380 ACP JHP Recommendation

With 380 and 32 ACP I carry small short barreled pistols. Easily concealed, but not so easy to get high muzzle velocity.

With lower muzzle vels, I tend to concentrate on penetration, rather than trying for a low-velocity effective hollow point.

This is a long winded way of saying that with the smaller pocket pistols I'm not looking to carry anything but jacketed rounds, no hollow points. Flat nose, or maybe a truncated cone of some sort, is a good idea - better than round nose - if your pistol will feed it reliably.

Just my two cents. And I have zero personal experience in terminal performance regarding my ammo choices in 380 or 32 auto, so take it for what it's worth.

I carry the Remington 88 grain HTP hollow points in my PPK, and my Beretta 84F. Never shot anything with them, but at 88 grains, I figure they're about the same weight and profile as most FMJ rounds so I figure they're no worse than FMJ. No velocity listed on the box, but I remember seeing 990 fps on a Remington website. They feed just fine in both guns. I forget how much they were, but they were reasonable, I think about $20.00 a box of 20.

I've also tried some NovX 80 grain "Monolithic copper" 80 grain hollow points. New to me anyway, it's supposed to be a hyper-velocity SD ammo. I got a couple of boxes sort of by accident when my wife picked them up for me during the worst of the shortage. I think they were about $40.00 a box for 20 rounds. They have a unique two piece stainless steel and aluminum case, with a copper hollow point bullet. I've only fired the two boxes of those, in three guns (PPK/s, 84F, and a S&W EZ) but they worked just fine in very limited shooting. They did feel like they had more "pop" shall we say. A sharper report and brighter muzzle flash, but I had no way to check the claimed velocity of 1150 FPS. One video on U-tube showed them to be understated though. I shot up the last of those, and am going to look for some more.

I carry Lehigh Defense Extreme Defender. Provides the best compromise of penetration and damage, imho...

A pretty good comparo vid -

With the current ammo available at times it is just plan hard to find defense ammo and at times practice ammo.
At the price of the Fiocchi I would buy several boxes. It is cheap enough to practice with and carry. I have never had an issue with Fiocchi while practicing, but have never tested in any type of media that would see if the hollow points expanded.

I've carried a .380 previously... I think I had Federal HydroShoks in it, originally, but my last box of factory was GoldDots. I'm not so worried about expansion so much as I am accuracy and reliable feeding... all the expansion in the world won't do you any good if you can't deliver the bullet.

M1key said:

I recommended it to my brother for his wife's S&W Shield EZ.

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Before making any future suggestions, have a gander at Lucky Gunner Labs test data.

My conclusion was that I should run hot FMJ in .380ACP.

edwardware said:

Before making any future suggestions, have a gander at Lucky Gunner Labs test data.

My conclusion was that I should run hot FMJ in .380ACP.

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Exactly what I was trying to convey, but I didn't say it as succinctly.

These little pocket guns don't generate the velocity needed to use a jacketed hollow point effectively. If the HP will open under 900 fps, there is no penetration. The projectile gets stuck in the perps coat.

An FMJ at 850 fps is effective. Especially several of them, one after the other.

Doc Samson said:

I carry Lehigh Defense Extreme Defender. Provides the best compromise of penetration and damage, imho...

A pretty good comparo vid -

Click to expand...

When I carry a .380, that's what's in it. Though I actually carry the +p version in my G42, but basically the same thing.

As Hooda Thunkit says above, several, one after the other. And with that in mind, any round will do. I've never gotten too analytical about the HP vs. FMJ thing, for any caliber. Enough of any round in the right place will at least slow someone down.

Get comfortable and proficient with your chosen gun, and practically any round will do the job, for civilian social work.

I like Hornady critical defense or any XTP load. Fiocchi, Precision One, etc. Some go with a good quality ball round, that would be fine too with a short barrel 380.

M1key said:

I handload 90 XTPs and these Northeast Reloading's 95 gr hollow points and get great results through 4 layers denim and 3 water jugs from a Glock 42.

View attachment 1096525

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I load xtp's as well...with great results. 11 to 13 inches of penetration into gel and 100% expansion with lcp, lcp2, and springfield 911.

Wham Bham said:

There are not a lot of FMJ FP options other than the Winchester White Box.

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SIG Elite 100gr FMJ is also a flat point, although WWB has a larger meplat, if I'm using that term correctly. In any case, both have been 100% reliable in every .380 I've ever owned.