I've been wondereing about something and can think of no better place to get an answer than here. I was going to ask this on one of the other gun forums. But you always get a couple of A-HOLES that wants to and their 2cents worth, that you would gladly get then 5 cents to shut up. The short time I've been a member here I've notice this is not just another gun forum. Its more like a brother-hood where everyone is looking out for the other, and willing to help instead of ridcule, ***** at or make fun of. I think I've found a new home where I can get the answers I'm looking for.... Thank You all for that. Now back to the question: Can a .380 (commonly called a 9mm short) be shot from a 9mm weapon? Be it kel-tec or any other...
OGT. Welcome, and you are right, things are just a little bit different here. While .380 is "9mm short" it is not something that you should be firing from 9mm. Besides the obvious it won't feed from the magazine issues, I would have some major concern about barrel design. A weapon mfg. counts on the expanding case sealing the barrel in just the right amount in order for the explosive gasses to propel the bullet out. A shorter cartridge in a barrel that is designed for a longer cartridge just might not seal correct and that could spell disaster. A second issue that comes to mind is where the bullet starts its path. Again, most barrels are designed so that the bullet starts very close to the rifling of the barrel. If the bullet starts its projection back further in the chamber there is no saying what might be happening to it as it hits the rifling. I'm no expert on design but it doesnt seem to me to be a good idea. -Scott PS - one of the things that makes us a little bit different is that we usually try and keep our language pretty clean. The net nanny changed some of your words for you and a couple of others push how we normally talk around here. Just an observation for you to do with as you may.
OPINION ONLY!!!! DO NOT do it on purpose. Both 9mm and 380 headspace on the front of the cartridge. The 380 could possibly go 2mm farther into the chamber than the 9mm. I messed up one day and fired a 32 acp from my P3AT. The round fired, but didn't cycle the slide. You might be able to do it but it's not designed to be that way.
pregnant dog.... well that worked into the sentance very well. Duhhhhh But I get the ideal I'll be careful what words I choose in the future.. So you're saying that the 380 can be fired in the 9, be not in a safe manner... Thank you
Another consideration. (same as Zeke's reply, I guess he types faster ) the auto pistol cartridges like 0.380 and 9mm use the mouth of the case to head space. that is the case mouth hits a ridge bored in the barrel so it will not go any farther. this leaves just a little room for the cartridge to slide in the chamber when the breach is closed. when the firing pin hits the primer, it first forces the cartridge till it hits the case mouth chamber ridge. IT MIGHT (and does sometime) be possible for the extractor to hold a shorter case sufficiet for the firing pin to fire the round. now with the excessive chamber diameter, the bullet will not seal the expanding gases going foward and some will be lost before the bullet gets there also the bullet will have a lot of free room to get off center before it enters the tight fitting throat, then barrel. thus could you ...maybe (if there was a dire need) should you ...NO
No, thank you. I seem to remember L4E accidentally loading up a .380 case thinking it was a 9mm. As the story goes he was getting .223 ft/lbs out of a 9mm load that he was shooting in his subby one day. In the mix was a .380 case that he mistook for a 9mm and so he loaded it up and it fired like the rest of them. In hindsight he agreed it probably wasn't the safest thing to do and blamed it on reloading at some ridiculous hour in the morning. I don't know if he gets to the part of KTOG or not so you may want to PM him for the rest of the story.
Top right of the post is a quote button. Hit it and you get the quote in a box. Don't feel bad. I had to ask also.
OGT..Welcome and you have found out that you are right about this board being much different than most others. Everyone here is friendly and willing to help anyway they can. I also have looked, but not joined, at some of the other boards and am happy where I landed.. John
The .380 case measures .373"-.374" end to end. It is a basically straight case, .680" long. The 9mm Luger case measures .380" at the mouth and .391" at the head. It is a tapered case .754" long. Assuming the 9mm extractor holds the .380 ACP close enough to the breach face for the firing pin to reach & fire it, the case will swell to fit the 9mm chamber and come out with a pronounced "Guppy Belly" shape. It probably will not be powerful enough to cycle the action. It probably isn't terribly dangerous either. But you shouldn't do it! rcmodel
A couple of years ago, some friends and I took our boss out to shoot her NIB Sig 9mm. The darn brand new, expensive pistol would not cycle at all with either of 2 mags. It was a $700 single shot gun, that is, until I noticed that her 9 was a 40. Oops... It ran great with the right ammo. Back about 1980, I was duck hunting with a friend. His dad was a game warden and a gunsmith. He grew up around guns and knew a lot about them. I was shooting a 20 gauge and he was shooting a 16. He ran out of shells and asked to borrow some of mine. I thought he was crazy; he is, but that's a different story. After questioning his wisdom and being assured it was not problem, I motioned toward an open box of yellow shells. I cowered in the bottom of the blind with by back to him while he charged his Sweet16 and blasted 3 rounds over the decoys as proof. It worked just fine and we killed a few more ducks before getting into the mud boat and leaving. However, this is not a recommendation. Last weekend my son was here. He was helping me photograph and catalog my guns and guitars. Later, we were cleaning up and organizing everything. He was unloading some G18 mags that go with my subbie and found a 380 round in the middle of one mag. I thought it was just a dirty gun as it had several hundred rounds through it, but now I think I know why I had a couple of FTF at the KTOG National Blast in KY. :-[ Better safe than sorry. Use the exact, correct caliber for every gun you shoot.
Yep, wrong ammo can be bad news. Had a customer last year at the ranch where I guide deer huts put a .270 round into a 7mm and it blew the door off the bottom and nearly blinded him with powder burns.
