Browning Model 380 1911 Range Report

Purchased a new Browning Model 380/1911. I really liked this gun and was anxious for them to get on the shelves. I liked the fit and feel, and break down is simple and the same as the 1911/22. The extreme light weight was a huge selling point, as well as the fact that it is a true 1911 design. Size has never been a concealment or carry issue for me, but weight always has been. This gun is measured in ounces, not pounds (rare for a true 1911 design). It is genuinely light. Open bottomed holsters for the Colt Mustang or Kimber MicroCarry fit it well, and are somewhat common. Grips from the 1911/22 also fit the 380.

Experienced five fail to feeds (WWB 95g) out of one hundred rounds fired. These are a flat point bullet, so I wasn’t too surprised. A bullet with more roundness to it would have faired much better IMO, but WWB is what I had on hand and I wanted to shoot. All empty cases ejected without issue. Primer strikes in the fired cased were deep and solid.

Recoil was extremely manageable – four finger grip on an almost full size gun in a smaller caliber. It had a bit of a “1911 push” to it, but nothing snappy like a .38+P 637 airweight revolver. Follow up shots were a breeze and it was easy to stay on target. Recoil will not be an issue with kids, ladies, or someone with a physical limitation. It’s an easy shooter. Barely more than the 1911/22.

I liked the fact that the sights would not snag on clothing. However, I was disappointed that the front is not replaceable (rear is dovetailed into slide). This is advertised as a carry gun, and night sights, or at least the ability to add them, would have been nice although the gun has great pointability. Kind of like when a shotgun fits you correctly – it just finds the target without “aiming”. Dancing cans with this .380 at fifteen or twenty yards was no real challenge.

Trigger pull was fairly light and predictable. It broke clean and had a nice feel to it.

Press checks required more effort than most 380’s. I found that by pressing down on the barrel through the ejection port that it would help toggle the lug to unlock smoothly. I also found press checks easier as the number of rounds in the magazine reduced (it’s an 8+1). The magazine spring pushes the rounds against the bottom of the slide with enough force to impact pulling the slide back slightly to view the chamber. Seems that the slide comes back either all the way to the point of cycling or not at all – was difficult to find that middle ground, especially if the chamber was loaded. I am betting this gets easier as things break in somewhat. If not I can tolerate.

The left side safety engaged positively, and I liked the extended controls on the thumb safety levers and slide lock.

On cleaning after returning home, I noticed the right side thumb safety was loose to the point of rattling. The roll pin had worked itself almost completely out of the top (right at the verge of falling out). I reinstalled it, but right side thumb safety lever was still loose. (I had minimally utilized the thumb safety during shooting, as it really wasn’t necessary for my shooting conditions that day. Used left side safety to operate when I did engage it). As such, I can’t say if this happened after the first shot or the hundreth. Left side safety still engaged properly. At that point, the gun was returned to the Browning Service Center. Summary: “Purchased Thursday afternoon, fired 100 rounds Friday (thumb safety fell apart), returned to Browning on Monday”. Browning replaced the gun, rather than repairing it, at their option (two week turn around).

I tested the replacement gun last night. Fired 101 rounds, and the right side safety lever is still tight. I will be adding some loctite to this just for peace of mind and keeping an eye on it. I also used some round nose bullets, and had much better feeding (as suspected).

I was informed by Browning Staff that one of the parts in the safety mechanism on my original gun was out of spec. Please pay close attention to the joint with the roll pin in the right side safety lever should you purchase one of these. Although mine seemed tight when I bought it, and did not loosen until I put a couple of boxes of ammo through it.

I like the gun a great deal in general. Pricey, but it had a multitude of features that fit my needs. I’m finding it to be a little picky on ammo, but confident I will find something it feeds reliably enough to carry.

I will review the performance of Browning’s Service Center in another thread.

Raindodger and others - Thank you all for the compliments! I really hadn't expected that so it was a nice surprise!

Gdownrange, I am actually trying to sell off more than I buy these days. No plans to add anything (I have said that before! LOL)

Bannockburn, Probably not a bad idea to wait until they have been on the market awhile. I remember the 1911/22 from Browning had issues when they first hit the shelves too, but now are as reliable as hammers. I thought about that before I bought this 380, but was too anxious to wait. None of the model 380 guns provided to the magazines as advanced test items or those at the SHOT show seemed to have issues, but I bet those were subjected to much more stringent QA than the production runs that followed (Mine).

Fremmer, They said they didn't have parts so issued the replacement order for the gun. I was involved in manufacturing for twenty years, and often could get my hands on complete product but not parts for "new to market" items, so I can understand that. I was also suspicious that they wanted this gun to be evaluated by the engineers/QA folks back in Utah since I'm sure it was one of the first on the market to malfunction. I didn't feel Browning was ready to support this gun at their Service Center (Arnold Missouri), but that's another thread I am working on.

I have heard some guys say their hands were too big for this gun, and others say it fit very well. Exact same size as the Browning 1911/22 (pretty common in stores these days), just a different caliber. You might want to fondle one of the 1911/22's to see if the model 380 would fit you. Some great pics and video of the 380 over at the gunblast.com site, but I will try to post a pic here later today.

Fremmer, Attached is the pic of the gun per your request. I swapped the grips from my 1911/22 as I like them much better!

Pilot, Yes, it has been marketed as a carry gun. I tested a couple of boxes of Critical Defense ammo this morning. All fifty cycled without issue (zero failures – I was pretty excited!). I will pick up a few more boxes to give it a more thorough reliability test, but it seems to like “conical and pointy” bullets more than the round nosed FMJ ones. Flat nosed WWB I can’t get through a magazine without a fail to feed it seems. At least those will give me good practice on malfunction drills! LOL


Claude Clay, Press checks are just a safety habit to make sure I know the status. Although “all guns are treated as loaded at all times”, my practice has always been to check the action to see if a gun is loaded or not every time it is picked it up. Chamber on the model 380 does not have a witness hole to see if brass is in the chamber. I also think that would have been a nice feature. Previous guns I’ve owned had this, and it was convenient. I’m getting used to how the action unlocks on this model now though.

Just wanted to post a follow up after six months of carrying the Browning 1911 Model 380 daily.

Rear sight has been drifting left/right in the dovetail slot. A few love taps realigns things but that shouldn't be happening. I know I'm likely whacking it on things as I work on stuff around the farm, but it should still stay in place. A set screw in the design would have improved this situation. I never experienced that with my Browning 1911/22 which I have also carried a great deal.

The tool is starting to get that carried petina to it - blueing easing off the hard corners, etc. Normal wear - nothing negative to say about the finish.

From a carrying perspective, the gun is an absolute joy! From when I wake up until I go to bed it's on my hip, and I don't know it's there! Size and weight really are ideal as an EDC. Hornady Critical Defense ammunition has proven itself to feed reliably, and is what I have been carrying and using for periodic function/firing checks. No operational issues to report regarding firing - feeds/fires/ejects without issue with above ammo.

The right hand side thumb safety lever is a little looser than the left side. That is, you can wiggle it if you try hard but is still functioning. Not sure how it would hold up with a left handed shooter. At least it's not "one shot away from falling off" like the first Model 380 I had (That Browning replaced).

Overall, I have become very pleased with this gun. The caliber is a compromise (I really don't that feel undergunned with it though), but one I can tolerate given it nails my other criteria so completely such as size, weight, 1911 design/ergonomics, etc. It points and shoots well. I have to admit, if I lost this gun I would purchase another before the day was done.