Many thanks to all who contributed their findings to this discussion. Special thanks to Erich for sharing his experiences on a subject that many of us have pondered. My findings are limited to the only 380 that I own, an older Walther PPK-S. I only use it when discreet(no print) carry is required. I bring it on range visits and practice with my reloads of hard cast(lynotype) 92gr Lyman bullets. I end the sessin with 2 mags of WWB flat point 95gr FMJ. It helps to clean out the lead from the barrel. I was very pleased when Winchester changed their USA load to flat point from round nose since the larger meplat cuts a wider channel and takes less detours within the torso. It has now become my only factory load for both practice and carry. And, the price is reasonable. For me, experimentation is not an option, but I found this thread to be very interesting. It should be worthy of a sticky! Again, thanks to all