Loading .380 auto

[chief99]

Bought my wife a P238 Sig Sauer .380 . Absolutely the most accurate small frame pistol I have ever shot straight out of the box. At 21 ft. , 11 out of 12 in the bullseye . Will be reloading for this . Using HP-38 powder and Rainer 100 gr. copper jacketed bullets. Such a narrow charge for this round. Manual data says starting load at 2.9 , max 3.1 . Will start with 3.0 grs. of HP-38 . What do think ?

 

[joneb]

I would first establish a workable COL. I do this with seated and deflared rounds with no powder or primer. I would make enough to fill the magazine and see if they manually cycle in the gun. Take the barrel out and use it as a case gauge, if you have factory ammo with a similar bullet profile you can learn from that.

 

[emptybrass]

Wife and I both carry the P238 and love them. I use 2.6 gr of titegroup with Rainier plated 100 gr RN at .98 AOL and have never had a problem.

 

[mstreddy]

OP, you may want to search for the posts on reloading for the 380 started by Jell-Dog, also the handloading for the Glock 42 threads started by ArtOfGolf and followed up by me. In both we have discussed 380 with Win231/HP38. I've loaded at 2.8 and 2.9 grs and it is quite accurate out of my Sig 238 as well.

 

[moxie]

Why would you START with 3.0 when the book in your hand says STARTING load is 2.9?

 

[Artofgolf]

... we have discussed 380 with Win231/HP38. I've loaded at 2.8 and 2.9 grs and it is quite accurate out of my .....

I agree with MstrEddy ~ with 380 ACP, you're going to be dealing with a tight band regardless of the powder you've decided to test.
IMHO, load a few slightly below the minimum to see if it will cycle your Sig .380 Sometimes, you get a pleasant surprise

 

[Mad Chemist]

That P238 will tolerate light loads better than most of the compact .380s out there. That's one of the benefits of the SA design. If I owned one, I would start all my loads down near starting charges. They will be much more pleasant to shoot.

OTOH, a G42 or a Beretta Pico will not cycle the starting charges for most load data. For my wife's Pico, I always start at midrange data and usually get pretty close to max before I get reliable function.

 

[gamestalker]

I don't think I've ever reloaded .380 acp, but as with any reloading endeavor one must follow common safe load development protocol.

Begin with the minimum start charge, and don't seat them any shorter than necessary to achieve reliable feeding.

When doing a development for any firearm, always make sure the bullet exits the barrel. An obstructed barrel can seriously ruin your day at the range, not to mention your firearm and personal safety. Squibs / light charges are often to blame for most KB's, IMO.

GS

 

[ljnowell]

I've loaded a few thousand 380s for my parents(they both carry LCPs). I agree with the above statements to start at minimum. Unlike most other calibers the two different powders I used both functioned well at minimum. There is so little case capacity and it's such a low pressured cartridge that there just isn't a lot of wiggle room in load data.

231 is a pretty decent choice, though not my first, so I expect you will have good luck with it.

My experience in OAL cones from loading bullseye competition ammo. Load them as long as you can and still have them pass the plink test and fit the magazine. In the smaller calibers it seems like the longer the better they feed.

 

[Delmar]

I have had good results with W231, Accurate 2 and Bullseye.

 

[lauderdale]

Yep start low as stated. Im reloading MBC's 95g lrn 18bhn w/W/231 now im @ 2.7/2.8 ish and still testing for leading while im waiting on my extreme order of 1500 rnfp's to come in. My Bersa is clover leafing w/this round @7yds and at around 780fps w/2.7gns. but im loading a lil. short. The 100g.rnfp seem to be user friendly w/W231/B.E for me anyway. Be testing my PICO next the rnfp I use for all my 380's but mostly my G42 I carry. Have fun be safe.

John.

 

[Pilot]

I've loaded a few thousand 380s for my parents(they both carry LCPs). I agree with the above statements to start at minimum. Unlike most other calibers the two different powders I used both functioned well at minimum. There is so little case capacity and it's such a low pressured cartridge that there just isn't a lot of wiggle room in load data.

231 is a pretty decent choice, though not my first, so I expect you will have good luck with it.

My experience in OAL cones from loading bullseye competition ammo. Load them as long as you can and still have them pass the plink test and fit the magazine. In the smaller calibers it seems like the longer the better they feed.

So what is you first choice for reloading .380?

For practice rounds I use HP-38/W231. I carry factory rounds.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Heh! Just out of curiosity...how well does your wife shoot with her new pistol?

 

[JamieC]

My wife also just bought a P238. She's put 3 boxes of ammo through it, starting to get the hang of the trigger, (her present carry is a S&W 38 special snub nose, triggers are a bit different). I just received 380 dies to start reloading for it. Bayou Bullets 105gr LSWC, Power Pistol, going to start at 3.6gr, 4.0gr is the next step. OAL is at least .980" which is right at the crimp groove, (just got the new dies set up last night, haven't actually got to test the OAL in the barrel yet)

 

[Toprudder]

My favorite for .380 is 3.6gn Power Pistol behind 100gn Xtreme plated, seated 0.955" COL. Shoots well in all my 380s, including the wife's P238. I have not chronoed that load from the P238, but it was 740fps from my Bersa Thunder (3.5" barrel) and 662fps from my Ruger LCP (2.75" barrel). That is a very light recoil load, accurate and clean.

