| Posted: Mon Mar 9th, 2009 04:45 AM |
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meistermash
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Anyone try rolling their own 380 snake loads? Short of butchering 9mm Luger loaded speer rounds, how would you do it? Couple of gas checks over a light charge of powder? Looking for some ideas. The 38/357 capsules that speer sales will not fit in the barrel. I was thinking of cutting them off short and using them. Of course they would have been hand chambered.
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| Posted: Mon Mar 9th, 2009 01:01 PM |
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Charley
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Probably 9x19 brass, sized in a .380 sizer, then find a die to reduce the front of the case to approx throat/bore dimensions. Gas check over powder, shot (wouldn't hold much!) and a cardwad over the top. Crimp the wad with the .380 seater/crimp die. With proper powder and charge, you might even get them to feed from the magazine.
Never tried anything this small. I do load shot in my .45 ACPs, found an RCBS shotshell die for next to nothing when a commercial reloader around here went TU a few years back. It basicly does what I described to you with cut down .308 brass.
Have to admit, hard to see if it would be worth developing. Shot load is gonna be miniscule, 100-110 grains max, pattern at 10 feet would be sparse at best. Thrown rock might be more effective. "Course, handloaders aren't known for backing away from projects that don't make financial sense. Every body talks about the money saved handloading, nobody talks about the times we spend big bucks in equipment and components to develop a load that is almost as good as can be bought over the counter!
Last edited on Mon Mar 9th, 2009 01:07 PM by Charley
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| Posted: Mon Mar 9th, 2009 02:06 PM |
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wheezengeezer
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Charley wrote:
"Course, handloaders aren't known for backing away from projects that don't make financial sense. Every body talks about the money saved handloading, nobody talks about the times we spend big bucks in equipment and components to develop a load that is almost as good as can be bought over the counter!"
you kinda nailed it there charley.
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| Posted: Mon Mar 9th, 2009 03:49 PM |
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SCSlim
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Wonder why Speer doesn't make .380 shot loads. They could probably sell the capsules for handloaders, or sell them pre-filled with #12 shot. CCI could roll them out pretty easily, one would think. They just about have the rest of the handgun market covered, from .22LR to .45 Colt. They already make 9mm shot caps and Blazer .380 "brass" - shouldn't be too hard to match them up. You might be able to get away with using veggie card wads under and over the shot charge (the kind of wads one might use in a Kentucky rifle or cap 'n ball revolver of .36 caliber).
That being said, I've sent several buzzworms to the promised land with various .380's (Browning BDA, Davis, I70 "Makarov"), with cast lead round noses, FMJs and hollow points. All one-shot kills, except for one ol' rattler that seemed to dodge the first two shots - damnest thing I ever saw. Also dispatched a number of them with .22LR "Blazer" ammo, CCI .22 shot loads, and .45 auto hardball.
Shot loads are handy and fun, but they're not terribly effective beyond 20 feet or so. If you draw the line there or closer as to whether the snake lives or dies, they should work fine. Beyond 20 feet, I'd go with just about any handgun bullet, or else let the snake go about its business in peace.
Last edited on Mon Mar 9th, 2009 03:51 PM by SCSlim
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| Posted: Mon Mar 9th, 2009 08:03 PM |
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meistermash
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Thanks for the idea Charley. You are right on fellas when you are talking about nothing stopping a hand loader. When no factory loaded rounds exist or the load that should doesn't, that just makes it all the funner. I know that it would be a short range number, but I MUST try. I don't know why running a longer case in a taper crimp die wouldn't reduce the diameter enough for a little extra shot room. Say maybe a cut off 223, or one of the longer 9milimeters. I have 9mm largo cases. Keeping the COA Lenth the same.
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| Posted: Wed Mar 11th, 2009 09:02 PM |
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meistermash
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OK, here is what I discovered last night. If you are real careful with the inertia type bullet puller, you can remove the shot capsule from a cci 9mm luger. Give it a few taps and keep checking until the capsule is almost out of the case. Use your fingers and pry it the rest of the way out. The base wad will not come out with the capsule. you will have to pry around on it some and then put it back in the puller to get it out. The full and not spilled capsule weighs 60 grains. I don't yet have a set of 380 dies so that's as far as I can go before they get here. While the weight of the shot is not a problem, can I get it seated in the case far enough? That mite be the deal buster.
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| Posted: Tue Mar 24th, 2009 08:27 PM |
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meistermash
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Ok, first try at these. The pulled 9mm luger shot capsule from cci. 3.0 grain of unique. I had a helluva time squishing it far enough into the star line 380 cases. I suspect that I should be useing something less bulky like bullseye. I believe that I have compressed the powder charge. It is too long for the magazine and too long to eject with the pistol assembled.  I have a Ruger LCP. I did fire one of these. The case showed no signs of pressure. It did cycle the action gently. For comparisons, I tested a 9mm luger shot capsule next to the 380 hand loaded one. Testing was done on unmolested unsuspecting beverage containers at "Holy Cow there's a Daggone Snake" range. The penetration of the two loads was comparable. The pattern was not. I suspect that a lighter denser load of powder with the capsule hopefully seated deeper will improve things somewhat. I looked all over for a set of 380 dies. Most known online sources were back ordered. Eventually, I just ordered a carbide size die and a taper crimp die separately, relying on my other die sets for the expander.
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| Posted: Wed Mar 25th, 2009 11:16 PM |
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Dirtkicker
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Sounds like an interesting experiment, but that's about all. I don't think there's gonna be much real field use for such a round. I even usually bypass .38/.357 shot loads and go straight to .44s or .45s, and even those big boys leave a lot to be desired. Best thing I have found for slitherees is a sharp shovel or a nice long stick. Of course, that leaves out all the fun of developing a new load!
Handloaders are the new alchemists!
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