.380 Not Good Defensive Caliber??

[ClayCow]

Oh. Understandable then. I don't know why people would use those shells for self defense then?? Which I guess he doesn't either.

 

[ATF]

Modern .22 airguns are very powerful. They can kill. They are a lot more powerful than .22 shotgun cartridges.

 

[stantheman86]

I carry both .22 LR and Short mini revolvers, loaded with .22 LR Velocitors or Stingers it's a decent micro fistful of power. The Short isn't bad either with CCI .22 Short Varmint loads, it's comparable to standard velocity .22 LR in power.

 

[stantheman86]

This is the effects of Winchester .22 LR shot shells on paper

Not very formidable some of the pellets didn't make it through the cardboard backing.

 

[ClayCow]

How far away did you shoot?

 

[stantheman86]

Maybe 3 yards, and the Winchester bird shot .22's are more powerful than the CCI.

This pic is point blank, more damage from powder burns than anything else.

 

[ClayCow]

Can't quite remember last time I shot my .22 lr. I do have my pistol, if I remember and I do go to the range tomorrow I'll have to see. I remember mine pentetrating well. Maybe it's in how hard you pull the trigger!

 

[dogngun]

i was talking to a fellow who told me that the 380 was a worthless choice for a defensive round. I think that a larger caliber would probably be better, but a 380 with well placed hits would be a good caliber to conceal carry. What do you think?

That was a joke, right?

The .380 can be a good defensive round depending on the pistol...A lot of the older .380 small guns are not reliable with hollow points, which, IMO, and mandatory with the .380. The ball ammo in that caliber has a rep for overpenetration and ricochet neither a desirable trait. The only .380 I carry occasionally is very good with Remington JHP's, and that's what is in there...but for a small pistol, I really prefer the .32 ACP with ball ammo.

 

[RMC1]

A head shot might not always be lethal but it will almost always make a person limp.

 

[Protected One]

That was a joke, right?

The .380 can be a good defensive round depending on the pistol...A lot of the older .380 small guns are not reliable with hollow points, which, IMO, and mandatory with the .380. The ball ammo in that caliber has a rep for overpenetration and ricochet neither a desirable trait. The only .380 I carry occasionally is very good with Remington JHP's, and that's what is in there...but for a small pistol, I really prefer the .32 ACP with ball ammo.

Won't ball ammo overpenetrate and ricochet from a .32acp, just as from a .380acp?

I carry Critical Defense in my .380 carry gun. It had the deepest penetration (11 1/4") of all the rounds I saw tested (Gold Dot, Winchester PDX1, Federal Hydra shock, and Remington Golden Sabre). Golden Sabre clogged, failed to expand, and essentially became a fmj.

 

[ClayCow]

Does one need 11 1/4" penetration? I'm pretty sure I'm smaller in thickness than that. You only need 5 to 6 inches to hit vitals.

 

[johnnyflake]

With small caliber rounds, such as the .380, any possible expansion, that may occur, will be negligible. I don't care about expansion, I care about penetration. Get in deep, hopefully, through & through. That way you have two bleed holes and anything in between, vitals, etc. will have been penetrated as well.

I carry Buffalo Bore +P 105gn hard cast .380 Sig. Gel test show it penetrating from 26 inches to 31 inches, depending on which test you can find.

When your in a heads up, kill or be killed, situation are you really going to worry about where your bullet goes, if it penetrates your enemy?

 

[Ed Fowler]

When your in a heads up, kill or be killed, situation are you really going to worry about where your bullet goes, if it penetrates your enemy?


I would care!

 

[johnnyflake]

When your in a heads up, kill or be killed, situation are you really going to worry about where your bullet goes, if it penetrates your enemy?


I would care!

Well, you shouldn't worry too much. With a .380 most of the energy will have been dumped in your target. It won't have much effect after that. Just my thoughts!

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

When your in a heads up, kill or be killed, situation are you really going to worry about where your bullet goes, if it penetrates your enemy?

On a scale of issues to consider, I think it rates pretty low.

The bullet that most often fails to penetrate the bad guy is the one that misses. That's an issue worthy of consideration and practice.

 

[Ed Fowler]

simple rules:
Know you target
Know what is behind it
Know the performance qualities of what you are shooting.

 

[vito]

Sometimes these discussion remind me of some fellow motorcycle riders that I know, who are always looking at the next gizmo to add to their bike. Like a golfer who never stops buying new golf items, the biker loves his bike and buying new gadgets keeps him connected to his love when he can't actually be out riding. So we gun lovers, who probably can't get to the range as much as we would like, and almost never have a need to actually use a gun for self defense or anything else, spend our time connected to guns by our time on the internet or by buying and trying various calibers, types ammo, brands and types of guns, etc, etc. Most of us certainly do not NEED a large number or type of handguns, but we like to be doing things with and about guns, so its fun thinking about and arguing about whether the 380 is a good self defense caliber, or whether a revolver beats a semi, or a shoulder holster beats an IWB, etc.

I'll just add my own two cents to the OP's question. I prefer 9mm or 38 Special +p for self defense, but there are times that for carrying comfort I want something really small and easy to conceal. That's when I take my Ruger LCP loaded with 380 Hornady Personal Defense ammo and I feel very comfortable with the choice. And since I have yet to ever need the gun that I am carrying, everything that I have carried has done the job so far!

 

[loknload]

The way I see it I'm carrying for personal protection, not to fight a war or a major crime wave. Depending on what I'm doing and if the thing that fits the bill is a 380 or namely my LCP that's what it's going to be. I realize it's not a .357, .40 or .44. The most important thing to me is that as with my other carry pieces I have practiced with it and I'm pretty sure I can put a bullet where it needs to be. I know how the weapon works and I know it's been cared for and should not fail me.
If it gets me out of the jam I'm in so be it, I tried with what I had and it was better than having nothing.
Hopefully I will never have to find out

 

[Protected One]

A "GOOD" defensive caliber, by my definition, is anything that stops a threat.
If .380 were NOT good in this regard there would be no examples of it having done so. Since there are in fact many such examples, I say - case closed!

 

[Shorty 45 MK2]

Just think if the caliber debate was solved and we found the best SD round, what we talk about on forums it!

I guess we'd still have the Annoyed at thread drift thread.