Moon clip conversion, 380?

[WestKentucky]

Looking at case sizes and such, for a competition type gun it seems that it would be advantageous to use .380 rather than 9mm due to power level and shorter case. Is that completely negated by the tapered case of the 9mm? It also looks like it would be a lot easier to convert a cylinder to .380 since you would only have to make the moon clip cuts, and not have to do any work on the chambers of a 38spl.

I feel certain that there’s a reason that it’s not done, and the only things I’m coming up with are that tapered cases load easier and in .380 there would be a slightly longer freebore in the cylinder.

Yes I’m weird. I question the norm, and buck popular trends a lot.

 

[jak67429]

What competition? Most of them have a power factor. Would be very hard to make pf with a 380.

 

[thomas15]

Actually on a 929 for example the cylinder isn't "cut" for moons like you would see on a 686 that was cut by a revolver smith. On a 686 that was cut the moon clip sits in a recess, this to allow the cylinder to close without hitting the moons. But on a 929 the moons are not recessed that way.

I hear that a 929 you can shoot it without moon clips, I've not tried it, the only problem is ejecting the empties due to the rimless cartridge, the star cannot get under the rim like on a 38 special.

But to your question about the smaller case I find with the powders I use even with my bunny fart loads that the 9mm case is full enough, there isn't that much open space in the case. I think I know a lot of 929 owners and shooters and never does the topic of using 380 come up. One thing about 9mm in this gun, personally I find using a undersize die a good thing because I have had bullets come out of the case spilling powder into the cylinder. I'm not an expert by any means but to me 380 seems a little bit more flimsy than 9mm plus as you say it's not tapered plus you would have to search around for moon clips that work (are 380 and 9mm extraction groves the same dimension?) so in saying this not sure 380 is a good idea.

The U die I use is made by Lee for EGW. The Lee U die under sizes a little more than the EGW die. If you had access to one of the Lee dies you could try as an experiment trimming 9mm brass see what happens. I really don't think it would gain you much and prolly would cause some unwanted headaches.

So I guess the truthful answer is "I don't know!".

 

[Mauser lover]

I'm not sure what advantage you hope to gain with a shorter case. If you are looking to just squeak by for a USPSA type power factor, you might be able to get to .38 Special numbers with a little better efficiency than doing a 9x19, but the advantage is going to be SOOO minimal that the ease of either handloading your 9x19 or buying 9x19 ammo will quickly beat the advantages of the parallel (or nearly so) case on the .380.

Just my thoughts, although if telling you that you should try it will get us a great thread on you converting a revolver to .380 moon clips then...

No, .380 conversions should have been tried years ago, and if they are, I'm sure they will catch on! You should be a trend setter!

 

[fxvr5]

I can't add anything to the utility of converting a 9mm/38 gun to 380, but Taurus makes a 380 snub nose revolver that uses moon clips.

 

[RevolvingGarbage]

I tried it with .380 in my old RG using o-rings.

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/380acp-in-your-38-special.662910/

 

[zaitcev]

I can't add anything to the utility of converting a 9mm/38 gun to 380, but Taurus makes a 380 snub nose revolver that uses moon clips.

Unfortunately, things. 1. It's a snub-nose, does not come in any interesting formats, 2. The trigger is awful (putting Wolff kit causes light strikes), 3. Rear sight is awful (sight picture is okay, but it wobbles and does not keep zero), 4. Chambers need reaming, or they won't accept half of the factory ammunition brands, and 5. Factory clips are not holding ammunition securely, letting rounds wobble, thus frustrating reloads.

 

[reddog81]

.380 won't work in a 9mm revolver or .38 Special. The bullets are close enough in diameter but every other dimension of the case is too far off to for good reliability without serious modifications to a gun. You're best bet would be to just have a custom cylinder made if you want to shoot .380 in either.

 

[Dave T]

I can't think of a single advantage one would gain going to the 380 cartridge in a revolver. But then people pour money down any number of rabbit holes for all varieties of reasons.

Dave

 

[BigBlue 94]

Check out the colt 1917 army 45 revolver. It's set up to run moon clips and 45 acp. However, it can also use 45 autorim without moon clips. Its a rimmed version of 45acp.

The cylinder has an 1/8" or so relieved cylinder backside to make room for clips or autorim cartridges. The same basic gun was available in 38-40, 38 spl, 32 colt, 22LR, etc: all rimmed cartridges.

All in all it may give you some ideas

 

[C0untZer0]

Just out of curiosity I'd like to know what the velocity of different 380 bullets would be out of a .380 ACP revolver. I'm thinking though that the short barrel and the cylinder gap probably sap the round of performance to the point of making it impractical to carry.

The only use-case that I can think of is for someone who needs a pocket pistol, cannot rack a slide on a semi-auto and cannot handle the recoil of a snub-nose .38 special ? But still, in that case, I think an LCR in 327 would be a better choice. The recoil averse could fire .32 S&W Long or plain .32 S&W.

I don't know... its hard to think of a niche for a .380 ACP revolver.

 

[fxvr5]

Just out of curiosity I'd like to know what the velocity of different 380 bullets would be out of a .380 ACP revolver. I'm thinking though that the short barrel and the cylinder gap probably sap the round of performance to the point of making it impractical to carry.

Remington 95 FMJ @ 913 fps from Taurus revolver.

 

[C0untZer0]

That is a higher velocity than the average for the 90gr XTP loading by Precision One out of a Taurus TCP