Suggested .380 defense ammo?

[Combat-wombat]

What personal defense ammunition would you recommend for a SIG P232? I'm thinking Cor-Bon+p, or maybe Glaser. What suggestions do you have?

Also, why the @^&$# are Sig 232 magazines so &*%@! expensive? I mean, they're just freaking single stack metal mags and the cheapest I can find them is $40!!!

Thanks.

 

[wasrjoe]

Get a Makarov. $8 magazines. Har har.

Anyhow, here are a couple pertinent threads:

Best .380 ammo for CCW?

Some .380 ACP "Test" Results

 

[horge]

Hi!

Just me, but Cor Bon's light .380 JHP's tend to lose speed fast, and seem to be prone to jacket separation, in water. Never tried the expensive Glasers, but all the so-called experts frown upon the lack of penetration.

.380 ACP is a tricky caliber anyway when it comes to JHP terminal performance--a lot rides on proper placement. Even then, the best JHP ammo delivers nearly-adequate penetration, if you buy the FBI's minimum of 12".

I pack cheap Armscor 9f gr FMJ when outdoors, for the necessary penetration. I figure that outdoors, I'm alert, and there's a lower density of innocents than at home --making overpenetration of the BG (or misses that may penetrate barriers onto innocents) a lesser probability. Lots of other good FMJ out there.

At home, it's Remington Golden Saber 102gr JHP.
Both have reasonably little muzzle flash (dangerously distracting for night use, on some of the hotter cartridges), and light recoil for the punch..allowing more rapid rate of fire.
Others swear by Speer Gold Dots.

As with firearms, try-before-you-buy helps, especially in low light, arms and body not braced/squared for the shot.


hth.

.380 ACP terminal performance claims


+

 

[Safety First]

Right now I am running Speer Gold Dots in in My sig P-239 9mm and kel-tec .380..Very happy with accuracy,reliablity of each.. If you shop around you can get a decent price on each, but they are considered premium ammo...good luck..

 

[nemesis]

Any ammunition from 9mm on up should do well for defense. Anything less than that is questionable.

 

[MICHAEL T]

The 380 CorBon is not +P and thats from company. Now the 90grHP are good round but stay away from power ball no penertration Glaser suffer same problem. I use both CB HP's and Rem 102gr GS in my 380's The gold dots seem to work well.

 

[RyanM]

I strongly recommend against Glasers, unless you would be comfortable trying to defend yourself with a .410 shotgun loaded with 1/8th oz. of birdshot, because that's almost exactly what a .380 Glaser is!

Remington UMC leadless would be ideal, since those rounds use a TMJ flatnose. You definitely want a flatnose over a hollowpoint in that caliber, or you risk underpenetrating.

 

[CZ-100]

I feel comfortable carrying FMJ in my P3AT.

 

[wdlsguy]

I'm currently carrying Winchester Silvertips in my P3AT.

 

[U.F.O.]

I switched to the Remingtom Golden Saber 102 gr. JHP's in my P-3AT. It's the heaviest bullet made in .380 caliber which gives me more confidence if expansion fails.

U.F.O.

 

[Black Snowman]

Are there any heavy flat points available? That would be my 1st choice. If not that, whatever HP load gave the best penetration data. Then round FMJ. YMMV and all that. That discussion is already going on in another thread

 

[horge]

Black Snowman,

Hi!
Empresa Nacional Santa Barbara's JSP might fit your bill.
It seems one of the most powerful .380 ACP I have ever come across, so recoil can be very, very snappy in a blowback. Stress-wise, it may be an unsuitable long-term diet for a pistol with an aluminium alloy frame, and this Spanish import may or may not be available from time to time in the US.

Empresa Nacional Santa Barbara JSP 90 gr 1000 ft/s (from 3.5" barrel)

Of course, it's 'meant' to be a mushrooming flat softpoint, and may not have quite the same tissue crushing characteristic of a strong, jacketed meplat.


hth

 

[kokapelli]

The 380 round is certainly not one of the more powerful handgun rounds so,
I carry the Spanish, Santa Barbra ammo in my P-3AT because it has by far the most felt recoil of any 380 I have shot so far. I assume that with that much recoil, Santa Barbra must reach higher velocities than most other 380 ammo and will be one of the better penetrating 380 rounds.

