does anyone serously load 380 acp???

[SMSgt]

Why would you unseriously reload the .380?

 

[Rule3]

32 ACP is as low as I go

The only little trick in loading the small cases (which are thin) is just do not be in a real hurry. Make sure the dies are lined up perfect cause if they are a bit off center it is real easy to crush the brass, Mostly in resizing. Other than that no real issue.

I like HP38 the best for the 380

 

[forestswin]

The 380acp is on of my favorite cartridges to reload. 9mm's on the left and 380acp's on the right.



I shoot around 1,000 380acp cases turned into bullets a year. They make excellent hp's for the 357. Darn things are a hoot in the 10" bbl'd contender with full house loads of either 2400 or mp-300.

Aahhhh, Double reload! You had me confused

 

[lhump1961]

Same response as most others...sure I do. 231 or PP at the top end of the data seems to work well. My Smith PPK/S likes my loads better than factory but I think my handloads in all calibers are better than factory.

 

[rwsmith]

The 380acp is on of my favorite cartridges to reload. 9mm's on the left and 380acp's on the right.



I shoot around 1,000 380acp cases turned into bullets a year. They make excellent hp's for the 357. Darn things are a hoot in the 10" bbl'd contender with full house loads of either 2400 or mp-300.

Those look more like .38s or maybe .357s? Are those the right pictures?

I don't know why .380 would be a pain to load. They don't look one heck of lot different from 9mm.

 

[sarg1c]

I load a lot of .380, 9mm and .38Spc. Not much difference but don't use as much powder.Why not load it.

 

[10mm_Shooter]

I cast a little 78g LRN for my little Mauser in .32 acp, I load 1.7 grains of 231/hp38 in it. Little bitty case, hard to find the brass on the ground.

 

[feelinlucky]

New 380 ammo is a bit pricey. There is plenty of 380 brass laying around at the ranges. Given those two things it's one of the rounds that is most worthwhile to reload.

I don't see anyone mentioning it anywhere here, but the only real hassle with loading 380 is accurately metering powder. That's a little tedious. At a max powder charge of around three or four grains, a tenth of a grain error can become significant. A good accurate consistent powder dropping system like the Lee Auto Drum, and a good metering powder like 231 is a must.

 

[m657]

that photo confuses me; what I think I see isn't what I think I read in the post;

and all these warm fuzzies for reloading the 380.....who would have guessed?

I had loaded both cast and FMJ, something around 95~100 grains IIRC; tedious, many recurring errors both on the press & on the line;

I have managed to finally get my 9mm routine buffed out enough to make it thru a whole match on reloads without any out-of-spec issues!!!!

Maybe will give it another effort this season.
However, "no brass" "no slugs" and "nearly no powder" for the caliber.

We'll see.

 

[H Richard]

I have loaded the Bayou powder coated bullets, and use W231. are cheap to reload. I don't shoot too many of them, but the reloads shoot as well as and to the same POI as factory so make great practice ammo.

 

[DWalt]

I have been loading .380, off and on, for over 30 years, no different from loading 9mm that I can tell. I use purchased lead bullets.

 

[Ballistic147]

I'm loading them with FMJ's from Everglades and W231. I figure they cost me about 15 cents each where the cheapest but decent quality factory ammo I can find runs 26 cent each.

 

[load748]

380 is my fun gun . loaded 600 rounds over the weekend at a cost of 10 1/2 cents each. easy to load and a great practice round ....yippi kae yea.

 

[ameridaddy]

I settled on a load of AA #5 and a 95 gr plated for practice.
gun: Sig P238, 2.75" bbl
I found the starting load of 3.3 gr AA #5 up through 4.1 wouldn't even cycle the gun. I ended up with:
.380 ACP,
95 gr RN plated,
OAL = 0.960
4.9 gr AA #5; avg. velocity 837; SD 6
Max load from AA data was 5.0.
Saw no evidence of primer flattening or any other over pressure signs.
Pleasant to shoot, good groups, no malfunctions.
Powder metered beautifully with a baffle in Hornady LNL measure.
For comparison, Win Ranger JHP - velocity 881

 

[GyMac]

I really enjoy reloading the .380 and have no problems with powder charges using the Lee auto disk and adjustable charge bar. The only cartridge I shoot more is the .38 special.

 

[muddocktor]

I load 380 Auto since I have one pistol chambered for it. The pistol is a Husqvarna m1907, which is a Swedish, license built version of the FN 1903 and it was originally chambered in 9 MM Browning Long. When they were imported into the US in the 1950's, they were converted to 380 Auto by inserting a chamber plug/insert into the chamber to make it fit 380 Auto. As such, I find for best functionality you need to run 380 ammo on the hot end and reloading saves a whole bunch of money as compared to buying factory stuff. That old pistol is a hoot to shoot, since it is a full sized pistol and you really have hardly any recoil with even hot 380 ammo run through it. I just loaded up 200 rounds today for that pistol. Powders I use for loading 380 Auto are 231/HP38 and Accurate #2. I really like Accurate #2 since it's a finge grained ball powder that meters extremely well and also burns pretty clean in 380 Auto. Today I also loaded up 100 with some Hi Skor 700-X and I will be curious as to how well it performs in 380 Auto.

 

[Bkreutz]

I don't load .380's, but I know a bunch of people who do. In the course of separating range brass, I end up with a box of .380 brass (6"x6"x6") about once a month. I give them to different people when I fill the box (spread it around to prevent ill feelings). I suppose I could sell it, or put it in the scrap barrel, but I'd rather give it to people who can use it. I'm saving up .40 and .45 for a karma giveaway on this site. Almost there.

 

[rwsmith]

Load .22 Hornet.....

Think .380s, .32s and .25s are small? .22 Hornet is a teeny little thing, but reloading for this is cool. EXPENSE is not the only reason we reload. It's fun and you can load what you WANT instead of what's available at the store.

 

[JWH321]

I'm trying to understand why reloading .380 is any different from reloading any other pistol round. But then, I also don't understand why factory .380 is so expensive.

 

[sarg1c]

Think .380s, .32s and .25s are small? .22 Hornet is a teeny little thing, but reloading for this is cool. EXPENSE is not the only reason we reload. It's fun and you can load what you WANT instead of what's available at the store.

Exactly, well stated. I load for my Colt pocketlite, I could buy factory loaded but why not reload....