Best .380 Pocket Piece

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Khar P380, 600 plus rounds through mine and carry daily. LCP, 500 rounds through that one and it is still in the carry rotation. Colt Mustang Pocketlight, stays in the safe now since I always carried it with round in chamber, safety on and hammer down. To me, the two additional steps to engage, safety and hammer, are eliminated by the P380 and that Khar trigger is almost as good as the SAO Mustang or now Sig 238 clone.
 
Seacamp may be best, but for many dollors less, the NAA will eat any rd u put in it, ss, and very close copy of the Seacamp!
 
My only experience has been with the Kel-Tec P3AT. I bought it last year because the LCPs couldn't be had at any price for quite awhile there. Ruger just couldn't meet the demand. I was told it would be a matter of months before they'd be available. So, there one day was a P3AT at a good price ($250) and I grabbed it.

It's been flawless through several hundred rounds. I've gotten to the point that I feel confident I could place rounds where they need to go at close (10 yds or less) range.

I carry it a lot during the hot weather. Slips right into a pocket and my holster even provides for a spare magazine. I feel well armed.
 
I know this may be a bit of a hard request, but is there anybody out there who could post a picture of the Kel-Tec, LCP, Seecamp, Desert Eagle, and Kahr in the same picture? It'd be interesting to see them all lined up together to have a size comparison.
 
alaskanativeson: all u mentioned are small. really if ur looking just for the smallest, then u might be giving away alot to quality etc. and price. you have to decide what price range you are interested in and then starting working from there. each gun u mentioned has its plus's and minuses. some have good dovetails sites on the, some can have nite sites, most can not. some have standard rifling, some have polygonal rifling.,, some have auto slide locks, some are stainless, some are polymer/stainless, some are just blued steel, some have crapy triggers, some have smooth triggers, some are ammo sensitive, some are not. ALL will ride in ur pocket with east.

Bottom line, u get what you pay for...
 
Of the small .380's I've owned the P3AT, the LCP, and the P238. I have no experience with the others. Of the three the Sig had to go back to the factory for repair so I traded it off when it came back. I've had the KelTec the longest and have had no trouble with it. I have just recently bought the Ruger and have been very happy with it. The Sig was the best finished of the three followed by the Ruger.

I bought the Sig to replace the KelTec my wife took then bought the Ruger to replace the Sig I traded off. After getting the Ruger I loaded it and the KelTec with snap caps and handed them both to my wife and asked her to pick the one she wanted to carry. To my surprise she chose the KelTec. That left me with the Ruger but I would have been OK with either.

My daily carry is a Taurus Mil-Pro or a S&W M&P 45c but when I need something smaller I reach for the LCP .380. Fits nicely in a pocket and doesn't weigh me down.
Dallas Jack
 

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IMHO...

The Colt 380 Government. I shot one once and it was the best 380 that I ever shot.
 
KelTec P3AT, Ruger LCP, NAA Guardian, Bersa, Sig P238, Kahr P380, and a host of others to yet jump on the bandwagon. Try them out and see.
 
The Colt 380 Government. I shot one once and it was the best 380 that I ever shot.
Click to expand...

I own one and it's OK with it's original magazines. But I have four aftermarket magazines too, since originals are not available, and the pistol is iffy with all of them. Sometimes it fires a magful, sometimes it won't get through a load without one or two hangs.

Also, parts are not available for the most part. Although it's a neat little gun it cannot be considered for reliable carry use.

I have a 1956 Llama .380 too. It does just a little bit worse than the Colt.

I've had Seecamps (two of them), and own and like a Sig 232. That Sig is dead reliable all the time, but it's heavier than I want sometimes. I DID NOT like Seecamps and their weird spring and fussy eating.

The .380 I put in my pocket if I'm carrying small is a Keltec 3PaT. That little kicking monster has never failed to feed or fire in three years of mistreatment and disrespect. It fires all ammo just the same. Try as I have I just haven't been able to fault the silly thing. $260. - the parkerized version.

If I'm carrying a .380 I'll have a .45 somewhere close by.
 
