Best SD 380 Ammo

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HannibalTheCrow

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Is it true that the best SD ammo to use in my Bersa Thunder 380 is FMJ rather than HP? I have read this a few places and heard it a few times. What is the best combination for penetration and expansion in the caliber weapon for SD?

Thank you for your help in advance,

HannibalTheCrow
 
I have personally found, through my own testing and general consensus, that Federal Hydra-Shok hollow point ammo is the current best for self defense. That, or Cor-Bon.
 
If you want 12" of penetration, you aren't going to get expansion. The corbon dpx has a reputation for very consistent expansion but it comes at the price of penetration. You make the decision. Personally I'm using a fmj round I practice with a lot for that but ymmv.
 
Where the tiny .380 is concerned, which I use only for a BUG, I feel the penetration is is paramount. A good expanding HP is great in larger more powerful guns which you can count on the bullet weight and load to do the work. A .380 HP though, while it might flatten out nice, will not reliably achieve the generally accepted level of penetration in ballistic gelatin that one should load for self defense purposes. Its a trade off though, and a tough choice for the shooter. Personally I load FMJ in my .380 BUG ( a bersa thunder ).
 
I did some chrono'ing of various factory 380 acp loads awhile back.

Black Hills makes the fastest FMJ's.

Remington Golden Saber 102g JHP was the fastest hollowpoint. I will need to look in my notebook, but I think it was going aroun 900-950 fps, which is probably enough for expansion, but I am not sure how well it would penetrate if it expanded.
 
In the following gelatin tests, the DPX expanded 100% of the time and the Hydra-Shok did not expand at all!

The Gold Dot was impressive.
======================
The following are results from gelatin tests done at the "stoppingpower.net" group. Pistol used is Keltec .380 3AT
Corbon .380 90 gr. +P
Pen 16.50+" Exp N/A (left the block, not recovered)
Speer .380 90 gr. Gold Dot
Pen 10.50" Exp .476
Federal .380 90gr. Hydra Shok
Pen 16.50" Exp .356

========================

10% Ballistic Gelatin Tests for:
Corbon .380 80 gr DPX

Testing Platform:
Keltec 3AT

Barrier:
Four Layers of Denim

TEST RESULTS:

Round # 1:
Penetration: 6.75
Recovered Weight: 80.8 gr.
Expansion*: .73.2 cal.
Velocity: 958.6 fps

* Expansion measured at widest point.

=========================

10% Ballistic Gelatin Tests for:
Corbon .380 70 gr PowRBall

Testing Platform:
Keltec 3AT

Barrier:
Four Layers of Denim

TEST RESULTS:

Round # 1:
Penetration: 12.50€š
Recovered Weight: 70.1 gr.
Expansion*: .355 cal.
Velocity: 1114 fps

======================
 
I prefer to use the European stuff like Fiocchi or the Spanish Police surplus rounds (Santa Barbara). Very hot and very accurate. Both are well over 1000 fps.
-David
 
90gr JHP or Hydrashok

The Corbon 90gr JHP or the Federal 90gr Hydra-Shok have the best street records.

Have a Great Christmas!

Frank
 
Well I finally shot off all 100 rounds of my Aguila FMJ 380 out of my Bersa Thunder and IMHO @ the 15yrd mark, bullets hit the target, but all over it. Like a messy tic-tac-toe pattern.

Today I purchased some Remington UMC Ammo, which I hope show better results. If not, then this gun IMHO is good for 10 yrd home run. If it improves, I am keeping to the UMCs
 
According to the 2003 edition of Evan Marshall and Ed Sanow's book, "Stopping Power: A Practical Analysis of the Latest Handgun Ammunition", Hollow Points in .380 outperform Full Metal Jackets ...
  • Corbon 90 gr Jacketed Hollow Point have a 71% one-shot stopping capability expanding on avergae to 0.59" and penetrating 8.8" on average.

  • Federal 90 gr Hydra Shok have a 71% one-shot stopping capability expanding on average to 0.56" and penetrating 9.4" on average.

  • Triton gr Jacketed Hollow Point have a 70% one-shot stopping capability expanding on average to 0.58" and penetrating 9.1" on average.

  • Federal 90 gr Jacketed Hollow Point have a 69% one-shot stopping capability expanding on average to 0.55" and penetrating 8.7" on average.

  • Winchester 85 gr Silvertip have a 68% one-shot stopping capability expanding on average to 0.51" and penetrating 8.2" on average.

  • CCI gr Jacketed Hollow Point have a 67% one-shot stopping capability expanding on average to 0.48" and penetrating 9.2" on average.

  • Federal 90 gr Full Metal Jacket have a 55% one-shot stopping capability with no expansion and penetrating 10.9" on average.
 
The Marshall and Sanow data is not scientific and should be taken with a grain of salt. They won't let anyone else review their data, don't explain how the data was collected, and don't tell you the sample size. For example, how often could Triton 380 acp jacketed hollowpoints have been used in shootings? That is a fairly obscure load from a fairly obscure ammo maker. There really can't be that many people walking around with that load in their gun right now. If the 70% number they are quoting is based on a very small sample size, it may not accurately reflect the real stopping power.

I assume the penetration data you are giving is from gelatin and not human tissue. Was this bare gelatin, or was it covered in clothing. This time of year a nice thick coat can really screw up hollowpoint expansion, and significantly limit penetration.
 
According to the book, they are based on ACTUAL shootings and they DO give the sample size (I just didn't feel like re-typing it above but here it is):
  • Corbon 90 gr Jacketed Hollow Point have a 71% one-shot stopping capability (30 out of 42) expanding on avergae to 0.59" and penetrating 8.8" on average.

  • Federal 90 gr Hydra Shok have a 71% one-shot stopping capability (68 out of 96) expanding on average to 0.56" and penetrating 9.4" on average.

  • Triton gr Jacketed Hollow Point have a 70% one-shot stopping capability (7 out of 10) expanding on average to 0.58" and penetrating 9.1" on average.

  • Federal 90 gr Jacketed Hollow Point have a 69% one-shot stopping capability (123 out of 178) expanding on average to 0.55" and penetrating 8.7" on average.

  • Winchester 85 gr Silvertip have a 68% one-shot stopping capability (70 out of 103) expanding on average to 0.51" and penetrating 8.2" on average.

  • CCI gr Jacketed Hollow Point have a 67% one-shot stopping capability (52 out of 78) expanding on average to 0.48" and penetrating 9.2" on average.

  • Federal 90 gr Full Metal Jacket have a 55% one-shot stopping capability (127 out of 231) with no expansion and penetrating 10.9" on average.
 
I'm not trying to defend them. I'm just re-typing what's in the book. Where it came from? Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe it's the average of their sample size.
 
I use WWB because it works in my Kel-Tec P3AT without flaw and even though it's FMJ it's a flat point with a pretty good size meplat so you'll get more of a wound track than with a round nose. If I were using a hollowpoint it would be the Golden Saber because it's good and heavy (105 gr IIRC) and will help keep penetration deep even though it expands. It also doesn't hurt that WWB is cheap enough for me to practice with regularly.

YMMV.

Oh, and as to what makes for an effective round, check these out:

http://www.rathcoombe.net/sci-tech/ballistics/wounding.html

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=118949
 
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