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Old April 19, 2014, 07:05 PM   #1
Dottry
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.380 reloads are bulging cases

I just reloaded my first batch of .380. They are 95gn Montana Gold FMJ RN bullets w/3.0 grs of bulleye powder. The cases are once fired blazer and CCI 500 small pistol primers. My COL is .970 I used starting data out of the Speer reloading manual#14. I test fired these with my Ruger LCP. I only test fired 3 rounds because the 3rd round failed to eject. Thats when I noticed the case was bulged. I recovered the other 2 cases and they were also bulged. My Chrony said the fps was 745 and 820 it didn't catch the 3rd shot. The Speer manual says the velocity tested was 874. I never noticed any bulging with factory rounds. Should I be concerned?
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Last edited by Dottry; April 19, 2014 at 07:53 PM.
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Old April 19, 2014, 08:46 PM   #2
Clark
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CAUTION: The following post includes loading data beyond or not covered by currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The Firing Line, nor the staff of TFL assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information.


Here is a bulge in an LCP with terrible case support [0.270"] with 3.6 gr Bullseye, 115 gr Win JHP, 0.970" OAL.

This is a case bulge in the shape of the feed ramp.
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Old April 20, 2014, 06:35 PM   #3
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Can it still be a lack of case support if the bulge is more towards the center of the casing as in my photo?
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Old April 20, 2014, 08:24 PM   #4
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I don't know what is causing your bulges, but I can blather a few words:
1) Chambers that are bulged in the middle will usually not allow the case to extract, unless the extractor has some special powers.
2) Blowback 380s that pulled the case out of battery before the pressure went down would have the bulges worst right in front of the web.. and I have never been able to do that with wimpy loads all the way to triple loads, in high mass slides and low mass slides.
3) The diameter of the sizer die might be tiny and the diameter of the chamber might be huge. Can you measure those?
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Old April 20, 2014, 08:54 PM   #5
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Sorry, I had a question that was covered that I missed! William
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Old April 20, 2014, 09:05 PM   #6
lee n. field
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Quote:
I just reloaded my first batch of .380. They are 95gn Montana Gold FMJ RN bullets w/3.0 grs of bulleye powder. The cases are once fired blazer and CCI 500 small pistol primers. My COL is .970 I used starting data out of the Speer reloading manual#14. I test fired these with my Ruger LCP. I only test fired 3 rounds because the 3rd round failed to eject. Thats when I noticed the case was bulged. I recovered the other 2 cases and they were also bulged. My Chrony said the fps was 745 and 820 it didn't catch the 3rd shot. The Speer manual says the velocity tested was 874. I never noticed any bulging with factory rounds. Should I be concerned?
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I've noticed that with my LCP. Bulged cases, often split cases with my handloads.

The picture you posted doesn't look bad, to my eyes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by clark
Here is a bulge in an LCP with terrible case support [0.270"] with 3.6 gr Bullseye, 115 gr Win JHP, 0.970" OAL.
That charge of Bullseye is almost up to what I load 9mm with.

Here's a pic I attached to another posting here, some time ago: Kel Tec PF9 barrel compared to Ruger LCP barrel. It's part of a series I took comparing the two guns, when I got the LCP. The LCP barrel has some mighty thin chamber walls. I would not "push the envelope" loadwise with this gun.
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Last edited by lee n. field; April 20, 2014 at 09:17 PM.
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Old April 20, 2014, 09:19 PM   #7
7.62 Nato
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How do the reloaded rounds look before firing ?
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Old April 21, 2014, 07:14 AM   #8
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I don't have a picture of the completed reloads. I have attached a picture of the cases after firing the factory load. they are on the top mine are on the bottom.
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