Finally a Browning BDA 380
- Thread starter nwilliams
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The real value of the browning 380 comes, when you compare it to a current 9mm hollow point. Remington Golden saber loads
380 auto has 200 ft lbs and 9mm 349 ft lbs. of energy, that gives 9mm 75% more stopping power than a 380.
You have to remember 380 is really a back up gun or for small women and should not be considered as your main defense gun or load.
For the price of $400 -$600 for these used browning 380's, your better off buying a compact glock 9mm or 40 cal.
When you factor in what you are going to do with the pistol and how you are going to carry it, it comes out quite worthless.
The gun is simply to big, and to heavy and is chambered to in weak of a round for its size and weight.
Also 9mm is cheaper to shoot and a browning hi power can be concealed, just as easy as a BDA 380.
About 20 years ago a browning dealer tried to sell me one of theses
bda 380's and I liked it until he told me it was a 380.
After looking at it further annd seeing it was really a berretta with a browning name on it and priced $200 more than a beretta 380 I passed on it.
At that time you could buy a new SS PPK for $250-$300, and these browning BDA were almost $500 and the ppk was all steel construction and easier to conceal.
380 auto has 200 ft lbs and 9mm 349 ft lbs. of energy, that gives 9mm 75% more stopping power than a 380.
You have to remember 380 is really a back up gun or for small women and should not be considered as your main defense gun or load.
For the price of $400 -$600 for these used browning 380's, your better off buying a compact glock 9mm or 40 cal.
When you factor in what you are going to do with the pistol and how you are going to carry it, it comes out quite worthless.
The gun is simply to big, and to heavy and is chambered to in weak of a round for its size and weight.
Also 9mm is cheaper to shoot and a browning hi power can be concealed, just as easy as a BDA 380.
About 20 years ago a browning dealer tried to sell me one of theses
bda 380's and I liked it until he told me it was a 380.
After looking at it further annd seeing it was really a berretta with a browning name on it and priced $200 more than a beretta 380 I passed on it.
At that time you could buy a new SS PPK for $250-$300, and these browning BDA were almost $500 and the ppk was all steel construction and easier to conceal.
REAPER4206969
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That's not how these things work.
Fastcast
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Too big, too heavy and too weak......Corrected for you.
If you really believe a quality hit to the vitals from a 9mm is 75% more deadly or a 75% quicker kill than an identical shot from .380 with a 4" barrel, I could sell you ocean front property in Arizona.
Take your drivel to another thread and quit pissing on the mans enjoyment. He bought a fine firearm, with his own hard earned money, not yours.
FN did not contract with Beretta for the Browning BDA specs.
That pistol was offered by Browning long before FN ever acquired the company.
The Browning pistol was one authorized by my department in about '85 for optional private purchase & off-duty carry.
I've worked with both Browning & Beretta versions in the past couple years, the Browning was by far the nicer of the two in finish, and it didn't have warnings stamped on it.
Denis
That pistol was offered by Browning long before FN ever acquired the company.
The Browning pistol was one authorized by my department in about '85 for optional private purchase & off-duty carry.
I've worked with both Browning & Beretta versions in the past couple years, the Browning was by far the nicer of the two in finish, and it didn't have warnings stamped on it.
Denis
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nwilliams
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Your argument of the may be sound IF you intend to use the BDA as a carry/defensive gun. I have no intentions of using the BDA as anything more than range toy, I have a main CCW and didn't buy the BDA to replace that and since I never carry a BUG then that's a role that the BDA doesn't need to fill either.
However if I were caught in a home invasion and the BDA was the closest gun at my disposal and it was loaded with 13 rounds of .380 and ready to go I sure wouldn't worry about whether or not the caliber has enough stopping power.
Also the BDA/Beretta 84, while large compared to most .380's hitting the market right now is not that big. Also it carries about twice the capacity of any other .380 out there.
Here is the BDA compared to my Colt Cobra snubby and they are about the same length, width and height.
harmon rabb
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muzzle energy does not correlate to stopping power. penetration (and expansion if a hollow point) are what matters. modern 380 is actually not bad at all in terms of penetration and expansion.
