Bleg: 380 Ammo
I prefer to carry a 45. But, fact is, I spend a lot of time pocket carrying a 380. So, lets talk 380 ammo. I carry the 102g Remington Golden Sabers.
What do you carry?
Remember, I do this to entertain me, not you.
Uncle Pays the Bills
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August 9th, 2010 at 10:19 am
I carry Hornady Critical Defense.
I can’t claim they work any better than anything else as I’ve never shot anyone, much less with a P3AT.
August 9th, 2010 at 10:26 am
When I can’t carry the .45, it’s Hornady Critical Defense, 90gr, in a Kel-Tec P3AT.
.380 JHP supposedly has issues with the tip clogging – especially with thick clothing – and then not expanding. The Critical Defense rounds have a silicone/rubber/gel thing in the tip that is supposed to prevent this and allow reliable expansion.
August 9th, 2010 at 10:34 am
I rarely carry my P3AT. I did yesterday on a bike ride but I think that was the first time in about 18 months.
I filled a mag with a mix of Federal Hydrashocks and some JHP’s from Corbon. They were sitting in a candy dish in my gun room.
On the rare occasion I elect to carry it in the colder months (I live in Michigan) I stuff it with ball ammo.
August 9th, 2010 at 10:37 am
I dont do 380, but i get close with 9mm makarov. I trim standard 9mm cases and handload them with Speer Gold Dots. I use it for a back up gun. They shoot very well, it is a controled expansion HP that retains 98% of grn weight after impact which equates to maximum transfer of energy. Good boolits, they fly good and hit like a brick!
August 9th, 2010 at 10:38 am
A real gun. 😉
When I carried the Bersa, it was WWB 95gr FMJ until I could FIND some defensive ammo; then it was 90gr Hornady Critical Defense.
August 9th, 2010 at 10:52 am
90gr Hornady Critical Defense as well.
On of the darn Crack Channel programs (aka Outdoor Channel) had a review of the Critical Defense round firing through FBI standard clothes into Ballistic Gel and it caught my eye. It just so happened that I had bought my wife a PK380 (meaning I got my paws on her ppk/s) so I started carrying it in the summer. I normally carry a Smith CS45 but it’s been brutally hot and I’m not a butt pack kind of guy..
August 9th, 2010 at 11:04 am
Same as you, Uncle. 102g Remington Golden Sabers. From my very first .380.
August 9th, 2010 at 11:05 am
Golden sabers are my first choice if I can find them, otherwise it’s Gold Dots.
August 9th, 2010 at 11:09 am
Don’t carry the LCR .380 BUG much anymore (replaced with S&W 340PD) but did the other day. Use RBCD TFSP 45 gr, 1,835 ft/sec velocity, 337 Lb energy.
August 9th, 2010 at 11:14 am
I use the Golden Sabers too. I’d be happy to use the new Hornady, if I could ever find some.
August 9th, 2010 at 11:17 am
S&W J-Frame with 147gr +P+ Hydrashok .38s
August 9th, 2010 at 11:19 am
Buffalo Bore 100gr Hard Cast in the P3AT for 1,033fps average. Good stuff.
Just an FYI, there is a thread on ARFCOM about the Hornady Critical Defense in .380 ACP – http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=5&f=20&t=82191 – some of the posts in there are mine, although I have not personally run that ammo in mine.
August 9th, 2010 at 11:22 am
I carry a .45. If someone deserves to be shot, they deserve to be shot with the very best.
August 9th, 2010 at 11:38 am
Hornady 95 grain hollow points in the CZ, 185 grain silver tips in the .45.
August 9th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
The only .390/9mm Kurtz ammo that has been available here for the last year is Win 95 grain FMJ. So that’s what I generally carry when I carry a .380. They will give someone a first class gut ache, if nothing else.
For more serious business, I usually carry Winchester 240 Grain PTHP’s in a .41 Mag. Experience on hogs shows they are good performers. What gets hit stays down.
And if I need more than six, and don’t have time to reload I have gotten my silly self into more trouble than I can reasonably expect to survive.
Stranger
August 9th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Apparently I’m the only guy carrying 90gr +P Corbon hollow points in my 380. Back when I got into CCW and chose a NAA Guardian 380 (nice, but too heavy for a pocket gun) the Corbon stuff was the fastest moving out of short barrels.
Not many left after testing the new LCP though (less nice, but light enough to be a pocket gun). With all the comments, some Hornady will be ordered sharpish.
August 9th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Makarov – I feel it’s the best tradeoff between weight/concealability, stopping power, reliability, etc.
August 9th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Honestly, I carry hardballs (95 gr FMJ). I have done all sorts of tests with hollowpoints (mostly gold dots) and have had lackluster results. I have gotten some cute bits of expansion, but nothing that really makes me want to carry them. The top will peel back, but nothing compared to the .40sw gold dots I carry in my Glock. Busting out the calipers, the best expansion I got (and read BEST, I had many that didn’t expand at all) was 1/10th of an inch. On top of that, the penetration of these rounds was half or less than the hardballs.
