380ACP - is it worth reloading?

[r08ert209cali]

380 and 9mm are much different cant make 380 from 9mm.

[Moonclip]

HAHAHAHA! Now that's a very good question!


Now, with a 25ACP, I wouldn't touch that stuff. I think my leather jacket could stop a 25ACP without even dimpling it. Why did they even make that caliber?

Was designed to be more reliable than .22 rimfires in pocket pistols.

[JTROKS]

I reload 380, since I reload 38 Super, 9mm Luger and 223 Remington I got away with just buying a carbide sizer for the 380. The advantage of the 380 is less recoil, most of the recommended bullet weights are 85, 88, 95 and 100 grains. Hollow points at 380 velocities won't be a good idea unless you hot rod the round (not adviceable) or have very soft bullets.

[CSACANNONEER]

I cast and reload for .25acp because I have a few. my cost is about $1/box to load them since, I have brass, use free lead, a lb of powder loads over 6500 rounds and primers aren't too expensive. Anyway, if you also cast, loading .380 should cost less than $2.50/box, even with today's high componant prices.

[r08ert209cali]

I reload 380, since I reload 38 Super, 9mm Luger and 223 Remington I got away with just buying a carbide sizer for the 380. The advantage of the 380 is less recoil, most of the recommended bullet weights are 85, 88, 95 and 100 grains. Hollow points at 380 velocities won't be a good idea unless you hot rod the round (not adviceable) or have very soft bullets.

Why are ho;;ow points no good?

[Beelzy]

Hollow points do not reliably expand until they are driven at least 8-900fps.
Until they hit that speed, you might as well stick with FMJ cause that's what you will have. Expensive hollow point non-expanders.

[r08ert209cali]

curious

Hollow points do not reliably expand until they are driven at least 8-900fps.
Until they hit that speed, you might as well stick with FMJ cause that's what you will have. Expensive hollow point non-expanders.

I'm going to test this fact.Where can we get some balistics gel.not that I doubt you guys just makes shooting and reloading more fun for me.shooting nice groups through paper has become boring.I have already found out that .50dtc 625 gr solid brass will not penetrate a 3/4 in piece of spectra at 400yds.

[Beelzy]

Just shoot a couple into a box of soft dirt.

[FS00008]

1) Get a Makarov
2) Get a thousand rounds of 9x18MM Mak surplus ammo
3) Shoot and enjoy
4) Repeat steps 2-3

:-)

[RogueSniper]

I'm going to test this fact.Where can we get some balistics gel.not that I doubt you guys just makes shooting and reloading more fun for me.shooting nice groups through paper has become boring.I have already found out that .50dtc 625 gr solid brass will not penetrate a 3/4 in piece of spectra at 400yds.

Now you GOT me curious, too. I just google'd homemade ballistic gelatin, and it looks fairly easy to make. Now, where can I set it up to shoot? I figure that stuff is bio-degradable - it's only gelatin. The instructions said something about 10%, so 1 pack of Knox gelatin to 9 parts water.

I'll have to check with my range to see if they have chrono I can borrow to see if I'm shooting at least 800fps to get those JHP to expand. Then, let's see how hot I can load it.

I'm going to check with friends of mine to see if I can get an upper torso mold (they're in the special effect biz) or maybe a mannequin torso from Mervyn's (they're closing) and cut it in half. I think that's going be a lot of jell-o.

[randy]

It's cheaper to buy a gun in 9mm than to mess with all the 380 crap.

[JTROKS]

ultra compact 9mm guns are expensive due to must have a delayed blow back action. 380 pressures can accommodate straight blow back action thus making the gun smaller and lighter. You don't want it too light to where the recoil is too much to handle.

The reason I have a 380 is because it's very compact, has more power than a 25 or 32 ACP, recoil is mild and the noise is less than a 9mm.

[Moonclip]

1) Get a Makarov
2) Get a thousand rounds of 9x18MM Mak surplus ammo
3) Shoot and enjoy
4) Repeat steps 2-3

:-)

I like Makarovs and have 6 of them but the ammo is not as cheap as it once was, is harder to find, and in many cases comes with non reloadable steel cases.

.380acp Makarovs exist though.

[JJE]

Just loaded a few last night - a test batch of 100 gr Berry's plated bullets over W231 to see what groups best out of my PPK/S. Also loaded a few 90 gr Gold Dots over W231 to re-stock my supply of SD ammo. So both premium SD bullets and cheap(er) target bullets are available.

As others have noted, discarded .380 brass is usually scarce at the range - people seem to shoot a magazine at a time, instead of several boxes like they do with 9x19 or .40 S&W. Even .45 ACP is much more common than .380. Also, the brass seems to have a short life - about 5% of my recovered brass is split the entire length of the seated bullet, and the stuff that isn't split is pretty beaten up. .380 is the only semi-auto brass that I actually buy new because I can't maintain my supply with recovered brass.

Apart from that, .380 isn't difficult to load. Because the cases are short, you can visually verify that the cases have approximately the correct powder charge. I decided to load .380 because I was already using W231 for all my non-magnum handgun loads, and W231 is an excellent powder for .380 - yielding maximum velocity according to Speer #13 of the dozen or so powders they tested (IIRC). Plus, my PPK/S (S&W-manufactured version) is one of my favorite range guns.

[RogueSniper]

Someone mentioned that the .380 casings were thinner than the 9mm. It must be the only way to get enough powder and pressure behind the bullet. I guess I better start shopping for some brass.

The .380 is coming in soon. I just bought a box of UMC for $17.99 at Big5, they were having a sale. Everywhere I look locally, the price is high.

What dies are you guys using? All my reloading dies are Lee 3-die Carbide sets. I normally just use my calipers to measure overall length instead of the gauges.