Glock 42 or other smaller .380 auto users out there?

[rawkguitarist]

I am not disregarding the effectiveness of the 380 cartridge. I will say there are other options for NPE such as SmartCarry or Philster. I do applaud you for wanting the most effective round as you can accurately place on target. I would think the 42 with the dot would soak up recoil and make for a great option.

Yeah man, it’s a nice shooting pistol. G42’s can be finicky with ammo choices and very sensitive to grip.
I put a tungsten guide rod assembly with a slightly reduced recoil spring. Since I hadn’t seen ANY info on G42’s running a dot I was concerned about it cycling. I ran the best function tests I could think of using both range and my carry ammo. Including thumb pectoral index, strong hand only, support hand only, odd shooting angles with lose grips and even holding it out to my side with the most ridiculous limp grip I could muster. Didn’t have any malfunctions. I’m nearly positive my 19 would have choked in these grips.

And yeah, that Philster Enigma is brilliant. If my situation changes it’s on my radar.

[Clusterfrack]

Thanks buddy. I’m certainly here to learn too. And yeah lots of knowledge in this place. Would be cool to get Doc Roberts up-to-date take on .380.

Here's a 2-year old post:

Why would someone want to use a .380 as a BUG or for off-duty carry when they can use a similar size 9 mm like an S&W Shield or G43? I get that the G42 is easy to shoot--more so than a J-frame, but the 13 oz G42 holds only half the rounds compared to the more effective 21 oz G26 that is also easy to shoot; moving to an easily concealed, very capable compact handgun like a G48, G19, M&Pc, etc… is far superior to a .380 Auto in almost every respect. In addition, as a BUG, the G26 uses the same mags as a G34/17/19 primary pistol, much like running an M&Pc as a BUG to an M&P duty pistol--this has a LOT of advantages in a duty BUG role.

In general, friends don't let friends carry .380's...

But Rule 1 applies—having a .380 Auto beats not having a firearm. So if a sub-compact .380 is what you must go with due to size issues or limitations on limb function, so be it. Just make sure your .380 Auto handgun is reliable.

Most of our .380 and .38 sp testing has been done for LE agencies, so you will not find the data on the internet. The FBI has also done extensive testing and has come to the same conclusion--that no .380 loads meet the minimum penetration, expansion, and barrier requirements.

Again--there are NO .380 loads that meet the FBI BRF/IWBA/JSWB-IPT standard test protocols.

The .380 Auto tends to always wind up as a compromise, with the end-user having to choose the best option from a bunch of less than desirable choices. Obviously FMJ penetrates well, but offers no expansion (this includes the Lehigh Defense XP) and beware that some bulk FMJ offers suspect QC compared to duty ammo. With expanding designs, 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. Function is also an issue in some .380 pistols, with FMJ sometimes offering superior feeding reliability.

This cannot be emphasized enough--ensure your .380 Auto handgun is reliable with the carry ammo you select.

[TheNewbie]

Yeah man, it’s a nice shooting pistol. G42’s can be finicky with ammo choices and very sensitive to grip.
I put a tungsten guide rod assembly with a slightly reduced recoil spring. Since I hadn’t seen ANY info on G42’s running a dot I was concerned about it cycling. I ran the best function tests I could think of using both range and my carry ammo. Including thumb pectoral index, strong hand only, support hand only, odd shooting angles with lose grips and even holding it out to my side with the most ridiculous limp grip I could muster. Didn’t have any malfunctions. I’m nearly positive my 19 would have choked in these grips.

And yeah, that Philster Enigma is brilliant. If my situation changes it’s on my radar.

I had two G42s that had multiple failure to feeds. The second one was a replacement from Glock of the first one. This was 3-4 years ago.


My thought was thumb pressure on the slide might have been causing it, I don’t know. I’ve never had much luck with reliable .380s except for an LCP Gen 1.


If your failure at trying to get your 42s to choke is indicative of the G42 today, then I might consider one again. Really wish they would cram some more rounds into their .380.

