Reloading .380 acp Question

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I just recently purchased an LCP, and aside for 12 ga. this is now the only firearm I don't reload for.

So I need to decide whether or not to order dies and buy 90 gr bullets. Here are the pros and cons I'm considering:

- Over the 9 years that I've been pulling the handle, I've managed to scavenge about a dozen .380 cases. So I don't anticipate scoring much free brass.

- I don't anticipate I'll shoot the LCP a lot, as it's not a fun range gun and it's not my primary carry piece or HD gun.

- Lee's 4 die set is $45

+ I already have W231/HP38 on the shelf

+ I already have small pistol primers on the shelf

+ I have Lee's adjustable charge bar and enough disks to experiment with modifying a port for throwing small charges.

+ If I stock up, I don't have to worry about ammo shortages at the store.

Any points you guys can contribute to the decision making process or issues reloading these tiny .380 cases is much appreciated
 
I got the LEE dies on sale at Midwest for $32

I also use W231

I use the Ranier "Lead Free" 100g bullets from Midway and they shoot great out of my LCP

I prefer the LEE Auto Drum over the Auto disc but I use the Auto Disc for my 9mm loads and it works fine.

Edited; I use mixed "once fired" range brass I pick up at the private range I belong to. I guess I have about a 1000 rounds now. I sort by head stamp and reload.
 
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I have a lcp as well. I bought a thousand pieces of brass and loaded them up with 2.7gr HP38(modified .30cc disk) and a 105gr coated lee swc sized to .356". As you have noted, the gun is not any fun to shoot and these little pistols tend to throw brass into the lower stratosphere. I consider myself lucky if I manage to catch half my brass on a 15x15 drop cloth. I only shoot a half a box of ammo once in a blue moon. Any more and it becomes a chore. The thousand some rounds I have loaded up will likely last me 7+ years.

That said, it is still certainly worth loading up. lee 3 die sets can be had for $32 from titan reloading. I would expect a used set of dies to go for $20. Brass is getting cheaper and cheaper. I have seen some 380 going for only $40/k on armslist. Maybe you could even put up an ad on here or armslist looking to borrow a die set locally, load up a thousand rounds and forget about it for a long while?

If you pay shipping both ways, I can lend you my lee 380 3 die set as well as the autodisk that I modified and is adjustable from 2.5gr to 3.0gr HP38. Pm me if interested.
 
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No issues loading .380 except the small powder charges and small components being a little hard to handle with fat fingers. I highly recommend Hornady's 90 gr. XTP bullets as they have performed great in a Colt Gov't .380, 2 Sig 238's, and Bersa Thunder .380. The 90gr. XTP's aren't that expensive especially if you're not shooting a lot of .380. My favorite powder by far is Accurate Arms #2 using Accurate Arms data. I can only recommend RCBS .380 dies with a taper crimp seater. Mine does a great job loading .380 and available for about $45.00. I had problems getting consistent velocity with slower .380 powders but AA#2 has very low velocity variations. All I load in .380 is the Hornady 90 XTP's and carry factory Hornady 90gr. XTP's
 
I just recently started reloading 380 on my Lee Loadmaster. It uses the same shell holder (turret) for the 380 as for the .223 cases for 'MOST' cases but rejects Fiocchi, Perfecta and Tulammo cases. They just wont fit.
Lee will modify my shell holder but I don't want to mess up what works for the .223.
Guess I'll buy a spare shell holder and let them modify that one.
Just curious what's different about these cases? I've only been reloading for a six months and am surprised that this hasn't been discovered/resolved before now.
 
Lee shell holders don't fit a lot of things properly.

Buy an RCBS, Hornady, or Redding shell holder and Bee Happy!!

rc
 
My wife carried a 380 for almost 20 years.
During that time we went through several thousand rounds.
All but her carry rounds were reloads.
I got a reasonable deal on a bulk buy of five thousand 90 gr. JHP bullets and that is what she practiced with.
Her carry ammunition was also a 90 gr JHP so it worked out well.
The only real concern was the small capacity of the case being more sensitive to dropped charge variation.
So, I dropped charges slightly under weight and dribbled them up to weight one at a time.
Bullets were seated using my single stage press.
This was time consuming as I was using a Dillon 550 for most of my other reloading in those days. (Replaced with a XL650 fourteen years ago)
However, it was worth the effort, and I was able to match POI with her factory carry ammunition for practice.

About the shell holder, there is a slight difference between the 380ACP and the 223 case dimensions.
Get a shell holder specifically set up for the 380.
Don't waist your time trying to find a work around.
I've never used a Loadmaster so can't really comment further.

I like the 380 and new bullet technology makes a it a realistic defensive round.

Good luck

Steve
 
During the most recent shortage, .380 ammunition was about as rare as .22 LR ammunition, at least in my part of the country. My wife and I both carry Sig P-238's, which are pleasant to shoot and have the same control systems as the familiar 1911.

During the ammo draught, we never stopped shooting, since I reloaded all our practice ammunition, and still do. That would be the reason I would recommend you at least get the dies, and there is brass available pretty readily....... When everyone else is lamenting the fact they don't have any ammunition for their pockets guns, we're comfortably supplied. Between buying pulldown bullets from RMR, and casting my own, we have a never ending supply.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
You said you are not going to shoot the .380 much but even shooting 50 rounds a month you will save money loading your .380 ammo. Before 2008 I would say just buy it but now days .380 ACP ammo costs more than .38 Special ammo. Loading a box of 50 will cost you just over $6 without the cost of brass, Retail will run you $16 to $21 a box.
 
