I know that S&W made, in essence, a .380 rimmed revolver for the British. With a fairly good affinity in this country for revolvers chambered in semi-auto cartridge(9mm .40, .45, 10mm), why no .380 revolvers?

While it was once considered a nominal cartridge for self-defense at best, today's bullet designs and technology have made the .380 acceptable for this purpose. Hey, it beats a rock!

I could see a 2 or 3 inch 8-shot J frame loaded with a moon clip or two 4round half moon clips.

Your thoughts?

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otis

Charter Arms makes one.

There’s not enough room in a J frame sized cylinder for more than 5 .380 holes.

CHARTER ARMS PITBULL 380 ACP 2.2" BARREL DOUBLE ACTION REVOLVER

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Rule of law, not a man.

There are Charter Arms and Taurus revolvers in 380, 6 and 5 shot respectively. I doubt if Smith could squeeze 8 rounds of 380 in a J-frame cylinder.

The ".380 rimmed" round was the pre-existing .38 S & W, so this was easy for them to produce revolvers chambered for this during WW II.

There is a good article about a Charter Arms .380 revolver that does not require separate clips in the May/June 2021 issue of American Handgunner. I think Taurus may have or currently makes one also.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

I think the question answers itself easier if you phrase it the other way round: why?

That ".380 rimmed revolver for the British" was just another name for .38 S&W, which obviously is dearly departed.

Who wants to mess around with moon clips these days? That would be attractive in the market only for a nostalgic niche, and in a marginal caliber to boot. The .45s are at least historic.

I am re-reading WEB Griffins' "The Corps" series for the umpteenth time and he mentions a .380 autoloader a few times

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Mike
S&WCA #3065

Why? Cheaper to shoot, at least pre-pandemic hysteria. Low recoil. It would make a great revolver for a first time shooter. I would love plinking with a .380 much more than I do with a .22.

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otis

May have to get me a Charter!

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otis

Cheaper than what? 380 costs more than 9mm, 38 Special and any 22. Always has, pandemic or not. As far as low recoil it's hard to beat a 22 or a 38 wadcutter.

That's a good question. I don't get it myself, I wouldn't buy a revolver that needs them myself. I have two S&W Model 547's, and I wonder if they would be popular today if they dusted off the drawings and started building them again...considering the popularity of 9mm.

What would be the point? There are .380 autos out there that are smaller, thinner, lighter and easier to carry than a J-frame revolver.
I quite fond of the Colt Mustang and I carry one of these fairly regularly. Sig and Kimber make their own copies of these fine little pocket guns too.
I suppose if you really want one, you could get the Charter or the Taurus. But these fit a very restricted niche market. No money in guns that don't sell well.

But this isn‘t anything that couldn‘t be accomplished by down-powering .38 Special, which every Bill and Bob reloads and which you can easily find at any recoil level you desire.

The .380 offers a power advantage in a .32 size compact pistol frame, which was its original mission starting with JMB‘s 1903/08 design. But even there the .32 outsold the .380 by a factor of 4 or 5. Since the round has the same general diameter as other .38 calibers, it just offers no attractive features that would provide any value-add at all if chambered in a revolver.

My thoughts? The answer to a non-existent question.

For SD purposes, I would never trust my life or the life of anyone I love to the .380 cartridge. The .38Spl +P is minimum, and it's still marginal. There's already a J-frame for that cartridge.

The cost of the ammo is more than 9mm these days.

Also, if you absolutely, positively want to use a .380, you can get that in a sub-compact semi-auto for little $$$.

There are probably few people that would buy a .380 revolver regardless of size. A very small niche indeed.

You could always just buy a 9mm revolver. Cheaper ammo and more bang.

One of the appeals of the Charter revolver, in any auto chambering, is that it doesn't appear to need moon clips. Taking into account the very valid points made by others here, a .380 revolver doesn't make much sense.

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otis

Probably true, unless you are sitting on a large stash of .380 ammo. However, just as in guns and other calibers in the current situation, you can find a Pitbull in .40 S & W fairly easily, a .45 with a little more difficulty and few in 9 mm, at least in my observations.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

You mean besides Jerry Michulek? They still offer faster reloads and take up less space than speed loaders. TK Custom seems to do a fairly brisk business cutting revolvers that take rimmed cartridges for moon clips. I'll even go out on a limb and admit that I am considering sending a 25-5 cylinder to them so I can use .45 ACP in addition to .45 Colt.

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I need ammo, not a ride.

I'm with you on not using clips in revolvers, but some are in a hurry and like the gadgets that go along with loading and unloading moon clips.

Look Here Uberti 1862 Police Conversion, a .380 ACP pocket revolver | GUNSweek.com

I was hoping to see an Indian Speed Six or a BSR. I'd have even settled for a Webley.

The Taurus revolver is not just a rechambered version of their .38 Special. It has reduced frame dimensions. It is about as compact a revolver as you will find. Much like the S&W Terrier.

The Taurus clips are a pain, but I discovered you could make your own rimmed version out of .38 Special brass if you're a reloader. It's not hard.