Pick for .380 ammo

I like most any load with an XTP sticking out the end. The bullet offers only modest expansion, which should help promote penetration. If it expands at all. But that is a legitimate risk with just about any 380 ammo.

Need to find what shoots well for you in your gun.

There are some online reviews that show the XTP as a better HP. It helps that they are available as bullets for reloading. That way you can closely approximate the factory carry ammunition for practice.

I have been using the ARX ammunition from Inceptor. However, my needs may be different than yours. I want ammunition that is extremely barrier sensitive. Quite simply, I live in a condo, I want the extreme opposite of barrier blind. The ARX bullets are also available for reloading, to make practice ammo. However, I have found them a bit more troublesome to reload.

Summary, XTP, then read up on ARX and decide if it is what you are looking for. Of course, as the other posters have mentioned, first make sure that it works in your gun. I also carry a Glock 42 and have had no trouble with it except for, on rare occasion, my overly deep seated primers; but that is a reload issue, not a gun issue.

There is no concensus. My first choice would be Lehigh Penetrator. If it shoots reliably and accurate enough in your gun. Otherwise any FMJ/TMJ that does.

Empty the mag.
Or until the threat is stopped.

Penetration is more important than expansion.
Reliability is more important than expansion.

In a 380 ACP pocket gun, I therefore prefer FMJ.

Used to carry Cor-Bon DPX in my LCP, until I sold it and got a Diamondback DB9. Almost the same size (actually have it in the same holster) and loaded with Federal 124-gr HSTs.

I use the Fiocchi Extrema xtp load. No ballistic testing, just function testing in my Beretta Pico. I'm not dedicated to jhp in .380 and the xtp hollow point may split the difference for those of us torn between jhp and fmj. In other calibers the xtp bullet is considered and outdated bullet with poor expansion. In .380 it may provide just enough expansion to be worthwhile without being detrimental. This caliber is a compromise from the beginning so you'll have to draw the line somewhere. I would fall back on hardcast bullets or fmj before going too far the other direction.

I think the short answer is "No." There isn't a consensus on a carry load for the 380 pistols. In these 380 threads I always read where people recommend ammo that really hasn't performed well in FBI tests or against the IWBA protocol.

Since you have a Glock 42 you can just refer to ShootingTheBull410's test of Precision One XTPs

SeanSw said:

I'm not dedicated to jhp in .380 and the xtp hollow point may split the difference for those of us torn between jhp and fmj.

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agreed.......so I decided to do some testing.

After researching 380 JHP and the data available on the Lucky Gunner site and Shooting the Bull’s Ammo Quest. I decided to test two of the 380 JHP rounds that made the top three in the Shooting the Bull (STB) Ammo Quest (Only one of the two was tested by Lucky Gunner). Here are the combined results:

Hornady XTP 95 grain

Lucky Gunner: 14.10” ave. penetration / .39” ave. expansion

S.T.B.: 12.33” ave. penetration / .43” ave. expansion

Mark40: 14.68” ave. penetration / .42” ave. expansion

Fiocci XTP 95 grain

S.T.B.: 13.62” ave. penetration / .41” ave. expansion

Mark40: 14.31” ave. penetration / .39” ave. expansion


NOTE:
The Lucky Gunner and STB test were from 10', my testing (Glock 42) was from 5' due to limitations in the test area.

Wherever you see 16+ on my data that means it exited the 16" block of 10% clear ballistics gel.

Wherever you see two figures, the lower figure is where the bullet stopped, the higher is the stretch cavity

I have been sold on XTP bullet design since i saw what they do to a deer.

On the other hand.....
Here is a Hornady Critical Defense .380 bullet that i recovered from the inside of a 2liter bottle filled with water. It didnt pass through one bottle.
??




I wont buy any more of them.

With these 380 threads there are usually at least 2 people who chime in and recommend Hornady Critical Defense, but there are a lot of test results out there where the Critical Defense just doesn't do well.