My post about the 380 reloading wasn't looking for solution, I already have that answer.
I am just curious about the difference in some 380 cases and why the difference?
 
For the OP, yes why not reload for it??

You will need more brass, as the 380's disappear into another time zone or black hole!:D
 
I also reload .380 on my Dillon 550.

My friends give me the "why bother" look, but from a cost savings standpoint, it's a higher savings than reloading 9mm. I'll change out the toolhead to .380 and load 1000 rds and it will last me a few years plus as I don't shoot it that often.

Since there's a lot of folks that carry .380s, but don't reload, I've never had an issue getting brass. My "normal" load is a Berry's (or any other plated) 100 grn over HP38/W231.

Chuck
 
SauceNM said:
I just recently started reloading 380 on my Lee Loadmaster. It uses the same shell holder (turret) for the 380 as for the .223 cases for 'MOST' cases but rejects Fiocchi, Perfecta and Tulammo cases. They just wont fit.
Lee will modify my shell holder but I don't want to mess up what works for the .223.
Guess I'll buy a spare shell holder and let them modify that one.
Just curious what's different about these cases? I've only been reloading for a six months and am surprised that this hasn't been discovered/resolved before now.
Click to expand...
SauceNM said:
My post about the 380 reloading wasn't looking for solution, I already have that answer.
I am just curious about the difference in some 380 cases and why the difference?
Click to expand...
My guess would be, since those three are not made here they have slightly different dimensions. American made brass conforms time SAAMI specifications while the European brass conforms to CIP specifications. The differences are slight and don't usually effect shooting but as you found the shell holder can be a problem.

Sometimes another company's holder will fit. If you know other freeloaders you can try different holders and buy the one that fits which will probably be easier than sending a holder out.
 
I got my son and LCP for Christmas, and bought myself some dies. - (Hornady Titanium 3 die)

I had a bunch of 380 brass, as I pick it up whether I reload for it or not.

I had components, even some 90gr bullets I got for 9mm.

380 is cheap to reload, and much more expensive than 9mm to buy ammo, so after a couple boxes loaded, the dies are paid for.

380 Brass is often left behind at indoor ranges, and most will sell it dirt cheap.

The only thing I'd caution against is buying a lot of bullets before testing. My son's gun shoots 90 grain low, so I've loaded up some heavier bullets to try. With fixed sights, you have to sight in with your load.
 
TimSr said:
I got my son and LCP for Christmas, and bought myself some dies. - (Hornady Titanium 3 die)

I had a bunch of 380 brass, as I pick it up whether I reload for it or not.

I had components, even some 90gr bullets I got for 9mm.

380 is cheap to reload, and much more expensive than 9mm to buy ammo, so after a couple boxes loaded, the dies are paid for.

380 Brass is often left behind at indoor ranges, and most will sell it dirt cheap.

The only thing I'd caution against is buying a lot of bullets before testing. My son's gun shoots 90 grain low, so I've loaded up some heavier bullets to try. With fixed sights, you have to sight in with your load.
Click to expand...
Just a warning about using bullets meant for the 9mm in the .380. Some may not work well because the profile is slightly different on each. It's usually better to get bullets marked for the .380. Of course there are always exceptions...
 
Just a warning about using bullets meant for the 9mm in the .380. Some may not work well because the profile is slightly different on each. It's usually better to get bullets marked for the .380. Of course there are always exceptions...
Click to expand...

Yes. Important warning! Some .380 guns experience chambering problems with .356" bullets (cast for 9mm), and with longer bullets where the crimp ends up where bullet tapers. The 85-100gr .355" bullets work okay in most.
 
Strange you should mention it, I am in the process of loading some .380.
I have been saving up the @#$%^&* little suckers that get mixed in with 9mm and now have enough to fool with. I don't have a Dillon setup for them so I tumbled the brass and am sizing and priming it while waiting on my Xtreme bullets to show up.
 
Reloading for 380 has a definite savings. I think even a box of WWB 100 count cost about $40 at Walmart.

Lately, to help me find my cases, I have been rolling the cartridges on a ink pad in red. Really helps me recover more brass.
 
I reload a lot of .380... Exactly for the reasons stated above, it was scarce for a while and it was expensive as heck! Now I just enjoy the round, I use the LCT with the Auto-Drum.

I have about 1000 cases in reserve, they are mixed brass and I do use Win231 for it, (along with Titegroup) but my favorite is N310. My usual bullet is Xtreme 100gr RNFP. It shoots great for the distances I practice with. My only reason for not liking W231 as much, is it seems a bit dirtier in my reloads. N310 is just much cleaner, and the powder drop is tiny! So make sure you don't double charge any!
 
ohhh... forgot to add, while I have an LCP, it is definitely not one I shoot a whole lot! I have a few other .380's that get the bulk of the action. It's just not fun to shoot 50rds consistently like the others.
 
I have been reloading .380 as well and find that I am saving approximately $0.30 per round when using range brass and Xtreme 100 gr bullets. That changes to a savings of about $0.16 per round on 95 grain reloads.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys.

Looks like I might be setting up to load .380 after all and buying once fired brass.

I'll be loading on my LCT (not worth setting up the Load Master for low volumes). Any issues seating and crimping in the same step with .380 ?


Reefinmike.... that's a very generous offer. I'll give it some consideration.


Either way, looks like it's time to save my pennies again. :rolleyes:
 
Of course you can reload 380 but--as you noted--it's not a caliber you would shoot often enough to justify bothering to reload it, unless you want to just for fun. A jug of powder would last quite a while, however. Since I have trouble handling small cases, 9mm is as small as I go for handloading.
 
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