Load data for Sierra Sig V-Crown 90 gr JHP in 380? Does anyone have any

Does anyone have any load data for Sierra Sig V-Crown 90 gr JHP in 380 that you could share, please? Particularly C.O.L.
I can call Sierra on Monday, but I just received some from Midway and wanted to load some up this weekend.

try 3.3gr. titegroup.
Email me with powders you have....
Terry

I prefer to use W231/HP38 or Bullseye.

I use 5.4/5.5 of Blue Dot with that exact same bullet. It’s pretty mild with slightly weak ejection in my converted Beretta 81. I found the Blue Dot data in an old 2005 Alliant powder booklet. I set the COAL the same as Hornady factory .380 JHP’s. I really like Blue Dot because of the reduced chance for a double charge. I use a Lil Dandy powder measure and thus the 5.4/5.5 grains. Alliant said up to 6-gr was safe, although the data is pretty old.

Perhaps 3.0gr Bullseye or 3.2gr WIN 231 @ 0.960" or longer w/b a good place to start... You can go shorter (if they don't feed well?) as these are basically START loads for almost any 90-100 gr JHP or flat point in 380 acp.

Cheers!

A lot of factory ammo will have a JHP bullet seated to almost where the Ojive of the bullet is...
which is a minimal OAL for the bullet and usually where the canelure is located at, on the bullet.

Bullets over .355" diameter may cause case bulging and chambering problems.

Good shooting.

Thanks, gentlemen.

Understanding that I will earn on some probably well-deserved frowns for resurrecting this thread - I wanted to update it with the new data that I have been using. I found four more (100) boxes of Sierra 90-gr on GB of all places. I have stopped using Blue Dot because it both burns dirty and does not meter uniformly with my cheapie Lil Dandy. I now use 6.3 of AA-7 and that charge fills the case enough to not have to worry about potential double-charges. I’m using Speer data which shows 0.970 COAL and a max charge of 7.0 of AA-7. Understand the two bullets are from different manufacturers, but they are of the same weight and I am starting more than 10% below the max charge. The Blue Dot load was a little bit too mild for a couple of my .380’s to function reliably, but this AA-7 load seems about perfect.

Edited to add: I like shooting .380’s - my name is on the waiting list at LGS here for one of the new Blue Label Glock 28’s.

380 Auto, HDY 90 XTP with P-P load data

Guess I'll keep it going with some more .380 test data.

I couldn't find any SIE-SIG 90gr V-Crowns so I tried Hornady's 90gr XTP bullets in my son's .380 PPK/S.

The XTPs have a BOAL of .449" & were seated to a COAL of .970"

New Hornady cases were used & primed with CCI-500.

I tried three powders with them: Power Pistol, CFE-P, & AutoComp.

Using my LabRadar the P-P loads averaged 1027me / 210me besting the other two powders by a little more than 50fps.

I also chrono'd a box of factory Hornady 90gr FTX Critical Defense loads & they only averaged 890mv / 158me.

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Thanks for the new data, sir! I had picked up a 500-rd box of Sierra 90’s a couple of years ago plus have three more 100’s due in. I am guessing most would think it’s too expensive to shoot JHC’s at the range, but shooting these lighter bullets lets me use enough powder to not worry about double charges. I have tried Power Pistol before, but somehow moved on to AA-7, so your P-P data is especially timely. The only remaining fly in the ointment for me is the potential for setback. I ordered an undersize 9mm sizing die to solve that problem with 9mil - but haven’t found one for .380. Are use an RCBS taper crimp die, but just can’t get them to hold firmly enough for peace of mind. They will still set back a few thousandths, using the good old thumb test, even with the deepest taper crimp I am willing to risk. Guess that’s why they use an adhesive on factory rounds!

Have quite a few different Sierra bullets on hand. Just loaded up some 115gr Sierra JHPs using the "published" data for the same weight in an XTP. Since these bullets are almost identical in length there should be no problems as far as any "reduced" case volume generating excessive pressure. Don't need to worry about any setback: these all ran through the Lyman Ammo Checker as seated, but I still put them through the LEE FCD as a last step..

To make even more sure I loaded them at 0.968", even longer than Lyman's suggested OAL for the XTP. Three different powders (WIN 231, 700-X & BULLSEYE) and brass. Some XTPs were loaded as well for comparison purposes.

I'll post again after the next trip to the range with an update.

Cheers!

P.S. I found it interesting that there is a Littlestone Ammunition custom load available for this bullet in 380 acp.as well! They suggest this Sierra bullet, with its "...large opening and Power Jacket skiving assure a wide expansion across a wide range of velocities, and all conditions and strike angles.". Also, "Designed to provide flawless feeding in all automatic pistols, as well as providing .especially fast expansion at low to medium velocities." We'll see...

