Handguns

The .380 Auto is an interesting little cartridge. Designed by John Browning in 1908, it is just about the smallest caliber suitable for concealed carry. It certainly isn't nearly as powerful as either the 9mm Luger or the .38 Special, but it does lend itself to compact and simple pistols.

I love the naming practices used for cartridges, and in many cases you can't tell the players without a program. The .380 Auto is a great example. There's almost nothing about the .380 Auto that's 0.380 inch. Certainly not the bullets, which are slightly smaller than bullets for the .38 Special, and the diameter tolerance allows use of 9mm bullets.

The case-body outside diameter isn't 0.380 either; it's only 0.374 inch. It turns out that the chamber diameter, at least at the small end of the tolerance, is 0.381 inch. In case this is getting confusing, the cartridge is also called 9mm Browning Short, the .380 AC and sometimes the 9x17.

Since the .380 by any name has been around for about 99 years, there is no real magic in the reloading process. Dies and components are readily available.

Our dies this month were an old set of C&H's. Old doesn't matter if you've been careful to be sure the cases you resize are clean, not gritty, as well as well lubricated. Under these conditions dies last a very long time. Naturally, carbide dies last even longer. After loading, it's a good idea to wipe off any lubricant before firing.

The powder situation is far better than it used to be; there are now lots of suitable powders on your dealer's shelves. Since this is a rimless straight case, it requires a three-die set to get the job done.

Perhaps this is a good time to mention crimping. Rimless cartridges intended for use in automatic pistols (and most automatics feed rimless cartridges far better than those with even small rims) headspace off the mouth of the case.

The front end of the .380 case runs into a very small (0.01 inch on a side) shoulder at the front of the chamber. You don't want to have any crimp at the case mouth or the headspacing is going to become variable. Adjust your expander plug to leave a very small bell mouth on the case so the bullets will enter smoothly. Don't use any more belling than you need. The bullet seating die will remove the bell mouth, leaving the case body straight.

As is true for all loading for automatic pistols, your gun might be very fussy about the nose shape of the bullets. Some guns will feed almost anything, while others might require some careful experimenting to determine which bullet works best.