The p238 seems silly from a pocket carry standpoint (won't the hammer get crap underneath? How will you protect the safety?) but I lust after it so. You'd need to get an IWB made for it, I think. Something like the supertuck mini.
 
I own the P3AT and the LCP.

Here are my observations:
-The P3AT is ugly and looks like a cheap toy compared to the LCP.
The LCP is far far nicer in fit, finish, and overall design looks.
-The P3AT's grip is better because the checkering is more aggressive and it is thicker (just a hair). The LCP is thinner right at the top, so it isn't as grippy as the Kel-Tec.
-The plastic on the LCP is smoother, so it slides in and out of a pocket a tiny bit easier.
-The P3AT's trigger is actually a little bit nicer. It seems to roll off when it breaks vs breaking hard like the LCP. For me, this makes it just a hair easier to shoot more accurately than the LCP.
-The sights on both guns suck equally.
-the LCP spits brass a tiny bit more consistently.

Overall, the advantages/disadvantages of either gun are not really big enough to matter one way or the other.
The biggest issue is the grip. If you have big hands or sweaty hands then the P3AT may be the better choice.
if you like the look of quality then pick the LCP.

Both guns have been flawless with Fiocchi FMJ and Hornady Critical Defense.
I bought both within the last two months. The P3AT was $260 and the LCP $280.
 
I had a P3AT which didn't work out of the box, after the recommended "break-in" period, after a "fluff and buff" or after a trip back to Kel-Tec. When it did work, I shot it a LOT more accurately than I thought I would. Carried like a charm, but if it doesn't work it's not much good.

I now pocket carry a S&W 442 .38 Special. It's noticably larger, heavier, holds less ammo, recoils more and I don't shoot it as well but it WORKS. I have found very few scenarios in which I can't carry the 442 but would have been able to carry the P3AT.

I like the feel of the LCP but most folks say they send more of those back than the Kel-Tec. Could be due to the recall, as Ruger has quite the reputation for reliability. Then again, they got that rep by selling clunky guns built like bank-vault doors, not plastic micro-compact autos and piston-driven ARs.

The Micro Eagle is the coolest looking, and most solid feeling. It also looks like I'd blow a finger off with it.

I don't trust Kahrs because of the one's I've shot.

If I were to get another .380 it would be a Bersa Thunder (from what I've heard and because of the price). If I had a pile of money then I'd buy 'em all and test 'em all until I found a good one, but since I don't I went with the j-frame airweight. The Ruger LCR looks promising too, if they don't get recalled.
 
Fumbler hit it on the head. Nicer fit and finish on the LCP, but I prefer to shoot my P3AT. The smooth grip on the LCP makes it tough to hang onto compared to the Kel Tec. No failures of any kind on the Kel Tec through 500+ rounds. Fewer rounds through the Ruger, but no failures there either.
 
Do they make seecamps that work with anything other than Winchester Silvertips yet???

For the OP, I like all small guns. So I have both plastic .380's you ask about and then some. But each person's taste and likes are different. Try to hold one or two of each, and then shoot them somehow. I make an offer to take them all to the range for anyone that asks which is better....

Justin
 
whats that carbine next to your seecamp?
Click to expand...

Ha! That's a HK Mark 23 SOCOM of course - my other pocket gun!

My experience has been that my Seecamp is extremely happy with either Speer Gold Dots, Winchester Silvertips, or Hornady XTPs. The NAA Guardian is also a great pocket gun but weighs quite a bit more than the Seecamp.
 
I know this may be a bit of a hard request, but is there anybody out there who could post a picture of the Kel-Tec, LCP, Seecamp, Desert Eagle, and Kahr in the same picture? It'd be interesting to see them all lined up together to have a size comparison.
Click to expand...

Go here then scroll down to the bottom and click on the PDF file link in the last line and it will pull up a printable picture guide with most of the small handguns and their dimensions.


http://www.mouseguns.com/pocksize.htm
 
Does anybody make a good belt holster for the Micro Eagle? I found one company in Sarasota, Fl. that makes one, but it's almost $200.
 
I like the Seecamp, but I could buy 3 LCP's for the price, or 2 Sig P238's, or 1 Kar P-380 and $500 worth of ammo. Maybe someday.
 
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