380ACP - Do you use FMJ or JHP

[Newton]

If you carried a .380ACP for CCW, would you carry FMJ or a high quality JHP like the Hydrashok/Golden Saber/Corbon etc.

Thanks

 

[MikeJ]

I would carry hollowpoints, either the Speer Gold Dot or Remington Golden Saber.

 

[Dorrin79]

the only person i know who carries a .380 carries it loaded with (IIRC) 90 gr Hydra-shoks. They might be 95 gr, I'm not certain

 

[Keith]

I carry hollowpoints. If it fails to expand, it IS an FMJ...

Keith

 

[Tim Burke]

FMJ. If the JHP expands, I may not get the penetration I need.

 

[LFW]

I seldom carry my PPK .380, but when I do I use FMJ. I don't fully trust reliability of any .32 or .380 blowback with hollowpoints, and just barely trust them with FMJ. Don't think hollowpoints are very effective in .380 anyway.--Leigh

 

[Brigrat]

FMJ

I concur with the FMJ's, the hollow points of every variety that I have seen tested, including gold dots, have failed to penetrate even close to far enough if they fully expand.

 

[DMK]

I use FMJ also. It's not that I'm afraid that they won't expand. I'm afraid that they just might.

I'm not comfortable with the reliability or penetration track record of HPs in these smaller calibers. I use FMJ in .32ACP, .380 and probably will go with FMJ for 9x18 also.

 

[Blackhawk]

I agree with Brigrat, but I don't carry a .380.

I did some number crunching of .32s versus .380s from the perspective of penetration force per unit area from equivalent barrel lengths as you would have in KT P-32's versus P-3ATs.

The hotter .32 FMJ's like the Geco and S&B 73 grain slugs have about 28% and 19% more penetrating force than the typical .380 FMJ 95 grain round.

The 2 PPK .380's I had made a nice splat with JHPs, but I was a bit concerned about lack of penetration using them in a CCW. Water balloons make a tremendous splat, but I've never even been slowed down by one....

Anybody know of an online source where I can get Dynamit Noble/RWS/Geco ammo for my P-32...?

 

[Alan Fud]

Wife goes both ways ... the Mrs alternates FMJ and Cor-Bon every other round in the mag in her Browning BDA380 -- seven rounds of FMJ and seven rounds of JHP.

A closely spaced double tab give you the best of both worlds -- expansion & penetration.

 

[CZ-100]

FMJ in my P-3AT

 

[concerned citizen]

I use win. sxt 95g jhp's.

I am waiting paitently for corbon to release there powRball in 380acp, then that will be my carry round of choice.

 

[akanotken]

Another vote for FMJ

in an effort to get the most penetration. 9mm is minimal I'd consider for HPs. YMMV

 

[Standing Wolf]

I hardly ever carry my .380 A.C.P., but when I do, it's loaded with jacketed hollow points: the rounds may not expand much or go very deeply, but I think they'll deliver greater stopping power. I hope I never find out whether they do or don't.

 

[gk1]

If they don't "expand much or go very deeply", where's the "stopping power" coming from?

George

 

[AUTIGER04]

Remington Golden Saber 102gr JHP.

 

[JERRY]

i know a guy who carries a seecamp .32

it is loaded with win sthp as recommended by the factory, however, he has put a drop of 5 minute epoxy in the cavity of each round so it acts like a fmj.

 

[Newton]

I'm sure that if he ever needs to use it in self defence, a slimy lawyer will try to make some capital out of your friend's "poison tipped rounds".

There's an easier way of getting FMJs, just buy them, it saves money too.

Ok, I'm off to drill out the cores of some FMJ's to make my hollowpoints.

 

[JMag]

I really trust the .32 Corbon load in my P32 more than most any .380 I have ever used. However, my current .380 favorite is Triton's excellent Quick Shot +P load. See it at http://www.tritonammo.com/.

 

[Al Thompson]

Newton, Seecamp's are designed to use only slivertips. The epoxy in the HP sounds like a good idea to me.

 

[Byron]

Federal American Eagle FMJ for my Browning BDA. The Winchester WinClean FMJ has a flat nose. I have wondered if this is more effective. Byron

 

[Kentucky Rifle]

Al & Guys...

When I purchased my Seecamp, I was a little disappointed. I used the recommended Silvertips but one in four
"keyholed". I finally got in touch with Larry Seecamp (Us "recluses" are a little difficult to find) and he told me to go to Gold Dots. Just like that~~no more keyholes. I like Gold Dots more than ST anyway. Now, I load my Seecamp with RBCD. (All my .32's and most everything else too) Works perfectly. My Colt Mustang Pocketlite has .380 RBCD's in the magazine. FMJ profile and no problems hanging up.

KR

 

[Newton]

Al - Surely the point is that a Silvertip filled with epoxy isn't a Silvertip anymore. Or are we saying that because the gun was designed around the Silvertip, a regular length FMJ doesn't fit into the magazine, that would make more sense.

 

[JERRY]

the sthp is about as long as will fit in the seecamp mag. fmj is too big in o.a.l.

the non toxic 5 minute epoxy does not add to the length. it just fills the cavity giving it a flat nose profile.

if i had a seecamp or could afford one, i'd think about doing this too, elmers glue would work too i guess, just to stop the drivel about "killer" bullets.


going back to the .380 question, id use fmj over a h.p. for the assurance of adequate penetration, something an expanding .380 h.p. does not deliver.

 

[Sapo]

Corbon 90 grain JHP's in a Sig P230.