Best Pocket 380

yippeekiyay20 · May 18, 2014

I'm in the market for a pocket 380 that I can virtually take with me wherever I go, no matter what attire I'm wearing (work, casual, formal, athletic, etc.).

Any suggestions?

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Protected One · May 19, 2014

MOST .380's (not all) are suitable for pocket carry. Personally, I chose a S&W Bodyguard. It's reliable (with almost 1000 rounds through it), it is accurate, has features that most .380's don't, shoots every brand I've put through it, is reasonobly priced, and is backed by S&W service. I'm VERY happy with it.

My wife, however, is VERY sensitive to recoil, so the Glock 42 turned out to be her choice. The gen4 design with dual-recoil springs makes it a very softer shooter, though it's a bit larger than the Bodyguard.

For regular pocket carry I would recommend the Bodyguard. It has a manual safety which may make some people more comfortable with it in their pocket. Whatever your choice....be safe out there!!

blujax01 · May 19, 2014

The Colt Mustang is pretty much the benchmark for the pocket .380. The Sig Sauer Colt clone - Model P238, comes in a close second. They are also the top dollar choice, in the $550 to $700 range.

The S&W Body Guard, Ruger LCP, and Glock 42 are also good, reliable weapons worthy of consideration.

If you're on a budget...

For the money, the Kel Tec P3AT is hard to beat. It can be had new for under $270, is reliable and weighs next-to-nothing (8 oz unloaded, 11 oz wit 6 rounds). It is also butt-ugly.

You may find this review to be of interest.
Gun Review: Kel-Tec P3AT .380 | The Truth About Guns

66snub · May 19, 2014

I had a Colt Government 380 and couldn't get it to cycle reliably. I ended up selling it and buying something else. I had an endless string of FTF and FTE malfunctions and couldn't trust it for carry. Replacing springs didn't help. If I can't trust it, out the door it goes.

turbo38gn · May 19, 2014

Being as we are participating on a S&W board.....

I have to say, the 380's out there are all good... but I can only attest to carrying my M&P 380... love it, great gun, haven't put it down since I picked it up... I've carried it OWB, IWB and all weekend IDP, "In Da Pocket". Performance at the range surpassed my expectations. Bottom line, I have no doubt, this little gun can do the job, if need be. I don't think we need to spend the next 10 pages sharing how this one and that one malfunctioned, or how the KT weighs 3 oz. and the BG weighs 4oz... if you like S&W get one, if you like Sig, get one of those, if you like Keltec..... etc.......

Do all the research you want, but in the end, they are all good...

kip_j · May 19, 2014

I know this may seem heretical, being that we're communicating on a S & W discussion forum, but I recently purchased a Kahr P380 and have started to really enjoy it.

The gun is very small and concealable, and now that I've got a dedicated holster for it from Bear Creek, it's a joy to carry around.

I'm large handed, so I added a Hogue grip to it to give it a bit more purchase in my hands. So far, so good.

I've read many many reports on the Kahrtalk forum about the P380's penchant for being finicky, but so far, this pistol has fired every single round without a single misstep. Granted, I haven't really put very many down the pipe so far, but I'm impressed up to now. The only problem is finding ammo for it.

ChattanoogaPhil · May 19, 2014

There are a bunch of great .380s to choose from. Personal criteria will best narrow the choices. Since your criteria sounds like ease of pocket carry... thin and light... LCP, P3AT and TCP. I only have one .380. I got it for pretty much the same reasons you listed.

When handling different .380s at the gun store it was easy to start losing sight of the objective. The larger heavier .380s felt better in my hand, so I had to keep reminding myself that I already have a 642 for pocket carry that feels better in the hand than any .380 ever will, and that the only reason I was looking at .380s was for something substantially smaller and lighter. Once I got that straight in my head it narrowed the choices.

After reading a ton of comparative and owner reviews I ended up with the LCP. It's been flawless with Hornady CD.

LCP/DeSantis
642/Mika

Ransom · May 19, 2014

I have the S&W BG380 and it goes everywhere unless I'm carrying a 9mm. I carry the 380 in formal attire, to church, in my shorts, and even when running tucked in my running shorts. It's light and reliable. If I were buying today I'd get the newer M&P BG 380.

B3500 · May 19, 2014

I have two brands of .380s the lcp (first gen) and the cw380. Of these two I prefer the cw380 over the lcp due to it's better trigger and sights. I don't carry a .380 very often since I can carry other calibers, but when I need to carry much more discretely it is nice to have a small .380 option to turn to.

Florida J Frame · May 19, 2014

For a thin and light .380 the Ruger LCP is hard to beat. I carry mine in a Mika pocket holster when the Shield or 642 is too heavy. Great for light weight dress pants.

