Just bought what I expect to be best 380 ammo

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wild cat mccane

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Cabelas is the first I know of to have the new Federal Punch 380.

Just bought a bunch. Still has it.

If you've followed, it looks like this could be the best 380 personal defense rounds.

Spire point drives 13 inches with real expansion. This should be better expansion and penetration than the XTP loads.
 
I have about thirty To forty .380 pistols, often carry one for defense use Freedom munitions flat nose FMJ in all of them. Now I have a round for practice that does not cost $25 for twenty and shoot the pistols constantly know how reliable the cartridge is and where it hits at given ranges. Most folks carrying specialized ammo take them out for general practice, do not know the difference in recoil or where it groups on target and some do not know if it is reliably functioning in their weapon.
For those of you who practice with the expensive stuff you have my admiration.
 
Ibmikey said:
I have about thirty To forty .380 pistols, often carry one for defense use Freedom munitions flat nose FMJ in all of them. Now I have a round for practice that does not cost $25 for twenty and shoot the pistols constantly know how reliable the cartridge is and where it hits at given ranges. Most folks carrying specialized ammo take them out for general practice, do not know the difference in recoil or where it groups on target and some do not know if it is reliably functioning in their weapon.
For those of you who practice with the expensive stuff you have my admiration.
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There are a lot of defensive ammunition types that can be mimicked in recoil and POI with FMJ. Ammunition companies have been producing these companion loads for years, Speer with Lawman and Federal with American Eagle (and before wild cat points out, yes I know they are both under Vista Outdoor). Even if that isn’t the case, it’s generally not to hard to find a load that will produce a similar amount of recoil and a similar POI, at least similar enough to note require a different POA.

You’re right that everyone should shoot their carry loads at least once if not regularly to know the POI comparison with their typical range ammo. My point is that doing this doesn’t have to mean practice becomes prohibitively expensive.


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I have to agree with TunnelRat. I was of the opinion that you should use an inexpensive defensive ammo to practice with what you fight with.

But, if your defensive ammo has a similar Point of impact as your practice ammo, and similar recoil, I don't see the benefit.

There are some exceptions to this. Some of the super light weight bullets like the 85 grain 9mm defensive rounds that use non-lead materials or have special bullet designs outside the normal hollow points, I would argue, if you're going to use those for defense, you should get quite a few to train with.

But, the majority of normal bullet weight defensive loads (90-100 gr for .380, 115, 124, 147 for 9mm etc.), in regular SAAMI loadings, or even SAAMI +P loadings do not typically see a significant POI shift within 10 yards nor a significant recoil difference. Again, this can vary significantly if using non-standard bullet weights or non-standard pressures (+P+)

With .380 in particular, I don't believe many of the pocket guns are +P rated, so you are going to be constrained by SAAMI normal pressure which will limit recoil differences as well.

With that said, what is "new" about the Federal Punch compared to other .380 hollow point ammunition?
 
^ this is a good point. If you’re buying some boutique round in terms of bullet weight or velocity you should realize that your POI may well differ from your typical practice ammo. It’s part of the reason I generally avoid those rounds.


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Federal Punch .380, huh? I've never heard of this before, (or if I did then I've since forgotten) so I'll have to look into it.

I've been carrying Hornady American Gunner XTPs in my .380 Pistols for years, but I'm about due to buy some more SD Ammo since all I have left is 2 magazines worth.
 
this is a good point. If you’re buying some boutique round in terms of bullet weight or velocity you should realize that your POI may well differ from your typical practice ammo. It’s part of the reason I generally avoid those rounds.
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I confess to not understanding this. You people must be incredible shooters to be able to detect handgun POI differences between ammo types at the typical SD range.

For myself, my powder puff handloads that are just enough to make the gun function are POA/POI, just like full power SD ammo out to 10 yards.
 
Hey! I wasn't going to point out 90% of all US ammo is made by one huge defense company making it a huge monopoly that gun owners seem to just give a capitalist pass on!!! :)


PUNCH at Cabelas was $13....that's pretty darn cheap.
 
ghbucky said:
I confess to not understanding this. You people must be incredible shooters to be able to detect handgun POI differences between ammo types at the typical SD range.

For myself, my powder puff handloads that are just enough to make the gun function are POA/POI, just like full power SD ammo out to 10 yards.
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There was a key word in that quote. It was “may”, as in “may differ”. If it doesn’t then don’t worry about it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth checking.


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Once it's been proven by (multiple hopefully) independent testers via standardized media (4-layers denim & gel) to perform as well as Precision One XTP 380 out of a short barrel, then I'll consider it. Until then, it's a hard pass like on all the other super 380 ammo out there that doesn't live up to the performance of the same brand in 9/40/45/10 or in longer barrels.

https://precisiononeammunition.com/product/380-acp-90gr-hpxtp-new-50rds/

I would never have bought a 380 (LCP II) until after I saw Ammo Quest's 380 youtube series showed the effectiveness of the XTP round in 380. AQ's 9mm short barrel ammo tests convinced me to change my ammo choice for 9mm too. Not all ammo performs well in short barrels, even from top-line ammo companies.
 
I use Underwood Xtreme Defender and Xtreme Penetrator for carry ammo. In my carry 380 it is alternating rounds between the two. In my in-home night stand 380 it is all Xtreme Defender.
There is no hollow point to plug up and fail to expand as is the case with ALL hollow-point ammo regardless who makes it ... none of it has RELIABLE expansion.
The Underwood ammo that I use does not rely on expansion to do its job, and it will do its job no matter what barrier it passes through.
There are now several other brands trying to copy it ... but do you want a copy or the real deal.
 
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I've seen a lot of tests showing the hornady critical defense .380 acp performs very well out of the 2.75" pocket guns.

Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to find right now.
 
I bought a big box of the Precision One .380. Works great in my Sig P230 and the reviews have been great on this.....at least as far as standard hollowpoints go, but the lehigh looks better for penetration.
 
It isn’t a gimmick round. It’s 380 hydro shok but instead of the post it is a spire point. So big expansion with a deeper dive.

Needs to be proven, but makes total sense what they are doing with the round.
 
hahahaha! Son of a gun!

I confused myself! PUNCH is the cheap version of HST.

What is going to be the new best is Federal Hydra Shok DEEP.

DANG IT!

60 buck less learned!
 
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