Best .380 ACP Ammo?

gbelleh · Aug 4, 2007

When I have carried it, I always used Golden Saber 102 gr in my Bersa .380, but I don't really carry the Bersa much. There are so many very small 9mm pistols these days.

wuchak · Aug 4, 2007

Black Hills 90gr JHP in my P-3AT. This is Black Hills red box first run ammo for those that know Black Hills for their reloaded blue box ammo. It looks to me like they are using the Hornady 90gr XTP bullet and loading them in Starline brass. Black Hills claims 900 fps and I've seen chronos online of it being just short of that speed out of the P-3AT. It feeds 100% reliably and is only $15 for a box of 50. To me that's a great deal on premium self defense ammo considering Hornady's own loading of the 90gr XTP runs $19 for a box of 25.

http://www.black-hills.com/customer.htm

Kurt S. · Aug 4, 2007

To the poster who had doubts about needing 12"+ of penetration

From what I understand, the idea is that the threat is probably not going to be facing you; they might be in a "blading" stance which means more tissue to go through. Or, you might even need to penetrate several inches of arm muscle/bone if they are holding on you while facing you.

Anyhow, I broke my little Keltec in with a couple hundred rounds of everything from cheapest Wolf to top-dollar Hornady. I carry the pistol Hornady 90 grain XTP hollow points in gun's mag and 2 extra mags with Winchester white box FMJ.

Reddbecca · Aug 4, 2007

I love these guys who gripe about anything less than 12" of penetration...Got a little science experiment for you. Stand against a wall and measure how far from the wall to the front of your body. Unless you're well overweight, 12" will be sufficient to exit most average bodies! That puts 6" penetration deep enough to get to heart, lungs, etc. I also wouldn't want a bullet to be 6" deep in my forehead. I carry a .380 with Silvertips daily. I used to carry a .45, but got tired of accomodating the extra weight. I'm compromising a bit though, as I just put a deposit on a PF-9, only because it's the only gun light enough to tempt me to step up from my P3AT.

Well 6" might be acceptable if the bad guy is standing still, facing you directly and wearing light clothing, but things don't always work like that.

What if they've turned at an angle? What if they raise their arm and get shot there before the bullet travels through into their chest? What if they've got a winter coat on? etc.

ajax · Aug 4, 2007

I like 90gr. corbon hp. Those little suckers got some pop. Some of you guys talk about getting shot with a HP as if it's a walk in the park. I can see it now. Ha HA little man i can't believe you actually think you could hurt me with any thing less than a FMJ in .380. I will squash you for shooting me with that weak HP. I'm pretty sure that if I'm pumping your buttocks full of 90gr. corbons the only thing your going to do is to take what littles left of your ass out the door and down the road if you can still manage.

Storm · Aug 5, 2007

It was the good guy who was hit in the mouth. The bad guy was killed when thegood guy drew and returned fire with a 9mm hitting the bad guy with 3 rds, one of which was instantly fatal.

Yes, you did say that he returned fire. Sorry about that.

But, fluke things do happen with shooting. I once shot a 55 gallon drum at about 15 feet and had a ricochet come back directly at me hitting me in the knee (didn't even sting) but I'd never question the stopping power of the .45. Funny things happen.

Gunmeister · Aug 5, 2007

My neighbor constructed a target backstop out of a four foot square piece of half inch plywood framed out with common pine 2X4's. The 2X4's were arranged with the 4" side to the plywood. We set the target out about 20 feet and shot everything we had at it, most everything tore the backstop to pieces, a .357Mag 125gr JHP round blew a huge hole when it penetrated a 2X4 and broke it in half.
Now to my point my .380 with a 2.5" barrel loaded with Remington 88gr JHP's (that's the only .380 ammo we had, other stuff might have done better) would penetrate the plywood but when a round hit one of the 2X4's, you could pick the bullet out of the plywood with a pair of pliers. Needless to say, the .380 went to retire in my safe as I lost confidence in the rounds ability to protect me if needed. I would not want to be shot by the .380 but I wouldn't want to be hit by my Crossman .177 which when pumped up to the max penetrated almost as good as a .22 LR and the .380 out of a P3AT. Six rounds out of 00 Buck out of a 12 gauge Mossberg with an 18" barrel, decimated what was left of the backstop (+1 for 12 gauge shottys).
Not at all a scientific test just a real world experiment by a couple of Fla rednecks.

