loading .380 ACP

[wallask]

I do all my reloading on a newer Lee turret press. My problem is dropping a powder charge for the .380. I'm using the Lee Pro Auto Disk powder measure with the Lee adjustable charge bar. I can't consistantly drop a powder charge with flake powders. I also tried to use just the Lee disk setup but again, it will not drop consistantly, sometimes no powder at all drops into a case. I have no problem when I increase the charge for 9MM or .38/.357. Maybe, a very small charge of a flake powder will not work with this setup at all, OR, I should look into a ball type powder for just the .380?. I currently use a powder dipper, but, that defeats the speed of the turret press. Any ideas on a ball type powder for the .380.

[Sevens]

Flake powder is always going to give trouble in any volumetric powder measure just by the nature of it. And the smaller the charge, the more erratic it is to drop. When I use flake powder like Blue Dot and Unique, I tend to use the larger diameter rifle chamber in my Hornady powder measure. But still, if it's under 5.0 grains, it's erratic and I'm not confident in it's drop.

So I tend to avoid it for smaller charges.

A good ball powder for you to try in this caliber would be Accurate #2 or Accurate #5. Meters very well.

Hodgdon Titegroup is a flake powder, but they are minced up little flakes and it seems to meter well for me, you could try that.

[Unclenick]

Flake powders can be problematic in any powder measure. Unique is famous for being the most difficult, since its big flakes bridge easily and refuse to fall into the measure cavity completely. The newer Hodgdon Universal meters more easily. It can usually be substituted for Unique loads after reducing the charge weight 5%, if Unique is what you were using?

For small charges like the .380 with a difficult powder, you may find the Lee dippers are easier to control? I have made my own small charge dippers by soldering wire handles onto fired cases, then trimming the case to give me the charge I want. A .32 case should work well for what you are doing.

[ForneyRider]

Lee has a micro disk for small loads.

I prefer the disk over the adjustable charge bar. I was comfortable with the more limited adjustability.

I am getting setup with .380 ACP, but load 45 ACP and 41 mag pistol on my Pro 1000. W231 and Power Pistol work really well and there are loads for these powders for .380 ACP.

[wallask]

Thanks for the replies. I have a lot of Unique and W231. I guess I'll continue using my Lee dipper.

[willr]

Read the Lee Reloading book. One of the comments is that the Lee Auto Disk measure should not be used for any flake powder volume less than 0.4 cc. I am not sure whether this applies to the Lee Pro Auto Disk measure, but you need to check to see.

I confess that I ran afoul of this a couple of years ago. The Lee Perfect Measure can be used, but that adds an additional step to loading.

willr

[orionengnr]

You said you have W-231--give it a try. I use it for 45acp and plan on using it for 9mm and 380 eventually. Probably for .38 Spl too

[benzuncle]

I load my 380's using HP-38 in the Pro Auto Disk Powder dispenser in my Lee Classic Turret Press. The .30 disk hole yields 2.9gr of powder. The .32 disk hole yields 3.2gr. I've used the 2.9gr load since the beginning. I'm about to try the 3.2gr behind Remington Golden Saber bullets. I'll begin with 5 rounds and go from there. The charge bar doesn't do well with small grain loads. I use it for 45acp loads with great success though. Good luck to you; let us know how you fare.

[ForneyRider]

Read the Lee Reloading book. One of the comments is that the Lee Auto Disk measure should not be used for any flake powder volume less than 0.4 cc. I am not sure whether this applies to the Lee Pro Auto Disk measure, but you need to check to see.

I confess that I ran afoul of this a couple of years ago. The Lee Perfect Measure can be used, but that adds an additional step to loading.

You can mount the Lee PPM on the turret. I set it up on my Pro 1000.

[Smaug]

wallask - I had the same problem with the Auto Disk Pro for 380.

I just use the Lee Dippers now. Of course you'd have to go single stage, but I don't shoot a ton of 380 anyway.

[RidgwayCO]

The powders I use for .380 Auto are Accurate #2, and VihtaVuori's N310, N320, and N330 (I imagine HP-38/W231 would do just as well, but I haven't tried them yet). They all meter extremely well through the Lee Pro Auto-Disk, using the .32cc disk hole or larger. My .380 Auto practice rounds duplicate factory ballistics out of the Bersa 95 (about 925 fps for the Hornady 100gr FMJ-Encapsulated bullet, giving about 190 ft-lbs).

I've also had problems with the Lee adjustable charge bar, and try to use the disk holes whenever possible in all my reloading. Trying to accurately meter small amounts of flake powder through the Pro Auto-Disk just isn't worth the aggravation.

[crazylegs]

Getting inconsistent small throws with the charge bar is pretty common. The problem (other than the type of powder) is the geometry of the bar. I doesn't line up with the hopper. Use the disk and a better metering powder ie 231 or the likes. The micro disk may be in order for the 380.
Crazylegs

[farnorthdan]

for my 380acp loads, 2.8 to 3 grains works well. I use a standard powder drop and single stage for loading and have not had a single problem....

DS

[amamnn]

I tried to cure my pro autodisk of that problem by using a baffle even though Lee says its not needed, it worked for a while, but eventually I got a squib or what would have been one had I trusted the autodisk. I got out my RCBS micro adjustable volumetric measure and tried that--same same. I now have a different system which is 100% reliable and 100% accurate for dropping small charges of any powder. It's the PACT digital scale dispenser combo. The Lyman and the RCBS versions work equally well.

[RNG]

When I had the Pro1k, using the pro auto disk, I tried the charge bar and found it didn't work well(unreliable) with charges of less than 5 gr's w231. My .380 loads were 3.1 gr's of w231 and lee's micro-disk worked very well.