[LockedBreech]

I pocket carry an LCP Max in a DeSantis Nemesis pocket holster as my smallest carry. Have for about six months after about 11.5 years of carrying a first-gen LCP. For me it carries a good bit smaller than even the Shield or G43 and 11 rounds with 12 in a reload isn’t bad at all. If I’m wearing a hoodie, jacket, loose button up etc. I switch to a Shield Plus which is my preferred / standard carry. I use Critical Defense or Gold Dot 90-grain. For years it was FMJ but I am not aware of an FMJ round or FMJ-like round for .380 that has higher quality control, nickel casings for low light checks, sealed primers, and low flash powders. I don’t expect it to meet the FBI protocol. I’ve considered the wisdom of at least having the last 2-3 rounds in each magazine be FMJ, but I’ve never been a fan of mixing ammo like that.

I don’t harbor illusions .380 matches a 9mm or even a .38 Special +P after discussing and carrying the cartridge for about 12 years now. It’s certainly not a bad round, but I figure I save myself from unrealistically overestimating my chances with it by mentally treating it exactly the same as when I pocket carried my dad’s old Beretta Bobcat .22LR at my sketchy hotel night clerk job in college, that mentality being: this probably won’t do much but it might buy me a few seconds to get out of trouble and escape.

Carried with that mentality, .380 goes from being marginal to being superb.

As a side note, for personal reasons I can’t talk about in detail for a good long while, I’ve become rudely recently aware of the importance of the FBI protocol. Someone very important to me was in an OIS. Bullet passed through assailant’s gun hand/forearm and its assorted tendons/bones before continuing through their clothing to inflict terminal damage. Duty round was Speer G2. I have nothing but gratitude to Glock, Speer, IWBA, the FBI, and all the professionals like Doc Roberts who contributed to duty rounds being so much better than they used to be. It’s easy to think all the data charts, gel, ballistics and barriers are just gun nerd and forum talk, but that field of science may well have saved me and others from unimaginable loss.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BehindBlueI's]

Cool I’ll take your emphatic word for it. Thanks. My understanding has been the basic 12 - 18 and the McPherson Wound Trauma measurement (if I have that right off the top of my head).

Penetration must be met in *each* of the standards, not just bare gel and heavy clothing, or a given cartridge does not actually pass the FBI protocols. No .380 passes auto glass that I am aware of. Auto glass, besides the obvious relevancy, is also a very good indicator of performance with a bone strike. For example, a bullet passing through a forearm bone and then into the chest, the bullet that passed auto glass will do better than the bullet that did not.

[psalms144.1]

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....for-mouse-guns

Plenty of information, some good, some bad, in that semi-epic thread. BLUF, the smart money for .380s is ball, preferably flat-tip to help penetrate bone.

[lwt16]

We have three or four G42s here. Once we got a few P365s in the stable, the G42s have become safe queens.

I am planning on a P365 in .380 soon as a NPE gun should ever the need arise.

Regards.

[psalms144.1]

On the question of the pistol in question, I briefly owned a G42. I found it to be incredibly soft shooting, but never once was able to hold it in such a manner as to NOT cause it to go forward on an empty magazine. I thought to keep it as a possible carry gun for my wife, but found that she had numerous malfunctions because she couldn't/wouldn't hold it firmly enough to let it work properly with the heavy double recoil spring in the pistol.

I'm currently without a 380, but, were I to need a real NPE pistol, I'd likely go with the LCP Max - due to smaller overall size and increased capacity.

[TheNewbie]

I actually like the Kel Tec P3AT more than the LCP handling wise. Can better thumb the hammer and just like it for whatever other reason.

Wish they would do a “plus” version of it with super reliability.

Doubt as they stopped making the regular version.

[Rex G]

No .380 is “close” to 9mm performance, if we mean 9mm Luger, 9x19, 9mm NATO, etc. The .380 ACP will make a hole, in people, preferably bad people, if we do our part. If an adversary is beyond/behind intervening cover, a true duty-level 9mm will be more likely to defeat the cover, and still be effective.

I am not meaning to have a negative “tone,” regarding .380 ACP. On occasion, the only firearm on my person might be a .32 ACP or .32 H&R. Any of these cartridges, of lesser power than 9mm/.38 Special, should be used with proper attention to their capabilities, especially if the barrel length is short.