Reloading 380 . . . talk to me.

No mixed heas stamps because . . .

Joneb - tell me more about NOT using mixed head stamps. Why not?
Thanks.
Live well, be safe
Prof Young
 
I have been loading .380 for more then two deckades. I have a 1921 Savage and my dad has a Beretta and my parents had Bersas. I have had no problems using mixed headstamps. I cast my own 105 grain bullets using a Lee Mold. I use the same bullets for 9mm. I have also use Ranier 95 grain bullets with no feed issues. Powder I use Unique, 231 or Red Dot or HS6.
 
Most of these points have already been covered, but I'll just hit a few things and try to keep it quick and dirty:

1. Different dies. Use a .380 Auto / .223 Rem shell holder.
2. Bullets are .355" nominal diameter. .356s should work, too.
3. Most .380s prefer bullets in the 90-100 gr range. Others can be used, but reliability or longevity may suffer.
4. Really energetic powders, like Titegroup, can go from sedate to wild in just a couple tenths of a grain. (As little as 0.2 gr in some loads that I tested.)
5. Test for feeding reliability as much as anything else. -Including potential snags that might cause bullet setback.


After a lot of troubleshooting and testing, I got away from most of the popular .380 bullets and powders.
My 'standard' load now uses HP-38 (W231) and Berry's plated 100 gr HBRNs. (Hollow Base Round Nose)
It feeds well, runs clean, and plumps potatoes as well as most hollow points. And, the hollow base lets the bullet conform to even the most ridiculously oversized barrels, like the Taurus that I had with a .359" x .358" groove diameter, and a .360"+ section in the middle of the barrel (:eek:).


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 . . . .
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Yep.
Amazon's "free" shipping is far from it. It is simply built into the price. ...Even if you're paying for the yearly subscription to Amazon Prime for "free" 2-day shipping. :rolleyes:
 
I read this series with great interest.....

My next caliber is .380.

This is all good stuff and very thought provoking.
 
I have loaded 380 with anything from 90gr up to 115gr bullets and 9mm with anything from 147gr down to 100gr bullets so there can be a lot of overlap in the bullets used for 380 and 9mm.

The biggest difference I have noticed with loading 380 bullets is that fact that you will be dispensing smaller amounts of powder. You really need to use powders that dispense well. For example, Unique is a good powder and I have made some good loads with it but it dispenses poorly so I have learned to avoid it for 380. I stick with powders like Power Pistol and Titegroup.
 
The biggest difference I have noticed with loading 380 bullets is that fact that you will be dispensing smaller amounts of powder. You really need to use powders that dispense well. For example, Unique is a good powder and I have made some good loads with it but it dispenses poorly so I have learned to avoid it for 380. I stick with powders like Power Pistol and Titegroup.
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Different powder measures like different powders.

My own powder measures, for example, run fantastically with Unique.
Titegroup... not so much.
 
Just got myself into 380 loading with a brand new Glock 42 and a full set of Redding 380 dies.

I'll load up 2 series:

a) Target ammo: Rainier 100gr FN plated with 3gr of Bullseye. OAL 0.98"

b) SD ammo: Extreme Penetrator 90gr Bullet with Power Pistol loaded to +P levels as soon as Lone comes out with a tighter barrel.

http://www.lehighdefense.com/collec...355cal-380-auto-90gr-xtreme-penetrator-bullet

Many 380 user suggest FMJ bullets for self defense because the weak 380 caliber doesn't provide enough penetration when used with HPs.

The Extreme Penetrator 90gr bullets are a great mix out of both worlds. They provide ample penetration while still producing a larger wound channel than FMJ. Can't wait to get the bullets in. Today I'll start loading the target ammo.

Watch this: https://youtu.be/LczfeWK9lHw

That Glock 42 is so freakin nice and small. A real pocket Glock for the hot summer months.
 
Joneb - tell me more about NOT using mixed head stamps. Why not?
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There are many head stamps and they are not all the same in case volume, along with other variations. There is not much wiggle room for error in the small 380 acp case, using mixed head stamps compounds the possibility of loading over pressure rounds. Don't ask me how I know this;)
 
I suspect case volume variation between brands is simply more pronounced as the case gets smaller. Certainly the reloader's ability to control things such as powder weight gets more erroneous as the charge weights decrease. With typical 380 charge weights on the order of 3 to 4 grains, a tenth of a grain becomes more significant than it would where charge weights are on the order of 25 grains, which would happen when I use the 380 base plate to load the .223.

