Did I miss any good .380's?

[sophie]

I don't know much about the Bersa .380.
I own a Walther PPK/S (Interarms) and a Mauser HSC, both from about 1981 and both are good shooters.
HSC is a little picky on hollow point ammo but the PPK/S not so much.
PPK/S a lot more accurate at 25 yds. I know neither one is a target shooter. Designed for self defense at 15 to 20 ft.
I am always suprised how accurate the PPK/S has been to be such a small pistol.

James

 

[26Ford]

I read thru this rather quickly, but I have my mention. The AMT Backup .380. Fits in the palm of the smallest hands, and made in U.S.A., well " was " anyway. I am always looking for the .45 AMT, but they carry quite a price tag in my area, WHEN you can find one. My second vote is for the Bersa. A true like or hate brand, but I know more that like them than hate them many times over. I would not hesitate to buy a Bersa. , 26

 

[VAPA]

S&W Bodyguard 380 has a manual safety.

 

[CO_Kid]

My wife's gun is a Sig 232, used to be my BUG on patrol, until I took her to the range to teach her how to shoot. She went through a mag, then turned to me and said "this is my gun now, you have to go get something else".

It's big for a 380, and it doesn't reliably feed hollowpoints, specifically the Remington Golden Saber. She keeps it loaded with Pow'R'ball and it's 100% reliable with it.

 

[AR_Black]

The NAA (North American Arms) "Guardian" 380 is a great, solid pistol. Mine ran flawlessly. I wish I never got talked out of it. Definately worth checking out. Maybe I should get another...

North American Arms NAA-380 GUARDIAN GUARD .380ACP

Some of the new Guardians come with the "Internal gun lock" like the S&W revolvers. BUT I've got a few in my shop without the lock. Each comes with two 6-round magazines. It is heavier than a J-Frame 642 when loaded. I kept one for myself last month, shot about 50 rounds in it so far. Shoots to point of aim at 7-yards. Recoil is stout. Not for first time shooters. Not for casual plinking either.

It also just seems so heavy when carried in a pocket holster. The S&W .380 is lighter.

I don't know if I'll keep the Guardian..... mostly because I'm much more used to the J-Frame .38's.

And check out this chart:
North American Arms NAA-380 GUARDIAN GUARD .380ACP

 

[Rule 303]

Here are two pictures of the two .380s I have that are steel framed guns, one is a FN 1922 that my dad used in the WWII and brought home and Browning 1910 that I bought in the 70s.

Both are excellent guns for concealment.

Rule 303

 

[steamloco76]

Believe it or not, the wife and I both have Taurus TCP .380's. After 200 or so rounds to break in mine is ultra reliable and shoots almost any ammo to POA with decent accuracy. The wife's needed the extractor replaced and a new magazine before it settled down to run like a champ. You can buy them for $230 new.

I wish my Browning BDA .380 (Yes I know it is basically a Beretta 84 with an enclosed slide!) fit in a pocket. It is beautifully crafted, reliable and fun to shoot. Never gets carried though.

Ruger is selling their LCP with the laser for around $370 now. Hard to beat that for the dough.

 

[Kavinsky]

North American Arms NAA-380 GUARDIAN GUARD .380ACP

Some of the new Guardians come with the "Internal gun lock" like the S&W revolvers. BUT I've got a few in my shop without the lock. Each comes with two 6-round magazines. It is heavier than a J-Frame 642 when loaded. I kept one for myself last month, shot about 50 rounds in it so far. Shoots to point of aim at 7-yards. Recoil is stout. Not for first time shooters. Not for casual plinking either.

It also just seems so heavy when carried in a pocket holster. The S&W .380 is lighter.

I don't know if I'll keep the Guardian..... mostly because I'm much more used to the J-Frame .38's.

And check out this chart:
North American Arms NAA-380 GUARDIAN GUARD .380ACP

still it does sound like it does what its set out to do and does it well from the accounts here and I'm certainly not a novice shooter.

so far what I'm thinking is the guardian .380 and the LCR for pocket carry or back up duty and maybe something like the
blued Sig 230 for range/ holster carrry as I can probably negate the possibile sticky feel of the alloy frame with some wood grips, although I'd want to find something along the lines of the gloss walther PPK plastic Grips for it with a brown PPK look going for it like bond had with his PPK's in the early films as it gives it a nice contrast that I really like

stainless is out though as I'm REALLY not a fan of stainless pistols and I'm about to make my one and only exception to that rule with the 645 for a full sized pistol if nothing comes out of vltors mouth in the next month or so regarding the bren ten.

or go for the PPK/S or the bersa as honestly I just really like the look of the old PPK design.

S&W Bodyguard 380 has a manual safety.

I'm not really a fan of it, it reminds me too much of the PPS and the new line of walther pistols which I dont really care for.

I read thru this rather quickly, but I have my mention. The AMT Backup .380. Fits in the palm of the smallest hands, and made in U.S.A., well " was " anyway. I am always looking for the .45 AMT, but they carry quite a price tag in my area, WHEN you can find one. My second vote is for the Bersa. A true like or hate brand, but I know more that like them than hate them many times over. I would not hesitate to buy a Bersa. , 26

the amt idea kind of makes me nervious as I've heard their the ones that are known for having stainless steel gailing issues as they supposedly use the same hardness steel for both the slide and the frame causing the galing issue and my gunsmith has openly called them ****, something I've never heard him say about anything in that shop or about anything really, auto ordinance included.

Here are two pictures of the two .380s I have that are steel framed guns, one is a FN 1922 that my dad used in the WWII and brought home and Browning 1910 that I bought in the 70s.

Both are excellent guns for concealment.

Rule 303

actually with the FN1922, I found an old photo of my grandfather with one from the war, must have been his issued sidearm from the luftwaffe, sadly he didnt keep it and chucked it in a lake after the war as he didnt want to get caught with it.

anyways is their any real danger of the safety being clicked off accidentally with the FN1922 or the 1910 there from pocket carry like that guy said he felt could happen with his colt 1908 .380?

 

[Will Carry]

If you don't mind my asking sir, why must it be made of all steel?

 

[Kavinsky]

If you don't mind my asking sir, why must it be made of all steel?

I noticed that the beretta 85 cheetah started to feel really uncomfortable in my hand after awhile of snap cap practice with it while the other guns in collection didnt, all of which are either poylmer (two glocks, a M17L 9mm M23 .40, and ruger 22/45) or steel (smith 49. 29, K22/17 dan wesson 357, ruger ect ect) save for one of the browning 25 acp's

and there was no other reason for it to do that besides it being alloy framed, as the checkering was fine, the grips werent too sharp although they were plastic which could have been a contributing factor to it heating up in my hand like it did and feeling sticky

and then I picked up my old steel kimber and came to that conclusion as I've picked up the kimber and the glock many times for snap cap practice and they've never felt like that after practicing with them

plus its happened on range trips with it before, I kept wondering okay why dont I like the feel of this gun right now, something is really off about it while when I picked it up at the gunshop I really liked it as much as the steel framed sig 232 I was trying on for size all of those years ago.

and I find that old steel and wood guns just have a look that polymer guns just dont have hence the preference, plus the polymer ones I knew of dont have any sort of external safety like the kahr arms, a real put off in a pocket gun kind of use, atleast with a semi auto unless the triggers heavy enough.

plus I dont care for kahr arms in any regard and they were the only ones I knew of who dont have the glock trigger system that I'm trying to get away from with the glock 17L and 23 as I've thought about getting rid of them many times for that trigger system as its starting to bug me while shooting them now.