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What happens if you accidently load a 380 case with 9mm and try to sho


Smeeg

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I've had 2 or 3 .380 cases make it to the resizing die before I caught them and started wondering what would happen if I don't catch one and load it to 9mm specs? BTW I hate .380!

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I was loading some light steel loads (3gr Clays under a 115, so I loaded one up and shot it, interesting experiment, here's what happened:

If one is not available how about running a 10mm with bullets long? ( Atlas hows that working out?)

I send my slide off for milling work, so I've haven't fired any more .40 through it, but I did do an interesting experiment with a .380 case which made it's way into my 9mm loads: it was a light steel load (3.15gr Clays under a 115) so I figured I'd shoot it and see what happens :ph34r:

It chambered fine and I could see the rim was securely behind the extractor so I shot it; it sounded funny as the brass fire formed to the chamber, but when I extracted it I could see what that article (http://www.thegunzone.com/10v40.html) warned of: there was a scratch in the rim where it pulled past the extractor with the primer ignition then it was slammed back into the breech face, flattening the primer against the head stamp.

Granted, this is obviously less likely to happen with 40/10 because the rim is exactly the same, but I can now see how it could happen.

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I have never fired one, but I have loaded quite a few 380s with a 9mm load. I have always caught them while chamber checking. Also, I can feel a difference during the sizing operation.

Like I said I have never fired one of those rounds. I'm not sure I would want to.

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I shot an accidentally loaded .380 outta my 9mm. I caught it beforehand and saved it for the range just to see, nothing overly exciting happened.

Now I wonder what will happen if I fire this .357sig case that I've managed to stuff a .40cal bullet into of out of my 2011 :devil: I won't be finding out though, that gun just got a brand new barrel! I know you can make .357 cases from .40 cases, but idk about the other way around :)

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I have run into issues of 380's range pickup getting into the 9mm brass hold bins. Sometimes I can spot them when I sieve or tumble the brass. HARD TO DO.. O/W my best indication on my Dillon RL 550B when running 9mm's:

  • A 380 can be detected in die #1(Resize and deprim). When you raise the turret, the normal resistance created by a 9mm case is notoceablyu absent and the deprime moment is much softer, requiring way less weight on the operating handle(in all instances noted the shell plate is fully loaded with cases on each station).
  • When I feel that soft desize/deprime action I stop, I do not insert the primer, I pull the case and a quick inspection always shows a 380 case. It goes into the hold box for that size case and I resume, indexing the shell plate one step, clearing the #1 station for the next 9mm case leaving the #2 station open and avoiding a "double" powder drop!!.

Hope that helps in "catching " those terrible litlle buggers!!!

Chuck

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...Now I wonder what will happen if I fire this .357sig case that I've managed to stuff a .40cal bullet into of out of my 2011 :devil: I won't be finding out though, that gun just got a brand new barrel! I know you can make .357 cases from .40 cases, but idk about the other way around :)

I've done this with three cases. I didn't trust them for a match but worked fine.

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Not so sure that nothing would happen in all instances. Normally using a 1050 to load 9 major, when I get a .380 case I feel something different on either the deprime or prime station. Several times I've caught it with my visual powder check as I'm about to place the bullet - I look into every case before placing bullet.

Somehow this one got into the loaded case bin but I found it during case gauge. This has reinforced my resolve to check (by looking into each case for proper powder level) and double-check (by case gauging) each round.

As the picture shows it would be easy to load the cartridge made with a .380 shell casing, on the right in the picture, into a 9 major gun. I'm not too sure the results would be real pleasant considering there are 7.7 grains of Silhouette in that load..

post-10534-0-96571800-1426539138_thumb.j 9mm case on left. .380 case on right

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  • 7 months later...

I've never loaded one that way, so I don't know...but when .380 has gotten mixed into my 9mm brass, they've been kind of obvious, as the force to resize them feels more like a 9mm case being resized a second time than a normal one, and they tend to fly out of the shell plate on my RL550B on the upstroke when trying to seat a primer.

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I've done it, and it's no big deal, because you are seating to a overall length there is no difference in case capacity for the powder so pressures are the same as your regular loads, the only issue is weather your extractor will hold the case good enough to fire it.

Edited by bikerburgess
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But .380 brass tends to be slightly thinner than 9mm, and .380 has a lower working pressure than 9mm...so it's conceivable that what's normal for a 9mm load could do bad things in a .380 case.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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