Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Would You Trust Your Life With A 380?

Well played, Steelie.

For some unknown reason, I just gave away a Spanish made 9MM Kurz/.380 ACP that would not go through a 55 Gallon drum. I gave it to my Son-in-law to keep it in the family since my Father took it off a German Officer in the Battle of the Bulge. That being said, my Taurus PT738 .380 goes right through the same drum. Same bullet, different gun. How do you figure?

I would not carry a 380 given other choices.

That said, I'd carry a Glock 42 with good ammo before a 38 special, or carrying nothing.

I'd pick the Glock if for no other reason than quick magazine changes.

The top two choices from Buffalo Bore would have to do some damage.

LOLOL....that's funny right there.... Not to mention now you can get a 8" fast twist AR 'pistol' with 'arm brace'. Kinda hard to conceal but it'll sure be impressive if you have to get out of the car.

Sat in on my son's CCL class a few years back and the instructor addressed that opinion. Guy was actually good as an instructor. All he did was hold up his .380 and say "I got 8 pissed offs right here. Who want's 'em".

But the first thing I trust my life with isn't the pistol or cartridge but paying attention to trouble. If a .380 is all I can carry I will. Heck, I wouldn't feel neked with a good .22 Wife's M&P comes to mind.

All things considered the greatest amount of trust I have is with a cruiser off shore and a direct comm link....

A squad of jarheads with a 4duece being a close 2nd...

There are some .380's out there which are really neat small pistols. But I probably wouldn't use one for serious work, though.

But remember how most of us say, "let the woman choose the pistol." I'm guessing that the OP is in that boat, where he has someone who is bound & determined to carry a .380, for reasons that may or may not be sound tactics.

Rule One of course is have a gun, so if that's the only allowed option it beats nunchucks and shillelaghs.

Can't speak for the OP, but some older folks who suffer from RA just cannot stand much for recoil. My wife is one - and anything more than a .32 H&R magnum can't work. So, it's that or a .380 and the latter is mucho easier to conceal..

'Course, in HER purse I bet I could lose a Panzer..

Simply put, no. There is no size advantage to a .380 over a 9mm, and IMHO 9mm is the minimum level of power I'll trust my life.

In a gunfight, not everything is going to go right and rounds that rely on everything going right are IMHO a poor choice, and those rounds are the 22 rf, 25 acp, 32 acp and 380.

9mm +p, 38 sp +P are the starting point of turning the table in your favor.

If you're going to carry a Beretta 84 you might as well carry a Glock 19 or 26 instead.

Ken Waters in "Pet Loads" talking about a .380 load consisting of a Hornady 115 grain HP over 3.5 grains of Unique fired into a row of water filled half gallon milk jugs.

"It zipped through a total of four feet of these jugs, blowing caps and water over a 15-foot circle and still had power remaining to penetrate one side of a 55-gallon steel drum set behind the water jugs."

Yes.




Dave

I don't know Waters personally but that sounds like bull-scat to me. I'd have to see it to believe it.

Absolutely.

The only case where I would see me carrying a 380 is if that was the only pistol ammo I could find.

Considering I handload, and have centerfire handguns in 9mm, 357 Mag, 40SW, 44 Mag, 45ACP, and 45 Colt, that circumstance seems very unlikely.

I do, I carry a Colt MKIV Series 80 Government .380 as well as a S&W 431PD in .32 H&R mag. Those are my current carry choices.

I will carry an LCP when I can't carry something else.

I'd have to see that to believe it. I fired a 124 grain XTP +P 9mm into milk jugs full of water and caught the bullet in jug number 3.

No.

Yes. SIG P238.

Yes, with the right ammo.