.380acp

[Tomme boy]

Anyone use 124gr bullets in their 380? I dont have a mold yet so the 124gr bullet are the lightest 9mm bullets I have.

I never shoot this little lcp. I hate it actually. But it fits in my pocket very well and this is better than nothing. It actually feels like it is more recoil than any of my 9mm guns. I got a set of dies coming but don't know if I want to buy a mold or not. I think a 2 cavity will be fine as this will never get the amount of abuse that the 9mm's get.

Of the 2 Lee molds which have been better to use with powder coat? That 95gr has a big old flat point. Anyone know if that will feed in the lcp?

 

[hporter]

Can't help you with the 124gr bullet, I just looked in my reloading database and the heaviest I have loaded and shot was a 100gr bullet.

But I have both the 95gr Lee and the 100gr NOE tumble lube bullet molds and they have shot flawlessly through my LCP and my LCP II. Both coated with PC and Hi-tek, as well as lubed with Ben's liquid lube.

If you won't be shooting the gun much, the lee 2 cavity would probably be a good option. I bought a 2 cavity Lee for my 9mm Makarov CZ-82 and that was a wise choice as I don't shoot that gun much. It was just an easy way to make sure I had ammo on hand during the dark days of president #44 and the shortages we saw back then.

 

[Bret4207]

IIRC my 380ACP mould is a 90ish gr FN NEI. IMO the 380 is one of those cartridges that has a pretty specific set of tolerances as far as what works and what doesn't. You can always try it and see how it responds. Who knows, you may end up inventing a 380 version of the "Super Police" load!

 

[Rick H]

I have a NOE 92 gr RN, Lee 102 RN, and Ranch Dog 95gr. FP (actually a Lee 2 cavity mold) that I have used in my OMC Backup and my brother's Taurus 738(?). All function just fine once you get the OAL right. I settled on the Flat point Ranch dog because I like the idea of the big meplat. I have shot them tumble lubed with BLL and powder coated.

 

[RBHarter]

I have the 90 gr NOE . It runs fine in an LCP and G43 .

I think the 125 is going to be too much for the 380 in general .

 

[Outpost75]

Accurate 35-120H is my design for a heavy, large meplat bullet for .380 ACP. I load 2.5 grains of Bullseye and use that load in the Beretta M1934. SIG P230 and original model Ruger LCP.

 

[Red Bear]

dont have a lcp but that lee 102 grain rn works great in all my 380s. have a tauras pt 58 that will feed anything. i actually have tried heavy bullets just messing around. and they worked ok in the tauras but not so much in some of my others. if it were me i would try one of the lee molds. they are cheap and will let you keep the little 380 in its comfort zone. i really like small pocket pistols. have no problem packing a 22 or 25 but my favorite is a 32.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

I actually like the lil 380. Odd as I have little use for the more powerful and "better" 9mm. But lets not ho there. I "grew up" shooting a 380 not a 9mm.

I have a LCP MAX and G42 both feed everything tried so far.

I really like that little 95g LEE WFN bullet!! It dosent take case capcity and can be moved @ top attainable velocities.
I also have the 358242 80g (?) but never cared for rn in most handgun calibers.
I ordered and received the MP 90g TC bullet. I mostly use it as a HP and also can push it to top velocities.

My "Woods load" is a LEE 95g @ 1050 from my LCP Max.
The MP bullet nearly doubles cast in 30:1 @ +- 1000 fps.



I also have a Ranch Dog 135g thats nice as a light 38/357. But have t tried it as a heavy380.

PM inbound.

CW

 

[Bret4207]

Well, now my 380 juices are flowing. I'm going to have to dig the old Astra Constable II out! It's got a 3 1/2 or 4" barrel, a bit more than your average pocket gun. Nice sights too.

 

[Mainiac]

I bought a bersa 380,,and run the lyman 242 in it.92 gr as i recall,,that little foolish gun will shoot 3 inch groups at 25 yards!!!

 

[Bret4207]

I bought a bersa 380,,and run the lyman 242 in it.92 gr as i recall,,that little foolish gun will shoot 3 inch groups at 25 yards!!!

