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Hey folks,

All the reloading I have ever done has been rife cartridges. Those cartridges will have published loads with 3+ grains of difference between minimum and maximum. Because of the ammunition shortage or supply chain issue (you pick), I am trying my hand at handgun cartridges. My first loading was for a Glock 42 shooting a 90 Hornady in front of 2.7 grains of Ramshot Zip. The published load data from Hodgdons is 2.7 (800 fps and 14,700lb) to 3.4 (950 fps and 18,500lb) grains of flakes. Loading this light a charge was different for me. I couldn't use my powder dispenser or beam scale because it wouldn't go that low. So I used my powder trickler and an electronic scale.

Results:
Every round shot but failed to cycle the slide.

My window between min and max loads is .7 grains. When refining my rifle loads, I start increasing my charges by .3 grains. If I increase by that standard I have two more loads to test: 3.0 and 3.3. If I follow the 10% rule I am at 3 loads: 2.9, 3.1, 3.3.

Question:
Should I proceed as normal with 10% or .3 grain increments?

I realize this is kind of a no brainer; always work your way up slowly. In this case what is slowly?

Thank you in advance.

Don’t make it hard .7 forget the in between. Never used zip, but every min load on a PPK cycled. Other thing a beam scale that won’t measure that low should be tossed, same for the measure.

My hand gun reloading got it's start back in the late 70s. I only had one revolver, a Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt. I read all the shooting mags. especially Hand Loader and Rifle. Shooting times had Skeeter Skelton that was full of advice on loading for the 45 Colt. Then there was George Nonte with lots of info every month. After a while I leaned that 8 and one half grains of Unique with a 250 to 260 grain cast bullet. Over the years I up graded the load to 9.5 grains for the Ruger 45 Colt, a handful of S&W model 25s, a Colt anaconda in 45 Colt. All cast bullets were sized .454, with LBT blue. For Bullseye matches I used an old Python and a new Colt Gold Cup. I didn't move up the scoring and finally asked a an old timer how to improve my scores. He set my=e up with a training regime along with some reloading advice. For the Python he suggested using 357 mag brass, 4.5 grains of Bullseye powder, Federal primer and 125 grain SWC. For the Gold Cup it was 4.5 grains of Bullseye.\, Federal primers, 200 grain cast bullets. I set my Dillon Square Deals one for 357 and one for 45acp for the above loads 25 years ago and have not changed the settings. Back then I shot the 45 Colts most so I set the Dillon 650 up with 9.5 grains of Unique, Winchester LR primers, 255 grain bullets and never changed it.

I have no experience with Ramshot Zip, so I cannot help you there. I do have a lot of experience with the Glock 42, numerous factory loads, and reloads. The Glock 42 has a dual recoil spring assembly and really needs full strength ammo to function. This is especially true with a gun that does not have many rounds downrange.

Factory 90 grain ammo generally has a muzzle velocity of 910-955 fps out of my two 42s. This includes Hornady Critical Defense, Custom and American Gunner, Federal low recoil Hydra-Shoks and Speer Gold Dots, with most on the lower to mid-range of those numbers. Hornady Custom and American Gunner use XTP bullets and run 909-924 fps. I cannot recall any malfunctions with any of these. Remington UMC 95 grain ball runs 872. I use 95 grain jacketed flat points for my reloads and they are running 878 fps and function fine. Note that extreme spreads are higher with the 42 than with any other handgun I have had, running in the 40s to 60s across most ammo, some even higher.

The load data you show for 90 grain ammo (800-950) looks really low on the bottom end. I don’t know if that is a function of the powder characteristics or not. (Is Ramshot Zip a near-optimal powder for .380?) I got the impression that you do not have a chronograph. But, based on your description that the gun fires but will not cycle, I suspect that low powered ammo is your problem. I would bump the charges up gradually and see where the gun starts to cycle reliably. I'll usually load up a little ladder of 5 rounds each up to the max. The Glock 42 is a robust .380 compared to some other .380s on the market.

I hope you get it figured out.

Long ago I stopped using an adjustable powder measure and scale for handgun loading. For the last 25 + years I have used an RCBS Little Dandy measure, whatever LD rotor threw a charge within Min/Max of the powder I was using is what I use. Never had any issues loading for handgun this way. For .44 Special/.44 Magnum I've used the Skeeter Skelton load of 7.5 gr. of Unique for both and cast bullet weight didn't matter. For the last 30 + years I've been shooting a 200gr. RNFP bullet with complete satisfaction.

As Cheyenne points out, the 42 is a robust gun and needs pretty much maximum loads to operate properly. From my experience, I would say the 380 ACP round as a whole is meant to be run near max. I've used Zip but not in the 380 but I have used a dozen other powders and they have all worked if max or near max charges were used.

I have a couple handfuls of 380s running from the S&W Shield on back to first year Savage and FN pistols and every last one of them runs most reliably when at max or within a tenth or so of max. I generally load a tenth of a grain under and have two pistols that have an occasional bobble. And they are at opposite ends of the spectrum with one being a modern Taurus TCP and the other a 1920s H&R.

I use a Hornady Lock-n-Load measure with the pistol insert for the 380. It has been accurate and reliable whether used in a single stage or a progressive machine. The progressive gets used with spherical/ball powders as they meter well with the occasional stick or flake powders being loaded on the single stage. These powders show a little more variation which is one reason I load a little off the max if just throwing powder from the measure. I have an old Pacific and a more recent Lyman beam scales which measure these light loads with no problem.

I’ve had some of my best success in the 380 with Ramshot True Blue. I also run a Glock 42 and I can tell you it likes to be run at the upper/top end. Can share my results if it helps you?

Mark in GA

You sure your problems arent with you OAL, and crimp? When i first started loading for pistol. It was a disaster.

Had a bucket of 45's that the slide on the 1911 would stop about 1/16" from lock up. Pissed me off

Thank you so much folks. What was said about the Glock double spring needing a hotter load does make sense.

After years of loading 37grs of this and 67.5grs of that, 2.7 - 3.4 just seems weird. I haven't shot my lastest load of 3grns yet but if it cycles cool. If it doesn't or even if it does, I'm going to try 3.4 through a chronograph just to see the velocity. If it's safe, I'll stick with that. I need this thing to go bang and cycle properly everytime she pulls the trigger.