Looking for best 380 ammo

[rskent]

I keep it pretty simple.

I just carry Hornady Critical Defense. I seems to test fairly well across the board. Its common enough to be available.
So I can practice with it enough to know that it will run in both of my 380's.

But keep in mind, it's a 380 not a 44 Magnum. Not likely impress anyone with its power.

 

[Torian]

Is there any evidence this ammo will perform in the real world? Just because it delivers very high velocity doesn't make it a good choice for carrying like I said in Post #17. For some reason Americans have been convinced velocity is the measure of the quality of ammo. That is not true at all.

You only need enough velocity to reliably expand the bullet and reach the vitals. Any more velocity only results in more recoil and less control. Hyper velocity doesn't make ammo better or the best.

Some hollowpoints perform better/worse under different velocities. He pushes some of his 10mm loads very hard (too hard I think), but I feel his 380s are in the sweet spot. Underwood is just taking proven rounds (Gold Dots, XTPs) and making quality hand loads. There are quite a bit of Youtube videos documenting their performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h1Ml5h2ECY

I usually buy Underwood because he loads as good if not better than advertised velocities for the same loads in the store, and for less money. I also buy all my hunting 7.62 NATO loads through him. Accuracy is typically excellent.

 

[kokapelli]

I keep it pretty simple.

I just carry Hornady Critical Defense. I seems to test fairly well across the board. Its common enough to be available.
So I can practice with it enough to know that it will run in both of my 380's.

But keep in mind, it's a 380 not a 44 Magnum. Not likely impress anyone with its power.

I notice that Hornady Critical Defense is mentioned a number of times in this thread as being the round of choice for some.

If you take a few minutes and look at the Shooting The Bull test you will find that the Hornady round failed in their tests.

http://shootingthebull.net/blog/final-results-of-the-380-acp-ammo-quest/

 

[wild cat mccane]

Underwood's Lehigh Extreme appear to be a winning round in Mac's testing on youtube. And it's a solid.

 

[rskent]

kokapelli

If you take a few minutes and look at the Shooting The Bull test you will find that the Hornady round failed in their tests.

And yet they did pretty well in the lucky gunner tests.

I think it comes down to what you think will be good for you.

 

[Mr_Flintstone]

kokapelli


And yet they did pretty well in the lucky gunner tests.

I think it comes down to what you think will be good for you.

The test at Shooting the Bull was done with a 2.8" barrel. Critical Defense penetrated an average of 8.4 inches in bare gel and 12.5 in the 4 layer test. I imagine that real life situations would be somewhere in between full winter dress and naked. So all in all, not too bad.

The Lucky Gunner test didn't show their bare gel test, but the 4-layer test produced an average of 13.2 inches from a 3.25 inch barrel. If the values were proportional though, a bare gel average would have been somewhere around 9 inches. I'm not sure that they would be exactly proportional, but it sounds about right.

The Hornady website says that it has conducted extensive tests with a 4 inch test barrel and gotten an average of 10.25 inches in bare gel. There was no 4-layer test values. If they were proportional to the Shooting the Bull test, this would give a 15-16 inch penetration through denim. Again, I'm not too sure about how mathematically proportional the two tests are, but all of the videos I've seen show penetrations that are close to these numbers for 3.5+ inch barrels.

So it would appear that (especially when using .380 ACP) barrel length plays a pretty significant role. When looking at the Ballistics By The Inch website, I noticed that in the real world weapons section, there was sometimes up to a 200 fps difference on the same round when comparing between 2.5 inch barrels and 3.66 inch barrels.

That being said, and after reading through all of the comments here, that there probably isn't a perfect .380 acp. What may be good for one gun may be not so good in another. There are so many factors to consider like muzzle velocity, how much a round expands, and whether the round expands too quickly, too late, not at all, etc...

I started out this thread looking for the latest and greatest; the best possible .380 round. Now I'm more confused than before. I think that I may just stick with what I've got on hand. I have 3 or 4 boxes of Critical Defense on hand, and although it may or may not be the best, I think I'll just use it and stop worrying.

 

[Gary A]

I have 3 or 4 boxes of Critical Defense on hand, and although it may or may not be the best, I think I'll just use it and stop worrying.

I'm wrong about any number of things from time to time, but I think that is a wise conclusion.

 

[minutemen1776]

I just carry Hornady Critical Defense. I seems to test fairly well across the board. Its common enough to be available.
So I can practice with it enough to know that it will run in both of my 380's.

This.

I have 3 or 4 boxes of Critical Defense on hand, and although it may or may not be the best, I think I'll just use it and stop worrying.

And this.

Critical Defense is good stuff, and it's available. I've never even seen most of these boutique .380 loads at any gun store or gun show I've visited. Personally, if I were that worried about .380 performance, I'd just step into a small 9mm pistol.

 

[Zendude]

I use Critical Defense. Based on a variety of tests I've seen on the Internet the FTX bullet seems to have very reliable expansion even at lower velocities.

 

[amd6547]

If you are going to campaign a 380, it's one caliber where it's best to order online.
SGammo has 50rd boxes of ammo like Speer Gold Dot for about what my LGS charges for the little 20rd boxes.
Underwood is easy to order from and has reasonable prices.
Critical Defense is good amm, and I would be fine with it in my Beretta 84F. But in conventional factory JHP, I like the Gold Dot or the Federal hydroshok.

I see the FMJ argument, and I would be fine with a mag full for SD. I just bought a box of sigammo 102gn FMJ. It looks like very well made ammo, but I haven't shot any yet. The bullet has a small sharp-shouldered flat tip. Looking forward to trying it out.

 

[rskent]

minutemen1776

Personally, if I were that worried about .380 performance, I'd just step into a small 9mm pistol.

I think this is where I am at. Well said.

 

[Robert101]

I carry Hornady Critical Defense as well. I think they have hit a good compromise between penetration, reliability, and expansion for the .380.