I'm not a fan of the .380, but I'm starting to doubt the wisdom of those who discount it immediately.

There was a time when the .36 Navy was considered to be a pretty good manstopper. Of course, the .44 Army was better, but that's because the .50 Air Force hadn't been invented yet.

Anyway, when you have slower projectiles like the Navy and the Army, the profile of that projectile is more important than the velocity. I'm thinking the leading edge of a round ball profile is pretty good for transferring shock. That's why the older .380 projectiles that were pretty blunt, may have been pretty good for letting people know they'd been shot.


"It's a source of great pride, that when I google my name, I find book titles and not mug shots." Daniel C. Chamberlain