Just bought what I expect to be best 380 ammo

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.
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DING, DING, DING We have a winner!!!
Any lower cost fmj ammo is going to be within charging, jumping, grabbing, stabbing, fighting minute of bad guy accuracy as the most expensive ammo on the market! You, them, or anybody else will ever know the difference in POI should you ever have to use the gun in self defense.
 
Federal DEEP 380 still isn't out yet.

Interested in this 85gr Federal PUNCH as the HST 99gr doesn't expand well. It looks like most 85gr expands too much.

Have to wait for someone to review PUNCH and Federal to release DEEP.

The rounds look nice but Fiocchi XTP remain in the mags until DEEP comes out.
 
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Corrected my mistake. sportsmansoutdoorsuperstore.com and sgammo.com have extremely limited Federal DEEP.

I think today is the first day it came on the market. Just bought it will report when it's in.

Haha, guess I'll have PUNCH and DEEP to look at in pictures :)


But like I said, the Federal 99gr DEEP is likely going to replace my Fiocchi load of XTP and I'm guessing it will show up on gel tests as the best. Meh. :)
 
I don't understand why they do their ballistics testing for .380 ACP out of a 3.75" barrel. Very few users will be using a 3.75" Barrel in .380 ACP. 2.75-3" is most common for this caliber.

I would like to see it's performance out of a 2.75" barrel though ballistics gel or at least some milk jugs filled with water.
 
I sometimes carry a Beretta 84F, which does have a longer barrel.
In the factory loads, I have liked the old Hydrashok load.
But my carry load is the Underwood +P XTP load.
The combination of the Beretta and the Underwood XTP is surprisingly accurate at 25yds...
 
gotcha!

I wouldn't worry about that part as that's the standard Federal display of "ballistic energy."

I think we're going to see this round kicking hard in in the gel tests.
 
Looking forward to it! Ammo selection for hollow points in .380 is probably the most critical of all the pistol calibers.

Now, if only I could get my LCP 2 to function 100% reliably. Need to take it to the range and test a few different ammo types to see if the issue is cheap range ammo, or if it's an issue with the gun.
 
I carry a Remington RM380 as a BUG at work and, in my pocket at home. I carry the Buffalo Bore Hardcast (regular pressure).

I’m all about penetration. A flat point hardcast that feeds reliably is good for me.
 
For sure, hardcast will likely shatter before normal copper wrapped FMJ deforms (if it ever does).

All copper rounds regardless of construction will be harder than anything else. I think you can find Lehigh Xtreme all copper rounds going through ballistic glass in 380 in standard pressure.
 
I watched their product video, it seems about the same as most 380s. If I were to carry 380, it would be with lehigh extreme defenders.
 
jimku said:
I do. And I do. Underwood Xtreme Defender and Xtreme Penetrator, alternating them in my magazine.
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May I ask why you alternate them? I’ve known people that do this and I have never understood alternating bullet types in a pistol.


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ANY FMJ from 380-10mm will goes 20-33" in gel. Each round has overlap with less powerful. This means a 380 FMJ could go deeper than a 10mm FMJ or the same depth. Heck, LuckyGunner has Federal HST 99gr HOLLOW POINT reaching 31" in their test. The act of weight and velocity all come to an end at some point.

It's not that Lehigh is special. What makes the Lehigh more of a consideration for thought is all copper is harder than FMJ copper wrapped.

Also, this is why I'm very against spending money on hardcast and thinking you're getting a better outdoor bullet than standard FMJ that has a harder copper shell.

I'm sure people have hunted successfully with hardcast, but I'm not sure they could ever say a box of target grade FMJ wouldn't have done the exact same thing.


But darn it, still waiting on the DEEP to come to my doorstep :)
 
TunnelRat said:
May I ask why you alternate them? I’ve known people that do this and I have never understood alternating bullet types in a pistol.


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I have seen people alternate rounds. Generally the reason used is better penetration through barriers with ball ammo vs HP. I think it is partially a old tradition dating back to when hollow point ammunition had issues making it through barriers.
 
I guess with all the thread’s focus on POI and terminal performance no one cares about reliable functioning of their SD ammo choice in their pistol. Just because FMJ practice ammo functions fine doesn’t mean that the more critical SD ammo will. Everyone needs to run a box or three of their SD ammo through their pistol yearly, otherwise how will they know they don’t have a single shot SD pistol?



.
 
wild cat mccane said:
ANY FMJ from 380-10mm will goes 20-33" in gel. Each round has overlap with less powerful. This means a 380 FMJ could go deeper than a 10mm FMJ or the same depth. Heck, LuckyGunner has Federal HST 99gr HOLLOW POINT reaching 31" in their test. The act of weight and velocity all come to an end at some point.

It's not that Lehigh is special. What makes the Lehigh more of a consideration for thought is all copper is harder than FMJ copper wrapped.

Also, this is why I'm very against spending money on hardcast and thinking you're getting a better outdoor bullet than standard FMJ that has a harder copper shell.

I'm sure people have hunted successfully with hardcast, but I'm not sure they could ever say a box of target grade FMJ wouldn't have done the exact same thing.


But darn it, still waiting on the DEEP to come to my doorstep :)
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yes the lehigh is special. it is able to create cavitation without expanding thus preserving its penetration. I watched some of the "deep" testing, 13in. If you are looking at FBI standards you are just over the minimum of 12 , 1in past, and 6in short of max.
 
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