75% more muzzle energy is going provide a lot more stopping and penentration power, when your using advanced hollow points that are designed to expand and stay with in your target.
I suppose your going to tell me that a 38 special hp. has more stopping power than a .357 mag hp
Your statement about 380 being superior to 9mm x 19 makes no sense.
I suppose your going to tell me that a 38 special hp. has more stopping power than a .357 mag hp
Your statement about 380 being superior to 9mm x 19 makes no sense.
harmon rabb
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First off, NO pistol cartridge has "stopping power." Well, maybe a .500 s&w or a .50AE does, but that's about it.
Anyway, I'm not trying to say that 380 outperforms 9mm. It sure as hell doesn't, and I don't know where you got that from my post, because I didn't say it. Typical 9mm defense loads will penetrate further and expand more than typical 380 defense loads. I just said that modern 380 ain't bad ... and it ain't. The same goes for 38 special. Hollow points have come a long way, and we now have ones that expand full and penetrate decently even at lower velocities.
Anyway, I'm not trying to say that 380 outperforms 9mm. It sure as hell doesn't, and I don't know where you got that from my post, because I didn't say it. Typical 9mm defense loads will penetrate further and expand more than typical 380 defense loads. I just said that modern 380 ain't bad ... and it ain't. The same goes for 38 special. Hollow points have come a long way, and we now have ones that expand full and penetrate decently even at lower velocities.
KodiakBeer
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"Staying within the target" has nothing to do with it. If it did, then the .380 would indeed trump the 9mm and the .32 would trump the .380, etc.
Anyway, those BDA's are nice little guns.
rellascout
member
You are correct in that there are others who do manufacturing for Browning. I overstated FNs roll when I said they make 100% of Browning marked guns. I guess I the point I am making is that Browning is just a name they are not a manufacturer of guns anymore. They brand guns made by others.
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A bullet staying with in the body of the human or animal has everything to do with it.
When a bullet stays with in body cavity, almost a 100 % of the energy of the bullet is obsorbed to the body and causes massive trama with in the victims body.
If a bullet over penetrates its victim and exits thru the body cavity with significant amount of muzzle energy and continues on down range, it wastes most the bullets stopping power by not transfering it totally to its intended target.
This is exactly what the FBI ballistics studies came up with after agents were issued, 10mm SW 1006's and found that the round often over penetrated and was to hard to control.
This is why SW invented the 40 sw, it did everything they wanted the bullet to do, so the fbi adopted it and the almost all police agencies followed.
Read the report your self before you state a lot of nonsense.
When a bullet stays with in body cavity, almost a 100 % of the energy of the bullet is obsorbed to the body and causes massive trama with in the victims body.
If a bullet over penetrates its victim and exits thru the body cavity with significant amount of muzzle energy and continues on down range, it wastes most the bullets stopping power by not transfering it totally to its intended target.
This is exactly what the FBI ballistics studies came up with after agents were issued, 10mm SW 1006's and found that the round often over penetrated and was to hard to control.
This is why SW invented the 40 sw, it did everything they wanted the bullet to do, so the fbi adopted it and the almost all police agencies followed.
Read the report your self before you state a lot of nonsense.
KodiakBeer
member
That's one of those urban myths that ignore physics. If two slugs of the same frontal diameter both take the same course through a human body, they are both dumping energy as long as they keep moving forward through tissue. When one stops, it's no longer dumping energy. The one that continues, keeps dumping energy into the tissue until it leaves the body on the far side.
To put it simply: It takes more energy to penetrate 12" of tissue, than to penetrate 6" of tissue.
Pound a stake into the ground. If it takes five whacks of the sledge (energy being the weight of the sledge times the velocity upon impact) to drive it 6" into the ground, it will take ten whacks to drive it 12" into the ground.
The ten whacks imparted double the energy than if you'd stopped at five whacks.
There are other variables of course. An FMJ requires less energy to penetrate because it's diameter is much smaller than an HP. However, with two bullets of the same construction, the one with higher velocity will give greater penetration and impart more energy.
If this wasn't true, then the people who make defense bullets would just step down the powder until they get the minimum required for expansion.
