Good .380 ACP JHP for the wife?

[TGS]

What does anyone think about the Buffalo Bore-Barnes .380 +P? According to their website, they say a Kel Tec P3AT would get around 1130 fps. Not sure what this would mean in terms of penetration, but I would think it would be more than 993 fps offered in the Cor-Bon DPX...?

http://www.brassfetcher.com/Cor-Bon%...%20summary.pdf

You're looking at about 11" of penetration. The Buffalo Bore SCHP "+p" load kicked noticeably more than any other load I've fired in my Kahr P380.

[tmoore912]

Here is some more perspective on little guns and what bullets penetrate the best.

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot26.htm

I use FMJ in my Kel-Tec .380 BUG/ pocket gun. For me it gives maximum reliability and maximum penetration.

[41magfan]

With no intention of fanning the flames or starting an other endless discussion about terminal ballistics, I have an opinion satisfactory to myself that meaningful expansion - and its correlation to meaningful tissue damage - in the real world - against flesh & bone targets - is pretty unpredictable if impact velocities are much below 1,000 fps. I base that personal opinion on what I've actually observed on-scene and at autopsy.

Regarding carry ammo for the .380, this may be helpful if you're undecided. Here are some actual chrono results from two popular .380 pocket pistols (average velocity):

Kahr P380
Corbon 80 gr DPX - 965 fps
Winchester "White Box" 95 gr Flat Point FMJ - 797 fps
Remington 88 gr JHP - 881 fps

Ruger LCP
Corbon 80 gr DPX - 940 fps
Winchester WB 95 gr Flat Point FMJ - 811 fps
Remington 88 gr JHP - 866 fps

[JodyH]

If a jhp doesn't expand then it usually acts like fmj and penetrates a little deeper.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

[Chuck Haggard]

Someone activate internet spam/scam protocol #128 and track down kikipo, have the IRT (Intardnets Response Team) shoot him/her/it in the face.

kiki, the black helicopters are in-bound, you may want to draft a will while you are waiting. Just sayin.





Anyyyyywaaaaaay, in testing I have noted that the Gold Dot gets about 11" in bare gel, a bit more in the heavy clothing/four layer denim testing. Hornady XTP is about the same, I assume the Critical Defense is on the same level. Personally, I am good with this level of penetration from a pocket gun.

I have noted that the premium JHPs do seem to have better QC than the target loads, however, comma, I note that a very large and famous PD in SoCal has recently changed their authorized .380 BUG gun duty ammo from JHPs to Speer Lawman FMJ.

I'd carry GDs or the Hornady loading. DPX and all of the other JHPs tend to be in the 6-8" penetration range in gelatin. If I didn't have my preferred ammo I'd carry whatever ball ammo I could get that had proven reliable.
I'm happier with the potential of the JHPs in a face shooting scenario because I believe that the hollow point is more likely to dig into bone than a FMJ. I have lost track of how many street shootings I have arrived on to find a vic shot in the face/head and they are walking around holding a towel to the wound complaining about having been shot. That kind of colors my thoughts on the matter.

As an aside, I think the "+P" .380 loadings are a reliability/durability problem for some of the wee little guns. Would be easy to induce excessive slide velocity, and to beat up the guns in the long run.

[Mr_White]

Someone activate internet spam/scam protocol #128 and track down kikipo, have the IRT (Intardnets Response Team) shoot him/her/it in the face.

kiki, the black helicopters are in-bound, you may want to draft a will while you are waiting. Just sayin.

???

What is this all about and how can I get on the IRT? Though I'm concerned about OPSEC on this open source of comm.

[Chuck Haggard]

???

What is this all about and how can I get on the IRT? Though I'm concerned about OPSEC on this open source of comm.

You don't contact the IRT, it finds you.

[Mr_White]

You don't contact the IRT, it finds you.

Sounds like I better hope they don't find me...

[Tamara]

...screw the barrel into their nostril and press the trigger repeatedly.

I can't imagine that muzzle contact shots do anything good for the already iffy reliability of the plastic mouseguns...

[Chuck Haggard]

I can't imagine that muzzle contact shots do anything good for the already iffy reliability of the plastic mouseguns...

An advantage to the blow-back guns when you think about it.