380 auto

[trigga]

my dad just got me about 400 once fired 380 brass along with some plated hp to load for him. I believe the bullets are Xtreme Bullets 115 gr 355 diameter bullet. I personally don't own a 380 nor am i planning to buy one in the near future. after some research i've determined that the 115 gr was a little too heavy for the 380 and will not attempt the load. anyhow, i do plan on buying him some new hp bullets and keep his for my 9mm loads.

I'm not very familiar with the 380 and was wondering what would be a good grain bullet with hp? or should I just stick with ball? not that he hunts with it but he uses it as a sidearm for hunting. it's a colt mustang government model. kind of just looking for plan jane hp, cp, or fmj... I was looking at Xtreme's 100 grain bullet for 380, but is that too heavy? let me know what you guys think.

 

[Schwing]

You will get a lot of conflicting advice here so I'll start with my own and let others tell me I'm wrong

I do not use HPs with my .380s. With such a small and slow projectile, I do not believe much expansion is to be expected.

A 100 grain bullet is not too heavy for a .380 and xtreme makes quality projectiles. I regularly load mine with 102 grain RN lead. 115 is pushing it, in my opinion, but it is still doable. people load those rounds all of the time.

 

[medalguy]

I load .380 with 95 gr all the time. 115 I agree is pushing the limit on that caliber.

 

[trigga]

Schwing that's what i recall reading about the 380. almost similar to the 45 acp where the standard ball ammo is more effective than the hp. (not enough expansion as stated) I have used and plan on using Xtreme bullets.

 

[cfullgraf]

100 grain bullets are about as heavy as normally loaded in 380 ACP. Most RN bullets are in the 95 grain range and most hollow points are 88 to 90 grain range.

Many moons ago, I loaded some 110 grain hollow points in 380 ACP. They shot and cycled in my Beretta M84 but kind of anemic.

I'd stick with the 100 grain bullets or less.

 

[wlkjr]

I'd be happy to take that brass off your hands.

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

Just doing my first set of .380 as we speak...got 100 cases primed and charged and UPS tracking show my Xtreme 100gr. plated flat noses arriving Monday.

http://www.xtremebullets.com/380-100-RNFP-p/xc380-100rnfp-b0250.htm

I researched a few bullets and it seems like 90 - 100 gr are the most common. I personally do not like hollow points until we get to .357 magnum and normally choose truncated flat nose or round nose flat points to shoot for target and SD.I shoot the exact same loads for SD and at the range.

115 gr. is a little heavy for the .380 but I did find some load data in one of my older manuals for 121 gr. cast and may try and work up a load for some of the Berry's 124 gr. plated flat noses I run in 9mm if this 100 gr. load dun't work out.

But I doubt that's gonna happen. I'm betting the plated 100 gr. works up just fine in a few tests.

VooDoo

 

[rcmodel]

I much prefer 85-90 grain in my Kel-Tec P3-AT.

I tried 100 grain Berry, but the recoil was noticeably more sharp, and neither I or the gun liked shooting them for practice.

My SIG P232 just plain don't care though.

rc

 

[emptybrass]

New at reloading but I have had good results with Rainier 100 gr plated RN. Sent a couple of hundred down range so far with no problems at all.

 

[rchery59]

The only thing I load for 380 is a 100gr Berry's rnfb or a Speer GD 90gr hollow point. For a 380 that's the only HP I trust. Both bullets work well in my 380. More than 100gr can be a problem for most guns. I've loaded some lead but have gotten poor results.
Others may have different opinions buy I feel the only HP that may work in a 380 is the Gold Dot.

 

[Trailduster79]

I load 95grn lead round nose for my .380. Only hollow points I have loaded are some 90 grain hornaday's.

 

[loose noose]

Few years ago I loaded a bunch of .380 using 88grn. JHP by Remington, in front of HP38. I had some ballistic info on it but I'll be darned if I can find it. I remember it was a relatively light recoiling load, however , it did expand well after going thru a gallon milk carton filled with water and dressed with the remnants of an old t-shirt . In fact I recovered several of the spent projectiles on a 2X6" plank I had set up. I only tested that round at 7 yards. I know it is considered rather anemic but it will do considerable damage at close ranges.

Incidentally it was fired in my HK4, and I've never had any harsh recoiling rounds in it. Even so I would not try shooting a 115grn slug thru it, although Lyman's 49th Edition has several loads for it.

 

[GyMac]

I was just reading an old "Combat Handguns" mag from 1996. In the reloading section, the author tried heavy bullet loads (115 grain) in the .380 with velocities approaching 900 fps. Interesting, but I like 95 grain RNL for my reloads. It duplicates the factory weight and I just shoot the .380 for fun anyway. And by the way, the .380 is fun to shoot and reload for! I've been reloading since 1976 and never thought I'd load the .380, but now it's become one of my favorite calibers.

 

[trigga]

i really like the colt mustang, i even thought about buying him another gun to trade for his. Very soft shooting indeed. just not my preferred caliber. (it would be my minimum)

 

[larryh1108]

I agree with the concensus.
HP for the .380ACP just doesn't cut it.
I use the flat point ammo, which I believe gets the most out of this caliber.
I also enjoy loading for my .380s.
They are small but still bigger than the .32ACP and .25ACP that I also load for.
You can cater the load to the shooter easily.

 

[shooter1]

Almost loaded some .380 the other day. I missed a few mixed in with my 9mms brass during sorting. I dumped a couple hundred cases into the case feeder and started loading. When the .380 brass hit the priming station, they fortunately pop out of the shell plate.
If I were loading the pesky little boogers, I'd likely be loading a 90 grain flat point FMJ over a miniscule charge of BullsEye. I don't think a HP in that cartridge penetrates reliably.
Str1

 

[wlkjr]

Go to youtube and watch some of the .380 penetration tests. Not so anemic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZKnTCYthOo

 

[shooter1]

I carry a P3AT from time to time when I can't carry anything else. It only makes sense to match the cartridge with the smallest pistol available. That's the appeal of the Kel Tec and the LCP. Obviously if I'm carrying a larger pistol it needs to have a larger cartridge. The mini .380s with 2" of barrel or less are pretty anemic. The small size that makes them a joy to carry makes them impractical for fun range time. My very unscientific testing has convinced me that the solid is a much more reliable penetrator than any of the hollow points I've tried. I have a few boxes of Seller and Beloit FMJ that I use for carry, good penetrators. I put a magazine or so thru mine once a month, usually. I'll never shoot enough .380 to justify reloading it. ----------But, I am finding a lot of .380 brass mixed in with my range brass, who knows!
str1