Yeah, the 380 is decent little target round in the right gun. Not like a 38 Spec 1911 target gun, but often way better than the 9's, 38 Supers, etc. Same with the 32 Auto. Many decades back there used to be target barrels and even slides made for Walther 32's and 380's. I've never seen anything but a picture of them, but a 6", target sighted and gripped PP is a neat looking rig!

 

[Rick H]

My OMC Backup will keep everything on a piece of letter stationary at 25 yards. Better than is should for a little gun that fits in the palm of my hand with almost invisible sights.

 

[Mainiac]

Yeah, the 380 is decent little target round in the right gun. Not like a 38 Spec 1911 target gun, but often way better than the 9's, 38 Supers, etc. Same with the 32 Auto. Many decades back there used to be target barrels and even slides made for Walther 32's and 380's. I've never seen anything but a picture of them, but a 6", target sighted and gripped PP is a neat looking rig!

The little bersa is a wanna be ppk,,im ashamed to admit that the little bastard hurts after about 50 rounds,,matter of fact,,it will peel hide off the top of my thumb,,,very nice hide away weapon.

 

[Bret4207]

Used to ride nights with an incredibly irritating guy (Lord, the stories I could tell!) that carried an Iver Johnson 380, a "Pony" maybe? It was a nice little gun, never could buy it off him.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

My LCP Max was able to keep most of 50 rounds on a 3/4 sillouette steel @ 50.

I was pretty impressed but the G42 kept all rounds on target. I like the Ruger better for its size and carry ability but the Glock is more ergonomic.

CW

 

[Tomme boy]

Well tried to load some tonight on the Lee Auto breech lock pro. That is a complete failure. I ruined about 25 pieces of brass just trying to get it set up.

There are major alignment issues with this press with the 380. First the brass does not go into the shell plate far enough so it goes up into the sizing die at about a 15° angle. Then in the powder drop and expander it is not indexing right and still needs to tip back. If not it folds over the edge of the case. The seating die seems ok in the 3rd station.

I was getting really mad for a little bit. So I pulled all the dies off the press and started to set them up in my 4 hole classic turret. Got the sizer screwed in and set. Went to the powder drop and expander. Then the seating die. Really east to switch over. Then went to size a piece of brass and it is doing the same thing!!!! Now I am getting mad. The powder drop same thing also. So now I am scratching my head as to why this is happening.

I pull the shell holder out of the ram and I take a piece of brass to look it over as to why this is going on. It also on the down stroke was smashing the primer. I flipped it over and the primer was in the middle of the shell holder like it was supposed to be. So I thought just for the hell of it to grab another shell holder to see if it was the same. So i flipped the case and shell holder over and it was the exact same as the other one.

So I put this shell holder into the ram and PERFECT!!! The case was not tipping or getting stuck anywhere. The primers went right in. The case was not getting stuck on the expander.

SOOOOOOOOO. I had a RCBS shell holder first. Then I found a Lee #4 and it works????? I am going to have to look this over better as I have been using this RCBS #4 for 223 and 350 legend loading for awhile. I noticed it tipping a little with the legend but not the 223. The only thing I can tell is maybe the shell holder is not going into the ram far enough. On the first press i was using the #4 carrier just like it is supposed to be used.

Anyone have any ideas??

 

[Brad]

My Redding press is kinda picky about shellholders. Some go right in, some are quite snug.

A min tolerance ram and a max tolerance holder are not a good mix.

I took a few stroke with a fine file across the top of the ram and now all is good.

 

[Tomme boy]

This looks like the bottom of the shell holder is not allowing it to be inserted all the way. I will get some #'s and see what the difference is between them.

Anyway I got 25 loaded with 1.7gr of bullseye and the Lee 356-120tc bullet.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

Remember, the 380 case and 9mm are different. Some makers use same shell holder and it may not work with all cases. I think my dies are older Hornady...I dont remember. But load fine.

A poor fit at the shell holder could account for this alignment.

CW

 

[Bret4207]

I've had SH's that were machined differently where the rim fits. One, don't recall the make, was just way tighter than all the others in that size. QC? Likely. I had/have one shell holder for the Lee primer that I made from a standard RCBS type, you know- cut the tang off. It worked way better with my version of a taper for the primer than most of my Lees. No clue why.