.380 copper plated

[Ace1911]

Has anyone loaded .380 copper plated? I load Berry's CP for plinking for most of my handguns & I finally piled up enough .380 brass to start loading. But, none of my manuals have load recipe's for .380 CP. "Modern Reloading" is where I get all of my CP loads from, but no .380. So, does anyone have some recipes for .380 CP? I tried searching the forum for this topic in the above search tool but no luck. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

-Mike

[steve4102]

From Berry bullets.

Plated bullets occupy a position between cast bullets and jacketed bullets. They are soft lead, but have a hard outer shell on them. When loading plated bullets we have found best results using low- to mid-range jacketed data in the load manual. You must use data for a bullet that has the same weight and profile as the one you are loading. Do not exceed mid-range loads. Do not use magnum loads.

From Rainier bullets.

We, at Rainier Ballistics, recommend using lead bullet load data when loading our bullets. There is no need for adjustment when using lead bullet load data. Our bullets are jacketed using an electroplating process and are softer than traditionally jacketed bullets; hence the recommendation to use lead bullet load data.

If you only have access to traditionally jacketed load data, we recommend a starting powder charge directly between the listed minimum and maximum load.

A slight roll or taper crimp may be used with our bullets;

[gdmoody]

The only .380 I load (other than a few home cast) is Berry's 100 grain round nose hollow base bullets. I load them with 2.6 grains of Titegroup and have not been disappointed with them. My carry ammo is the Hornady stuff, can't think if the name of it right now.

EDIT: The Hornady #7 manual shows only two loads for the .380, a 90 grain HP-XTP and a 100 grain FMJ-RN. If you want specifics for a certain powder, PM me.

[Ace1911]

Thanks gdmoody, I appreciate the input..Hornady's manual is one of several I reference from, and I could buy the two bullets you posted, but CP is ALOT cheaper. I guess I could stay to the low side of the jacketed recipe's shown in the Hornady or Speer manuals I have and see how they do with the CP's.

[gdmoody]

I use CP, as I said, I only bullets that I purchase are the Berry's 100 grain Round Nose Hollow Base bullet. If you load them at 10% less than what a FMJ calls for it will work and is safe to use. Both of the 380s I shoot my loads through have pretty heavy steel slides and I load just a tiny bit hotter than that.

The Hornady # 7 shows minimum being 2.3 of Titegroup and maximum of 3.0. I load mine right in the middle at 2.6. If I were shooting them through a Kel-tec or LCP or similar, I would probably use the lowest number in the given chart for the 100 grain CP bullet that I use. That is pretty much exactly what steve posted from Berry's site.

[Ace1911]

PM'd you.

[JLA]

I use the berrys 100 gr hollow base RN for the wifes .380.

I love em.

[Skipper]

I found another source for plated bullets. They have a thicker jacket and the price is good.


http://www.fmreloading.com/Merchant2...Plated+Bullets

[gdmoody]

Originally Posted by Ace1911

PM'd you.

PM answered!!

[gdmoody]

Originally Posted by Skipper

I found another source for plated bullets. They have a thicker jacket and the price is good.


http://www.fmreloading.com/Merchant2...Plated+Bullets

Good looking bullets.

To be honest, I probably would never buy them because the shipping is so high. I personally don't like places that base their shipping on the amount spent. If I only wanted 100 9mm bullets it would cost me $21.

[JLA]

Yeah they are encouraging bulk orders. The wrong way IMO. but im saving the link none the less.

Thanks Skipper!

[Ace1911]

Originally Posted by JLA

I use the berrys 100 gr hollow base RN for the wifes .380.

I love em.

Do you have a load recipe that works well with them?

[steve4102]

Originally Posted by gdmoody

Good looking bullets.

To be honest, I probably would never buy them because the shipping is so high. I personally don't like places that base their shipping on the amount spent. If I only wanted 100 9mm bullets it would cost me $21.

This and their price per K is on par if not a few $$ more than true jacketed bullets.

Never could wrap myself around an inferior plated bullet for the same or more $$ than a true jacketed bullet. For me, it's lead or jacketed, no high dollar inferior plated for me. YMMV

[JLA]

Originally Posted by Ace1911

Do you have a load recipe that works well with them?

Yep. I guess i did forget to include that part.

2.7 gr of titegroup over a CCI 500 primer. Mixed brass (mostly Win brass) and they are pretty dang acurate from my wifes CZ83.

[Bindernut]

No plated bullet here yet...still got a bunch of lead round noses left to burn up first and I don't shoot my .380s much anymore.
My favorite load for 95gr LRN is 3.5gr WW231.