Smaug
Member
Kudos to Johnny for stepping in. I hate to see threads reduced to bickering.
I believe there are a couple other factors we should look into here:
1) 380s will give their user the potential for a "0-shot stop." This is what we're after. It is even better than a 1-shot stop.
2) This is just a guess, but I'll wager that a lot of folks who don't know much about guns or calibers choose 380s because of their combination of a handy size, perceived adequate power level, and lack of punishing recoil. These are the same types of folks who may not always place their shots as well as we THR members would.
This is enough to skew the statistics that Ayoob and others have reference to.
Rhetorical Example: A gun owner wannabe walks into a gun shop. Starts looking at handguns for possible use for self defense. He handles a dozen different guns and find that he likes the size & shape of the 380s the best. The clerk mentions that he would be better off with a 9mm or larger, on account of them historically being more effective. He rents a couple guns, and decides he'll take his chances with a 380. He goes to the range, shoots a box of ammo, goes home, and puts the gun in his nightstand or holster. Practices maybe once per year. Do you think this guy can place shots from his 380 as well as most of us could? Doubtful.
This is just one side factory that could skew the statistics.
Here's another one:
A cop has a 40 S&W as his carry piece, and a PPK as his back-up and off-duty piece. He is out running errands, and someone commits a crime. He pulls his gun and shoots the guy. Do you think a 380 with a what, 3" barrel has the same chance of putting the rounds where they count as the 4-1/2" barreled 40? It is hard to compare apples to apples here.
If we could compare shootings with sub-compact 9mm guns to mid-to-full-size 380s, it would be a more fair comparison.
I'm trusting my Bersa 380 and my abilities for home defense duty.
I believe there are a couple other factors we should look into here:
1) 380s will give their user the potential for a "0-shot stop." This is what we're after. It is even better than a 1-shot stop.
2) This is just a guess, but I'll wager that a lot of folks who don't know much about guns or calibers choose 380s because of their combination of a handy size, perceived adequate power level, and lack of punishing recoil. These are the same types of folks who may not always place their shots as well as we THR members would.
This is enough to skew the statistics that Ayoob and others have reference to.
Rhetorical Example: A gun owner wannabe walks into a gun shop. Starts looking at handguns for possible use for self defense. He handles a dozen different guns and find that he likes the size & shape of the 380s the best. The clerk mentions that he would be better off with a 9mm or larger, on account of them historically being more effective. He rents a couple guns, and decides he'll take his chances with a 380. He goes to the range, shoots a box of ammo, goes home, and puts the gun in his nightstand or holster. Practices maybe once per year. Do you think this guy can place shots from his 380 as well as most of us could? Doubtful.
This is just one side factory that could skew the statistics.
Here's another one:
A cop has a 40 S&W as his carry piece, and a PPK as his back-up and off-duty piece. He is out running errands, and someone commits a crime. He pulls his gun and shoots the guy. Do you think a 380 with a what, 3" barrel has the same chance of putting the rounds where they count as the 4-1/2" barreled 40? It is hard to compare apples to apples here.
If we could compare shootings with sub-compact 9mm guns to mid-to-full-size 380s, it would be a more fair comparison.
I'm trusting my Bersa 380 and my abilities for home defense duty.