which .380

I'm more about the gun than capacity.

I'll take an extra mag - comes to that.
That said and acknowledging the weight, I gotta go Sig 232 stainless.

Very smooth and snag-free.
Stainless so I don't worry about it.
Extremely natural point in my hand.
Very accurate.
Very reliable.
Not picky about ammo.
Extremely safe with minimal controls.
Semi-shrouded hammer is well covered to limit snagging yet fully operational should one wish to initiate fire in DA.
Very quick field strip.
Nice selection of aftermarket grips.
Good sights and upgradeable.
Excellent holster options - a must!

Because I am extremely happy with the pistol and in fact am always on the hunt for 2 more at "a price", these are the things I've learned to live with:

Old world "European style" grip heel mag catch.
Heavy as a concession to the age of the design and my desire to carry stainless.

I don't consider capacity a detractor as it goes hand in hand with any given daily decision to utilize this as a carry gun rather than something of a greater caliber/capacity. 'Sides - I'm one of those guys - perhaps whistling past the grave yard - who does not foresee running gun battles with cartel operatives in my future.

I make a point of shooting this as I find it from my wife's purse. Never misses a beat regardless of the degree of purse detritus/rubble it may have picked up.

Todd.

I chose the Taurus tcp 738 despite lots of internet bad mouthing the Taurus I found it to be an excellent accurate little gun, easy to carry and shoot. Never had it fail in past 4-5 years.

The Kel-Tec & Ruger are fine for a striker fired .380 guns. But I really like the SIG 238! Great sights, good trigger & very well built. The Colt Mustang is nice also, but I like the 238 better!

krupparms said:

The Kel-Tec & Ruger are fine for a striker fired .380 guns. But I really like the SIG 238! Great sights, good trigger & very well built. The Colt Mustang is nice also, but I like the 238 better!

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P3AT, LCP, TCP, and the Hellcat are all hammer fired, not striker fired. The hammer is bobbed and shrouded by the slide.

Side note.

Checked out a Mustang XSE.
Awesome gun.

tutti said:

so far i like the walters an the sig 232 over the 238 even though i am basiclly into1911 stlye.... hard choices... still leaning a bit to the G42 ?

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So which of those have you actually shot?

I will be interested to which one you like the best.

Anyone had a chance to get hands-on with a Kimber Micro yet?

Glock 42 is very nice

TUTTI,

I was in the same boat, looking for a small, concealable, but still useful pocket pistol.

I now carry the GLOCK 42. It is just large enough for me to get a good grip, has good sights for its size, an easy to shoot trigger and the GLOCK reliability.
For the purpose of pocket carry, it really does not have a down side in my experience. Even the recoil is not bad.

I previously used either a SIG 232 when wearing loose clothes that could conceal it, not easy in a pocket holster or a WALTHER PPK, much more concealable, but not as good a combat pistol as the SIG 232.

The SIG 232 (aluminum framed version) has very good trigger, SIG DECOCKER which is a HUGE IMPROVEMENT over the slide mounted decocker/safety of the PPK, much better sights (mine has night sites), very good grip stocks which fill the hand and spread out the recoil, SIG quality and accuracy. I have found that the 232 is as accurate as a medium size 9m.m. like the SIG 225 or WALTHER P99.
The negative on the SIG 232 is bulk makes it harder to conceal and some 9m.m. are as small or smaller.
I consider the heel mounted magazine release a trade off. You get surer hold on the magazine, but a slower magazine exchange.

The WALTHER PPK is easier to conceal because of its more compact dimensions. The PP/PPK/PPKS pistols can have a trigger almost as good as the SIG 232, but it is not as smooth. The sights are smaller and accuracy is worse on the PPK. I found the WALTHER pistols to be very reliable. My prewar PPK will feed anything except FEDERAL Hydra Shoks and WINCHESTER White Box ball which have a really bad flat tip.
Recoil is sharper on the WALTHER pistols because of the narrower grip and a sharper edge at the rear of the pistol grip. The SIG 232 has an oversize, rounded grip that really helps with recoil.

I also have found some of the INTERARMS made stainless PPK/S pistols can have a really gritty trigger.

Some writers have mentioned the BERETTA model 84. This is a terrific gun and a superior combat pistol compared to all the above mentioned. IT IS ALSO BIG, REALLY BIG. The are the most reliable and have a trigger as good as the SIG with excellent sights and never jam on anything except the WINCHESTER White Box flat tip fmj.
The downside is that they are huge compared to the GLOCK 42 and noticeably bigger than the PPK.

I hope this helps.

JIM

That's surprising since I shoot WWW fmj/fp in all ten of my 380 pistols without ever having a failure.

