Good powder for short barrel 380

I am shooting Titegroup, Zip, AA#5 ....

All doing good .... LCP

HP-38/W231 and CFE-P here. Both out of a LCP.

I use AA#2 out of my Kahr CW380 with a 2.5" bbl. Bullet is a Rainier 100 gr plated. Very clean, relaible and it shoots 1.5" gps at 15 yds.

AA#2 and Ramshot Silhouette are what I'm using with a 100gr Xtreme. Both burning very clean and accurate.

9x18 Mak here, but... WW231 gives a very nice charge weight to high velocity loading. Unique works very well, as does Power Pistol (really like). I have had good luck with 700x and Bullseye too. Tried HS-6 and AA#5 and they did pretty well too, but with a much higher charge weight. Good luck.

I have good luck with Bullseye.

231 or Unique

Walkalong said:

98s1lightning said:

I'm looking to load some gold dots for my short barrel 380 (seecamp). I'm wondering what I should run in such a short barrel that will be most efficient. A fast powder such as Red Dot?

Click to expand...

The slower powders will still give the best velocity, but at the expense of more recoil etc. Try some Red Dot and W-231 and see which one you like.

Click to expand...

For my wife's Taurus TCP 738 (another short barrel 380), I did comparison accuracy and felt recoil test with factory ammo and W231/HP-38 using X-Treme 100 gr RNFP. 10/10 was used for factory ammo felt recoil for comparison - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/380auto-x-treme-100-gr-rnfp-range-test.748320/

W231/HP-38 loads produced less snappy recoil and greater accuracy than factory ammo:

- 2.6 gr under 1" group (4/10 felt recoil)
- 2.8 gr 1.25" (6/10 felt recoil)
- 3.0 gr 1.25" (8/10 felt recoil)

AA#2 is the better choice. Good velocity, low extreme spreads, good accuracy, and clean.

I reload the 102grn Golden Sabre (I think that's what they are...) over Unique for my .380; the nose profile is very similar to the Gold Dot, they feed well enough in my Colt's Government .380 and my brother's PPK/s.

I like Bullseye best for the 380

CFE-P works well for me to load serious stuff, meters decent.

S+B SP Mixed range brass, charges as thrown after setting measure (Lee auto drum)
Kahr P380 2.53" barrel

String: 2
Date: 8/14/2016
Time: 9:23:07 AM
Grains: 100
Hi Vel: 862
Low Vel: 843
Ave Vel: 853
Ext Spread: 19
Std Dev: 7
380 100 Xtreme 4.0 CFE-P
Velocity Power Factor Ft/Lbs
862 77.58 148.477
843 75.87 142.004
855 76.95 146.075
850 76.5 144.372
856 77.04 146.417

4.0 is the listed max with a 100gr bullet, don't use the Xtreme bullet for serious stuff but for practice.
Hodgdons #s
100 GR. HDY FMJ Hodgdon CFE Pistol .355" .980" 3.3 794 12,400 PSI 4 955 19,800 PSI
but probably a longer barrel than 2.5"

Factory Federal 95gr FMJ to compare in the same gun
String: 2
Date: 8/14/2016
Time: 8:44:02 AM
Grains: 95
Hi Vel: 845
Low Vel: 826
Ave Vel: 832
Ext Spread: 19
Std Dev: 7
Federal .380 95 FMJ
Velocity Power Factor Ft/Lbs
845 80.275 150.605
828 78.66 144.606
835 79.325 147.061
829 78.755 144.955
826 78.47 143.908

Almost had to laugh the ES and SD were the same for both!
The CFE-P load is pushing a 5gr heavier bullet about 20fps faster.
Hodgdon shows some good vels with W244 but I haven't had a chance to try it in .380 yet.

100 GR. HDY FMJ Winchester 244 .355" .980" 3 851 16,600 PSI 3.5 994 19,500 PSI
90 GR. HDY JHP Winchester 244 .355" .955" 3.2 930 15,600 PSI 3.7 1,061 19,800 PSI
Highest vels for anything they list for .380.

Red Dot or W231, out of a Ruger LCP.

Titegroup

Like many of the posts above I suggest W231 or AA#2 and I will add Zip to the group.

I currently load for for 9 handgun cartridges and I either use W231 or W231 and another powder or two. I have loads for W231 for cartridges from the 32 ACP to the 45 Colt.

Kahr P380
S+B SP, mixed range brass, charges as thrown after setting measure.
String: 6
Date: 5/15/2016
Time: 12:47:27 PM
Grains: 90 Bullet
Hi Vel: 793
Low Vel: 777
Ave Vel: 784
Ext Spread: 16
Std Dev: 7
380 3.1 #2 CMJ 100 RN
Velocity Power Factor Ft/Lbs
793 71.37 125.658
777 69.93 120.639
779 70.11 121.26
788 70.92 124.079
This load is .1gr under Westerns listed MAX
Getting 60fps more with CFE-P

String: 1
Date: 5/15/2016
Time: 8:22:57 AM
Grains: 100 Bullet
Hi Vel: 862
Low Vel: 791
Ave Vel: 818
Ext Spread: 71
Std Dev: 26
.380 3.3 ZIP XTP
Velocity Power Factor Ft/Lbs
814 81.4 147.113
815 81.5 147.474
791 79.1 138.917
811 81.1 146.03 (this one is quite a bit higher than the others)
862 86.2 164.974

About 40fps more with CFE-P
I do like AA#2 for .380 meters great from a measure even in .380 size charges.

I've used both Win 231 and Promo (Red Dot) in 380 with good results out of my LCP, Sig 238 and Glock 42. Both with 95 and 100 grain bullets.
I like that 231 had a decent range for work ups.

I use w231 for my lcp II.

murf

I load 231 for my LCP and P230 because red dot doesn't meter well for me at the small charges required.