Personally, I'd tend to think that the
reason someone chooses to carry a .380ACP is more important than the specific brand of ammunition they decide to use in it.
Some folks "like" a particular make/model of pistol that's chambered in the .380 caliber, so they carry it
even though it's chambered in the caliber.
I decided against carrying a .380 as an off-duty weapon many years ago (80's), but that was mostly because I could carry a more effective caliber (.38SPL or 9mmP) in a gun just about as small.
Fast forward to several years ago, and the newest of the diminutive .380's offered me something I couldn't get with my smallish single stack 9's, .40 or .45, or even my 5-shot snubs ... which was that I could slip a LCP into some shorter and tighter jeans pockets that wouldn't let me conceal one of the thicker, taller and longer guns. Now I could see a role for the .380 that I couldn't get with the older guns I'd tried in the 80's.
Ammunition? Hey, it's a .380ACP, not a service/duty weapon. That's why I don't look at the .380 loads
I carry as necessarily needing to meet the "12-inch minimum duty" recommendations originally adopted by the early FBI duty ammunition testing,
for their duty ammunition. (Ever read the disclaimer in the FBI testing that they weren't, as an agency, recommending other agencies choose their own duty ammunition based upon the requirements adopted by them, in their testing, as other agencies needed to determine their own needs and desires?)
I carry it as a retirement caliber for activities, conditions and places which I've assessed as likely offering a lower risk than other activities, situations and places. I don't try to boot-strap the little .380 into a more powerful caliber (or at least having a heavier bullet weight).
It is what it is,
and for me, that means it's a personal defensive caliber at the bottom end of the center-fire spectrum, meaning right below the .38SPL. While I much prefer the heavier bullet weights of the .38 (meaning 125-158gr), I'm willing to accept the compromise of carrying a .380 which might hopefully expand and only penetrate 8-11" ... or ... which might plug and essentially turn into "ball".
Would I carry it as a
primary "duty" caliber? Hardly. (While I would be willing to carry a .38SPL as a primary duty caliber, but I come from the days of the service revolver, so I have a different perspective and experience than some folks who entered LE when the hi-cap 9's were
de rigueur. (I also carried 9, .40 & .45 during my career, after the days of the service revolver had passed.)
How about using the .380 as a secondary (backup) duty caliber? Sure, but I'd still prefer to use the .38SPL in that role, for the heavier bullets
and the more modern revisions of JHP bullets tweaked for the caliber.
In my pair of LCP's (blued and stainless slides) I typically carry either Speer GDHP, W-W T-Series or Rem Golden Sabre. They feed and function fine in my LCP's, in my hands. I've tried at least couple of others, but those are the big name brands that have been more easily available to me, so that's what I use. Last I knew, LAPD still authorized the Critical Defense in the 2 makes/models of .380's they approved for off-duty/secondary roles, and they're pretty organized and fussy about the ammunition they approve for use by their folks. If I could get the CD ammo for a decent price, I'd pick a case of it and run several magazine loads through each of my LCP's, and then add it to my retirement ammo options for my LCP's.