.380 ACP Reloading

[CVShooter]

I'm going to be picking up a little Sig .380. I reload cast for my 9mm, heavy & slow. I was thinking about picking up a die & some cast rounds for the .380 since ammo tends to be more expensive & less available for the .380. The .380 is a pretty tight little cartridge. Anybody find them to be finicky for reloading cast bullets in the 125 gr range? Or should I stick to something in the 90 gr range for more flexibility?

[mif_slim]

Lighter is better imo. Also, of you want, I have a 380 brass and dies I want to sell. PM me.. you'll get a good price. Haha. Sorry... Didn't mean to sell an item.. I was just literally moving my 380 brass out of my stash while reading CGN.

[ptmn]

I would stick to 100gr LRN or 100gr plated. Sucks having to stock another bullet weight instead of using you 9mm 125's, but your min-max powder charge is going to have a tiny spread and the charges are already pretty small for a 380, so the variance in your powder measure throw could put you over max. Seating depth when loading 380 is very important. I got pressure signs off a light charge just from seating a tiny bit deeper, so be aware. My Sig P232 loves cast lead, but my S&W Bodyguard only likes jacketed or plated, I have no clue why.

[rg1]

Not into casting bullets myself but I too would recommend 100 grain molds and nothing heavier. My 2 Sig 238's shoot Hornady 90 gr. XTP's extremely well. You can buy 95-100 gr. jacketed bullets and they aren't too expensive. I don't shoot large amounts of .380 so I buy or load only Hornady 90 gr. XTP's. My favorite powder by far is Accurate Arms #2. Good accuracy and can equal the velocity of Hornady factory. Slower powders has always shown wider velocity variations than AA#2. Great little pistol the Sig 238.

[tonyjr]

I have the mustang II . It is used for new shooters [ also the 25 ACP ]
Probably 15 , maybe 20 years ago I stopped using cast .
The 380 is used as a snake gun [ 1st 2 rounds ] and a noise maker .
If you think the 380 is hard to find bullets for , try looking for the 25 and 32 ACPs .
I bought all they had at Cabella's in Reno last year .
If you are using cast in the 9mm , you already know the heavier the pill , the more leading .

[Abenaki]

If you are using cast in the 9mm , you already know the heavier the pill , the more leading .

No....I don't that. Undersized boolits are one of the major reasons.


Back on track. I cast a 100 grain boolit for my 380. For powder I use Unique.

Those tiny things are hard to mess with when reloading. I can't imagine loading for a 25 acp.


Take care
Abenaki

[tonyjr]

Once you set up a few times , It gets easier . I still have a hard time with the 1911 with the 22lr barrel . Fun to shoot , but sometimes you could only get the non plated cartridges . Leadingcan be bad when you put a bunch thru it .
My one of my godchildren gets married next month and his other likes the 25 and the 22lr . Trying to get her to shoot the 9mm more .
One thing that seems to help is putting the barrel in sonic with wd-40 . But put a brick of shells thru it and it is harder to clean .

[stilly]

I'm going to be picking up a little Sig .380. I reload cast for my 9mm, heavy & slow. I was thinking about picking up a die & some cast rounds for the .380 since ammo tends to be more expensive & less available for the .380. The .380 is a pretty tight little cartridge. Anybody find them to be finicky for reloading cast bullets in the 125 gr range? Or should I stick to something in the 90 gr range for more flexibility?

If you can cast, look to get some Lee .357 (or was it .356?) 6 cavity 105gr SWC.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?49894-Lee-105gr-SWC-358-quot-in-9mm

Those are AWESOME to make and coat. You can make a LOT for a little and they are good in .380/9mm/.38/.357 and I bet even .357 sig but I aint tried that yet. 1 lb of lead will give you about 60+ of them. so that is about a buck OH five. (Freedom cost a buck oh five...) And there ya have it.

I load up the 9mm with blue dot lately.

[hambam105]

I shoot more .380acp than anyone I know and I reload more for .380acp than anyone I know. And I am surely convinced that I shoot .380acp more proficiently than anyone I know.

Cast bullets are fine. Jacketed bullets will work better, more uniform and they shoot more cleanly as compared to cast.

If and when another shooter runs my ammo thru their pistols they never ask about bullet weight. They could care less because the ammo works. Hhmmm.380acp ammo that works...

Plated bullets and Unique powder...on Planet Earth, and you say it works?

90 grain, 100, 105, 115, and yes, 124 grain bullets work just fine. It is about proper assembly and quality bullets and a burning fast powder.

[the86d]

PSA:
Please pick up your .380 ACP brass, or it gets mixed in the 9mm, inside the case-feeder in my press and gets primed! It then has to be deprimed, manually, and individually...

[Bumslie]

PSA:
Please pick up your .380 ACP brass, or it gets mixed in the 9mm, inside the case-feeder in my press and gets primed! It then has to be deprimed, manually, and individually...

I'm that jerk that coverts 9mm luger to 9mm makarov and leaves his brass for others