Who makes the hottest (FPS) factory .380 acp FMJ ammunition?

GECO, NORMA or ???

Thanks
JMV

I have chronographed quite a bit of .380 95 gr FMJ ammo through my various .380 autos. In the domestic brands Remington is the best. In addition their bullet is a true jacketed bullet, not plated. In the common import brands Fiocchi is the fastest and again a jacketed bullet. In my experience brands with lighter bullets like PMC’s 90 gr and S&B’s 92 gr are not even as fast as the best with 95 gr bullets.

Fiocchi. They also load a 90 gr XTP Extrema .380 that matches my max load of Titegroup with the same bullet.

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Science plus Art

In the old days a fmj was needed for penetration in SD ammo.

but if you want SD ammo, today's JHP will also get penetration
and work as well as the old fmj bullet ammo.

"Fast" is good but how the bullet is made is where it is at, today, for SD ammo.

However if you are "Popping" jack rabbits................
high speed for fast runners is a must !!

Probably Buffalo Bore with this 1,150 fps offering:
380 Auto +P Pistol & Handgun Ammunition

That would probably be either Lehigh Defense or Underwood Xtreme Defender/Xtreme Penetrator. Both are clocked at around 1300fps, albeit because they're lighter in weight (65-70grs vs 85-95grs) than conventional .380 ACP loads.
However, they do make up for it with their revolutionary design which creates larger wound channels via fluid dispersion.

Granted that these aren't FMJ, but rather solid copper projectiles.

Problem is, it's an overpressure load that literally nothing is rated for because there isn't actually a SAAMI Specification for a ".380 ACP +P" making it an at-your-own-risk sort of deal.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

Them Bufs look pretty strong.
Since I joined the 380 Club with my Ruger LCP MAX I feel fortunate to find any ammo.
Out this way, 380 is one of the hardest calibers to find.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

Sellier & Bellot's 92gr FMJs claim 955 fps.
Haven't used my Chrony for anything but arrows and airguns.
But someday soon.

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Have Fun/Stay Safe

From my experience the only ammo that actually performs as the spec's on the box state is Buffalo Bore. You will get exactly what they state out of a barrel length they state - sometimes even slightly faster. I can't say that for any other ammo I have ever Chronographed. BB is also the most consistent performing ammo I have ever seen. Velocities are incredibly close.

Second up is probably Fiocchi.

Is shooting what is basically short 9mm ammo out of a LCP size pistol really a good idea?

There are reasons nobody makes a 10 ounce 9mm pocket pistol. And its not just excessive recoil. Ammo that strong is probably going to be much less reliable. The slide is going to be moving so fast in might not pick up the next round in the magazine. And it can cause all sorts of other functional problems.

Hotter isn't always better.

I would stick with the ammo from larger companies that have been recommended.

When it comes to FMJ in the .380acp, I would look at bullet type as well as velocity. I would gladly give up a little velocity for a flat nosed FMJ bullet with a decent meplat as opposed to one with a rounded profile, as long as it fed reliable in my gun. I carry such in my LCP, and if my experience with flat nose bullet profile in my hunting handguns is any indicator, they should work better in the .380acp than the more rounded profiles.

Larry

We mostly load flat nosed 380 Penn PCs at 100/115/120gr size at .355"
BE and N320.

Early on I remember either Fiocchi or Sel&Bel had FMJ truncated.

Rapid fire with the LCP will hit from groin to neck and the other guns group tighter.

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Have Fun/Stay Safe

If you get a chance to watch "Shooting the Bull" with ammo out of a Micro 380 pistol.........

Buffalo Bore 90gr standard and the Gold Dot bullets came in, in 6th & 7th place
due to penetration or expansion problems that gave only10" or over penetrated.

In the finals, 4 of the 5 best ammo, used Hornady XTP bullets. (?)
The Federal Hydroshock came in 3rd...........
the Fiocchi ammo came in second.........
the best over all with expanion and penetration in plain gel and 4 layer FBI blocks was
the Precision One ammo..........
however if you fell better with big name ammo, #2 & #3 passed with good results, also.

I don't shoot a 380.............
just putting this ino out there.

How you liking that Max 380? I love the little .380 Auto, and have an LCP that gets carried a lot because of work, but "upgrading" to the Max is what I think I need to do. Will keep the LCP though...I trust it 100%.

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USMC 83'-87', NRA Member.