I carry a P3at, I’d like to try other SD loads, but most of them are +P. My gun either doesn’t like them (extractor doesn’t always catch…not good in a defense situation where you need a second shot) and I hear that the P3at is not rated to take +P loads. Most people recommend training with regular stuff and leave the +p stuff for carry. But I want to train and be comfortable with my carry load without damaging my gun.
What is a guy to do?
August 9th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
And after reading that arfcom thread CTone linked the critical defense has moved down the to-buy list. Lies on the internet and all that, but I’ve got confidence that the Corbons will feed and go bang in my 380s.
August 9th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
We don’t carry — yet — here in California, but we stuff the three house Bersas with Cor-Bons.
The other house guns, 9mm Berettas and a Para LDA .45, for the most part have Cor-Bons too.
August 9th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
Golden Sabers, but I may be looking at Hornady pretty soon.
August 9th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
90 grain Speer Gold Dots. I’ve been looking for the Critical Defense, but someone in my area seems to know exactly when the ammo truck makes a delivery…
August 9th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
I am currently using Speer Gold Dot 90gr. JHP in the Ruger LCP. The Hornady FTX® Critical Defense® sound worth checking out.
August 9th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
I prefer Hornady TAP, but recently picked up two boxes of Golden Saber in 9mm 124gr. I havent test fired the Golden saber, but i have test fired TAP, Got .75″ expansion in sand bags. Used to like Federal HydraShok, until i test fired it against TAP and found that 4 out of 5 rounds did not expand at all.
August 9th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Here are some nice .380 gel tests done with a Kel-Tec
http://www.goldenloki.com/ammo/gel/380acp/gel380acp.htm
*My choice would be the DPX
August 9th, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Started with Golden Saber, then moved to Hydra-Shok because it was the only thing around. I picked up some Hornady Critical Defense a few weeks ago, but haven’t had a chance to try it out yet
August 9th, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Since my LCP chokes on Gold Dots, I stick with ball.
August 9th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
Hornady Critical Defense is unobtainium so I carry the Corbon DPX
August 9th, 2010 at 5:33 pm
Critical Defense, dipped in pig blood.
August 9th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
PowRBall in all my carry guns including the LCP.
August 9th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
Well, I sure don’t pack a .380 as a primary!
.38 spl. 2 inch is the minimum for me as a primary gun. And that is with +P Corbon 158gr LSWHP or DPX.
Otherwise I prefer a 9mm/.40/.357 Sig. Usually in Glock flavors.
August 9th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
I don’t remember ever owning a .380, but sometimes when I go to town and carry concealed I do carry a Mak. The ammo is, oh hell, whatever JHP I can find.
Mostly I carry .45, but after an incident this past Saturday in which a Mojave Green took two rounds through the spine and barely seemed to notice, I’m thinking of upgrading to a 20mm or maybe an RPG. My partner swears he’s getting rid of his High Power and carrying a 12-gauge pistol even if he has to pay for the tax.
That was one pissed-off snake.
August 9th, 2010 at 7:49 pm
You got to love all these “I carry a .45” comments… maybe you should once again point out that the topic of conversation is .380 ammo!
August 9th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
I carry a Mustang Pocketlite with Winchester silvertips.
August 9th, 2010 at 9:26 pm
@ericire12 – I thought the topic was what do you carry?
August 9th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Heh – actually I think the topic was “what load for the .380,” but I could be wrong.
I just like the .45. :^)
August 9th, 2010 at 10:32 pm
FMJ. I want it to get deep enough. But does it really matter with little bitty rounds?
August 9th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
100 grn. hardcast f.n. from Buffalo Bore in a Smith & Wesson made PPK/s
August 9th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
Funny thing is, I was looking at some .380’s today, but when I couldn’t put my Industrial Accident Mashed Trigger finger through most of their teeny tiny little trigger guards, I’d thought I’d just wait awhile until some police turn-in Gen. 3 Glocks in 9mm show up in my neck of the woods. Until then, I’ll stick with my old Colt Cobra loaded with Federal Nyclad 158 grain +P JHP.
August 10th, 2010 at 3:31 am
CORBON DPX…..PERIOD!
August 10th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
Ok, ok, OK…
My TCP I keep loaded with Winchester ‘WinClean’ FMJ flat points.
I’m not real bubbly on the expansion of .380 ammo, nor it’s penitration abilities.
Hence the FMJ flatpoints.
August 11th, 2010 at 6:57 am
Hornady Critical Defense in a Ruger LCP. I carry others things (read bigger) if I am going someplace “special”, but my 380 is my every day carry.