The quote that .380 "is really not acceptable for law enforcement use and most savvy agencies prohibit them." is an opinion. Truth be told, MANY agencies allow the .380 as an authorized off-duty gun. Some, like the Indiana State Police, actually issued the Beretta Model 84 for off-duty, when they used the Model 92 as a carry-gun.
It's statements like that, which propose opinion as fact, where most troubles come from. If you'd look a little further into the author's writing, he thinks that the 9mm shouldn't be used as a duty caliber, either
Thank you for putting that quote into context JR47. It is an opinion of a professional, but anybody with an agenda can produce just as many if not more professionals that opine in the exact opposite way. The fact that some pro said it was a bad choice means just that, "they thought it was a bad choice". The fact that other pros have expressed that a .380 was "adequate for SD purposes" means just that, they believe that .380 was "adequate for SD purposes". It's up to all of us to either buy into or not buy the opinions expressed.
I for one accept the notion that .380 is the minimum for an SD caliber. But that's neither here nor there. The topic of this thread was what .380 brand of ammo would we recommend, not "Is the .380 is even worthy of being an SD caliber?"
EHL, were the tests that you performed in calibrated gelatin? Perhaps the new test medium available? Just curious. What pistol was used?
JR47, to answer your questions, No, they were not tested in calibrated gelatin. I used the poor mans, and I do stress POOR college guy method of milk gallons filled with water. I'd read from several other guys that 4 gallons of water roughly equated to 12" of calibrated geletin. Maybe this is wrong??? When this was brought up, I didn't read any naysayers though.
I would like to eventually test all of SD ammo (not just my .380) for all of my calibers in calibrated gelatin.
The test gun was the Kel tec P3AT. I wanted the absolutley shortest barrel for all of my tests so I could get roughly "worst case scenario" results.