As a settlement for a recalled 45 ACP pistol, Taurus, in their infinite wisdom, has sent me a .380 Auto. I know, I know, but it is what it is. I just dropped $20 for a box of range ammo and I swear that won't happen again. As much as I hate to take on another cartridge, I will not pay those prices and not even have the satifaction of a handload.
For all you fellow mousers out there, what is a good load for the range...bullet style, weight, and powder preferences. And for the rare times I might carry it...a good SD load. Thanks in advance.

It sounds like you are not wildly enthusiastic about the .380 cartridge. I once bought a .380 only because it was one of two pistols that the seller would not separate. Since I planned to trade it off I did not want to invest anything in reloading the cartridge. With scrounged brass and a little creativity I got to shoot my .380 on the cheap. Obviously my .223 shell holder fit. The .223 FL sizer resized the .380 brass and punched out the primer. My 9 MM seater seated bullets but would not crimp them. The bottom portion of a rifle sizer taper crimped them. I think it was a .223 FL sizer but it's been too long to remember.

So you do not waste too much emotion morning the loss of your $20 I'll tell a true story that the owner of the only gun store in town that actually has a store was telling shoppers. There had been 3 firearm murders in the county in the prior year and all were one shot kills with a .380. I have no idea what cartridges were used.

If I was going to carry a .380 I'd carry hard cast round nose reloads. The reasons are I could warm them up a little and the round has no penetration to spare. I'm not spending good dollars on .380 cartridges.

While the 380 is not a .45,it sure beats a kick in the butt!

Fiocchi Extrema was a top rated round by AmmoQuest and it's readily available.

What is a mouser?

Someone involved with mouse (small caliber) guns I imagine, or the Chevy 350 CI motor.

100 grain Berry's plated RN
WSP primer
3.5 gr Hodgdon CFE pistol
.960 OAL or the longest you can load in your chamber and magazines

I have a Mauser HSc on the way for when a 1911 or a revolver will print too much. When I carry the HSc, I plan on carrying either Lehigh Defense protection round, Hornady Critical Defense or ball ammo. All other times I plan on using handloads for practice.


I would rather purchase 2 boxes of WE ammo initially, then buy a fresh box every few years when I dump old carry ammo.

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Judge control not gun control!

My standard .380 load is 4.0 grains of Unique and the 100 grain plated Berry's bullet. That is essentially a factory RN bullet duplication load and it works fine in my .380s. Not to say anything good or bad about its ballistic terminal performance other than it functions well.

I use 2.7 grains of Bullseye with a 95-100 grain bullet. RMR now makes a FMJ bullet that is only slightly more expensive than plated. I have also used coated bullets, often from SNS. For self defense personally I would go with hardball, maybe with a hollow point in the pipe. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice, especially with a marginal caliber.

380 acp is painful to load. I would sell the gun and get another 45 acp.

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S&WHF 366