Reloading .380

[Amazi]

How many people reload it? My dad has a long time but he sad is not easy to do but every he does he seems to make it harder then it needs to be. I wanna try to do it I'm just seeing if it's worth it unless it's a big pain.

[crbutler]

It is a pain, the components are smaller, the charge weights are lighter, and you need to be very careful because a lot of the .380 guns are borderline designs.

Most guns are blow back designs which means you need to play with the load to make sure the case is fully resized, and that the load makes enough momentum to cycle the action. I usually use either 231 or VV 310 with it, and very small charges. A 115 gr bullet will work, but is a bit iffy. The 90 grain range stuff works better.

I wouldn't say it more expensive.

If you have a 9mm die set, you should be able to load it with a separate crimp die. The case head can be a little variable in size as well (most of the time for me a 9mm shell plate works fine, but there is the occasional one that slips by and comes out making a mess. Use the .380 shell plate or shell holder, especially with a dillon progressive...)

On the other hand, I usually pinch a finger pretty good every time I do the .380 reloading.

Once you have a load and OAL your gun likes, stick with it. The .380 has enough reliability issues without playing musical loads. I had really good results using new brass. Using my once fired, if it was target ammo originally, it worked well. Cor Bon.... don't bother unless you have a roll sizer. Other self defense rounds are usually OK, but if you got a hot lot, while they shot fine as factory, the reloads tended to not work so well.

If you really want to have "fun" try reloading .32 ACP...

[hydraulicman]

it's easy just small charges . you might want to use ball powder for those small charges . have fun

[dleong]

Once you have a workable recipe going, it's no more difficult than reloading, say, 9mm cartridges.

I have a Bersa Thunder 380, and my initial attempts at handloading for it were... less than productive. I use Hodgdon's Universal (not Clays!) for all of my other non-magnum pistol calibers, with very favourable results, so I thought it would work well too for the .380. Several load manuals seemed to indicate it would.

I reload on a single stage press and have relatively small hands, so handling the small components associated with this caliber isn't too much of a problem for me. My first batch of .380 handloads using Universal powder was a disappointment. Accuracy was surprisingly good, but velocities were all over the map, with a great deal of unburned powder littering the action. Varying the powder charge within the range recommended by the manuals did not ameliorate the problem.

A faster burning powder was needed; switching to Bullseye did the trick and restored sanity to the wild velocity variations, without affecting accuracy. No more unburned powder gumming up the action too.

[andrewP]

I've done a bit of reloading for my wife's Walther PK380 using 100 grain Berry's plated over Unique. As dleong said, the small components really aren't much different than loading 9mm. The nice thing about the gun is that it's a locked breech/tilting barrel system, so recoil is pretty mild compared to the little pocket-sized blowback .380s. The not so nice thing is that it's apparently very finicky about ammo, at least in her hands.

All of the loads I've tried for it seem to work fine when *I* shoot them, but when I made up a batch of the load that gave me the best accuracy, she had all kinds of problems with failures to eject, failures to load, etc. The fact that they work fine for me but not her leads me to believe there might be an issue with how she's gripping the gun, or possibly some other difference between us rather than a problem with the gun or the ammo, but I'm not exactly an experienced instructor, so it's hard for me to be authoritative on the subject.

Gotta get her out to the range to test a wider range of loads herself. Hopefully we can find one that'll work well for her, since it's her gun, after all, and I'd like to see her enjoy it *and* get more practice in than she has been.

[Seismic Sam]

Sounds like a classic case of limp-wristing or other failure to hold the gun right to me. Seeing as you aren't an instructor (and neither am I, for that matter..) I would seek the help of a female instructor to figure out what's going on here. There are some on this board, so they can understand where your wife is coming from a lot better than you or I can.

[Amazi]

I guess I'll have to give it a try now, I'll have to test what powder works best in my smith bodyguard

[aht_six]

...If you have a 9mm die set, you should be able to load it with a separate crimp die. The case head can be a little variable in size as well (most of the time for me a 9mm shell plate works fine, but there is the occasional one that slips by and comes out making a mess. Use the .380 shell plate or shell holder, especially with a dillon progressive...)....

I'm surprised you're getting acceptable results resizing .380 ACP with a 9mm Parabellum die. While both shoot a .355 projectile, the .380 ACP has a straight wall case that is .373 inches in diameter. The 9mm Parabellum has a slightly tapered case that tapers from .380 at the neck to .391 at the base. The case wall thickness at the neck on a .380 is slightly thinner than a 9mm. I can tell when I errantly try to resize a .380 case in my 9mm die, the .380 case slips in with little or no resistance.

[bensdad]

i used to reload gobs of it. Zero hasn't had bullets for the last couple years, so i kinda quit. Use the right dies though. Bullseye worked fine.

Be super careful about range brass. There's a couple funky little dumb-ass rds that are real close, but not the same.

[Seismic Sam]

i used to reload gobs of it. Zero hasn't had bullets for the last couple years, so i kinda quit. Use the right dies though. Bullseye worked fine.

Be super careful about range brass. There's a couple funky little dumb-ass rds that are real close, but not the same.

Primarily the 9mm Makarov round, which is also called a 9x18 round like the 380, but its diameter is NOT 9mm. Instead of .355" bullets, it uses .365" bullets, so it's an entirely different case.

[andrewP]

...If you have a 9mm die set, you should be able to load it with a separate crimp die. The case head can be a little variable in size as well (most of the time for me a 9mm shell plate works fine, but there is the occasional one that slips by and comes out making a mess. Use the .380 shell plate or shell holder, especially with a dillon progressive...)....

I'm surprised you're getting acceptable results resizing .380 ACP with a 9mm Parabellum die. While both shoot a .355 projectile, the .380 ACP has a straight wall case that is .373 inches in diameter. The 9mm Parabellum has a slightly tapered case that tapers from .380 at the neck to .391 at the base. The case wall thickness at the neck on a .380 is slightly thinner than a 9mm. I can tell when I errantly try to resize a .380 case in my 9mm die, the .380 case slips in with little or no resistance.

That, and the .380's extractor groove/rim diameter is a little bit different from 9mm, and they tend to wobble and/or not be held at all by 9mm shell holders/shell plates.

[SIGP240]

With patience and several trial loadings you will get excellent results. I have had acceptable results with Berry's hollow base bullets. The faster burning powders seem to provide a "snappier" recoil pulse which one will feel in the palm of the shooting hand. I have learned that various pistols may not all share the same reload. The SIG P230/232 digests reloads the best, the Mauser and S&W Walther PPK, less so. OAL" vs mag depth vs feed ramp variances mean loading a magazine's worth and a quick range test. I find just enough TC to keep the bullet from walking on recoil will not distort the projectile. If your shell holder and die are not true to center, the brass may distort. Roll the case on a mirror to verify. Bullets tipped by incorrect seating plug will jam bullet into case at an angle , this will be source of most FTFs. Since there are various brands of brass, i highly reccomend sorting. This allows you to "feel" the variances in how the case is behaving. Accuracy is a topic I am not able to contribute to as the majority of these pocket guns have atrocious triggers, malfitting flat panel grips, short sight radii and poor balance due to the absence of muzzle heaviness.

[hopkins]

I always use a taper crimp on those little suckers and watch the fingers. Small but sharp.