When you have an hour or so free time, there is a series on a site called Shooting The Bull. A series called Ammo Quest tested many different .380 rounds. If you search for his .380 tests you will find a number of videos and written material. He does testing per the FBI protocol and I found it both interesting and informative.
There is little real life data concerning which .380 rounds worked in real life scenarios. So, the next best thing is correctly done FBI protocol gels tests. That is what Shooting the Bull provides.
Shooting the Bull does not do "correctly done FBI protocol" tests, although I see that posted all the time about a lot of .380 ammo. I am going to paste some stuff I have posted elsewhere.
The manufacturers and most social media influencers and hobbyists frequently conduct bare gel and cloth covered gel tests with .380 and proclaim that their tested ammo “meets FBI specifications.” Well, that is not true. They may perform barely adequately in 1/3 of the tests, but most reviewers are not performing the other 4.
As I understand the FBI protocols used for testing LE duty ammunition, 70% importance is given to penetration and consistency of penetration, 20% to expansion, and 10% to weight retention. Source:
FBI Ammunition Protocol
The test involves five separate shots at 6 different sets of media, namely, bare gel, cloth covered gel, and gel placed behind each of plywood, wallboard, sheet metal (heavier 20 gauge, not the stuff I use) and windshield glass. The results are weighted based on criteria deemed important by the FBI and are cranked into a formula used to assign a number score to the ammo. In looking at the criteria in the above link (Note that the criteria are stated to be for 9mm Luger, which may be read to imply that there are different weightings for different calibers, but I do not know this.), penetration under 12 inches for any shot is assigned a point value of 1 per shot under 12 inches, while penetration over 18 inches is awarded 5 points per shot. Penetration between 12 and 18 inches is awarded points in the 8-10 range, with 14-15.99 inches getting 10 and 16 to 18 inches getting 9 points. 12 to 13.99 inches gets 8 points. There is no disqualification for penetration over 18 inches-it is awarded exactly half credit, 5. (I invite anyone who has better information on the FBI protocols to share it.)
Why are the testers ignoring the other 4 tests? Because .380 ammo that barely makes 12 inches in plain gel or cloth covered gel will suck when put through the barrier tests, losing a lot of points per shot and also on the score for number of shots per test under 12 inches. So, they focus on pretty mushrooms, which the FBI thinks is substantially less important than penetration. Now, a lot of reviewers imply that barrier penetration is not important because non-police people carrying .380s are only going to be getting in “best case scenario” shootings at 3 yards against someone facing them squarely out in the open, or against people who will run away at the sight of any gun. I also see people on forums say that their strategy with their .380 is to dump a couple of rounds and run away. Well, those ideas contain huge assumptions upon which I am not willing to rely. How does one know that there won’t be a side shot, or one through any kind of barriers? How does one know that getting away from a bad guy will not involve running over him? So, I shoot any ammo that does not receive the benefit of massive taxpayer funded research against a variety of stuff to see what it will do.
The only ammo that I have found that comes close to 9mm penetration against barriers is 68 grain XD ammo from Underwood. (I use standard pressure.) and 90 grain XP ammo. Buffalo Bore 100 grain hard cast flat point (again, I use standard pressure) is third. I carry the Underwood standard pressure 68 grain XD round in my .380s. No soft lead core ammo in either jacketed round nose or hollow point can get through the barriers I have shot, which is a piece of pine or fir 2X6 and two pieces of 22 gauge steel. I have posted links to numerous videos against those barriers on a long thread in another forum, for those who have time to burn.
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YMMV.
) I have experienced good results with in 380acp is the ARX Inceptor 56gr from Polycase. Also have loaded some In 9mm, 40 S&W, 45acp and 38 Special: all shoot well to point of aim, exhibit reduced recoil and are, IMHO, viable for HD & SD purposes.
