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.380 ammunition?

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opr1945

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If you carry a .380 (yes, I know many laugh at the idea) do you carry a self defense round of some sort or full metal jacket?

I have read that with such low power a hallow points will not penatrate clothing and other stuff and so one should carry FMJ's.

Opinions?
 
If I did carry a .380 it would probably be fmj rounds, though 102gr. Golden Sabers are probably about as good as you're gonna get in penetration with jhp rounds. Most of the time I think I might actually hope that the hp doesn't open up and performs more like a flat point round. Fiocchi jhp an honorable mention and then there's always Corbon and Buffalo Bore for the higher end expensive stuff. Unlike other calibers I'd probably stay away from Federal/Winchester/Remington factory jhp loads, they will probably be pretty weak underpenetrators. For this caliber I'm not up on the latest .380 ballistics tests, but there are some good tests online at different websites.
 
For penetration and for positive functioning in my (and many other) compact .380 pistols, I prefer to carry FMJ. When I can afford it, I have also carried the Corbon Pow'R Ball JHP ammo with the polymer ball in the tip to ensure proper feeding while also preventing the round from clogging with soft material upon striking the target.
 
Buffalo Bore .380 hollow points are a pretty well loved round in the .380 crowd.
.380 ammo has gotten better when it comes to hollow points and i personally wouldn't carry fmj unless it was in a bug.
 
Speer Gold Dot in all my 380's and stop reading about penetration and take a few rounds out to the range. If people would just shoot the rounds at the defense distance (7-10feet) they will find it penetrates very well. No I don't think a 380 will go through a car door reliably but then I am not a bad guy trying to shoot a fleeing victim. If you are shooting someone at 50 feet, YOU are the bad guy.
 
I mostly carry 95 gr. fmj flatnose Winchester White Box in mine.
If I am short on those then I switch over to S&B (Seiller& Bellot) 92 gr. fmj.
Fwiw my Diamondback shoots the 102 gr. Remington Golden Sabre very well but chokes up on Hornady Critical Defense.
Except online I have a hard time finding the Golden Sabres locally and they are a lot more expensive so I chose the penetration affect of a fmj.
 
^^^ +1 for flatnose FMJ.

Last year I came across some good reading on the ballistics to support this. Sorry I don't have that source handy for you.
 
I have read that with such low power a hallow points will not penatrate clothing and other stuff and so one should carry FMJ's.
Click to expand...

If that is what you actually read then the author was a fool.

The usual complaint with the .380 hollow points is two fold.

1. Hollow points that expand properly generally only penetrate approximately 9" into ballistic media and that doesn't reach the FBI minimum standard for their ammo of 12". This doesn't mean the HP's aren't more effective than ball ammo which will penetrate 15"+, it just means that you won't see the FBI carrying .380's.

2. The hollow point gets clogged with clothing and acts as a fmj thus over penetrating. If so you are not any worse off than if you'd loaded FMJ's to begin with.

The .380 isn't exactly "low power" but it does lack bullet weight because of the small package. Velocities with 90 to 100gr bullets normally loaded for the .380 runs 900 to 1,000+ fps depending upon load and barrel length of pistol. For the small pocket pistols that are chambered for this round that velocity is generally faster than a typical .38 spl in a snub nose revolver with +P.

Go to Brassfetchers website and look at the "old website" .380 tests. Look on Youtube and enter ".380 ammo test" there's a bunch of them. Check the Marshall Sannow stats that show FMJ's from the .380 are as effective as any solid RN, FMJ or SWC bullet from a .38 spl snub nose. Why anyone would want to use a solid bullet is beyond me since using a HP will at least give you the chance of making a bigger hole.
 
I just did some tests for fun this sunday and was impressed by the Hornady Critical Defense 380 round in a box stacked tight with wet phone books. I know it isn't ballistic gel but this time of year when the new phone books are delivered and everyone drops the old one off at the recycle bin makes it irresistible to at least run comparison tests. The Hornady CD 380 from an LCP penetrated about 9" and made a perfect blossom. I was disappointed that the Golden Saber 38 from a snub nose penetrated 10" deformed slightly possibly from another bullet's impact but didn't open. Tokarev fmj about 18" and look new enough load up again.
 
