Is reloading not worth it on the common pistol cartridges?

[NeveSSL]

Thank you, Caster!  I was already planning on using the Lee deluxe dies.  I'll grab a bulge buster kit, too.

 

Brandon

[Caster]

Something else "I" would do. After about the third or fourth loading, I'd let that brass hit the ground and stay there.
Well, if you're shooting a pistol with an unsupported chamber that is. It's gonna get weak what with working the brass like that. Having a blow out sucks and brass is cheaper than flesh.

[EMB145]

I take fired brass, run them through a sizing die, decap. Then I run them through a bulge buster on on single stage press., Clean, sort by head stamp and load them up. 

 

I'm probably doing to much work, as I again run them through a sizing die to prime them. I bulge bust on a single stage and reload on a turret. I never have to change dies, so seating and overall length stay consistent as I never have to adjust my dies. 

 

Like Musicman said. Make small batches. When you find what works good for you and your gun. Leave it alone. Just crank out rounds, shoot, enjoy, repeat.

[Jonnin]

Any tips or hints on reloading .380?

​Brandon

 

Use a weaker powder.   If you use something awful like accurate #2 (its a great powder, its just HOT)  the difference between the min and max loads is TINY, 3.3 to 3.7 grains from min to max, not even 1/2 a grain which is within the error of a very cheap scale!   If you use something slower you can get at least 1 grain difference from max to min, which is much, much safer and easier to control.  It costs a little more because most powders are the same price for a pound but the hot ones go farther, but its worth it.  Your ammo will be more consistent (small errors or scale margin of error has less effect) and safer (harder for a small error to send you past the redline) and safer again (the really weak powders may not even fit in the case if you accidentally double charge it, or it should at least be visually different on a double charge!).  

 

also use a cheap bullet if you want to save money.  I use Missouri bullet company's 380.  I use that same thing in some light 38 specials I make and my light 9mms as well.  It makes holes in paper at low cost -- and they ship in those prepaid "whatever you can get into it" post office bulk boxes so shipping isn't bad either when you buy a bunch of them.   If you want a consistent target load, weigh the projectiles and only use them if close to the expected weight.

 

don't reload nickel / silvery cases more than once, if that.  They split too much to fool with, generally, and 380 cases are too thin anyway. 

 

watch using magnum small pistol primers in a 380.   I don't like to use those in anything under a 9mm, because they make the reduced powder charges harder to deal with (my opinion, some folks don't mind the light stuff but under 5 is tricky to measure with many systems esp dippers)

[TN Volunteer]

I haven`t read all of the responses to this thread but if you have the gear to reload when ammo isn`t available,  seems that reloading would be a viable option.

 

No matter what the cost.

[NeveSSL]

Absolutely.  I ended up buying a few pieces of reloading equipment.  I'm going to slowly build up my setup over a little bit of time, and start buying in bulk.  :)

Brandon