380acp not chambering 380acp round ?

[Guest adamparker86]

I recently bought a taurus tcp 380acp the gun came with a few kinds of bullets all 380auto... I was at wallmart with the wife and saw sum cheap

ammo and decided to try it as it works well in my 9mm. the brand is tulammo... so I went to the range a few days later and went to chamber a round and my slide stops before it should... the bullet would not go into the barrel rite? had to use allotta force just to get the round out. so I field stipped my weapon and tryed to just put the bullet in the barrel to check to fit and they dont go all the way in flush with the barrel..... all my other 380 auto rounds fit guess these tulammo are defective they dont even look right compared to others.. needless to say im done with tulammo

[Guest adamparker86]

I might have posted this in the wrong area if so let me know

[enfield]

Are you sure it was .380 ACP ammo and not 9x18 or 9x19?

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Hi Adamparker86

Maybe the ammo is out of spec or maybe it is even mis-labeled and it is some other kind of 9mm? There are several others in addition to 9mm Luger and .380 ACP, some of which are still "kinda common" in Europe especially Eastern Europe from what I read. Lots of folks on here know more about it.

If you don't have calipers to measure with, if you set one of the tula rounds side by side with one of your good rounds on the table, are they "real close" to the same size, or rather drastically different? Is the case on the tula noticeably longer than the good .380 round?

[Guest adamparker86]

the notch where the extractor grabs the round to extract it looked completly diffrent .. I think they are defective

[Guest adamparker86]

sorry dont know the tech. terms

[Guest adamparker86]

its not longer.. they just dont sit correctly in the barrel

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Those rimless cartridges like the 9mm, .45 acp, .380 acp-- They seat in the barrel to the proper depth according to the length of the case. There is a ledge in the barrel chamber and if the case is the correct diameter and the case is the correct length, it falls into the chamber until it stops on the ledge in the chamber, and will be flush to the back of the chamber. In some situations especially with blowback actions, maybe it would be "occasionally safe" to fire a cartridge that doesn't feed and sit flush in the barrel, but it isn't a good idea and I'd not do it. It would typically be unsafe with a locked action pistol, and some pistols are engineered to refuse to fire "out of battery" when the slide can't go all the way forward and lock up, to avoid sad problems of firing out of battery.

I occasionally see cartridge bases that look slightly visually different than typical ammo, but it still works. For instance some of the S&B 9mm luger cases have an "odd looking" base, but it is close enough to work OK.

A thought-- If the case length and diameter are within spec for .380, then PERHAPS there is a REMOTE possibility that it might be "legit .380 acp" but the length or shape of the tula bullet is somehow incompatible with your particular pistol. If the bullet extends too far or is "too fat" it could be hitting the rifling in your barrel, wheras maybe it would fit fine in another pistol with rifling that starts farther out from the chamber? It is just a guess of one way it might be incompatible with your gun even if it is "good ammo".

Edited May 30, 2012 by Lester Weevils

[Guest adamparker86]

I,suspect they are out of spec, so I will just avoid that brand, I alway have used 380 auto instead of acp.. what are the diffrences if any... from what ive read they are the same round with diffrent names

[Jonnin]

its the same thing. The 380 is known as 9mm short, 9mm browning, 380 auto, 380 acp, 9x17 and maybe other names. ACP is automatic colt pistol or something like that, and other brands do not like to use the colt brand name on their guns, so the name was changed to ap (auto pistol..) and auto to get rid of the offending "colt". You see the same thing on 45 acp.

I have a 9mm pistol that is finicky like this ... some rounds just will not chamber due to hitting the rifling early, and likely that is your problem. Use another brand.

Most foreign ammo will have 9x17 or a similar metric designation rather than 380 which is in inches and only really used in the US.

[Guest nowheretobefound]

If I'm correct the Tula ammo you purchased is in steel cases? If so some of it was sealed with laquer and will not chamber correctly in some pistols (and their rifle ammo also).

[Dolomite_supafly]

Sounds like the bullet is engaging the rifling before the slide locks up. It has happened to me with my reloads on ceratin guns. An indicator is the hard to extract problem after chambering the round.

As far as Tula goes I have personally never had an issue with it. I have fired A LOT of 223 Tula without issue. I know a lot of people who shoot Tula pistol ammo without a hiccup as well. But I do believe the cahmebr might be a bit tight for Tula which is not a bad thing.

Dolomite

[Guest adamparker86]

dolomite you right if you do try to cycle a round in it stops and doesnt allow the slide to close completly. and then yoy gotta pull the slide like hell to eject it.. and yes there are steel hulled. im just going to avoid this ammo in 380 as my 9mm tulammo works fine in my other pistol

[Guest CajunKen]

When I bought my Ruger LCP, I tried every brand of ammo that I could find in my area, and it liked them all except for TUL Ammo. Mostly Failure to feed problems.