Touchoneoff - have shot my LCP Max about 200 times.
Perfect performance. Small enough for pocket carry, that’s why I bought it.
First 380 I ever had.
Then I bought a LCP II 22.
As I have posted, It has had failures to Fire.
That’s with several different ammo brands.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

Every gun is a law unto itself, but S&B .380 ball consistently out-speeds Fiocchi and Norma in my guns. (If you care, you can probably find a lot of my chrono info for .380s on forums around the web; I just can't bring myself to start typing it in on a Saturday night.) Double Tap is faster still. Buffalo Bore blows S&B away . . . but I stick with S&B for the most part - I've never had set-back with them and I feel confident that their CIP pressure ratings are faithfully observed. I buy a lot when I find it on sale.

That said, I've worked on a number of .380 killings over the years. I've never seen a case in which any .380 ball failed to penetrate adequately to hit the targeted vitals. (I have seen such cases with .380 JHPs.) I've only seen one case in which .380 ball overpenetrated and caused injury, and that particular round hit the targeted man in the calf before heading through to the next victim.

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How God has blessed us!

With the idea of having a large flat meplat for penetrating heavy winter clothing, I blew through 80 expensive rounds of BB's 100 gr. hardcast F.N. (1150fps/ M.E. 294 ft. lbs.) in my Sig P238 to be comfortable with its reliability in my gun as a winter carry ammo.
Not a single malfunction, and I was pleasantly surprised at the recoil impulse - a bit more snappy than the 877 fps of most defensive loads, but not at all unpleasant.
Besides the cost, I wouldn't think of battering the gun with a steady diet of those, just like I would not shoot all full power .357 ammo out of a Model 19 and expect it to live forever, but there is a place for those loads when your carry is at the bottom of the "acceptable" power level spectrum.

And kudos to BB for honest reporting - I chrono'd two of his 380 rounds, and two of his 9 mm offerings, and they came out within 10 fps or closer to his spec values.

I like the S&B and it seems to be available. Winchester used to make a loading with an FMJ truncated cone bullet I liked but have not seen in a long time. The Lyman 356632 mould makes a 100 grain truncated cone bullet that has worked well for me.

I have some of the Winchester truncated cone FMJ ammo and I don’t care for it. One hung up on the feed ramp of my 1934 Beretta that is a very reliable gun normally. Also it is the slowest 95 FMJ domestic ammo that I have chronographed.

I haven't fired them yet, but I recently bought a box of NORMA .380 AUTO – 85 GR – MONOLITHIC HOLLOW POINT advertised as being 1280 fps & 308 ft. lbs..

Seems to be a pretty hot round per the numbers. That's hotter than what I've previously shot in my Kahr P380 or Walther/Interarms PPKs ...... I'm curious how "snappy" it will be and if the accuracy and reliability hold up. I'll not be checking it out till after deer season is over, so it may be late winter before I get around to checking it out.

Don

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Laus Deo! <><

Downhill, in a vacuum, from an 8" barrel...

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How God has blessed us!

Very well could be.....I don't have a chronograph, but if I can remember this thread when I finally get around to firing it (probably late winter or early spring) I'll report on how it felt and if accurate or not.

Don

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Laus Deo! <><

Read that the test barrel was 6".
That's not pocket size.

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Have Fun/Stay Safe

The longest 380 barrel that I know of is a........
1911 that has a 4.25" barrel.......
which might be a little hard to fit in your pocket.

6" barrel was what the Norma site said?


Norma .380 Auto MHP 85 gr | Norma

Product number
610040020
Caliber
380 Auto
Weight
5.5g/85gr
Ballistic coefficient
G10.121
Bullet type
MHP
Velocity
V0 1280 f/s
V25 1188 f/s
V50 1115 f/s
V75 1056 f/s
V100 1007 f/s
V125 966 f/s
V150 931 f/s
Energy
E0 309 ft.-lb
E25 266 ft.-lb
E50 234 ft.-lb
E75 210 ft.-lb
E100 191 ft.-lb
E125 176 ft.-lb
E150 163 ft.-lb
Wind
-
25yds 0.43 in
50yds 1.69 in
75yds 3.71 in
100yds 6.43 in
125yds 9.78 in
150yds 13.72 in
*This product data is zeroed with a 6 inch barrel
Metric
Imperial

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Have Fun/Stay Safe

Cut that 6” barrel in half and get to the real velocity in a real pocket gun and you’ll see about 950 FPS, maybe.

Thanks for the info!

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USMC 83'-87', NRA Member.