GerSan69 · May 19, 2014

Guess I'm a heretic: I carry a Taurus 738 as my backup. I've never had a problem with it. Since I have a couple pocket holsters for it (Desantis and Uncle Mike's) it's also my "runnin' down to the mailbox" gun as well.

cloud · May 19, 2014

I have the kahr p380 and ruger lcp. I like them both , but for the money you can not beat the ruger. And if you have to return the gun for any reason you can not beat ruger for customer service. The lcp has been flawless from day 1.

mhl6493 · May 19, 2014

I recently purchased an LCP, for the same reasons as ChattanoogaPhil. Was it my favorite 380? No, not really. Several others felt much better in my hand. But was it the most concealable 380 I held? Yes, without question. So I guess it really depends on what the most important factor is to you personally.

Wishoot · May 19, 2014

I have an LCP and like it quite a bit. It does everything I need a small .380 to do. It conceals very well in a pocket or IWB holster, it's lightweight, it's reliable and it's accurate.

HankG · May 19, 2014

I just bought a new, 2nd generation Diamondback .380 at Rural King, on sale for $299.99. I have a 1st generation DB .380 and have had to get into the striker system to make it work properly but once I put it together properly it has functioned very well. It weighs in at 12.5 oz fully loaded with one in the chamber. I also have a KelTec .380 that will shoot anything I put in the magazine and weighs in an ounce lighter than the DB but it is hard on the hand. Recoil in the DB is less due to the ergonomics of the pistol and the larger recoil spring. The 2nd generation DB has an extractor twice as long as the 1st generation. The trigger springs have been redesigned along with the addition of splined pins.

dbltapster · May 20, 2014

I have the basic model Sig 238. It is the only 380 I own. In my experience it has been very reliable, and very accurate out to about 12-15 yards. It is really good at closer ranges. Holds 6+1 rounds. The basic sights are nice, with 3 big white dots for easy target acquisition. The only drawback is the price. I paid $500.

TucsonMTB · May 20, 2014

blujax01 said:
. . . If you're on a budget...

For the money, the Kel Tec P3AT is hard to beat. It can be had new for under $270, is reliable and weighs next-to-nothing (8 oz unloaded, 11 oz wit 6 rounds). It is also butt-ugly.

You may find this review to be of interest.
Gun Review: Kel-Tec P3AT .380 | The Truth About Guns

+1 . . . The P-3AT is the one that started the pocket .380 rage and is still hard to beat.

We bought a couple many years ago and still have them despite trying, and in some cases buying, newer offerings from other players. Ours have been reliable, but they are NOT easy to shoot, a fact that sometimes causes new shooters no end of difficulties.

Admittedly, my 642-1 is a much nicer pocket pistol. It would be very hard to "go back" to the P-3AT for several reasons, not the least of which is the hard to find, marginal power, .380 ACP cartridge itself.

Still, if you have to have a pocket .380 the P-3AT is the standard against all others must be measured.

The others often come up short, in my opinion. YMMV

Protected One · May 20, 2014

TucsonMTB said:
+1 . . . The P-3AT is the one that started the pocket .380 rage and is still hard to beat.

We bought a couple many years ago and still have them despite trying, and in some cases buying, newer offerings from other players. Ours have been reliable, but they are NOT easy to shoot, a fact that sometimes causes new shooters no end of difficulties.

Admittedly, my 642-1 is a much nicer pocket pistol. It would be very hard to "go back" to the P-3AT for several reasons, not the least of which is the hard to find, marginal power, .380 ACP cartridge itself.

Still, if you have to have a pocket .380 the P-3AT is the standard against all others must be measured.

The others often come up short, in my opinion. YMMV

Correction:
The Ruger LCP started the .380 trend, NOT the P-3AT.
Also, the only advantage it has over the LCP (or Bodyguard) is "price". All things considered (reliability, size, features, shootablitiy, looks, and price) the S&W Bodyguard is the "Class of the Caliber".

hotrod150 · May 20, 2014

Protected One said:
Correction:
The Ruger LCP started the .380 trend, NOT the P-3AT.
.......

I disagree. When you conside r that the P3AT came out first, then look at the LCP, it's obvious that Ruger was jumping on the bandwagon. And I'm glad they did- I wanted a pocket 380 but the P3AT looked like it was cobbled up in someone's garage shop- the LCP is much more nicely made. I bought one as soon as I could after they came out. But the proof's in the pudding- while my LCP works flawlessly, I've also heard of a lot of P3AT's that do also.

forrestinmathews · May 20, 2014

Forgive me for being old school here, but the PPK/S is my choice, blues finish of course. The other pistols are all ugly as sin and the fixed barrel blow back design is incredibly accurate. My gun is a west German import and shoots everything I feed it and will reliably knock down half liter water bottles at fifty yards. The furthest I ever fired it for groups was 70 yards in a shoot off with a gentleman who mistakenly thought his shotgun could pattern tighter than my PPK/S, which it did not. This gun works for me, points well and disassembles without tools. I like the little bit of nostalgia.

If I had to buy a plastic pistol, I'd go with the Glock 42. I have fired the Keltec and the Colt Mustang and found them both to be ugly and undesirable.

The PPK started the .380 trend except we had the class to call it the 9mm kurz.

As for the LCP starting anything, I've saw a helluva lot more Keltecs out there before the shockingly similar Ruger came along. At best it caused a resurgence in the plastic popgun movement.

Best Pocket 380

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