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

i bought a 1910 a few years ago, in a flap holster and the military bring back papers. Partially because of what you wrote, partially because of my ethnic heritage, and the fact my mother and grandparents were actually residents of the austro-hungarian empire, slavic and croatian.
on netflix, is a program sarajevo, which is quite good about the black hand, the killings, and the reasons behind it. What it presents as a conclusion i don't know if accurate. But that war made a lot of money for some people at the expense of millions.

Run into that SOB, and yes, I know who it is, and you'd best be toting light artillery.

.380s work. .38s work. .32s work. 9s work. .45s work. 44s work...

All of them work, some/most of the time. When they don't, well, it's your time.

Play the game; roll the dice; take your chances.

I had the .380 on me all day today. I took my chances. Turned out fine. Tomorrow, I might have the 9 or the .45, and it might not be fine. Just the way it goes.

A 380 is better than nothing. I know a man that was shot point blank with a 4 or 6 inch 38 special in the chest. As he was shot he jerked the pistol out of the shooters hand and hit him over the head so hard that he cracked his skull. His chest hurt bad so he set down and waited on police and ambulance. The medic mashed on his chest and popped the bullet put. The bullet cracked his chest bone but did not penetrate into the chest cavity. Run into someone like him and let me know how well your 380 works.

Since good percentage of the responders here said they would trust the .380 in certain circumstances, with the right load, I guess we are all dense.

My chosen load in the .380 is the Hornady 90 gr. Critical Defense, which penetrates 4 layers of denim and 12" of gel. Hardly "feeble" penetration.
.380 Critical Defense
And another

When carrying something bigger is not an option, I carry my Colt Pony with that load.


YMMV

Winchester's USA .380 flatnose FMJ cuts a 35 caliber hole and penetrates 18+ inches of gel. Not Thor's hammer, but not bad for a pocket gun either.

Nobody is dense for using a .380 when they can't pack anything bigger. I've done it myself, but as I stated, don't need to anymore.

No, the "dense" remark was aimed at your challenge to the fact that the .380, compared side by side to other calibers - say 9mm - lacks penetration. jwp described that as "feeble", and given that handguns in general are in fact feeble, the .380 is more feeble. Arguing that point is...dense.

Any scenario other than arms length is not where I'd want a mouse gun.

I don't recall saying that you should want or use a mouse gun.

A 380 is better than nothing. I know a man that was shot point blank with a 4 or 6 inch 38 special in the chest. As he was shot he jerked the pistol out of the shooters hand and hit him over the head so hard that he cracked his skull. His chest hurt bad so he set down and waited on police and ambulance. The medic mashed on his chest and popped the bullet put. The bullet cracked his chest bone but did not penetrate into the chest cavity. Run into someone like him and let me know how well your 380 works.

Time to break out the waders ......

Ron, I am of like descent and I also do not agree with that conclusion of Sarajevo, either.

He ain't lying.

thanks everyone I have sold all but two of my 380's. Actually just traded one of them for a 9mm Shield with Night Sights plus some money. The pocket 380 fills a niche for me, as does the titanium 38 J frame. When I have on a bathing suit, flip flops, and a T shirt the J frame with hip grip is with me.

This thread starter should have maybe been, do you trust your life with your current skill set or are you a legend in your own mind?