.380 FMJ for personal defense?

[shad0wfax]

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The best ammunition I've seen marketed for the .380 auto is the new Hornady Critical Defense. It seems to penetrate nearly as well as ball ammunition and is designed to expand well even if light to moderate clothing interferes with the path of the bullet.

Federal Hydrashock and Winchester PDX-1 (or SXT if you can't find PDX-1) also make great defense rounds in a .380 auto. I'm not sure if Speer makes a Gold Dot for the .380 auto, but if they do, you can bet it's decent too. Remington Golden Saber is another option, but they didn't cycle well in my particular .380.

Ball ammunition really doesn't do the trick quickly enough unless you sever the spine or hit the brain. You're already facing an uphill battle to stop a threat by carrying .380 so why not take every advantage of expansion while you can?

 

[Alexcabbie]

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I kinda-sorta disagree. I loaded my .380 PPK/s with Glaser "safety slugs" for a while, but penetrationis not guaranted by a long shot. FMJ seems to be the way ti go with .380. "center of mass" includes the solar plexus. FMJ will oenetrate heavy clothing to deliver such a disabling blow.

For those who choose to carry .380, get FMJs and learn the "Mozambique drill".

.380 is a fine round for most any defense purpose the common citizen is likely to need apply it to. I don't want to kill people. I just want to stop the threat. Mere presentation of a .380 is more often than not sufficient; and if not, it will with proper shot placement stop the threat.

Sez me.....

 

[shad0wfax]

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Alexcabbie wrote:

I kinda-sorta disagree. I loaded my .380 PPK/s with Glaser "safety slugs" for a while, but penetrationis not guaranted by a long shot. FMJ seems to be the way ti go with .380. "center of mass" includes the solar plexus. FMJ will oenetrate heavy clothing to deliver such a disabling blow. [SNIP]

Hydrashock, Gold Dot, Golden Saber, Ranger/SXT, PDX-1, HST...

All of these will penetrate much more reliably than Glaser Safety Slugs will. In fact, all of them will penetrate within 10% of what an FMJ will do, with the added benefit of expansion.

Furthermore, when you shoot any of the bullets I listed at heavy clothing AND the heavy clothing does clog the point of the bullet, they penetrate EXCACTLY like an FMJ will penetrate.

In other words, when a HP fails, it becomes an FMJ (for civilian defensive purposes, auto-glass excluded).

But, the Hornady Critical Defense I mentioned (much like the Cor-Bon PowerBall) will expand reliably even when clothing gets in the way, since the polymer ball prevents the point from clogging and aids in expansion.

The point I'm making is that by carrying modern defensive-carry oriented HP ammunition you give yourself every advantage of a HP and sacrifice minimal penetration when compared to an FMJ if the bullet works as designed and it expands. This causes more damage to your target. If the bullet does fail, it behaves identically to an FMJ.

It's really a win-win situation and there's no real reason to carry FMJ unless the Hague convention is requiring you to.

 

[smash29]

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I take back what I said about the P380 being a sweet gun. Well, actually it is a pretty sweet gun when it actually goes "BOOM" but unfortunately I get the silent treatment or a "CLICK" a bit too often for comfort...

 

[Bersa.380]

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H m m m, surprised no one has mentioned this round .......

http://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=129

1200 FPS and 288 Ft*lbs .... darn tooting for a .380

If you're not going to use JHP in your .380 use FN's

 

[The Wolfhound]

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Considering that there is no official SAMMI standard for +P in .380ACP and no firearms are certified for it and most manufacturers warn against it, most of us just leave the Buffalo Bore stuff on the shelf out of an abundance of caution. It does intrigue us though.

 

[Bersa.380]

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The Wolfhound wrote:

Considering that there is no official SAMMI standard for +P in .380ACP and no firearms are certified for it and most manufacturers warn against it, most of us just leave the Buffalo Bore stuff on the shelf out of an abundance of caution. It does intrigue us though.

I also own a PX4storm in a .40 S&W and I have ran over 200 rounds of Buffalo Bore through my Storm with no problems, as I like to shoot what I carry once in a while, also I run it through my Bersa now and then with ZERO problems

I think you might worry too much .... :what:

 

[The Wolfhound]

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I have no issues with +P in my .45 or even +P+ in my 9mm. .380 is meant to be a lightweight. I try not to ask too much of it.

 

[Bersa.380]

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The Wolfhound wrote:

Considering that there is no official SAMMI standard for +P in .380ACP and no firearms are certified for it and most manufacturers warn against it, most of us just leave the Buffalo Bore stuff on the shelf out of an abundance of caution. It does intrigue us though. <<<< you mean you

BTW ..... show me the data

 

[Bersa.380]

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The Wolfhound wrote:

I have no issues with +P in my .45 or even +P+ in my 9mm. .380 is meant to be a lightweight. I try not to ask too much of it.

Depends on the .380 ....
Most POCKET .380's every one is selling these days are lightweight's and I wouldn't trust them with +P ammo. BUT if you are talking about a Bersa or a Beretta that's a different animal. = : ^ }

 

[smash29]

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shad0wfax wrote:

The best ammunition I've seen marketed for the .380 auto is the new Hornady Critical Defense. It seems to penetrate nearly as well as ball ammunition and is designed to expand well even if light to moderate clothing interferes with the path of the bullet.

Re Critical Defense: As mentioned I've been having issues with P380 and the latest addition to the FTF problem has been light primer strikes.When I called Kahr and mentioned the issue thetech asked me if I was using Critical Defense and told me that it is a common problem with the P380 when using the ammo. I had previously put about 50-100 rounds of itthrough the Kahr with no issues but after 5 or 6 failures I'm not gonna risk it any more....