380 Max grain bullet

[WLE]

Can any one tell me what the max grain bullet would be for a 380 can you push would 125 grain an be safe.

 

[RedAlert]

I'd suggest you look it up in a reloading book. They have all the loads which have proven to be within SAMMI specs.

 

[Antihero]

Its a .355 round so i imagine you could find reloading data for any weight bullet used in a 9mm. The 147 could be dicey because it takes up so much case space though.

 

[Deus Machina]

Lee 2nd edition lists up to 124gr. Might be able to find up to 147, but like Antihero said, I wouldn't try it.

Even aside from the very limited space, it wouldn't shoot for crap.

 

[Jim Watson]

I have loaded some .380s with 115 grain JHP bullets. If you can find data for 125s, I think that would be about the heaviest reasonable to cram in the little round. Lyman goes to 115 jacketed and 121 cast.

 

[rcmodel]

Dup threads running.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=466980

rc

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Would there even be room left for the powder?

 

[rcmodel]

Would the bulged case even fit in the chamber?

The inside of most all pistol cases are tapered and get progressively smaller as they get nearer the case head web.

A heavy (long) bullet in the .380 case will protrude down into the taper and make the case wall pooch out. I imagine a 115 is about the best you can do with halfway good results.

rc

 

[Seven For Sure]

Remington Golden Saber 102 is factory loaded I believe. I'd guess that and the 90 gr. Speer Gold Dot are some of the best factory out there. If I were to go heavier, I'd use FMJ with the widest meplat that would feed.

 

[MCgunner]

The heaviest I load is a SWC 105 grain from a lee mold hard cast and dropped in water to harden. The bullet is actually a .358" bullet. It's a very accurate and reliable bullet design. I size it to .357 inch and load with Bullseye to about 900 fps.