Best 380acp round for carry

[ILUVCOINS740]

What is the better round out of a bersa 380 thunder

corbon dpx 80gr all copper?

or

golden saber 102gr jacket lead?

or it there something better in the 380 acp for carry?

 

[jbkebert]

I have tried Gold Dots and Golden sabres. Not impressed with my dumb farm boy testing with the golden sabres at all. Not just in a .380 I also tried them in .357 and .38 spcl +P. Gold dots are way to expensive and I don't think penatrate more or expand better than cheap Remington green box hollow points.

I now carry Winchester PDX1 or Hornady Critical defense. The Winchester rounds are $15.99 a box through Cabela's or $14.99 a box through Graf and Sons. Shooting water jugs, 2x4's, an occasional Opposum, and a couple snakes. These rounds seem to preform great through my gun. So better performance IMHO and way cheaper is good enough for me.

 

[inthelineofire]

I use Hornady Critical Defense FTX bullets in my LCP. Most accurate, most reliable, and (IMO) best for carry.

YMMV.

 

[valorius]

Corbon DPX imo. EVERY test i've seen in gelatin has shown amazing expansion from that round.

I carry them in my LCP.

I had some .380 Golden Sabers and shot them off at the range the other day. I swear to you here and now that of the 7rds i fired, 3 of them were barely above squib loads.

Perhaps the most intriguing .380 ACP defense load of all is not even a hollowpoint, but rather a 100gr Elmer Keith style hard cast lead flat nose at max. SAAMI pressure, made by Buffalo Bore. If you are a penetration first type guy, there is nothing in .380 that's going to come close to the penetration levels that load will achieve.

 

[MAC USMC]

I also vote for the HORNADY Critical Defense rounds for a .380. Mine is a Sig and it shoots and handles very well. I got it 10 years ago and successfully completed the San Diego P. D. qualificaton course with it.

With the modern ammo available today the .380 is no longer a "puny" round and in the right weapon is reasonably accurate at close range. In hot weather I carry it constantly.

 

[MICHAEL T]

Corbon DPX or the HORNADY Critical Defense rounds
Tried the 102 and like another poster some good, others you checked to see if made out barrel. I have look at tests where in a 5 round string over clocks has been as much as 100fps difference between rounds . My also failed the poor boy water jug test .

 

[Claude Clay]

silvertips in all my 380's for SD

 

[basicblur]

Huh?

Gold dots are way to expensive and I don't think penatrate more or expand better than cheap Remington green box hollow points.

I now carry Winchester PDX1 or Hornady Critical defense. The Winchester rounds are $15.99 a box through Cabela's or $14.99 a box through Graf and Sons.

Last box of Gold Dots I got were $24.99/50 (prices starting to drop). I'm guessing the PDX1 and Hornady you got were 20/25 rd boxes?
Is Gold Dot really that expensive?

FWIW, I don't buy anything that doesn't come in 50 rd boxes-I usually hit 'bout 3 or 4 police supply houses-I ain't paying inflated prices for those little 'consumer' boxes.

Can't really make a recommendation, but across the board/calibers Gold Dots sure do seem to get high marks from a number of sources.
In my area (and some of the places online I shop), Gold Dots seem to be some of the more easily available/cheapest rounds I can find.

 

[Manco]

Corbon DPX imo. EVERY test i've seen in gelatin has shown amazing expansion from that round.

Here are the results of some tests in gelatin:

http://www.brassfetcher.com/380ACP ammunition performance in ballistic gelatin.pdf

If you favor bullet diameter, then either choice in the poll will you give the most expansion along with a fair amount of penetration given that, although it will be a bit lacking in the latter by most people's standards. Personally, although I generally favor penetration and heavier bullets, if I wanted the most and the most reliable expansion, I'd probably choose the DPX load, as I think the bullet will hold together better and expand more reliably.

By the way, notice how nearly all of the hollow-point bullets in the tests had turned sideways by the time they stopped.