I have not yet tried HP38/Win231 in 380. I would start at 2.9gn and actually consider working down from that, depending on the results.

 

[LiveLife]

HP-38 ... Rainer 100 gr ... Manual data says starting load at 2.9 , max 3.1 . Will start with 3.0 grs. of HP-38 . What do think?

I have not yet tried HP38/Win231 in 380. I would start at 2.9gn and actually consider working down from that, depending on the results.

+1. My wife loves 380 and W231/HP-38 loads. For X-Treme 100 gr RNFP, I started with 2.6 gr of HP-38 which produced mild recoil (even for small TCP) and accuracy (1" at 7 yards). She has practiced with 2.8 gr and now comfortably shoots 3.0 gr loads, even with snappier recoil.

Below comparison target picture shows shot groups of 2.6/2.8/3.0 gr loads - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=748320

 

[JamieC]

My favorite for .380 is 3.6gn Power Pistol behind 100gn Xtreme plated, seated 0.955" COL. Shoots well in all my 380s, including the wife's P238. I have not chronoed that load from the P238, but it was 740fps from my Bersa Thunder (3.5" barrel) and 662fps from my Ruger LCP (2.75" barrel). That is a very light recoil load, accurate and clean.

I have not yet tried HP38/Win231 in 380. I would start at 2.9gn and actually consider working down from that, depending on the results.

.955" length? That seems kinda on the short side, then again, this is my first effort at loading .380s. I'm loading 105gr LSWC at .980". I'm wondering if I use that OAL and 3.6gr of Power Pistol...you're getting 662fps out of your Ruger using a shorter OAL, will the bullet make it out of the barrel, LOL?

 

[joneb]

.955" length? That seems kinda on the short side

That's about the COL I use for the Xtreme 100gr plated flat point.
I do like to use a powder that meters well, a tenth of a grain makes a big difference for this cartridge.

 

[Mad Chemist]

I've had very good results using xtreme 100gr flat points with bullseye and with n320. These powders also performed well with 95gr XTPs. Titegroup was not as accurate as the other powders. I haven't tried HP38 yet. In this caliber.

In the past I have used Unique and it performed well. But at the small charges required it metered terribly and required that I hand weigh each charge. This simply isn't worth the effort when I have other powders available that perform just as well or better.

 

[LiveLife]

If you are using the Pro Auto Disk, this mod allows precise .1 gr metering of Bullseye/W231/HP-38 and even Titegroup below what the smallest cavity will drop - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=741988

With Bullseye, down to 1.5 gr.

With W231/HP-38, down to 2.0 gr.

With Titegroup, down to 2.5 gr.

 

[chief99]

Loading .380

Moxie , you are right . Will start with by the book, 2.9 grs. of HP-38. RetiredUSNChief, my wife may have shot a hand gun 3 0r 4 times in her life. On her first magazine of 6 rds., she put 4 out of 6 in the bullseye at 15 ft. Thank all for the help .

 

[Toprudder]

.955" length? That seems kinda on the short side, then again, this is my first effort at loading .380s. I'm loading 105gr LSWC at .980". I'm wondering if I use that OAL and 3.6gr of Power Pistol...you're getting 662fps out of your Ruger using a shorter OAL, will the bullet make it out of the barrel, LOL?

Well, lead should move a little easier than plated. Try it and let us know how it works.

Seriously, though, what is important is where the base of the bullet ends up, not where the nose does. If you want, I will measure the length of the Xtreme 100gn so you can compare the LSWC to it.

 

[JamieC]

Everything I've read so far, .975-.980" seemed to be pretty common for the weight and type of bullet I'm loading. I sent an email to the owner of Bayou Bullets, sounded good to him. I've seen some OALs down around .965" for some different bullets. I'm new to .380, trying to get it right and learn something. I've loaded up a couple of different loads, hope to try 'em out this weekend. Yes, definitely measure the Extremes, I'll do the same with the Bayou Bullets and post the #s.

 

[joneb]

Everything I've read so far, .975-.980" seemed to be pretty common for the weight and type of bullet I'm loading

Flat point and HP's will have a shorter OAL than RN bullets. Sierra's 95gr FMJ FP is shown in Accurate's load data with a COL of .945" this would a minimum COL if using their data.

 

[JamieC]

Well, lead should move a little easier than plated. Try it and let us know how it works.

Seriously, though, what is important is where the base of the bullet ends up, not where the nose does. If you want, I will measure the length of the Xtreme 100gn so you can compare the LSWC to it.

Toprudder, the Bayou Bullets that I'm reloading measure .527". I measured about 10 of them, pretty impressed how consistent they are. 105gr LSWC. Finished loading up two different powder loads, hoping to get someplace to shoot 'em SOON!