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Posted: 11/29/2011 7:51:13 AM EDT
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Ok, I just picked up a Ruger LCP, and have fired 200 rounds of ball ammo, and 20 rounds of Hydra Shoks - which comes to about $100 in ammo alone.
I did the math, and I can load 500 for about $25 per 100, including purchasing the dies and a bunch of once fired brass to begin with. The amount would go down considerably after that. I have the time to do the realoading, and actually enjoy it. What do I need to know about loading it compared to the .45 ACP. It seems to me the only real problem is just handling that small of a case? I was planning to try a 90-95 RN FMJ bullet and a good middle of the road charge of Unique since I have Unique already for my .45. Any thoughts? |
| Ive loaded the .380 for my Walthers PPK/S and its worth it especially the cost of it nowadays. I thought is was funny that you can load between (if im remembering correctly) 1-3 grs of powder depending what powder your using. what brand of bullets were you planning on using? |
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Ive loaded the .380 for my Walthers PPK/S and its worth it especially the cost of it nowadays. I thought is was funny that you can load between (if im remembering correctly) 1-3 grs of powder depending what powder your using. what brand of bullets were you planning on using? I have not decided on the bullet yet. MidwayUSA has the Magtech 95 GR RN for a pretty good price, as well as Remington and Winchester. My books (Including Alliant's) is showing a load of 4.6 C for the .380, and I think the starting load in my Speer Manual was 4.1. that was for the 90 Gr Speer Gold Dot. That is the only bullet Alliant shows in their book. Kyreb - thanks for that link, I did a search, and it turned up nothing. |
.380 Auto / .380 ACP (Ruger LCP Load Data) |
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Round on the left is 100 grain Ranch dog lead bullet. I used 4.0 grains of Unique. Round on the right is a 90 grain Gold dot. I used 3.3 grains of Bullseye for that round. <a href="http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh280/Ole1830/?action=view¤t=IMG_5384.jpg" target="_blank">http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh280/Ole1830/th_IMG_5384.jpg</a> I prefer bullseye if I have a choice, but Unique will work fine if it's all you've got on hand. I would probably shoot my 380 more, but I don't like scouring the desert floor looking for those tiny cases.  I need to get a huge tarp to stand on while shooting to catch my brass.Do you have more information on those Ranch Dog bullets - is that a home cast, or purchased? And I still have over 2 lbs of Unique, so no point in getting a different powder until I run out of this stuff. I know what you mean abouts scourinng the desert floor!! When I was shooting yesterday, there were pieces of brass flying behind me and landing on top of the canopy at the shooting range I use (friend's range behind his house). Luckily someone else was shooting there recently with .380 and left more than enough to make up for the difference and then some. Started with 100 rounds of ammo, came home with about 120 pieces of brass. |
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Quoted:
Ive loaded the .380 for my Walthers PPK/S and its worth it especially the cost of it nowadays. I thought is was funny that you can load between (if im remembering correctly) 1-3 grs of powder depending what powder your using. what brand of bullets were you planning on using? I have not decided on the bullet yet. MidwayUSA has the Magtech 95 GR RN for a pretty good price, as well as Remington and Winchester. My books (Including Alliant's) is showing a load of 4.6 C for the .380, and I think the starting load in my Speer Manual was 4.1. that was for the 90 Gr Speer Gold Dot. That is the only bullet Alliant shows in their book. Kyreb - thanks for that link, I did a search, and it turned up nothing. Reason why i ask because if your looking for a plinking round Berry's has 100gr rn 250 bullets for 21.99 (sale) from cabelas which is not a bad deal ive used them You might to be able to find a better deal around to get statred with but thats what i would go with |
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Quoted:
Ive loaded the .380 for my Walthers PPK/S and its worth it especially the cost of it nowadays. I thought is was funny that you can load between (if im remembering correctly) 1-3 grs of powder depending what powder your using. what brand of bullets were you planning on using? I have not decided on the bullet yet. MidwayUSA has the Magtech 95 GR RN for a pretty good price, as well as Remington and Winchester. My books (Including Alliant's) is showing a load of 4.6 C for the .380, and I think the starting load in my Speer Manual was 4.1. that was for the 90 Gr Speer Gold Dot. That is the only bullet Alliant shows in their book. Kyreb - thanks for that link, I did a search, and it turned up nothing. The last 3-4 pages of this Forum is where all of the Toggled threads hide out. Toggled = Threads that are of value and are kept out of the archives. When they are inactive they work their way to the last several pages. These threads can also be found here, at this tacked thread; A Gateway to Interesting and Useful Threads in the Reloading Forum |
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Quoted: The last 3-4 pages of this Forum is where all of the Toggled threads hide out. Toggled = Threads that are of value and are kept out of the archives. When they are inactive they work their way to the last several pages. These threads can also be found here, at this tacked thread; A Gateway to Interesting and Useful Threads in the Reloading Forum A little clarification please: all Gateway threads are toggled threads, e.g. Gateway threads are a subset of toggled threads? |
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Do you have more information on those Ranch Dog bullets - is that a home cast, or purchased? And I still have over 2 lbs of Unique, so no point in getting a different powder until I run out of this stuff. I know what you mean abouts scourinng the desert floor!! When I was shooting yesterday, there were pieces of brass flying behind me and landing on top of the canopy at the shooting range I use (friend's range behind his house). Luckily someone else was shooting there recently with .380 and left more than enough to make up for the difference and then some. Started with 100 rounds of ammo, came home with about 120 pieces of brass. I cast these myself, but there are a few places that commercially cast this bullet for sale. I would ask if you can gat any in .357", which is what I size mine too. Of course, the best thing to do would be to slug your barrel so you know what bullet size to order. Before I started casting, I bought a box of 500 lead bullets from Grafs. Suter's choice was the brand name. They were 100 grain lead rnfp bullets. They worked OK, but I had to buy a .357" Lee push-through sizing die because they sent the wrong size. Missouri bullet company also has a good reputation as a commercial caster. |
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See if you can slug your bore so you know what size bullet will fit the best.
Whatever your bore slugs- try to order bullets .001" over that measurement. Most commercial casters will cast a single size that will shoot safely in the smallest barrels. If your bullet is too small for your barrel, you'll get leading no matter how hard the lead is. |
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The last 3-4 pages of this Forum is where all of the Toggled threads hide out. Toggled = Threads that are of value and are kept out of the archives. When they are inactive they work their way to the last several pages. These threads can also be found here, at this tacked thread; A Gateway to Interesting and Useful Threads in the Reloading Forum A little clarification please: all Gateway threads are toggled threads, e.g. Gateway threads are a subset of toggled threads? The Gateway thread was created so anyone could post a toggled thread there. Example, someone wants a certain thread "stickied". If you can convince a mod, me or AeroE to set the toggle, then you can post the toggled thread in the Gateway thread. If thread is not toggled, the link in the Gateway thread would be bad after thread drops into the archive. You have to be a Team member to access the archive. So if you are a member, you can't see a thread that drops into the archive. Gateway threads are a subset of toggled threads? No just an easy place to find toggled threads. Did that answer your question? In my first post I was trying to let members know about all of the toggled thread that are at the last 3-4 pages of this forum. Here is an example, Link to page 29 of the Reloading Forum. Take a couple of minutes and look around, this is where all of the toggled threads start. Page 29 to 33 are where you will find the toggled threads. |
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