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Old 04-28-2012, 10:25 AM
robctwo robctwo is offline
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Join Date: May 2006
Location: Albany, OR
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The .380 is also known as the 9mm short. I reload, and every so often a .380 case goes through with the 9mm. The case is short. .380 holds a 95 gr bullet with less powder than my 125 gr 9mm. The .380 guns I have are blowback design, so the recoil is sharper than 9mm with Browning design. My .380s are all semi-auto.

.357 is a long .38 Special. The cases were designed to not fit in the regular .38 Specials of the day because the pressures would blow up the guns. .38 Specials fit in the .357s just fine, so a .357 is more versatile.

I reload both. The only difference in the two is that I need to move all the dies out to fit .357 or I crush the cases.

For carry I have a Bersa .380 and a S&W 638. I'm carrying the S&W more because I like the .38 Special loads and the CT laser grips. Neither one are fun to shoot a the range.

I really like the model 19, 15, and 14 for range work.
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