What Wonders Await in the Wonderous Land of 380?

hdwhit said:

I already lose about 35-40% of my pistol rounds "to the weeds" and the rate could go higher with the smaller cases.

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Sounds like you need a couple large cotton drop cloths or old king size bed sheets to catch cases. Even so, some 380 pistols spray spent cases to the four points of the compass.

If the MAK is nice and still available cheap you could always put a .380 barrel in it about $35 for a barrel from Numerich.
Sorting out .380 from 9mm isn't to bad the, 9mm MAK cases are a little harder to spot.
MAKs are great fun,

MtnCreek said:

^ You probably built a machine that does it for you. :-D

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Two, one for diameter and another that works for length. Also built the dies to convert .223 brass to .380 shotshells.

My experience with Sig, Colts, and Bersa .380 pistols is that Hornady 90 gr. XTP's shoot very well in all and accurate with absolutely no feeding issues. Best powder by far that I've tried is AA#2 powder. It gives me very low extreme velocity spreads and top velocities without pressure issues. The Hornady 90 gr. XTP's are supposed to be a good defense bullet. The .380 pocket pistols I don't do any experimenting with different bullets or bullet weights and since it's not a plinking caliber for me I don't try to save a few cents per round by using plated or lead. The premium .380 bullets run about 18 cents each while cheaper plated or lead are 8-9 cents each. I just practice with what I carry and don't shoot over a couple hundred rounds a year. I just make it simple and shoot Hornady XTP's with CCI 500 primers and Accurate Arms #2 powder. No problems with RCBS and Hornady dies in .380.

I started out loading Lee 105 SWC and 95 gr RFN for my .380. No problems. So far I've only used Bullseye, TiteGroup, and PowerPistol. All work fine.

I didn't see the "thin case" issue till I got some Hornady 90gr XTP's. The Winchester cases allow easy "push back". Pulled them all and re stuffed them in Magtech or Fiochi cases. With .356-.357" cast bullets, no problems...

As others have mentioned, some brands of brass are thin and I have also had issues with neck tension. I don't like to sort brass by headstamp, so I use a Lee undersize sizing die. It seems to have worked as I haven't experienced any neck tension issues since I've started using it a few months ago.

I load 95gr hard cast round nose with 3.5gr Unique and use a Lee Factory Crimp die. Shoots great in Beretta 85 "Cheetah" a 9mm sized .380, along with my P3AT, S&W Bodyguard 380, Taurus TCP, Ruger LCP, SIG P238, SMC 380, CZ 83 (another "large" 380) -- yes I fancy guns that are "small for their caliber".

hdwhit said:

Tried it before. Didn't work too well since the firing position is not flat and the cartridges just rolled of the cloth.

And I know that I could build something to elevate the edges to make the sheet sort of like a trampoline, but when I can buy .223 for 3 cents each and 9mm for 1.7 cents each, knowing that none of it is around any more after five or six firings just gives me the peace of mind that by the time it might start failing, it's already on its way back to the dust from whence it came.

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I guess uneven terrain would make collecting cases more difficult.

Everyone has there own threshold as to what is an acceptable case loss rate but for me, 25 ACP, 32 ACP and 380 ACP is too valuable and difficult to find in the field and difficult to replace that I do not shoot them as often as I may like and I spend the extra effort to recover all the cases when I do shoot them.

Cases that are readily available like 223 Rem, 45 ACP or 9x19, I do not make as much effort to recover all the fired cases.

I still hate to leave cases in the field.

Side note: Barrel on MAK is pressed in.(you may already know this) People make barrel presses to remove it. Looks like if you were handy you could make one.
http://www.armslist.com/posts/2982651/chicago-illinois-gun-parts-for-sale--makarov-barrel-press
http://www.makarov.com/barrlrep.html
(Not recommending either them per say just a good pic)

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/Manufacturers/Makarov-33376/Pistol-37321/PartsList-37801.htm
(ooppss $39 not $35) Neat MAK schematic.

Correction-I don't know if they are pressed in when assembled but they need to be pressed out to change.

I reload by the hundreds for my LCP and have zero issues. I use range pick ups sorted by head stamp, 231, and Ranier 100g lead free from Midway ($9 a box). I have never had a single cycling issue and its unbelievably accurate within reason. I carry Hornady Critical Defense in it.

Coupla things I have discovered when reloading for .380. First, using a bench primer, the rims are thin and small, thus easily bent or deformed if too much pressure is used to prime. This may also have something to do with the Lee shell holder that came with the dies, dunno. Still, I have no issue when hand priming and thus, that is what I do. Second, I thought since I would not be reloading .380 in the volumes that I reload other handgun caliber ammo at, I'd skimp a tad and get Lee dies. Problem is, Lee has a issue with their standard .380 sizing die not sizing brass down enough for good neck tension. I had to buy their "undersized" .380 resizing die and that cost almost as much as the whole dies set. IOWs, I would have been better off to have just gotten another set of RCBS.

The Brass Shell) Sorter with 380 insert works very well, You just can not overload it.

Have used one for years, was less expensive when I bought it. But really works sorting range brass.

Also sold other places

https://www.shellsorter.com/

Yes the cases are thin and can be crushed if you aren't careful. case capacity is small and charges are light. I have loaded bullet weights from 90 to 125 grains......but I consider 100 grains optimum for the caliber and Hp38/231 the ideal propellant. You can make good loads with lots of other combos but I've settled in a sweet spot

Recently picked up two CZ-83s (one a surplus from AIM, the other a new one, part of the special run done in 2015, I think). New one's been inspected, wiped down and put away for later or long-term "hold", depending. Original excuse - er - rationale, for getting the first one was as a bedside gun the wife could operate comfortably. Well she didn't like it, so, tragically, it became another range toy for me. And I bought another one to ease my suffering.

Anyway, even though I don't expect to shoot this calibrer much ...... naturally I'm thinking about reloading for it (nature of our affliction). So thanks for this interesting discussion.

Two items have caught my eye: the brass with a "ledge", and the Lee die issue.

Is Speer the only headstamp observed to have the "ledge"? Anyone have a list of all such headstamps?

And the Lee dies - seems odd they'd have an "undersize" die, presumably specifically to fix the problem with their standard resizing die. Why not just make the standard die better?

Anyway, I have only Lee dies, so far, and have been happy with all of them. Time to go RCBS instead, for this caliber?

Oh - and the CZ-83 is about the nicest/easiest pointing and shooting pistol I've ever handled. The single action is perfect. Of course the weight makes for a stable platform and comparatively little felt recoil. So .... maybe I *will* be shooting it a lot .....

I only reloaded 500 rounds of 380 when I had mine all in once fired range brass but I never found a piece of brass with the ledge and I used the normal lee dies with no issues other than crushing brass like I mentioned.