reloading Barnes 80 grain copper bullet

For the .380 Barnes 80 grain TAC-XP copper bullet, Barnes recommends a Case Overall Length of .970 and a Hodgdon table recommends a COL of .980.

In my brand new Bersa Firestorm, both the issued magazine and two replacements I purchased will not accept these COLs. The bullets get bound up and stick in the magazines. I have to use a COL of .955 or less for proper functioning of the magazine.

Will this reduction of space between the powder and the bullet cause excessive

overpressures? I can only find Bullseye and was going to use 3.0 grains, midway between the suggested 2.8 and the max of 3.2.

New guy, first post, am I doing this correctly?
 
When using cast bullets, 9mm and .380 are often NOT the same. 9mm are typically .356 like you'd expect, but .380 are sometimes .355. I was baffled as to why this was, and learned that the extra .001 combined with the .380 taper may not chamber in some guns.

I believe this may be related to what firewrench044 mentioned with heavy bullets as well.
 
Barnes reply to my question above:

Changing the COL will change pressures to some degree. Unfortunately I’m not sure if it will go up or down – we simply haven’t done testing in this regard. In rifle cartridges – seating closer to the rifling increases pressures and I suspect it will be the same for the pistol cartridge. Shooting through a chronograph will tell the tale. Higher velocity would indicate a higher pressure.

Oldmarine54 says: Thanks, Barnes Bullets. First-I'd rather know the answer before I experiment. I like my fingers where they are. Second, all of us don't own chronographs. Third, that's not a real help to your customers! I already bought your bullets.
 
Thanks and . . .

Loaders:
Thanks for all the advice and helps. I'm convinced that I'll be most wise to stick to dies and bullets that were created specifically with the 380 in mind.

One interesting thing here . . . I found the four dies set for 380, Lee manufacture, for $57 on amazon with "free" shipping, but only about $40 on others sites where one pays the shipping. Hmmmm . . . .

Live well, be safe
Prof Young
 
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