The downside of the Glock 42, Sig p-232 and Walther ppk is that it's easy to find a 9mm pistol the same size or smaller and lighter. Kahr pm or cm9 is identical in size to a Glock 42, a Walther pps is the same size and lighter than a Walther ppk or Sig P-232. Ruger lc9, Kimber solo, Keltec pf9. No shortage of easy to carry 9's out there.

I have three .380s and I doubt I would ever buy another just because of the cost of ammo, much smaller 9mms in the last several years and not so great performance compared to the 9mm. My P3AT is awfully sweet to just stuff in a back pocket in the summer but I always worry if something serious ever happened would it be enough. Just my opinion of course.

I'm with kokapelli on the WWB fmg/fp. I never had a problem with it, something I can't say about all other brands. Since I'm down to just two 380s a Kahr P380 and a Colt Pony Pocketlite (a truly superior pistol) that's all I ever use, thousands of rounds without problems. Guess I'm just lucky in this instance.

jimbo555 said:

The downside of the Glock 42, Sig p-232 and Walther ppk is that it's easy to find a 9mm pistol the same size or smaller and lighter. Kahr pm or cm9 is identical in size to a Glock 42, a Walther pps is the same size and lighter than a Walther ppk or Sig P-232. Ruger lc9, Kimber solo, Keltec pf9. No shortage of easy to carry 9's out there.

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The Glock 42 may be a similar size to many subcompact 9mms, but they weigh far more (many, such as the Springfield XDS, weigh about 50% more). Not all of the subcompact 9mms are up around 20 oz, but many are.

The kahr cm/pm 9 is shorter in length and height and weighs the same as a g-42. It holds the same amount of rounds 6+1 as the g-42 but 9mm instead of 380.

Yeah, had two P3ATs, one gen 1 and one gen 2...neither of which functioned correctly, even after a bunch of time on KTRange.com, Fluff and Buff, multiple magazines, a variety of ammo. Gave up on that project.

LCPs...two so far. Both worked perfectly. However, I don't shoot them particularly well past 15 feet...the trigger and the sights might have something to do with that. I'm kind of looking forward to trying one of the new ones with larger sights and improved trigger.

Kahr CM380...bought one recently. I've only shot handloads through it, and I am a newb when it comes to .380 handloads. Long story short...I have not found the perfect loads for this pistol, but the feeding issues I am experiencing are likely my fault and not the gun's. More to follow.

The Kahr has real sights and a decent trigger. As the pics above show, it is in the same size class as the LCP. If it will actually function reliably, it is a winner.

If you insist on a 380, get the most rounds available in that caliber, handling small mags efficiently is not easy in a perilous situation. I think the Glock is at least large enough to handle well in an emergency, where some are so small that if you have a large hand, it is easy to fumble with mag changes.
Where 6 rounds of 9mm or 38+P, are OK, in a pinch, the 380 may need a few more rounds to put down a large man. Honestly if it's not a rifle round, you better shoot straight while moving, and learn how to do a 1 second mag change.

Rex B said:

IMO a carry gun, particularly a pocket gun, needs to be double action - point and click interface...

I know the Bersa fits that description, but I have had 2, and the ergonomics don't work for me. Every shot is a double-tap, and the 2nd shot is not aimed. I don't know why, but it's the only pistol that has ever had that issue with me.
I am leaning toward the Kahr CW380. I was amazed to discover them selling for less than the LCP.

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Same here with me!

We own the Bersa Thunder 380 picked out by my wife for aesthetics and the ridiculous number of safteys, but is now a safe queen because it is too heavy for her to carry and was replaced by the Ruger LCR 38; and my Bersa Thunder 380CC which I currently pocket carry.

The first time I ran a plate rack with my 380CC I double tapped, however the second round impacted the steel plate before it fell. The double action of the Bersa is long, stiff and safe, but the single action has a very small trigger reset distance and is very light making it easy to unintentionally double tap it you are riding the trigger to reset like you should instead of letting your finger go out all the way and slapping it.

Since most defensive shooting happen at closer distances than a 10 yard plate rack, I don't see this as a problem. If you need to make that 100 foot, across the food court shot in single action, just press and hold the trigger all the way back until the recoil is gone before letting the trigger forward.

I have added the CT380 to my must rent list.

Nick, does a grimm really need a gun?

Had the KelTec, tried the others, still have and carry the SIG 238 generally as backup. It is reliable, although fussy about ammo, and shockingly accurate.

Paid $419 for my G42.

Went shooting today, being careful not to ride the trigger and I still got one unintentional doubletap in the middle of my 50.