ajpelz, I'm sure FMJ will work better against heavy bone, except I think it's probably more likely to deflect (that's a SWAG) and overpenetrate.

One thing that popped into my mind this morning after I responded to your post, was that if you haven't already proven 100% reliability in your gun with Hydra-Shok, you might want to look for online tests to see if there are .380 loads that expand more reliably when heavy cloth is involved. My thinking is that bullets that mushroom better through heavy clothing are more likely to expand well on the street whether heavy cloth is involved or not. If you have already determined Hydra-Shoks to be 100% reliable (by firing at least 100 rounds without a hiccup) I wouldn't waste my time worrying about it were I you.

I haven't tested Hydra-Shoks, but have found the Speer Gold Dot to be the best of any .380 loads I've tested (see the results in the Perma-Gel Test Results thread). I use a Gold Dot handload clone in my P3AT. My hunch is that the Hydra-Shok is slightly more accurate in more guns.

I certainly understand carrying a .380 as a primary. Circumstances sometimes force me to do the same thing.