.380 ACP Carry Load

[RichCapeCod]

Every time I read the words "one shot stop" in regard handgun caliber/projectile choices I cringe. There are too many variables in a gunfight for such a calculation to ever be accurately made.

How about this; in 1848 a man had a 13 lb bar of steel three feet long and 1.25 inches in diameter blow through the bottom of his head and out the top. He never lost consciousness, was basically ambulatory while waiting for a physician to attend to him and survived until 1860. (Phineas Gage was the man's name. Phineas Gage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ).

The only projectile that might provide a "one shot stop" with any certainty would be a supersonic bowling ball striking center of mass.

Rich

 

[Fourkeeps]

I need to find a good SD load for my Bersa Thunder .380. I know this has been discussed here before but mostly about tiny pocket guns with shorter barrels. What would work well with the longer 3.5 inch barrel of the Bersa?

Buffalo bore plus p are a little stout for some. Gold dot and these xtp
have their fans...

380 XTP ballistic gel test - YouTube

 

[125JHP]

I don't have any stop or penetration data, but logic suggests that the magtech 95 JSP should give the weight and penetration of FMJ and the soft lead tip some expansion like a JHP, and the bullet looks like an XTP with the tip filled with lead.

These are available as a commercial load in 9mm, with a spec of 1345 fps and 380 # energy from a 4" bbl. The bullet is available as a component and I chrono'd some .380 loads from my Bersa at 995 fps with 3.4 N-320.

 

[Doug M.]

I'd take Gary Roberts' advice over that of anyone else in the area of ballistics. 2 of the women in my office have 380s; I did not get a vote. I bought then each 40 rounds of Corbon DPX, told them to buy a lot of ball (FMJ) and make sure their pistols work well with it (a few hundred rounds) and keep that in the magazine, with the DPX in the chamber.

If they had bought 9s I would have been able to come up with a variety of good service ammo. However, both of them are lean and would have a heck of a time carrying anything bigger than these 380s with decent concealment and access.