Results of the .380 Up close and personal...

[1911Tuner]

While I believe that to be true, I never understand why people use that argument to justify carrying a less powerful caliber.

FWIW...and this is my observation...I don't think that anybody is trying to justify it as much as they are trying to determine if the .380 is adequate for a sudden close quarters emergency. The simple answer is while there are no guarantees...even with a .44 magnum...the odds are much greater with the .380 or even a .22 than with nothing. In most instances, I feel that the .380 will serve that purpose well enough to carry it.


If Mongo, the Master of Mayhem has you by the throat...and you pump 5 or 6 90-grain slugs into the region of his groin from a distance of one inch or less...he'll turn loose. He may not be down and completely out sand, but his attention will very likely be diverted long enough for you make a hasty exit, and the gun has filled its primary role. In such a situation, there is also less chance of punching through Mongo and striking some kid playing in his front yard a block away.

After all, the purpose of a defensive sidearm is to get you home alive...not to engage in running gunfights across a parking lot with an MS13 goon platoon.

From listening to many conversations on the subject, I've gleaned that everybody who goes armed feels that their moment of truth will be such a scenario...where everybody is shooting the area to Helen Gone, with the lone good guy returning fire...maneuvering and changing magazines...and emerging the victor against seemingly insurmountable odds. The chances are much greater that it will be only one or possibly two assailants...and that it will start as a hand-to-hand struggle.

 

[trex1310]

I read a story in American Handgunner last month where a cop was
shot in the chin at close range with a .45acp (I think) and the damage was minimal.

 

[1911Tuner]

trex...Several years ago, I read of a knife-wielding cretin who was shot in the chin with a .45 pistol at about 10 feet. The bullet went through his jaw lengthwise, took out some teeth, and exited out the back of his neck. Though his bell was pretty well rung, he stayed on his feet after dropping the knife...walked up to the guy who shot him...and asked him if that was a real gun just before he collapsed. He survived his wound.

In the mid-80s, there was an incident at a local watering hole on the outskirts of Winston-Salem which a friend of mine witnessed. Two guys got into an argument over a pool game. One of them decided that it wasn't worth getting bloody over, and left. The other one followed him to the parking lot. The one who was leaving made it to his truck...produced a Raven .25 auto...and shot his pursuer once high in the chest at about one truck length away. Victim looked down at the blood trickle...asked "What did I ever do to you?" and died on his feet.