GeoJelly said:

Thanks for the new data, sir! I had picked up a 500-rd box of Sierra 90’s a couple of years ago plus have three more 100’s due in. I am guessing most would think it’s too expensive to shoot JHC’s at the range, but shooting these lighter bullets lets me use enough powder to not worry about double charges. I have tried Power Pistol before, but somehow moved on to AA-7, so your P-P data is especially timely. The only remaining fly in the ointment for me is the potential for setback. I ordered an undersize 9mm sizing die to solve that problem with 9mil - but haven’t found one for .380. Are use an RCBS taper crimp die, but just can’t get them to hold firmly enough for peace of mind. They will still set back a few thousandths, using the good old thumb test, even with the deepest taper crimp I am willing to risk. Guess that’s why they use an adhesive on factory rounds!

Click to expand...

For the most part the crimp doesn't hold the bullet, the neck tension does. I would check if your sizing die is sizing the case correctly.

Sizer die I.D." makes a difference

GeoJelly said:

I have tried Power Pistol before, but somehow moved on to AA-7, so your P-P data is especially timely.
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The only remaining fly in the ointment for me is the potential for setback. I ordered an undersize 9mm sizing die to solve that problem with 9mil - but haven’t found one for .380. Are use an RCBS taper crimp die, but just can’t get them to hold firmly enough for peace of mind.

Click to expand...

I like AA#7 in my 9x19 (+P) loads as I found it did better than I expected it to compared to either P-P or L-S but you still have to pack it in to get the added velocity.

Didn't try it in the 380ACP because it's a low pressure round (SAAMI max @ 21.5Kp), has small capacity & uses light for caliber bullet weights. Just didn't seem like a good match for a slow powder.

What results did you get with your AA#7 handloads?

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I often have two different brand die sets for a given cartridge (I like to mix & match the best of each when I reload) but only purchased a set from Hornady for the 380.

It's commonly said that the 380's brass is thinner than most & in checking a few empties I still have on-hand the Federal, Blazer & R-P cases run about .008" thickness at the mouth. The SIG sample I had actually runs closer to a typical thickness at .010".

9x19 brass runs about .011"-.012" thick.

My Hornady titanium nitride sizer die has an I.D. of .364" (with the decapping pin removed), using a pin gage.

The seated .3550" Hornady 90gr XTPs leave a slight impression of the bullets outline in the case wall, which I consider a favorable trait.

I always carefully check new bullet receipes to insure they pass the plunk test, feed & hand cycle from the mag as well as eject properly before I do any actual loading. I don't recall noticing any set-back issues with them as that's usually the last item I check.

Have you checked your sizer die to see what diameter it is? Since the 380 is a straight wall cartridge (unlike the 9x19) it's a simple matter.

A too loose of a diameter sizer won't give you the best bullet-case tension possible. It's one of the reasons I've bought a different brand of dies to try in the past.

I use Lyman's 9mm taper-crimp die (#7153097) for all of my .355" cartridge (.380, 9x19, 356TSW, 38 Super) crimping.

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GeoJelly said:

The only remaining fly in the ointment for me is the potential for setback. I ordered an undersize 9mm sizing die to solve that problem with 9mil - but haven’t found one for .380. Are use an RCBS taper crimp die, but just can’t get them to hold firmly enough for peace of mind. They will still set back a few thousandths, using the good old thumb test, even with the deepest taper crimp I am willing to risk. Guess that’s why they use an adhesive on factory rounds!

Click to expand...

Call Lee, they made me a custom 380 undersize die some years ago. And it is a significant help. While i haven't dealt with them lately, they were very good at making custom/altering dies for affordable prices.

BLUEDOT37 said:

I like AA#7 in my 9x19 (+P) loads as I found it did better than I expected it to compared to either P-P or L-S but you still have to pack it in to get the added velocity.
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Click to expand...

Am using AA-7 for full powered 9mm 124/147 gn loads, and a Fed 200 primer gets better accuracy/velocity for my purposes.

GeoJelly said:

... The only remaining fly in the ointment for me is the potential for setback. I ordered an undersize 9mm sizing die to solve that problem with 9mil - but haven’t found one for .380. Are use an RCBS taper crimp die, but just can’t get them to hold firmly enough for peace of mind. They will still set back a few thousandths, using the good old thumb test, even with the deepest taper crimp I am willing to risk. Guess that’s why they use an adhesive on factory rounds!

Click to expand...

My experienced guess is that your case neck expander is oversized. This can easily be remedied by placing the expander in a lathe or drill press, and removing a small amount of material with abrasive cloth. It won't take much, so try removing a small amount, then test for fit.

The crimp has almost no effect on case neck tension.

On a side note, Blue Dot (as suggested by others) is a poor powder for use in the .380ACP. My choice would be W231/HP-38 or Bullseye.

Regarding the 115gr loads with the XTP and the Sierra JHP: all versions shot very close to POA at 7 yards. Hard to differentiate between the BULLSEYE, WIN 231 and 700-X powders. The OAL of 0.968" I used fed, fired and ejected with no problems.

I definitely will be further investigating using other 380s, but these looked very promising.

Cheers!