Depends on your range-- My CF380 is loaded with Hydra Shocks-- but 1) I have fluffed and buffed-- 2) My bed to my door is less than 10 ft, and most of all--- 3) I have shot about 180-200 of them out of it with zero issues since I F&B my little buddy!!! So I am cool with the .380 limitataions...
.380 does not give enough penetration... And you hamper it even more by putting Hydra Shocks in it. The only way you are going to stop someone on the spot is to make a head shot and or a upper spine hit. Even if you hit the heart the BG still has time enough to do you or your family in before he drops. So shooting in the chest with a .380 without a FMJ round the round does not have the required penetration to reach the spine. Even with a FMJ round it is still really is boarder line.. Read the stickys in this area
in both sticks i was unable to find a good recommendation for .380 auto the first sticky only mentions 9mm but with half the power(ish) of a 9mm i was unsure if those brands would also work in .380 or would 380 be better served by a FMJ the rounds when i tried to look up the recommended ammos for 9mm i found that many of them were not made in 380
icono, In really small pistols like the KelTec, Davis and Cobra Arms the .380 displays poor penetration and even poorer expansion results regardless of what ammo is used. In these really short barrel pistols the common consensus is that FMJ ammo is the way to go, yes I am one of those who feels this way because I too own a super small .380. The reason people choose FMJ's for the short barrel pistols is this round tends to get a little more penetration than JHP type ammo. For JHP ammo to reliably expand the velocities needs to be as close to 1000fps as possible, and you will never see this from any of the "danty" .380 pistols. When you move up to the Walther PPK, Bersa Thunder, Makarov/FEG clones and HiPoint CF380's you have a good bit more barrel length to work with. This extra barrel length, generally 3.25"-3.5" gives the .380 round a little boost in velocity and this translates to more penetration and expansion for JHP's. My wife carries a Bersa Thunder 380, and we have settled on several brands of JHP's for her to carry. The following brands have shown 100% feed and function reliability in the wife's pistol and this is a must if it is to be considered defensive ammo. She will carry any of the three brands so the order I list them is not the "best to worst". Cor-Bon 90gr JHP Hornady 90gr XTP/JHP Speer 90gr Gold Dot HP Winchester 95gr SXT load is one I want to try, because it uses a 95gr JHP that's designed to open up really nice at .380 velocities. Cant seem to find this load on dealers shelves because its always sold out as soon as they get a new shipment in. During winter months when people tend to have on heavier clothing and jackets I seriously think FMJ's as the first few rounds out the tube followed by JHP's is the way to go. This has been a common practice of mine for years and I will continue doing so during the winter. Another thing to do with a .380 is keep shooting till one of two things happen... Your target breaks off the attack, falls, turns and runs etc etc or your gun runs out of ammo. rimfirehunter
Every Police, Ammo Manufacturer or properly prepare Civilian test I have ever seen has never showed a .380acp Hollow Point load to expanded then penetrate to effective levels. FMJ loads will penetrate but do minimum damage along its wound track, Hollow Points if they expand do a little more damage but stop short of transversing the vitals. There is just not enough mass and velocity with the .380acp and thats why the 9mm is a better choice.
^^And that is why I bought a Kel-Tec PF-9. It still fits in a hip pocket or disappears inside the waistband. It has replaced my P3AT in almost all situations where I need to be extra careful about being identified. The .380 is only used when I really need to be cautious. BTW, both are loaded with hollow points, and I know that's a crapshoot in the .380! ETA: 1st choice is still .45 ACP