Perhaps the most intriguing .380 ACP defense load of all is not even a hollowpoint, but rather a 100gr Elmer Keith style hard cast lead flat nose at max. SAAMI pressure, made by Buffalo Bore. If you are a penetration first type guy, there is nothing in .380 that's going to come even remotely close to the penetration levels that load will achieve.

Well, it's not exactly a Keith-style bullet , but if I had a .380 ACP defensive pistol, this is what I'd most likely load it with, personally. It would probably get a little over 20" of penetration in gelatin, and that suits me fine. Remember that in real shootings involving real people, there will generally be a lot more variance in the performance of every round that is fired, and that most will not live up to the more ideal results we get from shooting into gelatin. To be effective, a bullet of any diameter has to penetrate first, and that's the least predictable--as well as the most important--aspect of all (besides shot placement, which is mostly up to you and luck). For what it's worth, the FBI prefers 18" of penetration if they can get it, and I happen to agree with them. For those who adhere to the minimum 12" standard, the Federal Hydra-Shok may be just the ticket.

 

[usp9]

Winchester Ranger T is a good round, if you can find them.

 

[Manco]

Winchester Ranger T is a good round, if you can find them.

I'm kind of surprised at how they went all out for expansion, though. The test results I have from Winchester for this load (conducted either by them or the FBI lab using the FBI test protocols) are: 7.65" penetration and 0.65" diameter into bare gelatin, and 7.95" penetration and 0.64" diameter through four layers of denim.

 

[usp9]

I'm kind of surprised at how they went all out for expansion, though. The test results I have from Winchester for this load (conducted either by them or the FBI lab using the FBI test protocols) are: 7.65" penetration and 0.65" diameter into bare gelatin, and 7.95" penetration and 0.64" diameter through four layers of denim.

I was about to ask where you found this info, then realized; it must be on the internet somewhere.
So I went looking and found this forum thread concerning the .380acp round. A wealth of info here... and I did find the Winchester info Manco refered to.
http://www.ktog.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1199737660

 

[BushyGuy]

i vote the Corbon DPX cuz the .380 lacks penetration.

 

[45Fan]

If money isnt an issue, Buffalo Bore loads .380 Gold Dots to +p velocities. They are snappy, but not too bad in my wifes PK380. If those dont make you happy, winchester silvertips expand very well for me in my LCP.

 

[HOME DEPOT GEORGE]

I use winchester jacketed soft point as it feeds well in my lcp

 

[valorius]

Someone want to explain to me what the "cutting perimeter is" as described in the brassfetcher tests? Why not just measure exapansion, like everyone else does?

It just seems like it's hard to compare these tests to others, since no one else uses that same standard.

 

[ohwell]

I chronoed the Corbon DPX, Hornady CD, Winchester PDX1, and Winchester FMJ one afternoon. To my surprise Unless my chrono was malfunctioning the DPX was the slowest of all four bullets I tested. The PDX1 averaged 5 fps faster than the CD and the FMJ bullets were right behind the CD's I have seen more and more posts about PDX1's not always expanding so my main carry load in every Caliber is the Critical Defense. The Corbons dont impress me at all they are to light in 380.

 

[benzuncle]

3 years ago, before the 380ACP mania began, and after a lot of research I got ahead of the curve and purchased a NAA Guardian for my first concealed carry piece. I signed on to the North American Arms Message Board and did a pile of lurking. One piece that struck me was one by "Oldgranda". He did a Wet Pack test using 6 different rounds:
Corbon DPX 80gr
Corbon 90gr JHP
Federal Hydrashok 90gr JHP
Remington 102gr Golden Saber JHP
Speer Gold Dot 90gr JHP
Winchester SXT 95gr JHP
To summarize a very good article which included his instructions for making a Wet Pack, he determined that the Golden Sabers were his choice of the above rounds. The 102gr GS rounds penetrated 8" and opened up to .570-.588" at 897fps. I have since adopted Oldgranpa's choice with no regrets.
I bought 2 boxes (25 rounds instead of the 20 that some companies sell) and was very pleased with the way they cycled in the Guardian. I've never had a problem with the shape of he 102gr GS chambering.
Since then, I have been "rolling my own" buying GS bullets from Midway in 500 bulk packs. They also shoot great in my SIG P238. As with any bullet/caliber, shot placement will probably determine more than which flavor ammo or caliber we choose, but I like the Golden Sabers and use them in my 45's also for SD.

