Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Anyone here believe a .380 is inadequate?

The 380 is not my first choice, but when a smaller gun is necessary, I carry a PPK with the exact Buffalo Bore 100gr. hard cast lead the OP mentioned. It's no slouch either. It comes out at a chronographed 1140fps. That's 288ft.lbs of energy. For comparison, Speer's Short Barrel 136gr. JHP, comes out of a J-frame at 986fps with 291ft.lbs. of energy. So basically the "weak" 380 is on par with a short-barrel 357 load. Obviously terminal impacts may vary due to bullet construction, but even at 288ft.lbs. it's overlapping the weaker 9mm's.

I'd roll with one of the larger models with a bigger grip and higher capacity. Beretta 84, Bersa Combat Plus, or a Glock 25 (if they were available in the US).

For carry ammo I'd look hard at Underwood Extreme Defender or Extreme Penetrator.




Most days I carry a Glock 17.

Actually given the choices at hand & available, only an idiot would take the 380.

IIRC, the 45 ACP was developed with close combat in the Philippines in mind & also, IIRC, it was pretty successful.

Now, if your choice is the 380 or nothing, that's quite a different predicament to be in.

MM

Adequate and optimum are two different things. Trying to equate less than optimum with being inadequate is incorrect.

Exactly, all 380 pistols are not created equal. The blowback action, poor sights, low quality 380’s are indeed crap regardless of the load carried I think they are not reliable enough to be counted on. On the otherhand there are a few quality 380’s on the market that are at the reasonable end of adequate. I would put the Glock 42, some of the older Beretta models, etc in the group that can be useful.

Most of the time I carry something bigger, but there are times when a smaller size is required. When that happens (usually when I have to wear dress cloths) a Glock 42 loaded with the stout Underwood +P 380 load using the excellent 90 gr. XTP fits the bill. It gets you into 38 Special +P power levels, with much better sights, in a much more shootable package. Plus faster reloads. I always carry a reload! I can shoot this combination well enough and fast enough to have some confidence in it.

Mark in GA

In my opinion, the premise of the question is idiotic.

Anyone I shoot is going to take two rounds right up front, and I carry a sensible amount of ammo to address multiple threats.

If I had a crystal ball and knew I would have to deal with five macheteros, I'd take an Ar15 or an 870. Or better yet, stay home.

In your opinion it may idiotic. It is just a question. It is no more idiotic that one assuming they will be able to machine gun their opponent. It is no more idiotic than to assume one is such a marksman that he is going to precisely place his bullet in a chips down situation. Idiotic is in the mind of the beholder. What is the mind of the beholder?

Put down the XBox controller

Dont have an XBox. Do you? Maybe you do to be able to think I have one.
I posed a question If you dont want to answer it dont. Maybe you need to go clean your 380.

I live in Florida, and often travel to the south of Florida, and my year round IWB concealed carry is a Glock 17. Hardly know it’s there. You just need the right belt and holster.

The Glock 42 is great, but right up there in reliability was my old Sig P230, also in .380. Great shooter, too, and carried about like a PPK. I always regret selling it back in the 1990s.

Roger on that, I’ll bet that 230 was a quality piece. That’s what I mean, there are a few/limited number of what I would call quality 380 pistols, and lot more that are just not very good to absolute junk. A lot of the 380’s poor rep I think got built of the junk quality of many of the pistols it was chambered in.

You are certainly named appropriately. That's the dumbest analogy I've ever seen. Why wouldn't they all come in at the same time? I guess being muslims makes them stupid. This has ever happened where??? If you have to go that far to prove a point, you've already lost.

"One will enter the room every 20 seconds" Who said at the same time? Who is dumb now?

I often drop a 380 in my pocket for a quick errand, and feel good about getting home.
My regular carry is my Glock 43.
Why carry a 42 when a 43 is available?

C'mon, it's obvious. THEY don't know you have five whole rounds. The "smart" ones are thinking you might only have one or at most two rounds.

Dont have an XBox. Do you? Maybe you do to be able to think I have one.
I posed a question If you dont want to answer it dont. Maybe you need to go clean your 380.

Got it, you live in your mom's basement. Mom, meatloaf.

Ewe?

Don't forget that Super Vel also has a 380 load back on the market now that is suppose to be quite a good round. The 380 wouldn't be my first choice but I'd sure be happy to have one if that were my only choice. A good PPK S feels pretty good in the pocket. Mine have been quite accurate at bathroom distance.

Dick

I thought I was the only one that cannot spell because I am not a female sheep. I may be a lot of things but not a female sheep.
How far so you want to go with this. I asked a question only. No different thatn some of the stupid stuff i see on a regular basis on forums.
A simple thing would have been to just answer the question. It would have saved all this. Real, actual, improbable, impossible or anything else. If you had one shot would you choose a 380 a 9MM a 40S&W or a 45 Auto?