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nwilliams
Member
OK this thread is going way off topic.
If we want to argue the effectiveness of .380 then lets start a new thread on the topic!
If we want to argue the effectiveness of .380 then lets start a new thread on the topic!
KodiakBeer
member
Gotcha!
Anybody want to start a thread on "bullets stopping in the body impart more energy"?
Anybody want to start a thread on "bullets stopping in the body impart more energy"?
dogtown tom
Member
Sorry DPris, you are mistaken. FN has owned part of Browning since 1958. See the Browning website for their history. Every Browning BDA .380 has had the FN roll mark along with Browning & Berettas "PB".
FN had been supplying Browning Arms for many years before the BDA .380 was introduced:
-Hi Power 9mm
-Challenger & Nomad .22's
-Baby Browning .25
-1910/55 .380
-1910/71 .380
And that is just the handguns............
Oh...........before I forget Browning Arms actually imported two handguns they called the "BDA". One is the .380 made by Beretta, but prior to that Browning imported the SIG P220 (.45, 9mm, .38 Super) which they called the Browning BDA.
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REAPER4206969
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Oh my...
REAPER4206969
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My 1979 BDA has no FN markings.
Marvin KNox
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My BDA was my favorite handgun of all time. If it hadn't gotten away from me in my divorce 
I'd still be packing it.
Classy gun.
I originally bought it instead of a 9mm because I wanted a double stack for my wife so she could rip off half dozen or more rounds into the door if an intruder tried anything and still have that many more on tap in case he came all the way into the bedroom.
It's a 14 shot rocket for sure!
My wife couldn't very naturally reach the trigger on the deeper 9mm models. With the short .380 double stack it was a natural fit even with double stack magazines. Mag safety allowed for one being in the chamber at night because she lacked the strength to work the slide under stress. The mag was under the mattress and the gun in the headboard. Shove in the mag and start squeezing.
It was a good strong gun and if I had it now I'd load it with the hottest BB ammo I could find and not feel undergunned. I could hit a target 3 times in the time many other hot shots could only hit it once with their high kicking magnums.
Anyway - great gun and way to go. You'll love it IMO.
I'd still be packing it. Classy gun.
I originally bought it instead of a 9mm because I wanted a double stack for my wife so she could rip off half dozen or more rounds into the door if an intruder tried anything and still have that many more on tap in case he came all the way into the bedroom.
It's a 14 shot rocket for sure!
My wife couldn't very naturally reach the trigger on the deeper 9mm models. With the short .380 double stack it was a natural fit even with double stack magazines. Mag safety allowed for one being in the chamber at night because she lacked the strength to work the slide under stress. The mag was under the mattress and the gun in the headboard. Shove in the mag and start squeezing.
It was a good strong gun and if I had it now I'd load it with the hottest BB ammo I could find and not feel undergunned. I could hit a target 3 times in the time many other hot shots could only hit it once with their high kicking magnums.
Anyway - great gun and way to go. You'll love it IMO.
bannockburn
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nwiliams
Getting back on target (so to speak)...
Back when I had my Beretta Model 84, I used it primarily as my house/travel gun. At home I would have it on a shelf on my headboard, covered by a towel. When I traveled I would keep it on the nightstand next to the bed. Here again I would place a towel or an opened magazine on top of it. It was mighty comforting having that .380 around.
Getting back on target (so to speak)...
Back when I had my Beretta Model 84, I used it primarily as my house/travel gun. At home I would have it on a shelf on my headboard, covered by a towel. When I traveled I would keep it on the nightstand next to the bed. Here again I would place a towel or an opened magazine on top of it. It was mighty comforting having that .380 around.
KodiakBeer
member
The tests don't say what you think they do. There are sound reasons to avoid using bullets that over-penetrate and kill bystanders, but having less energy isn't one of them. In fact, such bullets have more energy; hence going all the way through rather than stopping after a few inches.
rellascout
member
So true.. I always have to double check which pistol we are talking about when some posts about a Browning BDA.
huntsman
Member
+1 sometimes you just gotta own a gun because you want to, ballistic numbers be damned.
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