 

[Water-Man]

I've gone with Buffalo Bore 100gr. +P Hardcast FN.

 

[valorius]

I'm definitely going to buy some of those in the near future.

 

[71Commander]

I use golden saber's as my defensive round in all of my carry guns. The profile is close to RN but with the expansion characteristics of a HP.

 

[Ben86]

Back when I was into .380 I carried the 90 grain gold dot. I'm not too crazy about anything under 95 gr, but they passed the double jug test. To be used for SD they have to pass through at least 2 milk jugs filled with water and expand properly. I use gold dots in all my other pistols as well.

 

[gordy]

I roll my own in 380 using winchester cases. With 4 grains of power pistol, using a 90 grain hornady xtp hp. and winchester primmers. out of my p3a3 it runs around 900 fps over my chrony. Not so heavy recoil and shoot very well in my Kel-tec.
I have tryed using copper plated hp and they are not very good at all.
No expantion what so ever. They are good to shoot indoors and leave no build up in the barrel. But for cc I would say do not use copper plated bullets.
But for just range use they are good.

 

[Manco]

I was about to ask where you found this info, then realized; it must be on the internet somewhere.
So I went looking and found this forum thread concerning the .380acp round. A wealth of info here... and I did find the Winchester info Manco refered to.
http://www.ktog.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1199737660

Sorry, I wrote that message real quick and neglected to include the source. Terminal ballistics test results for some of Winchester's LE/personal defense ammo can be found here:

http://www.winchester.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/flash-SWFs/law_bullit.swf

Be careful when choosing which results to trust, by the way. I use the Brass Fetcher site a lot because the gelatin is prepared properly and I can verify that the penetration of the calibration BB meets industry standards. I also use FBI data whenever that's available.

Someone want to explain to me what the "cutting perimeter is" as described in the brassfetcher tests? Why not just measure exapansion, like everyone else does?

Judging by the pictures, it appears to be the outside perimeter of the expanded (or unexpanded as the case may be) bullet, which is approximated as the diameter * pi (about 3.1415926535897932384626433832795). As to why this was done, I have no idea.

I chronoed the Corbon DPX, Hornady CD, Winchester PDX1, and Winchester FMJ one afternoon. To my surprise Unless my chrono was malfunctioning the DPX was the slowest of all four bullets I tested. The PDX1 averaged 5 fps faster than the CD and the FMJ bullets were right behind the CD's

Well, DPX uses an all-copper bullet, which is less dense in terms of mass and therefore longer than it would be with a lead core, which reduces the amount of space left over for powder (not that the powder is necessarily packed, but a smaller volume still imposes limitations regarding pressure, which results in less velocity than you could normally get).

I have seen more and more posts about PDX1's not always expanding so my main carry load in every Caliber is the Critical Defense.

Like any traditional hollow-point bullet, PDX1 can sometimes get clogged with various materials it encounters, including clothing, which can make it expand only partially or not at all. There are ways to work around this, but they all involve tradeoffs. For example, you could use a plastic insert like Critical Defense does, but then the bullet will always expand no matter what it hits, which means that hard barrier penetration will be relatively poor. You could widen the cavity instead, but this could compromise feeding reliability.

PDX1 is designed to expand as reliably as possible while still being able to achieve lethal depths of penetration after penetrating hard barriers. If that's not important to you (it certainly isn't to everybody), and you'd rather have virtually guaranteed expansion, then Critical Defense or HST or some others may be a better fit for you in this caliber. For me it always comes down to the individual load for the individual gun, and of course the preferences of the individual person. I happen to use PDX1 in my M&P40, but in a .380 ACP pocket pistol, I'd use a hard-cast bullet and forget about JHPs altogether. To each their own.

 

[DeepSouth]

Another vote for Hornady Critical Defense