.380 FMJ or JHP?

[MGW]

My QC check for carrying FMJ, which in no way have the same QC as the premium LE duty ammo or FMJ of the past, is to visually inspect the whole box, preferably a couple of boxes of the same lot number, shoot up all but enough to load mags with during practice, use what's left for carry.

In .32 and .380 I'd like to see someone make a high quality non-expanding JHP with an aggressive edge on the hollow point.

What are your thoughts on 380 Hydrashok Chuck? The tests on shooting the bull show it lacking expansion though denim but getting good penetration. I don't remember how well it expanded through bare gel but I seem to remember it getting around the 12" mark.

It is fairly sharp but I don't know how well it cuts going though material and such.

[Chuck Haggard]

I think it's as good as you can currently buy in .380 JHPs

[TR675]

My QC check for carrying FMJ, which in no way have the same QC as the premium LE duty ammo or FMJ of the past, is to visually inspect the whole box, preferably a couple of boxes of the same lot number, shoot up all but enough to load mags with during practice, use what's left for carry.

Ditto, that's what I do now and no problems yet... Once I get my Shield's POA/POI issues sorted out I think the .380 ammo question will be largely irrelevant. Since I got a VG2 for my j-frame it's been about 90% irrelevant in any event.

[Drifting Fate]

I saw a gel test with this new ammo from Lehigh defense seemed pretty decent.. In .380
http://www.lehighdefense.com/index.p...eme-penetrator

I am wary of the small ammo houses, but I'm curious about this loading as well.

[NickDrak]

This guy seems to put a lot of time & effort into his ammo reviews and I haven't heard of anyone who says that his reviews are fudged in any way. I stocked up on the Fiocchi Extrema 90gr XTP load based off of his various .380 reviews. Ran 100rds of it thru my G42 without a hitch. Looks like any .380 round loaded up with the XTP bullet should perform about as good as you can possibly expect out of a .380 pistol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNtPHYwcDts

[DocGKR]

We have NEVER found a satisfactory .380 Auto load to recommend. The best of the worst in .380 seem to be the Hornady 90 gr XTP (poor expansion), Federal 90 gr HydraShok (inconsistent expansion), and Speer 90 gr Gold Dot (a bit shallow on penetration) and all three are poor against intermediate barriers. I'd likely carry FMJ if forced to use .380 Auto.

[Chuck Haggard]

And that's why I tell people it's not even close to being a service pistol round. One can expect reasonable performance from an unobstructed NSR on a mugger, not so much it anything gets in the way.

We had a shooting the other day here where Rem ball ammo from a .380 went through a plate glass front door at the Dollar Store before hitting the intended victim, left a pretty serious welt on him.

[LSP972]

We had a shooting the other day here where Rem ball ammo from a .380 went through a plate glass front door at the Dollar Store before hitting the intended victim, left a pretty serious welt on him.

Simunitions +P????

.

[Chuck Haggard]

Simunitions +P????

.

Not even +P, looked like a typical Sim round hit.

I've been hit with a hot Sim round, went through the sleeve of my BDU shirt and buried into my bicep deep enough I had to use a pair of needle nose pliers to yank it out.

[Rich]

And that's why I tell people it's not even close to being a service pistol round. One can expect reasonable performance from an unobstructed NSR on a mugger, not so much it anything gets in the way.

We had a shooting the other day here where Rem ball ammo from a .380 went through a plate glass front door at the Dollar Store before hitting the intended victim, left a pretty serious welt on him.

I know of a college student who was shot CM and drop on the spot and died . shot by a Davis 380 using ball ammo . I think it was win USA.