.380 Case Mixed in While Reloading 9mm

[Geezer59]

O.K., earlier today I was plugging away on my Hornady LnL-AP on a bunch of 9mm reloads. I routinely eyeball the powder level just before starting a bullet in at the seating station, and noticed a cartridge that looked suspiciously full of powder. So I pulled it and dumped the powder charge on the electronic scale, but the weight was perfectly nominal.

That's when I flipped the cartridge case over and read the headstamp - it was a .380 case that somehow hadn't gotten separated out from all the 9mm ones earlier. I started wondering what might happen if I hadn't caught the discrepancy, and that completed cartridge had made it in with the rest of my 9mm reloads, and I'd shot it? That particular load consisted of a 147 grain cast LRN bullet, 4.0 grains of Rex #2 (similar to Green Dot), a Winchester small pistol primer, and 1.140 cartridge OAL. NOTE: I worked up to this load, and DO NOT recommend anyone start with it!

I can envision all sorts of different outcomes should such a situation actually occur. If the extractor didn't keep the case somewhere near normal headspace, there could be up to 2mm gap between the breech and firing pin. What do you all think might happen?

 

[rcmodel]

Probably nothing but a very bulged .380 case and maybe some extra smoke.

People have shot .40 S&W in 10mm, and .45 GAP in .45 ACP with no incident, and thats a hotter excess headspace combo then what you had.

rc

 

[45ACPUSER]

You need to be better at case inspection just kidding, but I experience the same thing once in a while, too. The Mark I Eyeball just neds tweaking! I usually find them after sizing.....

 

[KenWP]

If it was full enough with powder would the bullet still seat enough to crimp. I never had much luck with compressed loads in anything.

 

[CatsEye]

I did the same thing recently. My first thought was that the bullet didn't get seated all the way for some reason. There sure was a lot of bullet sticking out. My loads are reduced power so I doubt any thing bad would have happened but I'm still glad I caught it.

 

[Walkalong]

One more reason I like to hand prime. I also put each case in the LNL one at a time. No case feeder for me. Those are just two more chances for me to catch a bad/wrong case from getting loaded.

 

[ants]

When I'm loading 9mm and get a 380 case in the sizing die, I feel the different pull on the handle, can't you? I get maybe 2 or 3 per year, but pull them off the shellplate each time. No 380's get into the 9mm cartridge box.

Although I prime 9 and 45 on the press, I hand prime rifle and revolver. As Walkalong says, harder to make a mistake if you handle each one up close and personal.

 

[Cajun CB]

I am surprised that the 380 does not crush in either the resizing die or in the bullet seating or crimp die.

 

[Jerry11826]

If you are loading a lot of 9MM you might want to consider a Shell Sorter kit with the optional metal insert plate. You can find these by searching for Shell sorter on the internet. The product works!

I used to shoot a lot of 9 MM and would always try to "pick up" my brass. It is very easy to "pick up" a .380 when searching for 9MM's.

Most of the time would I would catch the problem just by the "feel" when using my Dillon 450, but a few would slip through. Strangely they would function in my S&W 669, but at least a few of them would not eject - this is how I noticed the problem. No damage to me or the pistol.

Keep 'em in the X ring,

Jerry

 

[Geezer59]

If it was full enough with powder would the bullet still seat enough to crimp.

In this case, the press was set to 9mm lengths, so the taper crimp die would never reach the case mouth on a .380 cartridge. That doesn't mean the bullet wouldn't seat - as the OAL was also at 9mm lengths. Don't think the powder would have been much compressed, due to the same factor.

By the way, I found three more .380 cases last night just before the bullet seating station. It gave me more excuses to double-check my powder charge throw!

When I'm loading 9mm and get a 380 case in the sizing die, I feel the different pull on the handle, can't you?

This particular batch of 9mm brass is range pickup (free!), mixed commercial headstamps, and was fired out of a wide variety of gun types - including submachine guns! The sizing effort varies tremendously, with the Glock/subgun cases taking just about all I can muster (I have to stand up and bear down with my body weight to finish the press stroke - and this is after lubing the cases!), while Remington-Peters (and some other brand) cases literally fall thru the sizer. So unfortunately no, the .380 cases don't stand out in this situation.

If you are loading a lot of 9MM you might want to consider a Shell Sorter kit with the optional metal insert plate. You can find these by searching for Shell sorter on the internet. The product works!

Thanks for the heads-up! I ordered one last night from Midway.

Strangely they would function in my S&W 669, but at least a few of them would not eject - this is how I noticed the problem. No damage to me or the pistol.

