380ACP, Whats a good SD load?
- Thread starter JoeSixpack
- Start date
Joe,
I started carrying a Glock 42 because my of arthritic hand. I agree with your thought about a longer barrel giving the .380 a bit of a boost. The 42's barrel is 3.25 inches. I have to say, I don't have any trouble carrying the 42 in my front pants pocket. I do wear loose fitting pants or shorts.
I read the reviews in Lucky Gunner and Shooting the Bull, then shot Hornady CD, Fiocchi Extrema, Federal Hydra Shok, and Speer Gold Dot. I also shot a half dozen different fmj's. They all worked fine in my pistol. I settled on Speer because, of all the hollow points, it has the easiest recoil, and that's what I needed. I think Speer's penetration is good enough. And to answer another of your questions, you can buy Speer in 50 round boxes.
I started carrying a Glock 42 because my of arthritic hand. I agree with your thought about a longer barrel giving the .380 a bit of a boost. The 42's barrel is 3.25 inches. I have to say, I don't have any trouble carrying the 42 in my front pants pocket. I do wear loose fitting pants or shorts.
I read the reviews in Lucky Gunner and Shooting the Bull, then shot Hornady CD, Fiocchi Extrema, Federal Hydra Shok, and Speer Gold Dot. I also shot a half dozen different fmj's. They all worked fine in my pistol. I settled on Speer because, of all the hollow points, it has the easiest recoil, and that's what I needed. I think Speer's penetration is good enough. And to answer another of your questions, you can buy Speer in 50 round boxes.
JoeSixpack
New member
Can you get me the UPC off the box? I looked and could'nt find speer gold dots in 50 rnd boxes.
Looks like they have good expansion but come up a inch or so short on penetration.
pretty consistent though it looks like.
Looks like they have good expansion but come up a inch or so short on penetration.
pretty consistent though it looks like.
50 round box, 380 Auto Speer Gold Dot LE Duty Ammunition, 90 grain Hollow Point, product# is 53606.
I don't have a UPC number but I PMed you some more info.
You can also find Federal Hydra Shok 90gr (P380HS1G) and Federal HST 99gr (P380HST1) in 50-round boxes.
At one point you could find Winchester Ranger ammo for .380 in a 50-round box because I have a box of it stored away someplace.
My personal choice for my Bersa Thunder 380 is Buffalo Bore 95 gr JHP and 100 grain hard-cast flat nosed lead. The ones I have a are from a while back and they were using the same bullets as the Speer Gold Dots. They load it a little hot but use a low flash powder which makes a big difference in muzzle flash in low light, if you care about such things. Those are only available in boxes of 20. I think I ran about 4 boxes of each through to ensure functioning and then loaded up my mags with the rest.
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Don't carry a .380 any more, but when I did, I was only comfortable with FMJ. I just don't like the velocity with jhps. Just as slow as ball, but at least I can always count on ball to penetrate. WWB was my referred brand as it was the only FMJ I could find that had a flat point.
Joe-
JC57 beat me to it. I did a quick search on GunBot and I can add that the Speer 53606 can be had at SGAmmo for $20.95.
Keep in mind that the penetration and expansion we're seeing in those Lucky Gunner and Shooting the Bull tests come from the Glock with the longer barrel. If you're going to go with something like an LCP, you will likely not get the same results.
JC57 beat me to it. I did a quick search on GunBot and I can add that the Speer 53606 can be had at SGAmmo for $20.95.
Keep in mind that the penetration and expansion we're seeing in those Lucky Gunner and Shooting the Bull tests come from the Glock with the longer barrel. If you're going to go with something like an LCP, you will likely not get the same results.
HighValleyRanch
New member
From my post on our testing today on the BB loads:
But the results for the .380 through a Ruger LCP:
Critcal defense ...................774 fps (disappointing!)
BB .380 +P 100 grain...........1041,1050,1040
Federal Hydroshock frangible....865,894,882,912
According to BB's website graphs, this .380 yields 243 ft. pounds ME.
https://youtu.be/JqtnSUbEOyQ
As a comparison BB's standard pressure short barrel load is:
➤ 854 fps (256 ft. lbs.) -- S&W mod. 60, 2-inch barrel
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JoeSixpack
New member
Actually shooting the bull uses a Taurus TCP, same gun I have coming (If the shop ever ships it.. been a week now
)Anyway After watching about 5 different gel tests not including lucky gunner they don't seem to be to sensitive to barrel length.
The tests generally seem to put them some where around 11inch avg penetration and around .45 expansion, so expansion is not wild but that's probably a good thing.
Honestly it's coming up a bit short but not by much and they seem to be consistent.
Personally I like the looks of the Hornady FTX better but I can only find them in 25 rnd boxes and they're not THAT much more impressive then the gold dots.
I typically like to run at least 100 rounds of carry ammo in a gun and @ .70cpr that gets kinda expensive.
So I think Im gonna go with the gold dots that are nearly half the price w/50 round boxes.
Originally I thought FMJ would be the way to go but they penetrate a lot more in the tests then I would have ever thought, like around 25+inch
HighValleyRanch
New member
Didn't you read my post that we only got 774 fps with the Hornady FTX?
It was even worse than the Federal Hydroshocks!
I like the critical defense in my revolvers because they easily speedload, but seems like kinda a wimpy load.
