What Type Of Ammo Do You Carry In your 380 Pistol?

kokapelli said:

Very interesting to see the variety of carry ammo used.

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I agree. This shows two things:

1. There is no set standard mark of excellence for .380 carry ammo.

2. .380 is the maximum powered cartridge a number of people will actually consider FMJ as carry ammo. I don't blame them, the majority of .380 JHP only penetrates eight inches.

Hornady Critical Defense in a kahr p380

Use either Federal Hydra Shok, Hornady Critical Defense, or Corbon

All JHP.

I also use the Hornady Critical Defense rounds. I have 3 mags loaded with them. That gives me 24 hard hitting rounds, just in case I run into a bunch of bad guys! lol

There are the adherents to the "through-and-through" philosophy of bullet performance and they even advocate FMJ in 9mm, .40 S&W, and 45 ACP. But if you're not one of those people - it really doesn't make sense to use FMJ in 380.

When the top-performing JHP bullets work, they're penetrating between 12 and 13 inches. When they don't work - they're not expanding so they're acting pretty much like a JHP, so at the very least they're just as good as FMJ but in many situations will perform better than JHPs. And as has been shown, the very top performing bullets, Precision One's loading of the Hornady XTP averages around 13.5" of penetration through 4 layers of denim.

Unless you believe that a that complete pass-through is the most effective scenario for stopping an assailant, it doesn't make sense any longer to use FMJ in 380 AUTO.

kokapelli said:

The Lehigh round looks interesting, but some people have had feeding problems with it and it is way too expensive for me.
At 33 cents a round Freedom munitions 380 with the XTP bullet is a steal.

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I only heard about the 85gr Lehigh rounds causing feeding issues in most firearms. They claim a fix by increasing the weight to 90gr. The company still reports chambering issues in Kahr, but fine in plenty of other popular 380s.

kokapelli said:

In the 380 gelatin tests done by AmmoQuest (link in post 37) the XTP bullet did consistently expand and reach the 12" FBI required penetration and the Hydra-Shok also did well in these tests

The Critical Defense round also made by Hornady failed in the test as did most other quality jhp ammo.

I agree that if you can't carry XTP or Hydr-shok, fmj would be my next choice.

The Lehigh round looks interesting, but some people have had feeding problems with it and it is way too expensive for me.
At 33 cents a round Freedom munitions 380 with the XTP bullet is a steal.

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I've seen Shootingthebull's videos and I agree the Fiochii XTP load for .380 is one of the best hollow point loads and outperforms many premium JHP offerings, but it's lack of expansion leaves something to be desired.

Enter Buffalo Bore +P .380 JHP. Full .380 expansion with 11.5" of penetration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkCLI-SYV_k

The "AmmoQuest" video is pretty convincing.

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Except for his obsession with over penetration.

We are responsible for our bullets but we also are responsible for threat and location assessment, adjustment if needed and the final decision about pulling the trigger.

Over penetration has become the hobgoblin used to sell magic bullets.

If you really want to see someone who is high on penetration - Tim Harmsen (MAC) did a video on the 380 Lehigh bullets, they were penetrating 27" and he was very positive about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PDQcE-1T40

If I have a choice between a bullet that penetrates 14 inches versus 27 inches I am going to choose the bullet that penetrates 14 inches.

Hornady Critical defense my Sig p238. I would feel fine carrying just about any modern hollow point ammo though, it has fed all of them reliably.

.380

kokapelli said:

What Type Of Ammo Do You Carry In your 380 Pistol?
Just curious to see what most people are carrying in there 380 pistol and seems to work well for most people.

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I thought this was an older thread when I clicked on it. It's certainly been a popular one in a number of gun forums this year.

Anyway, the loads I typically carry in my LCP's include W-W RA380T, Speer GDHP or Rem HPJ/BJHP (GS). Why? Because they've either been available at my agency range, or for sale at an individual officer discount at one of my cop shops.

I've also used W-W STHP, some Federal load or other, and the typical W-W ball loads for range ammo (again, because it was available), but I always use one or another (or a mix) of my carry loads during occasional quals and training/practice, too.

I know a lot of folks have fallen back on the penetration recommendations one fed agency has established for "duty" ammo, but I don't carry my diminutive LCP's as "duty weapons", and don't particularly feel I'll need to use them in "duty-type" shooting incidents.

Same way I look at some of the existing .38 Spl +p loads, too. I don't automatically discount them if they "fail" to meet the "minimum" recommendation penetration standards in a variety of testing scenarios, and/or when some intermediate barrier materials may be involved.

FWIW, I'm not someone who would only consider the .380 ACP to be a viable defensive caliber when loaded with a certain brand of hot-rodded ammo, either. It is what it is, and if I felt I needed to "make it" into a more powerful/capable caliber, I'd simply go to that other caliber in the first place.

There are potential advantages and disadvantages in everything, including determining whether the diminutive .380 ACP caliber is suitable for someone's individual usage, and in what range of anticipated circumstances.

If I truly believed I needed a "more capable" sub-caliber for a pocket pistol all of the time, I'd just carry my 5-shot .38/.357 snubs.

If I have a choice between a bullet that penetrates 14 inches versus 27 inches I am going to choose the bullet that penetrates 14 inches.

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But is the choice so simple? consistency in a world full of variables, one may tolerate more with the understanding less can always happen.

jrdolall said:

.380..."...if I was wrong don't you think I'd know it?"- Dr Sheldon Cooper

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LOL .. like the reference..

huntsman said:

But is the choice so simple? consistency in a world full of variables, one may tolerate more with the understanding less can always happen.

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I agree 100%, you want to keep all the energy inside the target.... that's why hitting someone with a sledge hammer is better than sticking them with a knitting needle

A gelatin test with FMJ leaves a small clean hole. The cutting and ripping of tissue by the sharp edges of an expanded hollow point will cause more trauma and faster blood loss than a clean FMJ hole.

I got a few boxes of Lehigh Defense ammo for my .380

They are solid copper and have a different sort of anti hollow point.

The business end of the projectile had a big x or + end that acts like a propeller causing huge cavitation thru what ever it hits. Kinda like a propeller causing disturbance in water except it bores a trail thru instead of leaving a trail behind it.

I hope I never have to shoot someone with these evil looking things, but if I do, well that is what we train and try to prepare for.

be safe

HammsBeer said:

A gelatin test with FMJ leaves a small clean hole. The cutting and ripping of tissue by the sharp edges of an expanded hollow point will cause more trauma and faster blood loss than a clean FMJ hole.

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I understand that hollow points cause more tissue damage, but a majority of the .380 JHP's can't penetrate deeply and that's where I can understand why some would use FMJ in their .380 pistol.

Besides penetration, FMJ will feed more reliably and also cost less. Oh, and it can be carried in New Jersey

I'm still breaking in my P3AT w FMJ. After it proves reliable with that I will switch to Gold Dots. A lot of P3AT owners use it.

LCP, Hornady Critical Defense.

They probably have no idea about how vicious ballistic gelatin can be when it gets riled up.
.........or maybe they're too busy practicing to peruse the reports

kokapelli said:

It appears that there are a lot of people that have no idea what their ammo of choice actually does in gelatin.

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Not all of us .... this is what I carry.

https://youtu.be/3Ct33tKvpKo

My carry ammo and my practice ammo ( one in the same )