The very best 380 acp ammo for self defense?

[TGS]

My wife carries a G42 with HST's daily. My sister in law has a Glock 27 as her husband doesn't want her with anything less than a .40 cal... of course it's is in the console because she won't actually carry it. There is a time and place for everything.

I appreciate the comments on .380 ammo. Any feedback on the HST rounds in .380? I understand they don't perform like they do in service calibers, but are there any real negatives?

Shallow penetration.

In my opinion, a Hydrashok would be a better choice if you must have JHP. The 380 Hydrashok tends to expand into the .44"-.48" or so range, which means it tends to penetrate around 10-12", which is deeper than most 380 JHPs. Yes, it's a hydrashok and will fail to expand with intermediate barriers.....but that's not really a problem in this context, given the other "responsible" choice is a FMJ.

I see no reason to use the HST over the Hydrashok in 380.

[Eastex]

I've read that the 380 HST doesn't penetrate much too. It was kind of surprising considering what a great round it is in other calibers.


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[Wondering Beard]

I've read that the 380 HST doesn't penetrate much too. It was kind of surprising considering what a great round it is in other calibers.

There's only so much you can do with the small case of the .380.

[Hambo]

(d) Despite the fact that I feel like I'm going to die most of the time

Dude, that cracks me up.

[Eastex]

There's only so much you can do with the small case of the .380.

I think it was Ellifritz who did the "one shot stop" study with all the different calibers. Anyway, I was surprised that there was that much data on one shot .380 shootings. I guess I had expected them to all be multiple shot events.


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[Slalom.45]

I may have missed it in here, but what about the all copper, light weight, high velocity rounds for .380?

[Velo Dog]

I may have missed it in here, but what about the all copper, light weight, high velocity rounds for .380?

http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/self...llistic-tests/



WORST. AMMO. EVER.

While the Barnes TAC-XP bullet can work very well from 9mm Luger or larger cartridges, the lighter weight .380 expanding/fragmenting bullets have too little sectional density for adequate penetration. The various "Xtreme" bullets manufacted by Lehigh Defense appear to be essentially expensive FMJ.