Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Hunting with a .380?

Anyone ever hunt small game with a .380? I no it’s not a traditional hunting round but in the shield I feel like it accurate enough?

I don’t see any reason it wouldn’t make a good rabbit cartridge if you can shoot it well enough.

I think I remember Shrapnel posting a pic of a mule deer he shot with a 380.

No.

No

No

I've shot a couple of possums, several skunks, and a like number of rabbits with a 380. They were all shot as pests around the house or cabin rather than actually hunting. I've shot two deer with one too, one had been hit by a car and the other was suffering from blue tongue.

I shot a handful of the above with a Savage 1905, a possum with a Taurus TCP, and the remainder with a Beretta 85. Ammo was a mix of Silver Tips, Gold Dots, and Hydra-Shocks. For hunting I would rather use one of my 22s or 38 Spls as the sights are much better and I can accurately shoot further with them.

So I broke a coyotes back at almost 300 yards with a 22 Mag. He was already wounded and not coming in. He was paralyzed and when I walked up to him I shot him at point blank range with the PPK/S in the top of the heart. He stood pissed for about 8 seconds and fell to his exit side. When I picked him up the 90 gr hydra shok was under him expanded! This coyote was small but I was surprised at the lack of penetration.

NO. Because that would be real stupid!

Yes. I have killed a number of cottontails with a Ruger LCP.

What would be so stupid about shooting rabbits with a 380? Is it not powerful enough for rabbits? You just don’t like 380s? You really like rabbits? I’m just confused by the super aggressive response to a pretty easy question.

Friend in North Dakota has killed several badgers with an LCP and factory fmj. Now he shoots the Lee WFN. Says it kills about the same as the fmj

A .380 pistol is made for phone booth shooting. Sure. it has the power, but the sight radius for getting a good clean kill is poor at best. Not the qualities of a good hunter.

One woodchuck. Not really a deliberate "hunt", more a target of opportunity. Late 80s vintage Sig Sauer P230 - which was a surprisingly accurate little pistol with decent sights. I guess not so little compared to a lot of today's .380s.

the biggest drawback seems to be the sights and short barrel. Hard to be accurate enough for humane hunting but probably good enough to dispatch vermin at close range.

One of the old reloading manuals (nosler, I think), had an introduction to the 380 section about shooting javelinas with it.

You might want to crack open a gun catalog every decade or so.

That Browning 1911 380 has a full grip, 4.3" barrel, and decent looking sights.

I don't see why it wouldn't work, within it's ballistic abilities.

Then there's the Beretta 84.