Still, loading for the 380 is really a challenge even using same brand cases. Here is why:

Independance Brand Commercial 90 gr FMJ lot # A25P7, ten rounds measured, Avg. Vel. 864fps, std. dev. 17

Winchester 85 gr Silvertip, lot # X380ASHP20892 20125, ten rounds measured, Avg. Vel. 965 fps, std. dev. 17

In these two factory ammunition samples, the standard deviation is rather low. That is the challenge, to beat the standard deviation of factory rounds which has been improving a lot in the last few years. I finally did that with Power Pistol at 4.0 gr under a Montana Gold 95 gr, JHP, ten rounds Avg. Vel. 865, Std Dev = 10. I used the same winchester cases I got with the silvertips. One of my worst attempts was using mixed cases, reloaded a few times as well. That was Alliant Unique at 3.0 gr under the 95 gr MG JHP, ten rounds, Avg. Vel. 749, Std. Dev. was 60. The best I had with mixed cases was Ramshot Silhouette at 4.4 gr using the same 95 gr MG JHP. That was ten rounds, Avg. Vel. 925 fps, Std. Dev. was 36.

All primers used were CCI 500. Test gun was a Bersa 380. During my beginning testing with Bullseye, I discovered a serious problem with the chosen OAL of 0.975 " and the Montana Gold JHP. Filling the magazine would result in some round or rounds to tilt forward and jam the magazine, causing the top rounds to fall out and the rest jammed and holding the magazine feed lip down at the jam point. I cleared this problem by reducing the OAL, and actually went a hundredth lower to assure the problem was gone, so the OAL for all tests I quoted above was 0.965 ".
 
loading for the 380 is really a challenge even using same brand cases.
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I have noticed cases with the head stamp "Federal" may or may not have a step inside the case, could be a volume difference there.
It really helps to inspect your brass regardless of the HS.
 
380 needs fast powder. I load with Vihtavuori 320 and I load slow, 270m/s for 6 gram TC bullets. Accurate to 35 meters with a Beretta 84.


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I use the Lee FCD on all my 380 rounds. I don't use the FCD often for other calibers, but it seems to work well for me with 380.
 
I use Rainier Lead Free 100g from Midway with 3g of 231. I sort my head stamps and here lately i have been picking up a lot of SIG brass at the range, someone likes that stuff!

It shoots really well in my LCP. I'm getting about 830fps.
 
380 needs fast powder. I load with Vihtavuori 320 and I load slow, 270m/s for 6 gram TC bullets. Accurate to 35 meters with a Beretta 84.
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I load even faster! N310, and it feeds and functions well in all my 380's. LCP included. Very accurate for it's job. I use Xtreme 100gr RNFP. I don't sort my brass but don't seem to have any issues. Occasionally some rims won't fit on the Dillon shellplate. Those just get tossed or set aside. They may get some use on the LCT.
 
I started loading .380 in the last 6 months for my son's LCP. I was shooting low, so I switched up to heavier bullets to bring it up.

Lots of variations between .380 guns on what they will chamber. Jacketed bullets are .355" for 9mm and .380, but a lot of .380s have trouble chambering 356" cast bullets, so cast bullets for .380 are sometimes sized at .355.

My son's LCP shoots the typical 95gr FMJ bullets, along with 115gr FMJ, and 120gr Cast truncated sized .356" which leads me to believe LCPs are very forgiving on the chamber. If you're shooting something else in .380, it might be a lot more finicky.

Up to this point, I've been using Red Dot, but will be experimenting with others.

I have only mixed cases that I have picked up over the years, as I never owned a .380.


Every load has shot decent at 25-50 ft ranges. Impact height is very sensitive to velocity on these tiny guns.
 
I use N310 in my 380 loads also,2.4gr under a 95gr LRN, gives me 955fps from my Kimber Micro. No issues, accurate. (for what it is).
 
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