Reloading 380 acp

[HOWARD J]

Does anyone reload 380 acp ?
And do you have a set of Hornady dies for same.
I have a Lee die set also--IMO the Lee does a much better job of resizing the cartridge than Hornady.
Any comment ???????????

 

[Walkalong]

Mine is RCBS, so I don't know, but it works like a champ. I sized a 9MM case with it the other day and it was tough the last third, but it did it.

My Lee carbide sizers work well too. My only Hornady coated sizer was many, many years ago. The coating wore off quickly and I have never purchased another. Evidently I got a bad die, or they got better at the nitride coating, because many people like them.

I don't load .380 right now, but I do have some range brass. If you can't find any, I could send you a few. I see you are having trouble locating some.

 

[jcwit]

I reload .380 ACP. My load is 2.4 grains of Bullseye behind a cast lead Rd. nose 90 gr. bullet, OAL is .985. My dies are Lee. Have no problem with them.

 

[RandyP]

same here, no problems, usually my Starline brass and then whatever I can scrounge at the range - lol .

Win 231 and Berry's plated bullets.

 

[Curator]

4.3 grains of Unique and 102 grain lead flat nose bullet. 1040 fps accurate and reliable in my Colt Mustang. I load with the Lee dies exclusively.

 

[zxcvbob]

I use 4.2 grains of Unique with 95 grain cast LRN bullets. For something a little milder, 3.0 grains of International with the same bullets. I haven't tried jacketed 102's yet. I use Lee dies, and load .380 on a single stage press.

 

[ants]

Anybody load 380acp? Well, maybe a couple hundred thousand of us!

I have an ancient set of RCBS steel dies (not carbide). They got scratched over the years, which leaves a few unsightly marks on the case. But you can't even feel any scratches on the case with your fingernail, and they all feed/extract cleanly. So I'll keep using the set for another 20 years or so.

Best powder I've ever used in 380acp: N320. Best by a mile.
Next best: W231.

I've been loading 115g XTP for carry, practicing with 115g Berry's plated.
I shoot 100g Berry's RNHB for fun.

 

[HOWARD J]

@Curator

Do you get any barrel leading with that load--it seems hot for
a lead bullet.....................

 

[HOWARD J]

@walkalong
Thanks for the offer but I have enuf----I just want more new cases !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Walkalong]

You might go ahead and order from Starline. I ordered out of stock .357 Mag brass a few months ago from them and received it within 3 or 4 weeks, despite the website still saying out of stock.

 

[Curator]

Howard J,
I cast these bullets of wheel weight alloy and water drop quench them to get a hardness of BHN 22. They are sized to .358 and lubed with LBT "blue". I get no leading at all and they shoot very accurately (with that short sight radius) When I sized the bullets to .356 I got a lot of leading and poor accuracy after 8 or 10 shots. My .380 Mustang's groove diameter is .356 but the larger diameter bullet chambers fine.

 

[AMBASSADOR]

.380 acp

I reload using Lee 4 die carbide sets with all my cases.I use Remington and Magtech 95grn FMJ bullets.4.1 grn Unique,3,1 grns Red Dot.Both powders work just fine,sub 2" groups at ten yds.The smaller the target the tighter the group.