.380 ACP out of a 986 with moon clips

[Darker Loaf]

Before I go and do something dumb, I've got a box of Winchester white-box brass in .380 ACP that I've been itching to shoot and I thought it'd be fun to shoot it through my 986. Is there any reason why this would be bad? I thought it would be like shooting low-power .38 SPL out of a .357.

[Jim Watson]

Unlike .38 in .357, .380 has a smaller case diameter than 9mm P.
Will it expand to seal the chamber? Will it split? Will it fall out of the clip?

It won't blow the gun up, but it might not be a satisfactory subload.

No doubt somebody will come along and say he does it all the time.

[Whirlwind06]

Sounds like you have a reason to get a new gun chambered in .380.

[Darker Loaf]

Re Jim: Thanks, that's what I figured. Better to ask than to do something that's not safe/smart.

Re Whirldwind: HAH, yeah, I've been tempted to get a .380 for a long time, it's just lower down on my list. The .380 ACP I've got is leftover from renting .380's. Just none of them caught my attention enough to buy one.

[precision_shooter]

Am I missing something? If he has a 9mm cylinder and shoots 9mm regularly, then why would .380 not work?

9mm Luger = 9X19
.380 auto = 9x17

You can make .380 brass from 9mm brass as it's the exact same save for the extra 2mm in length...

Why would .380 fail to expand and seal the chamber or cause any other issues?

[mavracer]

Yes you are precision shooter 380 is straight walled and 9mm is tapered

[spacecoast]

The base diameter is .4mm greater in the 9mm Parabellum, fairly apparent when side by side with a .380. The rim is also a bit thicker.

[dannyb]

Taurus makes a .380 revolver.

[Ricklin]

I wore out the cutter on my RCBS case trimmer making 9 X 17 out of 9mm Luger IE: 9 X 19.

9X17 is 9mm Makarov, and trimming the cases 2 mm works great. As mentioned .380 is different.

[T. O'Heir]

A.380 will slide right through a .38/.357 cylinder. Case rim is .374. The rim on a .38/.357 is .440.
No you can't make .380 out of 9mm. A 9mm case head diameter is 20 thou bigger than a .380's. Bigger on the case too. Neither uses the same bullet diameter as the .38/.357 either.

[zxcvbob]

Am I missing something? If he has a 9mm cylinder and shoots 9mm regularly, then why would .380 not work?

9mm Luger = 9X19
.380 auto = 9x17

You can make .380 brass from 9mm brass as it's the exact same save for the extra 2mm in length...

No it's not. You can make 9x18 (Makarov) cases out of 9x19, but .380 Auto is a totally different and smaller beast.

I think you might can make .380 cases out of .223 (why would you do that?) but you'll have to ream them.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by Ricklin

9X17 is 9mm Makarov, and trimming the cases 2 mm works great. As mentioned .380 is different.

No, 9x17 is .380 ACP. The Makarov is 9x18, and the diameters of the case and bullet are significantly different from either 9mm Parabellum or .380 ACP.

A couple of years ago I was playing with an idea and I needed to test whether or not a .380 ACP could properly cycle a 1911. But -- nobody makes a .380 ACP barrel for a 1911. I tried shooting .380 through a 8mm barrel and the cases all split. That's how much difference there is in the diameter. I had better luck shooting the .380 through a .38 Super barrel, but still not a valid test. In the end, I used some 95-grain bullets and hand loaded my own 9mm to .380 power levels for my testing.

[precision_shooter]

No it's not. You can make 9x18 (Makarov) cases out of 9x19, but .380 Auto is a totally different and smaller beast.

I think you might can make .380 cases out of .223 (why would you do that?) but you'll have to ream them.

You're correct, I was thinking of the 9x18 Mak round...

[Ricklin]

You are indeed correct. It's 9 X 18 for Makarov. The fact remains that .380 is a whole nother animal.

[zxcvbob]

9mm Mak is not really the same as a shorter 9x19, but the head is the same (or close enough.) You expand the mouths first, then trim (etc) and load. They fire-form the first time you shoot them.

I really like the Makarov cartridge. I don't shoot it much just because I'm a revolver guy.

[skizzums]

I think you would be able to shoot it just fine. one way to find out is to try it

[Sevens]

I don't think it's a tremendous safety issue at all. Some points that matter:
--same exact bullet diameter
--max pressure spec for the .380 is quite a bit lower than 9mm
--brass case will not need to be forced in to a 9mm chamber as it is smaller at the case head

Those items relate to the "safety" of doing this. However, back in the real world, this is a pretty senseless thing to do. Ends up being a losing proposition for a number of tangible reasons.

.380 ammo is simply more costly than 9mm ammo all across the board on comparable products. Simple economy of scale. While it's true you're talking about leftover ammo that is long-ago paid for and costs you nothing now, you're talking about a half a box to be shot up in a very expensive revolver for which it was NEVER intended.

Given the lighter bullet and the lower pressure, it's very doubtful that it will even shoot to point of aim. You could theoretically adjust the sights... but for the purpose of a half box? So we're left with this as a purpose:
--to see if it will work
--to make a "bang" noise
--to remove clutter from your world in the form of a half box of ammo

I compare it to this...

I could find a wood dowel that fits the bore nicely, prime a single case, load it, cock the revolver, drop the wood dowel down the bore and then discharge that primer with the expectation that the dowel would be launched from the handgun at "some" velocity and it most likely wouldn't harm the revolver and if pointed in a safe direction with a quality back stop, also would not be any sort of safety issue.

However...
Why would I do such an exercise?

[Darker Loaf]

I tried to put .380 ACP into 9mm moon clips, and... no dice. The .380 case is too loose by far. So, it makes total sense that the dimensions of .380 are fairly radically different than 9mm, pretty much making using them in my 986 impossible. I would guess that you'd have trouble keeping them in the 9mm cylinder at all making firing iffy at best and maybe dangerous.

Why do you ask that I would want to shoot .380 ACP, which is more expensive, through my 986? Well, because I had a box of .380 and no .380 gun to shoot it out of. Why do I have a box of .380 ACP? Because I like to rent guns before I buy them, and I hate paying range prices for ammunition.

[Bill DeShivs]

If you have ammunition and no gun for it, it's time to buy a gun!

[Jim Watson]

Everybody wants to help you spend your money.
Do you have any friends with guns? One of them probably has a .380 and would appreciate some ammo.

[tallball]

My Russian Makarov is in 380. It is a great gun and not hard to find around $200.

[Magnum Wheel Man]

just a side note... I've been doing quite a bit with the smaller auto cases lately ( 25 ACP, 32 ACP, & to some extent 380 ACP ) & WW brass seems to be cracking / splitting much more often than the other brands, this in proper sized chambers... so you'll likely split all the WW cases, firing them in a situation in which they'd need to stretch to fit the chamber ( which can be hard on the chambers of your revolver ) you might be ok with one of the brands of cases that are softer / more elastic... but I'm not seeing that characteristic with the WW cases in the small auto brass...

[Don P]

With all the advice, some sound, some not so very sound I'll just use the cliché
if it doesn't fit get a bigger hammer, if it breaks, it needed replacing anyway.

[Remington74]

"If you have ammunition and no gun for it, it's time to buy a gun!"

This!

I can't count how many times I have bought a box of ammo and my wife would ask why I needed it if I did not have the gun to fire it.

EASY FIX!

[aarondhgraham]

If you have ammunition and no gun for it, it's time to buy a gun!

That's exactly the logic I used to justify buying a Bulldog,,,
I had 200 rounds of .44 Special laying around.

I suggest a Beretta Cheetah,,,
A very sexy handgun.

Aarond

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