380acp penetration

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I normally carry remington golden sabres in the faster calibers but have found that the 380 version out of my lcp doesnt expand. I think velocity is the key since the GS bullet looks identical. I formed my opinion solely from my research and my guns YMMV. However, The Hornady Critical defense with the little red eraser in the tip seems to open up with cute little textbook petals every time. I used to think it was marketing hype but my personal results have been consistant.
 
18" penetration!?! What are you shooting... Hippos?!?
I'm 6'2" 200lbs center mass on me is 16" wide and less than 10" deep. Clothing isn't that tough and you've got at least 7 or 8 chances with a normal .380.
This is my favorite picture when it comes to explaining why 10" of penetration may easily not be enough.

Think about what you may have to shoot through to reach vitals, like shoulders and arms.
armobstacles.jpg
 
Shawn, post #6, that looks like a sweet little number.

Hey you guys, I was with a bud yesterday buying ammo and pretty much said for him to buy some Magtech 95gr jhps, $20 for 50. He bought four boxes .. instead of the way more expensive fancy rounds. Any word on these?
He also bought 500 rounds of plinkin hardball too.
Here's a pic of that slug..

MGBU380B1_med.jpg
 
Shawn, post #6, that looks like a sweet little number.

Hey you guys, I was with a bud yesterday buying ammo and pretty much said for him to buy some Magtech 95gr jhps, $20 for 50. He bought four boxes .. instead of the way more expensive fancy rounds. Any word on these?
He also bought 500 rounds of plinkin hardball too.
Here's a pic of that slug..

MGBU380B1_med.jpg
Yes in every gelatin test I've seen on Magtech ammo expansion was very poor if at all.

Here for example is one of those gelatin tests…..

http://www.goldenloki.com/ammo/gel/380acp/gel380acp.htm
 
Yes in every gelatin test I've seen on Magtech ammo expansion was very poor if at all.

Here for example is one of those gelatin tests…..

http://www.goldenloki.com/ammo/gel/380acp/gel380acp.htm
I hear you. That supplied link is odd. Many cartridges are pictured with no data/input/remark as if they were not tested. Nor is that particular cartridge represented. Thanks anyway.
He's got plenty of fancy ammo stoked anyways, way better than him not even having a pocket knife from a few months ago.
 
Personally, when I carry a .380, it's loaded with handloads comprised of the Lee 105 grain SWC loaded heavy. Oh, was that an elbow? pardon me

it's like five cents a round

th?id=i.4706593419165784&pid=1.jpg
 
Why? The thread is in a time linear fashion so one would have logically aready seen it. Are you trying to actually say something that we should know?

not everybody reads every post, many are filled with dribble (see post #34).:neener:
 
The SIG P238 has a 2.7" barrel and JHP expansion will probably not happen, especially when clothing is encountered.

Try your own tests with Hornady Critical defense in .380. You will start to think differently about the lowly .380.
 
kokapelli,any feeding issues with the winchester flat tip in your p238?
No problems at all. Actually the only ammo that doesn't feed reliably in my P238 is some Herters ammo I purchased when 380 was in short supply and that ammo won't even feed reliably in my Bersa.
 
It looks like the speer golddot jhp pennetrated just over 12 inches and expanded to .45,seems like the best of the hollow points in that test.
 
In my wife's Sig 238 I put critical defense for summer use, and critical duty for winter user because of the thicker clothing in the winter....
 
to levels far beyond anything that any ammomaker is going to sell commercialy, and it's still not equal to the feeblest 9mm load available.
I think your over estimating the difference in 380 and 9mm when fired from sub 3" barrels.

If you do some research you will find that 9mm shot from a 2.7" barrel is barely faster than Buffalo Bore 380.

Of course it's a whole different story with longer barreled guns.

Matter of fact comparing Buffalo Bore 380 to Federal 9mm 105gr Guard Dog which is what Jeff Quinn recommends for Rohrbaugh R9, the Buffalo Bore 380 is actually faster out of a P3AT than the Federal 9mm is out of the Rohrgough.
 
^
Why not do apples to apples and shoot the BB in 9mm also? They make those too you know..
not to mention in the +P flavors to boot.
 
This is what I mean about people not doing the research!

The Brassfetcher 380 gelatin tests were preformed using a Kel Tec P3AT which has a 2.7" barrel and again all of the jhp rounds did expand including the ones fired through heavy clothing into the gelatin block.

Just take a few seconds and go to the link in my previous post above.

I looked at the brassfetcher data. There is only one JHP tested against unspecified, non-standard "summer clothing". The gold standard for testing JHP expansion reliability is four layers of heavy denim cloth.
 
if you hit the arm with a decent load, that arm's disabled, dudes.
During the 1986 FBI shootout in Miami, Michael Platt was hit in both arms. He went on to kill two FBI agents afterward.

The FBI agent, Ed Mireles, who shot and finally stopped both Michael Platt and William Matix was himself shot in the forearm by a .223 bullet at the beginning of the gunfight.
 
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