I try not to get caught up in ammo selection too much in .380, with my only rule (for myself, of course) being a decent JHP round in guns with a barrel at least three inches long. Any barrels less than that in length gets a FMJ or FNEB load. The guns I have in the caliber are a Bersa Thunder, Grendel P10, and a Taurus TCP. As of now, the loads in them are (respectively) Winchester "Defend" 95-grain JHP, Remington-UMC 95-grain FNEB, and Winchester "Train" 95-grain FMJ (truncated.)

The Grendel isn't carried, but it was left loaded the last time it was put back in the safe.

These loads are readily-available around me, affordable enough for me to shoot them now and then, and work in my guns.

I wouldn’t worry about using FMJ, except that most FMJ is loaded to price point, and doesn’t even shoot to the 380’s full capability.
I wish I had a case of the old GECO FMJ made in Germany that I used to buy. Beautiful ammo with cupronickel jacketed bullets, and lacquer sealant on the primer and case mouth. It was much more powerful than any of the domestic stuff.
As it is, the, Beretta 84F in my belt right now is loaded with 14 Underwood high pressure XTP’s.

Armored farmer said:

I have been sold on XTP bullet design since i saw what they do to a deer.

On the other hand.....
Here is a Hornady Critical Defense .380 bullet that i recovered from the inside of a 2liter bottle filled with water. It didnt pass through one bottle.
??



View attachment 795126
I wont buy any more of them.

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It’s hard to beat a xtp. I also use them on deer. Great results.

In MY LCP, Speer Lawman is the most accurate.

Why buy Honady, when you can buy PrecisionOne. And they use Hornady HP/XTP bulliets. Also rated at the top with Shootingthebull. I have found it the most accurate ammo I have shot in all my 380"s.I buy the Mega box of 250 rds. for $69.00.
Actually I now shoot their Plus P.

925 fps standard
975 Plus P
The Standard is a very mild recoil round and so is the Plus P.

C0untZer0 said:

With these 380 threads there are usually at least 2 people who chime in and recommend Hornady Critical Defense, but there are a lot of test results out there where the Critical Defense just doesn't do well.

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And yet I seem very comfortable using them.

Maybe there isn't a consensus on what constitutes "good" terminal ballistics.

If you're not going to use the FBI tests or IWBA protocol as objective standards then anyone can put forth their own idea of what makes a desirable carry load.

Before ShootingTheBull410 did his extensive series of tests, most of the gel tests I'd seen showed 380 hollow points top out at 10" penetration with FMJ, even truncated flat nosed penetrating 17-18 inches and even zipping out the back of 19" blocks.

There didn't seem to be a way to get the round to penetrate between 12 to 18 inches. ShootingTheBull410's testing uncovered a few rounds that penetrate between 12 to 18 inches in bare gel and through 4x denim. The Lehigh Xtreme Penrator the ARX, the Hornady XTP (especially Precision One's Loading of it), and Federal's Hydra Shok.

The Hornady Critical Defense out of the Glock 42 seems to deliver about 9" to 9.25" of penetration:

beagler said:

It’s hard to beat a xtp. I also use them on deer. Great results.

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On deer from a .380, or other cartridge?

RPZ said:

On deer from a .380, or other cartridge?

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No.... I use a 44 cal 240 gr xtp

I carry a Remington RM380 in my pocket any time I’m not carrying something bigger.

I carry the Buffalo Bore hardcast standard pressure.

I want penetration.

I wish some of those gel tests showed what those .380 hollowpints do if they hit a pork rib before they enter the gel.

agent89 said:

Is there any consensus on a carry load for the 380 pistols that is readily available and functions at least most of the time well. I've seen a lot of online crap some super long tests and others just winging it. I have a 42, and it shoots well. Cheers.

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I went with Fiocci XTP that has been very favorably tested / reviewed by STB.

I would also buy Federal HydraShok, if easier to obtain locally. It’s also had good testing performance and has been very reliable for me.

I handload most of my carry ammunition using Hornady XTP. If you want factory loadings of XTP, might I recommend Fiocchi. They even use the XTP in .25 ACP ammunition.

I handload 3.1 grains of W-231 under a 90 grain XTP for my wife's Bersa. Have yet had a failure of any kind with this load.