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| Member |
I have reloaded all my own for over 50 years. Only recently (because of very high cost of 380 ACP) and my increased use I have been reloading 380 ACP ammo. I never incurred black carbon smudges the likes of which I’ve been getting with these 380 fired cases. I’m using TightGroup powder which I have been using for years, and never gotten blackened cases on the 9mm, or 38 rounds that I’ve loaded in the past. Any idea what’s causing this? | ||
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I Deal In Lead |
Light pressure loads where the brass isn't expanding enough to completely fill the chamber so the gasses are coming back down the side of the case. | |||
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| Member |
Thanks for the reply ………….sounds completely logical, but my load is near max. I guess I could bump it up a bit. Oops! I just looked my load of 2.8 gr. TiteGroup is max for 100 gr. Jacketed bullet. | |||
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| I Deal In Lead |
If max is 2.8, what were you using? | |||
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Prepared for the Worst, Providing the Best |
Flash-LB is right on the money. I'm always a little shy of going too hot with Titegroup as it doesn't take much to go over pressure, and that powder does tend to leave a very sooty residue on the brass if you don't get a complete case seal. I still use it in certain low-volume applications (.32 ACP in particular), but I've moved away from it for most. I don't load .380, but with it's small case capacity I do think Titegroup could be a workable choice if you can find the right load for your gun. ----------------------------------------------------------- Any comments made by this poster are my own and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. | |||
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| I Deal In Lead |
I'm with you. I like something a little slower for the smaller case stuff like .380 | |||
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| Member |
I have had good luck with Red Dot powder in 380 cases.....just a thought. | |||
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| Wild in Wyoming |
I use Hodgdon Universal in .380. A bit slower than TiteGroup. PCThis message has been edited. Last edited by: PCWyoming, | |||
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| I Deal In Lead |
I use Unique in .380 It's slow enough to pretty much fill the case to the bullet seat line. | |||
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| Member |
I cooked up 100 rounds ^^^ of Unique today and I’ll try them out this week at the range. I’ll report back if I get good results | |||
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| Prepared for the Worst, Providing the Best |
Love me some Unique. I'm honestly starting to wonder why I mess with anything else anymore for handguns. It works in just about anything I load, burns consistently, meters well, supports mild to pretty stout loadings (not case-fill sensitive), and is reasonably clean. I've even been using it in some cast-bullet loadings for some of my mil-surp rifles lately with great results. It works in everything from .32 S&W Long to .45-70! ----------------------------------------------------------- Any comments made by this poster are my own and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. | |||
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semi-reformed sailor |
My wife’s 380 leaves smudges with Unique. I really don’t worry, I’m gonna clean it anyway. “You may beat me, but you will never win.” sigmonkey-2020 “ in my opinion, anything that we can do to trigger a potential aneurysm in a leftist is a good thing and worth doing” nhtagmember 2025 | |||
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| Moderator |
My thought too. Is this an issue? __________________ "Owning a handgun doesn't make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician." -Jeff Cooper | |||
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| I Deal In Lead |
Nope, it's not an issue at all. It won't hurt anything. | |||
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| Member |
I realize that and I’m really not worried about it it’s just that I’ve been reloading since 1972 and can’t recall any of my reload cases looking that carboned up. I loaded some more rounds and added a bit more crimp and ended up having two light strikes which was probably caused by the crimp because when I did the clunk test the rounds were seated deeper into the barrel. | |||
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| I Deal In Lead |
The .380 headspaces on the case mouth, so you changed headspace when you crimped more. All you need is a light taper crimp on these little guys, just enough to iron out the small amount you opened up for charging the case. | |||
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