.380's?

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I just love my Kahr P380-the biggest sell was the fit and no creeping out of the hand on firing. It's very comfortable to fire at the range. Amazingly accurate for a .380. Every round fed properly.
 
The lady has a sig p238. No issues what so ever. Mild recoil and plenty accurate. My only gripe would be that the trigger shouldnt be so heavy considering the manual safety. Then again, I am probably just spoiled from fullsize 1911s. It tipped the scale at just over 9 lbs. She doesnt mind, so it is a non issue. Very accurate and has very good sights even compared to full frame pistols.

I have a kahr p380. Very small, very light, surprisingly accurate. The price is a bit more than I like to spend, but I dont have any complaints. Recoil is mild enough to not make you miserable, great sights, very nice trigger. I will say that it is easy to limp wrist it, much more so than the sig (that is how I ended up with it and lost my mini 1911 lol). She could not fire a single magazine without empty shells hanging it up. Not something I want her to rely on for sure... BUT I havent had a problem at all.

AGAIN, great to carry. Tough to stress that enough. Hard to believe how small and light it is and how well it shoots.

Both pistols have about 300 rounds through them
 
If you can afford it, get a Rohrbaugh .380, or, better yet, the 9mm. They are exactly the same size. Very good pocket pistols and snag free.

I've had nothing but trouble with my Kahr P380. I love my Sig P238, best shooting .380 I've tried, but the Rohrbaugh is much better as a pocket pistol.
 
I bought the Ruger LCP and like it. I carry it in a back pocket holster and it really looks like a large wallet. I practice with it every week shooting a box of 50 rounds through it. The sights are rudimentary but with the practice I can keep the rounds in the kill zone. I practice at 5,7, and 10 yards. anything beyond that I will run! I wanted the simplest gun out there. I had a Colt Government .380 but sold it because it had to be carried cocked and lock.
 
Have had my PPKS for about 8 yrs. now and never had any issues with it. Don't know about the other post but after 4 or 500 rds it runs like a sewing machine!
 
I have a Taurus TCP and its been great. Its been 100% reliable with Winchester and Hornady ammo. Sights are not great but enough to maintain 2-3" groups at 7 yards. It also comes with 2 mags which is nice.
 
I recently got an LCP. I carry it the front pocket of my jeans or shorts. I put 200 trouble-free rounds through it the day after I bought it...FMJ's, HP's and flat-nosed bullet profiles all fired & fed.

I just put an RKBA holster on order. :)
 
I have the LCP and I really like it. It is essentially a copy of the Kel-Tec but it has a better finish, it looks nicer. The one thing that I was really shocked by was the trigger pull. It is DAO so it is long but it is smooth. I don't have a gauge for the trigger weight but I would estimate it somewhere around 7 lbs. Another suprise was its ability to put all rounds into a paper plate at 22 yds. Given that it is such a small gun I thought that was really good. I also have not had any malfunctions.

My bother just handled one of the S&W bodyguard and did not like the trigger. If you have ever handled a Walther PPK, he said it was similar to that. And that makes since, since S&W are currently partnering with Walther.
 
At present, I don't own a .380. And in spite of owning a Mustang for a number of years, I have NEVER felt the need to step down from my G19/23, G26 or PM9 to carry the .380 Mustang. Finally, I just sold the Mustang because I see the PM9 as a much better choice that is extremely easy to carry when one absolutely MUST go VERY small and VERY light (which for me is VERY RARE!).

I am wondering... I know the .380 is the current "flavor of the week" in small carry guns. But I just don't understand the attraction. I can carry the G19 with ease under almost every circumstance (16 rounds of 9mm +P on tap!), and the G26 (11 rounds of 9mm +P on tap) with even greater ease. And when I'm really, really, really trying to fly LIGHT, the PM9 does that job well (with 7 rounds of 9mm +P on tap). But this is the unusual carry circumstance for me.

So, really, I'm wondering, why, oh why, do lots of folks feel that it's so very necessary to step down to .380? Are guns like the PM9 simply too large, too heavy, too difficult for you folks to carry? I don't get it? I view the PM9 as downright tiny... is it still simply too big and heavy for frequent carry for a lot of you folks?
 
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This afternoon I shot 100rds of handloaded 100gr. plated bullets through my LCP. That makes a total of approximately 1500 rounds through the little pistol which performs flawlessly. I like the little gun for it's DAO, hammer fired action. No need for a safety, no risk carrying with a cartridge in the chamber. I was shooting at a hanging 8"x10" steel plate at 25yds. I hit the plate over 80% of the time firing from a modified Weaver stance. I have the Ruger 'pinky' floor plate on my magazines which helps with the recoil which isn't bad even with the heavy bullets. I don't find the gun uncomfortable even shooting that many rounds in the space of 20-30 minutes. I especially like this little pistol for its light weight and size. I carry it in a front pocket in a Nemesis pocket holster. No one's ever noticed it even in summer when I'm wearing shorts and sandals. To me the whole point of a carry gun is its concealability. The LCP is hard to beat for a summer carry. In cooler weather I carry a Taurus 740 Slim for its greater firepower. The 740 has been perfectly reliable so far for the 600 or so rounds I've fired through it. Surprisingly accurate, hits a pop can every time at twenty five yards. Excellent trigger too.
 
