Anyone loading 9mm bullet into .380 round?

[Shoot-4-Ever]

I have loaded a few .380's over the years, but not much experience with them.

Now I am getting into loading .380 with my Dillon 550. Seems I have ssmall amounts of .380 in 95, 100, 110 gr. and maybe others. I have alot more 9mm of about the same wt. in stock.

SO I compared them finding some 9mm have a slightly longer straight section for deeper seating...but really not much difference. My only reason for wanting to put 9mm into the .380 is the fact that I have plenty of assorted 9mm in jhp. I usually cary a .380 so wanted to play with some hp loads just for the fun of it.

The question is, what should I look for in the bullet when selectting a 9 for the 380? Right now, I am using win. 231 with 100 gr. Berrys plated round nose working up from the basement.

Also found that placing a taper crimp on the .380 (using Redding taper die) is very dificult to get a solid crimp. When I use my hammer style inertia bullet puller, I have them seperating with 1 solid blow. So I crimp tighter, and still seperating easily. I tried pushing the bullet into the brass with the tighter crimp and they did move in with a fair amount of pressure from my thumb. So I think I need to do something different. I ordered a Lee crimp die, not here yet, maybe that will help.

I know that the Berrys plated bullets should have a very light taper crimp if any.

The pulled bullets show progressive markings as I increased the crimp.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[Carlos]

Is your .380 carry gun a locked breach design? Or, is it straight blow-back?

Fact is, the locked breach guns are much MUCH stronger, and you can easily go as heavy as 115 grns in .380. There is data in the Lee manual (only about 10 to 15 bucks) that is worth owning. The Kel Tec and the new Ruger are both locked-breach designs. I believe the old Colts are too - though check on that. No idea about the Sig.

As far as your concerns over set-back - that is a very valid concern. .380 has such small case capacity that reducing it further through a set-back would cause higher pressures.

My answer has always been the Lee brand "U" carbide resizing die. You have to call on the telephone to order it from Lee. But its only about 10 to 15 bucks - and worth the peace of mind.

[Duane Thomas]

Auto pistol cartridges should have very little if any crimp. Basically you just want to straighten out the flare and that's it. Crimping the case mouth hard into the bullet will not, as you have discovered, stop bullet setback. Actually it makes bullet setback much more likely because it causes the area of the casing below the crimp to balloon out, destroying the effect of having a tight casing around the base of the bullet. It is not, as some people think, the crimp that holds the bullet securely against setback in an auto pistol cartrigde, but rather having a tight casing gripping the base of the bullet over a comparatively huge area. So your exaggerated crimp is actually giving you the bullet setback problem you're trying to avoid. In addition, putting a serious crimp on an auto pistol cartridge deforms the bullet and destroys potential accuracy. (Now, with a revolver bullet that actually has a cannelure aka crimp groove it's a different story, but in those rounds you're not trying to avoid bullet setback, but rather you're preventing the bullet from jumping forward in the casing under recoil.)

Back out on the crimp die until you're simply straightening out the flare in the casing without actually crushing it into the bullet, and you'll see your setback problems go away.

[Shoot-4-Ever]

Duane.....that makes sense to me. I will try it with no crimp and see how it goes. My Lee taper die came today, sounds like I may not need it.

Carlos......Can you explain a little about the "U" die, what it does, and maybe how it works. Don't think I have heard of the "U" before. Is it used only for the Semi-auto/acp type cartridge, is it available in other calibers too?

I have a Blow-back I am using for cary, however I have an interest in the new Ruger but I hear they are difficult to get right now. I have a Colt Mustang that is not mine, but I shoot it often, I believe that could be a locked breach, but not certain.

I have my eye on a CZ (think it's a model 82?, can't remember) I think it is a blowback, but not sure. I am looking for a stronger durable .380 that will take a few K rds in a larger gun with the longer barrel, however there are few to choose from. Maybe you have a suggetion on something like that? I like my 9's, but enjoy the .380 the way they recoil etc. The Win 231 in starting charge is a very mild recoil, will see how it does as I work it up. Maybe the blow back design is reason I enjoy shooting .380.

thanks for your suggestions, I will make some changes and see what happens.