Reloading 380 brass

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I realize that loading 380 ACP may not be easy, but for a frugal (read CHEAP) person, it's the way that I can shoot more for less money spent! I am tending to enter a number of "lost brass" matches, and I would like to hold on to my name brand brass as long as possible.

I find reloading the common, name brand brass (in many chamberings) to be relatively easy; however, there are some brands that I haven't dealt with. PPU and PMC are the two that are falling into a plan.

My intention is to load my less common brass (i.e.: Fiocci, GBL, PPU, & PMC) for use in the lost brass matches. I do plan to test fire this ammo before relying on it in a match.

My question is, are PPU and PMC headstamped brass any more difficult to reload than the more common brands (Federal, Speer, CCI, and Remington)?

As always, thanks in advance for your help!
 
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I've had 500 380 bullets for about 43 years waiting to be loaded! As I was gathering everything to bring this to pass about 2 months ago, My best friend gets a flier from Mid-South Shooting Supply that has a 1000 round case of S&B 380 FMJ for less per round than I can load it for! So we split the case.

I guess I have another 40years to load the Speer 95 gr. SP 380 bullets I bought for $5.17/100!

Ivan
 
I load PMC routinely, same as any other American brass. Good stuff. :)
 
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I've had 500 380 bullets for about 43 years waiting to be loaded! As I was gathering everything to bring this to pass about 2 months ago, My best friend gets a flier from Mid-South Shooting Supply that has a 1000 round case of S&B 380 FMJ for less per round than I can load it for! So we split the case.

I guess I have another 40years to load the Speer 95 gr. SP 380 bullets I bought for $5.17/100!

Ivan
I reloaded the 380 ACP 40 years ago because I carried a Astra 380 as my BUG. The Speer 88 JHP was the most accurate. The Speer 95 FMJ groups were twice as large as the 88 JHP groups. I also tried 95 LRN that had the worse groups.

My Astra Constable had about 1000 reloads down range and it was looser than a goose. I sold it and bought a Colt Detective Special that served well as a BUG for 20+ years.
 
I enjoy reloading the .380. I’ve had no problem with PMC or any other brand that I recall, but I’m not sure I’ve had PMC. BTW, I’ve got over 7000 95 grain lead reloads through my Baikal Makarov without problem. It just got smoother.
 
I to have not experienced any problems with the varieties of brass previously mentioned. I have found the 380acp brass from Xtreme (aka, Freedom Munitions) to be very good.

I still have some of the 1K Federal 95gr JSPs purchased long ago at Midway: I'm absolutely sure they were more than a nickel each...!

Maybe a dime?

Still and all, they have always reloaded fine for me.

Cheers!
 
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I am an equal opportunity reloader. I treat them all the same All mixed. No preference.
The SB brass primer pockets are very tight so a quick ream and it makes priming much smoother.
 
When I started reloading 380 Autos for my son's PPK/S he bought a box of new Hornady brass to start with. No problem here.

Later I accumulated a small amount to mixed 380 brass from the range while picking up my 9x19 brass that I reloaded to give him a few more practice rounds.

Sorry, I don't remember which brands they were, there were 3-4 different ones, but I kept each brand together during loading & when I did the final step, taper crimping as a separate step, the case differences was most noticeable because of their case wall thicknesses. (It also shows up when flaring/bell-mouthing the cases.)

380 is a low pressure cartridge & some brands utilize thinner brass.

I've found over the years it's best, for uniformity, to keep all of my reloading brass segregated by brand.

.
 
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I reload the .380 and for the most part it is pretty easy to work with. I have had some issues but they were not brass-brand specific. My conclusion was some of the range pick-up brass must have been fired in a very loose chamber. Hey, there's a lot of old .380's out there. Now I run all "new to me" picked-up brass through the Lee Bulge Buster once before using it. No more problems.
 
I am like “ Rule3 “ an equal opportunity reloader. I generally purchase once fired range brass and it’s certain to be a mix of brands. I have not found any problems with any in particular.

What i have found is the difference in actual bullet weight, particularly differences between cast coated bullets and the jacketed bullets.
Jacketed bullets have been consistent in weight with virtually no variation from bullet to bullet, but with coated lead bullets I find a difference of plus/minus .05 grains from bullet to bullet.
 
Been reloading 380 brass for years and never had any problems. PPU primer pockets are sometimes a bit tight, but nothing I have ever worried about when reloading.
 
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