JoeSixpack
New member
HighValleyRanch
There's more to it then velocity and energy, buffalo bore in my experience is pretty expensive, and your video is just you chronographing it.
What does it do in gel?
as far as FTX I was just going based off the gel tests
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8hr8X7RLTI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H9M6cZGd18
Seems to agree roughly with the Lucky gunner tests.
Seems like all the .380 jhp loads are wimpy.. the FTX just struck me as the most well rounded but the gold dots look nearly as good and are like half the price so I don't have to flush away 70 dollars just testing carry ammo.
The gold dot's seem to come in around 11 inch avg penetration, a little short but maybe we just expect to much out of .380
There's more to it then velocity and energy, buffalo bore in my experience is pretty expensive, and your video is just you chronographing it.
What does it do in gel?
as far as FTX I was just going based off the gel tests
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8hr8X7RLTI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H9M6cZGd18
Seems to agree roughly with the Lucky gunner tests.
Seems like all the .380 jhp loads are wimpy.. the FTX just struck me as the most well rounded but the gold dots look nearly as good and are like half the price so I don't have to flush away 70 dollars just testing carry ammo.
The gold dot's seem to come in around 11 inch avg penetration, a little short but maybe we just expect to much out of .380
This is my WHOLE problem with the 380
People use it for CCW, getting their TINY pocket guns, guns that dont give anywhere near the performance that the FBI standards set. (or even manufactures listed performance, because the manufacturer used a gun with a longer barrel to capture data) that they will probably not be able to draw from deep in their pocket in many bad situations, thinking it is a great round because other people buy it
If I was enamored with the 380, where I had to use it, I would get it in a full size pistol, so that the bullet has a decent chance to get up to speed.
If you are taking it to the range to have fun with, thats one thing, if it is a BUG, I get that
But to me, (As I said before, my opinion counts for less than .02)if you are going out in the world, where you MIGHT have to use the thing, where you may be protecting your family, where a bad guy may also actually be armed, AND possibly bullets coming back at me, I want a bullet that performs a little better and does a little more damage than the underperforming 380
its a free country, you get to choose, but to me, the 9mm is the minimum bullet these days, if I want to stay semi auto. As you mentioned, there are some significant improvement in 38s these days as well. (Maybe a pocket carry in 38, if someone was enamored with pocket carry)
The bullet performance comes from speed, expansion, penetration, and energy.
If you compare bullets the best 9mm gives 70- 80% better performance than a comparable 380. That is significant.
I personally IWB carry a HST 40, which is an improvement over that
Again, there is no magic bullet. Counting on perfect, speed of glacier, accurate, range shooting to make sure the tiny bullet gets to the CNS could be problematic if the need arose. I think we ALL would be poorer performers with the stress. A NEAR MISS bullet could be all we get
Good luck with the choices.
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HighValleyRanch
New member
Correct, it's just one example out of one gun, but more the reason that more people should do the tests out of their particular carry gun. While the velocities are lower out of the LCP, one can assume that all the load tests would increase proportionately with a longer barrel gun.
But ME and velocity are indications of what penetration might be expected, as well as bullet configuration. The flat nose HC is designed to penetrate, period.
It might not expand as much, but does significant damage on the way.
Feeding in a particular gun might be another consideration.
I don't have any ballistic gel, and again, just sharing my personal tests results.
People can take what they want from it.
Expense should not be that much of a consideration. People pay a grand for their guns then skimp on ammo? 24.00 for 20 rounds, a buck a round, spend 100.00 to test is a small price for safety.
Saurdaukar
New member
Lehigh Defense XD / XP loaded by Underwood.
One would assume wrong if he did.
There was a test on youtube involving 9mm rounds and three barrels; 3", 3.5", and 4.25".
The .5" increase from 3" to 3.5" resulted in a much higher increase in velocity than the 1.25" increase from 3.5" to 4.75" (which is 2.5 x .5").
I was surprised. Different calibers might give different results.
HighValleyRanch
New member
You misunderstood my statement.
I didn't mean that the loads would increase proportionately to barrel length, but that the three loads that I tested would be simialar in the load variation out of a diferent weapon with a different barrel length.
i.e. that the BB load would still be the hottest, followed by the Hydroshock, followed by the Critical defense no matter what length gun you fired.
IN THE POSTED EXAMPLES THAT I TESTED!
I didn't mean that the loads would increase proportionately to barrel length, but that the three loads that I tested would be simialar in the load variation out of a diferent weapon with a different barrel length.
i.e. that the BB load would still be the hottest, followed by the Hydroshock, followed by the Critical defense no matter what length gun you fired.
IN THE POSTED EXAMPLES THAT I TESTED!
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wild cat mccane
New member
No. For example, Speer offers short barrel ammo. There are variances that are dependent on all factors, not just one.
I've been relying on 95 grain Fmj flat nose for my Sig P238 mostly Winchester Q4206 because it is reliable, available, and reasonable. Out of all the .380 hollow points that are also readily available the one that impresses me the most overall is not the best in any category but seems to be a remarkable consistent performer across numerous testing by different testers under varying conditions. That is the Speer 90 grain GDHP. It seems to perform well in bare or clothed gel from shorter and longer barrels and is remarkably consistent test after test getting between 10.5 and 11.5 inches of penetration through denim and consistent moderate expansion. That will likely be the load I migrate to if I move to hollow points, after I can try enough of it.