Bobo · Aug 5, 2007

dogtown tom · Aug 6, 2007

Not a .380 story but..........if a .25 goes this far:

Watching an episode of "COPS" this afternoon. One segment showed them answering a shooting call in Indianapolis. Victim was a large (240lb+) male with a bullet hole above the left nipple.

As the first officer on scene approached he was standing up, coherent but very distraught and in quite a bit of pain. Refused repeated requests from officers to "sit down". Actually kept walking around as officers tried to control his movements. Later he kept trying to get up out of the gurney. Never appeared to be combative with officers, but definitely not in his right mind.

As with almost every episode of COPS, his shirt was off. First time the camera got a view of his back I noticied a rather large bump on the left shoulder blade area. No blood on his back.

His wife/girl friend said "he got shot with a teeny tiny gun, you know .22 or .25...." I'm not sure of her exact words but thats the gist of it.

I would never have guessed the .25 could have penetrated that far, through that much fat & muscle. But that lump on his back was the bullet (or bullet tip for you Ebay folks

)

quickcanary · Aug 6, 2007

The other side to that story is that he was standing up, coherent, and kept walking around. I wonder if he'd have had as much pep in his step, had he been shot above the nipple with a .45...

MCgunner · Aug 6, 2007

Even though I have a .380 and it's super easy to carry, I'm not real enamored with the caliber, on the weak side and the bullet is on the light side. But, I carry mine once in a while when I need ultimate concealment. I can tell ya one thing, I ain't volunteerin' to get shot with it. I carry a 90 grain JHP Hornady bullet in a handload. It makes about 200 ft lbs, standard load, nothing wild. Main thing is it's accurate and reliable. I ain't gonna try to make a 9x19 or .357 magnum out of it. It is what it is. Best to concentrate on accuracy and reliability IMHO and don't worry too much about the bullet type.

birddog · Aug 6, 2007

Funny, I almost exclusively carry my .45 or .357 anymore but the last few days I've broken my Bersa Thunder out of semi-retirement.

I've had excellent luck with Magtech ammo. .380 is the only caliber I carry that I don't reload for, but I've been so impressed with the Magtech bullets for which I load my target .45 and .357 rounds that I started shooting their factory .380 ammo. It's consisent, accurate, and in FMJ feeds flawlessly. I have no reservations about using it for a carry round.

And the Bersa is just a fun little gun to shoot.

brashboy · Aug 6, 2007

The gel tests are not so impressive. Low-velocity, lightweight pistol bullets do not perform well in hollowpoint design. This is not just a .380 problem. Even 9mm HPs don't reliably expand, so it is not surprising that .380 doesn't expand so well. They frequently peel open or deform quickly before getting good penetration. Humans are not gel blocks. There are buttons, zippers, fabrics and seams, leather goods, stuff in pockets, not to mention bone when shooting for the boiler room. We are shooting for the boiler room, aren't we? Even eliminating bone and non-bone factors, humans are not composed of a uniformly viscous substance like gel, and there is little muscle fiber in gel. Thus 6" in gel and 6" in muscled-out BG wearing a heavy field jacket like the Terminator are not the same thing at all.

Many times HPs simply do not expand in such slow cartridges; they either deform or act like a solid. If the HP hole is plugged - with fabric, etc. - the bullet very may not expand, in which case it will function like a FMJ. But you can't count on that - you may get explosive fragmentation as the round enters the body or pierces fabric, etc.

I've been shooting .380s since teenagerhood, and feel comfortable using it for SD. But I would not use a hollow point. I've shot many thousands of rounds at all kinds of things out in the sticks. The FMJ is a pretty destructive round in .380 and can penetrate surprisingly well. I would shoot things like an old, unused metal pressure tank that came off a water well (tank empty, of course). The FMJ would punch through the tank every time. Sometimes the HP would, often not. Several times it dented the far wall where it hit, but sometimes there was no far-wall dent. Good ammo, too, not 50 years old.

Do yourself a favor - FMJ.

40jjb · Aug 10, 2008

380 acp

Speer GD

Best .380 ACP Ammo?

gbelleh

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wuchak

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Kurt S.

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Reddbecca

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ajax

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Storm

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Gunmeister

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Bobo

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dogtown tom

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quickcanary

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MCgunner

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birddog

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brashboy

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40jjb

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