What self-defense ammo for a .380?

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usmarine0352_2005

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Took my girl shooting because she wanted to get a gun for CCW and she'd never shot a gun. Asked for advice on here. Thanks for all your help. Had her try my SW Bodyguard .380 and a SW .38 revolver. Well, she didn't like the trigger on the SW revolver but loved the SW Bodyguard and she shot it really well. I carry the S&W Bodyguard .380 as my CCW gun. So really looking for ammo for both. I currently have Winchester PDX1, but I read that it wasn't great.


I ended up surprising her with a new Ruger LCP Enhanced .380 with the center fire laser and Galco pocket holster. I wasn't a fan of the LCP until they improved it with the Enhanced version which has improved sights and a much lighter and shorter trigger pull. I also like that it has no safety and a much better on/off switch for the laser. She took her CCW class and passed and also shot great with a SW MP 9mm, only having one round off target.


Now I just need a good self-defense round for it. I think I read that that Federal Hydra-shocks and Cor-bans were two of the best.



What's the best, readily available self-defense ammo in .380 caliber?
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Any modern hollow-point round will serve you as well as any .380 can serve.

With one catch.

You gotta test it thoroughly in the gun.

At least 100 rounds - preferably double that.

Only then will you know if the ammo and gun are compatible.

If one bullet is 10% better in "gelatin" than some other bullet, it won't help you if it won't cycle properly in your gun.

Once you know it will cycle, the rest of the equation is on the shooter.

Practice, practice, practice...

And remember, its a .380.
Even the best bullet might not produce immediate effect against a determined adversary.
 
This is a pretty common question, and there are two schools of thought on it. One side says modern HP ammo, the two you mentioned would do fine, the other side believes the .380 will not get enough velocity out of a short barreled pocket pistol to expand reliably , and if they start to expand it will likely limit their penetration, and recommend FMJ ammo. I'm not sure any particular bullet will turn a pocket sized .380 into a good manstopper, and I carry FMJ in my P3AT. IMHO
 
Look up ShootingTheBull410 on youtube, he tested a LOT of 380 ammo and organized it into different tiers of effectiveness. I think he said hydrashocks and anything using the hornady xtp were in the top tier.

With that said, I carry FMJ. Feeds smoother and its cheaper and it will do the job.
 
When Ruger came out with LCP they had a video where they pulled random LCPs off manufacturing line and fired several mags of 380 FMJ out of each gun. Every round in every gun went boom, no failures. They were using Blazer, aluminum cased. I bought a Ruger and carry aluminum cased Blazer FMJ. I paid $8.00 per 50 round box and have only fired about 350 rounds so far, so I still have about 400 rounds left. Now I shoot maybe 14 rounds every 6 months.
 
I saw a video a few weeks ago in which several types of .380 ammo was tested in ballistic gelatin. The winner, according to the author, used Hornady FTX bullets but it was another brand (aqua colored box, I think). He liked Hornady Critical Defense too though.
 
Where do you live? If it is somewhere cold, I would consider ball for penetration. If not, I would still consider ball or alternately a premium hp you can afford to buy 200 rds of to test and another 100/year or so for practice.
 
While I understand, not agree with, the idea behind using FMJs in 380 I would recommend you don't get the USA/Winchester 380 as it seems to run about 100fps slower than the regular WWB. I wouldn't want to give up that much velocity in a round that isn't that fast to begin with. Personally I like the Federal Hydrashok and the Gold Dots in 380. Neither, if it expands, expands very much so they tend to still penetrate OK and both seem to do around 900fps+ out of the small 380s. My BG380 LOOOOOOOVES Gold Dots. It is unbelievably accurate when loaded with my GD reloads. Make sure whatever you choose it functions well, and shoots well from your gun. Practice and proficiency are much more important than the bullet you choose by far.
 
brassfetcher has the Winchester flat tip fmj making 16 inches thru heavy denim and ballistic gel. out of a kel tec 3pat. The 380 jhp's that expand don't penetrate enough.
 
Another vote for FMJ for better penetration.

I've carried a PP,PPK, or PPK/S when I've carried a 380 for about 40 years. The last year its been a BG 380.
 
FMJ is fine for me - reliable and, according to the article at the link below, as effective as anything else.

The topic of caliber relating to a self protection weapons is a popular and controversial topic. I think that the article at the link below is rather interesting as it relates to that topic. Caliber almost seems like religion to some people, but this study sheds a new light on it with facts rather than emotions.

The author says "I think the most interesting statistic is the percentage of people who stopped with one shot to the torso or head. There wasn't much variation between calibers. Between the most common defensive calibers (.38, 9mm, .40, and .45) there was a spread of only eight percentage points. No matter what gun you are shooting, you can only expect a little more than half of the people you shoot to be immediately incapacitated by your first hit." ... " The average number of rounds until incapacitation was also remarkably similar between calibers. All the common defensive calibers required around 2 rounds on average to incapacitate. Something else to look at here is the question of how fast can the rounds be fired out of each gun."..." It is my personal belief that there really isn't much difference between each of these calibers. It is only the fact that some guns can be fired faster than others that causes the perceived difference in stopping power."..." Folks, carry what you want. Caliber really isn't all that important."

http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/7866
 
I'll third the recommendation for flat nose FMJ or if you can hand load flat nose plated lead. Get 'em/make 'em as hot as you can. Not a big believer in HP until we get to stuff like the .357 magnum.

VooDoo
 
I stagger load my LCP, FMJ and Rem Golden Saber. One or the other hopefully will git er dun, that way I don't have to decide which is better for the job at hand,amount of clothes, angle of entry, etc. The Rem Golden Saber was tested in one of the gun mags a couple of years ago and came out on top as to penetration and expansion in balistic gel.
 
Well another vote for FMJ for all of the previous reasons.

I always advise folks to test ammunition in their guns shooting things like clothing in front of milk jugs of water, through Sheetrock, 2 x 4's, etc. as real world performance may be a lot different than the gun rags and Internet info.

Besides shooting things is fun.
 
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