 

[outofbattery]

I carry 90gr Gold Dots in my P230 . I'm not swayed either way in the FMJ or HP argument but I can see the merits of either . I picked up a couple spare 230 mags from Cheaper Than Dirt for $20 each a few months ago - I'm fairly certain that they are the same for the 232 but you might want to verify that they did not do something odd to them during the change .

 

[russlate]

Hornady XTP's in my CZ83. Deepest penetrating 380 HP. Least expansion.

 

[Ivy Mike]

I carry Winchester Supreme SXT's (95 grain) in my Makarov.

I used to carry Cor-Bon, but the Winchester was cheaper, just as reliable (100%) and seemed easier to shoot. Gun didn't hurt my hand as much...although new grips helped that.

My ND with the Winchesters made me a believer. I had a round go through a fiberglass shower, one laye of drywall, 10" of fiberglass insulation, another layer of drywall, 8' open space, a third layer of drywall, more insulation, chicken wire and finally stucco. The round exited the house and the hole was about the right size all the way through. I never did recover the round, however, my doubts about penetration are gone.

 

[Gunnutz13]

My 2 cents...

I carry the Magsafe's in .380acp. Cycled a few packs down range to make sure it would function through my 1927 Colt M1908 and my 1972 Walther PPK/s. Manufacturer claims it hits like a 45...I wouldn't know...never been hit with one !

 

[kokapelli]

Hmmm! Then I guess we don't need those 1911s. We can just carry a Kel-Tec P-3AT with magsafe ammo.

 

[at-home-daddy]

Another vote (of confidence) for the Golden Saber 102-grain BJHP's.

 

[BluesBear]

It amazes me how folks who have no experience with Glaser or Mag-Safe love to badmouth them.

 

[Shane333]

Here's another vote for the Remington 102 gr. GS. They expand well and have some weight to them.

 

[RyanM]

http://www.firearmstactical.com/tacticalbriefs/volume4/number3/article432.htm

http://www.firearmstactical.com/images/Wound Profiles/357 Magnum Glaser.jpg

So if .45 ACP prefragmented frangible bullets are dangerously inadequate, and .357 magnum prefrags are downright awful (4.75 whole inches of penetration! Wow!), .380 ACP frangibles must be great!

I'd go for the Santa Barbra JSP stuff, or Remington UMC Leadless jacketed flatnose.

If you _really_ want glaser-like terminal performance, save yourself some money and buy an American Derringer Company derringer in .45LC/.410 shotgun, and keep it loaded with .410 birdshot shells. Those give you 219 grains of shot instead of 60, at least.

 

[BluesBear]

From a 10" contender 3" .410 #6 birdshot whon't penetrate the side wall of a cheap metal filing cabinet.

A Glaser Safety Slug will.

Have you ever chronographed a .410 derringer?
I'll take the smallest NAA .380 Guardian over a .410 derringer any day.

 

[kokapelli]

At the gelatin test done by goldenloki

http://www.goldenloki.com/ammo/gel/32acp/gel32acp.htm

stie, magsafe in 32 caliber failed to fragment two thirds of the time and only partially fragmented in the remaining third.

Penetration was 6.9 inches. Pretty poor penetration for a round that acted like a fmj most of the time!

Don't think I would feel very comfortable with that round in my P-3AT.

 

[RyanM]

I'll keep that in mind if ever I have a .380 with glasers and a .410 with birdshot to choose from, and have to put down a rampaging file cabinet. (that's the problem with most test mediums; you can't correlate results with anything but results in the same medium, unless you do a ton of comparison and research, like Fackler did with calibrated 10% gelatin at 4 degrees C)

But really, with test data like I've found, I do not see any advantage Glasers have over a .410, except maybe barrier penetration. But aren't Glasers supposed to be really rotten at poking through walls and things, to reduce risk to people downrange?

Never chronoed one of them derringers, but I imagine that heavier birdshot would be able to at least give someone a good sting.