That's reassuring to know - if one of those pesky .380 cases actually does get through my old Mk-1 eyeball check, hopefully it will do no damage.

Cheers to all and thanks for the input!

 

[Hutch]

Ummm... unless you load your magazines with your eyes closed, I reckon you'd spot that li'l feller in time to keep from setting it off. Don'tcha think?

 

[mactex]

I shoot both .380 and 9mm and occasionally get a few of them mixed up. Like ants mentioned, when reloading 9mm I can feel a difference on the pull on my LNL-AP when a .380 case goes into the sizing die. I also setup my powder dispenser so that the .380 case does not push it up high enough to dump all the powder and it shows up on my Powder Cop. Between the two checks I've not had a .380 case make it to the bullet seating stage yet.

 

[nitetrane98]

The 9 MM bullet expander expands it just enough where a bullet will start into it just fine.

Geez, you must be putting a helluva flare on your 9mms if you're getting flare on a .380 case that's 2mm shorter than a 9mm case.

That would have been one strange looking little bullet. Especially with the 147 gr. It would have nearly looked like half casing, half slug.

But I agree with those who think "no harm, no foul"

 

[evan price]

I find them when I inspect the bullet for seating depth. You can see the driving band or the grease groove- looks like it's not seated far enough. Also I replace my reloads int ofactory ammo boxes & plastic dividers, nose down. I check the primer seating then. Also can see the headstamps and it's another way to check. I try to keep the 380s out of my 9mm bucket- also because they are worth a good bit more to resell- but they still slip in once or twice.

 

[The Bushmaster]

I usually notice them when resizing. .380 definately have a different feel when running up into the die...Easier...Like no case in there at all...

 

[Randy1911]

[When I'm loading 9mm and get a 380 case in the sizing die, I feel the different pull on the handle, can't you?/QUOTE]

I can dinfinitly feel the difference. Even on my Hornady LnL progressive. I have this happen a lot because I reload for the 380 also. I shoot both 9 and 380 at the same time.

 

[FROGO207]

Like the last two posts there is a huge difference in the feel. It feels like I am using a universal decapper die as the casing is not sized at all (I checked). I decap on a single stage press then clean primer pockets before tumbling. I have never missed one yet using Lee carbide dies.

 

[1fixitman]

When this happens to me I catch it at the primer installation phase on my Dillon 650 because the .380 shell is just a little bit small to stay in the shell plate and the small amount of pressure required to seat the primer pushes the cartridge completely out of the shell plate. I belive it is about .019 smaller than the 9mm head. I like the way it works on my press because I never get to the powder phase and wasting 4.6 grains of powder LOL. I hate having to dump 0.012 cents worth of powder back into the powder measure.

 

[SR_]

I case gage everything I load. If I didn't notice it at the sorting or resizing stations I do catch it with the case gage.

 

[Jerry11826]

You guys are better reloaders than I. I check the first few rounds for powder drop, primer seat depth and OAL. Then I just let 'em rip.

Does anyone else load like I do? - I may want to change!

Keep 'em in the X-ring,

Jerry

 

[jmorris]

I have a machine to sort brass now and don't have the problem anymore but before I did (and assuming I didn’t catch it upon resizing) I set my expander (powder) die so it would charge a 9mm case but would leave .380 empty then the powder check die (650) would alert. Before I adjusted my dies like that I caught the 380’s when case gauging as I case gauge almost every round I shoot (I don't waste the time for my SMG).

 

[ambidextrous1]

Tell us about your brass sorting machine, jmorris.

 

[Jim Watson]

I have no problem feeling the (lack of) effort to resize a .380 that sneaks into my mixed 9mm brass.

What is interesting is when you get a Boxer primed Makarov case. It will run through the entire process with no difference in feel to me. I catch them when gauging or by noticing the 2mm extra bullet protrusion from the case. Just to see, I loaded and fired a couple. They headspaced on the case taper or the extractor and fed, fired, and ejected normally.

 

[Deavis]

I usually notice them when resizing

That is exactly right. You can feel it when you get a 380 in the sizing die. If your extractor hung on, you'd probably get the same effect as popping a 9mm in 40. Never tried it though.

 

[dee074]

newbie here..a cousin of mine gave me a .380 acp colt that was made at 1925, lots of questions to ask!1st of all is that i dont know anythin about pistols or any guns..1st time to own 1!i was also advised to use 9mm corto or 9mm short or 9x17?will that work?then the spring is bent a little also, do i have to change it?and what will i use to clean it as to not further damage the pistol..HELP PLEASE...