I reload my 380 ammo, mainly because i have had such bad luck with commerical ammo. Winchester ammo feeds greats but i have run across some lots with hard primers. Federal is good to go bang all the time. Never tired Russian made ammo or remington. Had problems with primer stikes on S&B ammo.

I recently read on this forum or Cast Boolitts that Remington Small pistol primers come in two types 1 1/2 for small guns, (softer primer) and 5 1/2 for larger guns (harder primer). If you are having a problem with light primer strikes change to federal ammo or primers if you reload.

I tested on dry hard cover cabelas catalog. Best result for pentration and expansion was my cast lee 102 grain. Jhp commerial just got a dent in the bullet and no expansion at all.
 
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The Hornady Critical Defense is good self defense round. It meets the necessary penetration depth and it opens up perfectly every time. It is a example of good engineering providing consistent and reliable results.
 
I like the Speer Gold Dot. 100% reliable in my Interarms PPK. That gun is very picky about ammo, but it loves Gold Dot's. It doesn't even like some ball ammo. Have an old Taurus PT58S. It shoots everything, but I use Gold Dots in it too, since I've accumulated so much of it. Gold Dots have a good reputation for reliable expansion and I agree that at normal defensive ranges you will get satisfactory penetration. We don't have to worry about lots of heavy clothing here in Florida, but during the short winter I carry something bigger.
 
I have a p238 from sig, and in it, as all my handguns is hornadys critical defense. A few people that I know that carry .380's also use buffalo bores +p ammo.
 
Federal 90 gr. Hydra-Shocks though my spare magazine was often FMJ. At the time the Federal ammo was very expensive, there were plenty of times I only had 7-8 rounds of it on hand.
 
Yes, frequently.
I use mostly reloads with Meister 92g Hard Cast Round Nose solid lead bullets over 2.8g Red Dot powder and CCI 500 small pistol primers.

These bullets run over my chrony at 826 FPS.

I also load Hornady 90g XTP HP bullets over the same case and primer using either 2.8g Red Dot at 846 FPS.
Those same Hornady bullets I also load over 4.6g Power Pistol which run at 877 FPS.

I use a Lee Dedicated Crimp Die which removes the bulge which is inherent in some cases just below the bullet. I shoot these all out of a Ruger LCP with no problems at all.

The OAL is extremely important, as there is a very limited space for you to crimp. I always trim all my brass to .678"

The Hard Cast Round Nose I seat at .965" OAL
The Hornady XTP HP's I seat at .971" OAL

As always, work up loads below maximum and watch for signs of overpressure or any other problem that may occur as a result of handloading!
 
My LCP gets fed Gold Dots. They feed reliably, hit what I aim at, and have expanded well in testing. I know they dont penetrate deep enough to pass the FBI tests, but an FBI agent I am not, and my .380 is for stoping the BG that is right in front of me.
I reason that in the circumstances that I am most likely to find the need to use deadly force, the angles that the FBI test acount for wont likely be encountered. SD rounds dont need to pass all the requirements of LE ammo.
 
Yeah, I think that 12 inch rule is perhaps the most over stated topic in gun forums.

Makes sense for LEO's who often have to shoot into cars at BG's, but for totally defensive civilian use....not so much.

9 or 10 inches of penetrate seems like it should reach the important parts just fine.

Oh, and my LCP is loaded with Gold Dots.

If you go to the LCP forum, there are LOTS of links to .380 ballistic tests to pour over.
 
For factory ammo, I would definitely choose Gold Dots.

I'm having swampfoxammo make me some Golden Sabre rounds that are supposed to be moving about 1000fps out of my TCP, I think they should be a little better than factory Gold Dot rounds, both in penetration and expansion.
 
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