Dhart,here's an example of the attraction of a slim .380 and by slim I mean a pistol such as the LCP,P3AT,etc.
This morning being it's Friday I am allowed to wear jeans to work.
I placed my PM9 in my pocket in it's new RKBA pocket holster and since I dont bring it into work I took it out to secure it in the car.
Well my slim Diamondback or LCP or my newly bought P32 would have come right out of my pocket.
The PM9 was much harder to pull out because it is larger and weighs eight ounces more than the .380'S I own fully loaded.
It may be small for a 9mm but it is right on the verge of being too big to pocket carry comfortably.
As far as round capacity I dont even give that too much consideration as I dont plan to be in a war zone.
Simply put the modern day little 380's are a go anywhere right now little pistol that combine reasonable self protection power at a comfort level that has the carrier practically forgetting they have it with them.
I never forget my PM9 is in my pocket as the weight and girth are constant reminders.
Although all that being said I am sure someone will come back with a "I carry my Glock 36 in my pocket daily with no discomfort"
 
DHart, the reason that the .380 is so popular is because those guns like the LCP and P3AT are true pocket pistols. You can buy put in your pocket and that is it. 95% of the time I carry a Glock 27 but when I need to dress for buisness and look my best having a bulge in on one side of my hip just won't work, even one as slight as a PM9. That is when my .380 works well because you will not find a smaller gun that offers some kind of stopping power. That said the .380 is light for a self defense round, but any gun is better than no gun.
 
DHart said:
At present, I don't own a .380. And in spite of owning a Mustang for a number of years, I have NEVER felt the need to step down from my G19/23, G26 or PM9 to carry the .380 Mustang. Finally, I just sold the Mustang because I see the PM9 as a much better choice that is extremely easy to carry when one absolutely MUST go VERY small and VERY light (which for me is VERY RARE!).

I am wondering... I know the .380 is the current "flavor of the week" in small carry guns. But I just don't understand the attraction. I can carry the G19 with ease under almost every circumstance (16 rounds of 9mm +P on tap!), and the G26 (11 rounds of 9mm +P on tap) with even greater ease. And when I'm really, really, really trying to fly LIGHT, the PM9 does that job well (with 7 rounds of 9mm +P on tap). But this is the unusual carry circumstance for me.

So, really, I'm wondering, why, oh why, do lots of folks feel that it's so very necessary to step down to .380? Are guns like the PM9 simply too large, too heavy, too difficult for you folks to carry? I don't get it? I view the PM9 as downright tiny... is it still simply too big and heavy for frequent carry for a lot of you folks?
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I am not "stepping down" from a larger, more powerful handgun, I am "stepping up" from carrying nothing
 
Any of the models the OP listed are good options.

I went with the LCP as my backup. I looked hard at the Kel Tec but was willing to pay a bit more for the better finish of the LCP. I really only carry mine in the summer. Now that the weather is getting a bit cooler it's been moved back to the safe until next spring.
 
Dhart, it is not a matter of stepping down at all.
I own a Kahr P380 and it has checked out flawlessly at the range. I have fired over 200 rounds with no problems. Last weekend I fired 100 rounds at a range where I could set the targets 10 yards away-consistently, the rounds hit the inner black target circle.
Most engagements will be 10 yards or less in a self defense situation. The .380 is quite deadly at that range especially when one has a firearm which has proven to be extremely accurate. My Kahr P380 has demonstrated reliability and accuracy.
Most important carrying it is a dream-I don't feel it and it's invisible. Does not print.

My ammo of choice both at the range and for self defense is FMJ. Yes, the .380 cannot match the velocity of the 9 mm so one has to maximize penetration so I use FMJ.

As heeler as said, his PM9 is a constant reminder that he is carrying it; with the Kahr P380 no such reminder at all.

In my CCW class the instructor emphasized that engagements will be 10 yards or less; you're not going to be engaging 25 yards out. There are many advatanges to having the right pocket weapon and I'm totally confident my Kahr P380 will perform.
 
Someone one needs to do a study; big guys & little guns and small guys & big guns, something Freudian could be at play here.

But lunch sacks do make pocket carry easier I’ll admit to that.
 
I have wondered about hole size in reference to incapacitation. In centuries past sword fights involved rapiers, that made a very small hole in the opponent, often fatally. Possibly a good swordsman would be able to pierce the heart in a high proportion of thrusts? So, what exactly is different? A .22 wielded well placed would make a hole about the same size.

Such thoughts make me all the more resolved to avoid such situations.
 
Just got a Kel Tec p3at and took it out for the first time yesterday. 50 rounds of WWB no issues and 50 rounds remmington UMC with 1 FTF (feed) and when clearing the jam I noticed the nose of the round was dented in (so i am blaming that on on the ammo).

I was suprised at the accuracy. I was just poping cans at 10 yards (more interested in break in and seiing if it had any feeding or extractiing issues). I hit them pretty darn regularly.

Recoil was not nearly as bad as I was expecting. It was not as bad as my PF9 for instance.

So far so good. I really like it.

The ONLY complaint I have so far is it does have a rather long trigger pull. And it throws brass all over the place (I reload and hate chasing brass) Not a deal breaker at all though
 
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Sometimes you have to make-do w/what's physically possible. My wife is recovering from cancer and can no longer handle her M&P9c or even work the slide.
However, she now has a Sig P238 that she really likes, is very comfortable with and has no trouble handling it or working the slide.
Yes, I'd prefer that she have something more powerful than a .380 but I'd rather she have a .380 she's proficient with than a 9mm she can't/won't use.
Tomac
 
Hey,Tomac,sorry about your wife.....I have a sister who has stage 4 Renal Cell Carcinoma.......God Bless you!!!!
 
I carry a Bersa .380CC. I have owned and carried too many handguns as a police officer, now retired, than I care to list. I feel reasonably safe with my choice inside of 20 ft.
I do get a kick out of the guys with .357 snub nosed revolvers. A 2" barrel in that caliber can't generate the muzzle velocity that a 4-6" barrel can. Of course, the muzzle blast might set the BG on fire :fire:
 
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