.380 Load Recomendations?

VonFatman

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I have used 3gr. of W-231 behind 95gr plated and/or jacketed bullets and have had great luck in every .380 semi-auto I own.

I recently picked up some MO Bullet 95gr LRN bullets and have not had great success locating many loads for lead bullets.

Any suggestions? I was going to go with 3grs of 231 or perhaps 2.5 grs of 700x...but I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks.

Bob
 
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I use a lot of 4 grns of unique with a 90 grn JHP to .984 col with CCI500 primers and starline brass. It is somewhat of my standard. Check a good manual though to be sure I am not forgetting something. I suggest Sierra's.
 
RCBS Cast Bullet manual

This is RCBS Data for 380 ACP, 4.5" Barrel
mould 38-90-RN
90Gr. LRN sized .356"
Primers: CCI500

231
2.8gr.=795fps
3.3gr.=947fps

Bullseye
2.5gr.=771fps
3.0gr.=931fps.

700X
2.0gr.=768fps
2.4gr.=915fps

-2Sigs

as ALWAYS double check your sources
 
Speer #13 lists:
95gr FMJ bullet with W231 3.6 gr - 945 fps
4.0 gr - 1027 fps
It has been a long time since I have reloaded .380 but I found that 3.4gr was about right for my Sig 230.
 
i have recently loaded some monster 115 gr FMJ on top of 3.6 gr of 231. the "big" bullets shoot good from my ancient AMT

this load is from handsloads.com
 
vf- your 3.0 of 231 should be fine. might have to bump up a bit depending on recoil spring. i use the same load but have never used lead in the .380. get much snow this time around?
 
I haven't loaded for the 380 in a while and when I did I kept even worse notes than I do now! :)

Sorry I can't be of any help. I am interested in hearing your results.
 
Gosh folks, I sure appreciate all the great suggestions. I have 8lbs of 700x and more than 8lbs of Unique...3-4 pounds of Bullseye too.

I'd say it's time to try some new loads.

I did test fire (for function only) the LRN 3gr load in my CZ-83 and Kel-Tec P3-AT today....not even a hiccup, no issues but who knows about accuracy.

3gr. W-231 behind Rainier 95gr. jacketed bullets averaged 836 FPS in my CZ-83 & 700 FPS in the P3-AT.

perrazi,
Plenty of snow...most of it drifted and left many stranded...we are lucky my wife has a Santa Fe!

Bob
 
I load for two .380 Autos, a Bersa 95 and a Beretta 84. I've settled on three loads, a plinker, a factory-standard clone, and a factory-SD clone.

The plinker load is a 95gr LRN bullet at about 800 fps. Comfortable, accurate, and the brass ends up in a little pile about three feet to my right. To get this level of performance I use 2.7gr (.27cc) of AA #2. VV N310 works well too with 2.3gr (.27cc). I'm currently using Tennessee Valley bullets loaded to a .950" COL, a light taper crimp, and CCI small pistol primers in mixed (but mostly Remington) brass.

Since the standard factory round in .380 Auto is a 95gr FMJ at 950 fps (190 ft-lbs), my clone uses a Hornady 100gr FMJ-Encapulated bullet at about 925 fps (190 ft-lbs). I purchased several thousand of these bullets a couple of years ago at a nice discount, and they shoot very well indeed. To get this level of performance I use 3.2gr (.32cc) of AA #2. This load also gives consistently crazy ES and SD numbers (like ES = 12 and SD = 5). This load calls for a .960" COL, a firm taper crimp, and CCI small pistol primers in Starline brass trimmed to .675".

My SD practice load (which I can also use for carry in a pinch) uses either the Speer 90gr GDHP or the Hornady 90gr HP/XTP. I prefer the Speer, but have occasionally found good deals on the HP/XTP. These are loaded to duplicate the performance of their factory rounds in my semiautos. That means 1000-1050 fps (200-220 ft-lbs), which 3.4gr (.34cc) of AA #2, or 4.3gr of either Unique or N340 delivers. The GDHP uses a .950" COL while the HP/XTP uses .960", a firm taper crimp, and CCI small pistol primers in Starline brass trimmed to .675".

Hope this was helpful.
 
Favorite 380 ACP load

My usual 380 load with either lead or jacketed bullets (90-100 gr.) is 3.0 grs. Bullseye with a taper crimp die. This load is accurate and clean in my Walther PPK/S.
Beefy01 NRA Patron Member
 
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