Which .380 Defensive ammo do you carry?

[cmr13]

I may have a chance to pick up used Ruger LCP for a very good price, and I'll probably use it as a backup gun and/or deep concealment gun. I have been looking around a bit at defensive ammo options for .380 and have sort of narrowed it down to a few options. I was curious what round those of you that carry a .380 use.

The two rounds I was looking at the most were the Speer Gold Dot and the Hornady XTP. The Gold Dot and the Hornady Critical Defense both performed very well in tests by "tnoutdoors9" on Youtube. He has quite a few tests of .380 and those two performed the best of the ones I have seen, as far as penetration and wound channel.

Here are "tnoutdoors9"'s videos on .38 Special and .380 ammo: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLED7C307FC0D5B236

Thanks in advance!


TL;DR: Which .380 defensive ammo do you carry?

 

[Bfish]

I go with hydroshoks mainly and also hornady. I watched a video of a guy who had done testing and he ranks several different kinds of ammo. He lists a do not use, with ok,/good, and best performers. It would be worth checking out because its a vast amount of stuff he tests. I'll see if I can find it, but didn't have any luck so far...

I think it's not much different than any other kind of ammo. It'll all be about the same. The main thing I remember that separated the good from the outstanding is just that some of the ammo opened too quickly and didn't penetrate as well as one might want. For example I remember cordon and gold dots being in the good group but due to this issue they were out performed by the hydros and hornady rounds. I would still carry any of those 4 without much worry so long and they ran great in my gun! IMO if you stay with the big names or stuff shown to be ok, and it runs, then I am sure you will be ok.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I don't carry a .380, but I'd be tempted to run ball if I did. HPs seem pretty inconsistent in that light of a bullet. My actual answer is get a Shield in 9mm and have a plethora of good ammo choices.

Oh, and bone strikes greatly reduce penetration of .380, even ball, although it does usually have the oomph to break the bone.

 

[Bigtanker]

[video=youtube_share;lhByLwyvGpA]http://youtu.be/lhByLwyvGpA[/video]

This guy does some good ammo tests also. Here is the HST test. Be has some more .380 tests if you search his account.

I think I'd go for ball ammo though. Penetration not expansion is what you want.

 

[Birds Away]

Keep saving for a 9mm, at least.

 

[tcecil88]

I like Hornady Critical Defense, and I also want to try out the new Federal HST .380. I have used Federal Hydroshoks and Remington Golden Sabre. They all shot well from the LCP I had and the Glock 42 that replaced it. I have some Magtech First Defense 77 grain, but the reviews on them were pretty bad, so they are just for plinking with.

 

[cmr13]

Thanks for the replies so far guys. Just to clarify, I do have a Shield 9mm and it is my main carry gun. I also have an XDm Compact 9mm that I carry when I don't carry my Shield. The LCP would be more for a backup gun, or for when I just can't carry one of the other 2.

I wouldn't necessarily buy an LCP if this offer hadn't come up, but for the price I couldn't say no. And it's another gun to add to my slowly growing collection.

 

[Tyler-The-Piker]

Hornady Custom

 

[t-squared]

After watching this I use Hornady Custom XTP.....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNtPHYwcDts

Why run ball when you can get penetration AND expansion ???

 

[snorko]

Buffalo Bore hardcast standard velocity.

 

[Cameramonkey]

After watching this I use Hornady Custom XTP.....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNtPHYwcDts

Why run ball when you can get penetration AND expansion ???

THIS!

I carry Precision One. It uses the XTP bullet.

The video is worth a watch. This summary of his extensive testing is outstanding. Cliffs notes of the video: JHPs are typically unreliable in this caliber. Some expand too quickly and dont give enough penetration. Some just dont expand at all or reliably so you shouldnt waste your money and you would be better off buying ball ammo instead if these particular rounds were all you could find at your local retailer.

He found that pretty much the only thing worth the money were the manufacturers who use the XTP projectile.

 

[451_Detonics]

CorBon 70gr Pow'r Ball.

 

[newdave61]

[video=youtube_share;lhByLwyvGpA]http://youtu.be/lhByLwyvGpA[/video]

This guy does some good ammo tests also. Here is the HST test. Be has some more .380 tests if you search his account.

I think I'd go for ball ammo though. Penetration not expansion is what you want.

I saw the same video not long ago. He had a whole series of videos leading up to this one. Almost made me go for a M&P Bodyguard. If I remember right his conclusion was that the Federal HS round was best. It was one of the few that combined the desired 12-18" penetration and reliable expansion.

 

[ru44mag]

I always get a kick out of the .380 debate. What I love most is it is almost always an even split between, .380 is not enough, use solids, and use high quality self defense rounds. Ingo has talked me out of carrying a .380 for the most part. Thanks Ingo. I really like the micro 9's I have now. I have held onto 2 of my Sig P238s because they are just such sweet little pistols. You never know when you might need something that small. And my wife is very recoil sensitive, and the little Sig, she loves too. As far as ammo, hmm this is where my retarded side comes out. Half say solids, half say self defense rounds. I can't make up my mind...what to do, what to do? I know what others think of this idea, but, I do it anyway. The round in the chamber is a Hornady Critical defense. So is the first round in the mag. Next is a Winchester solid with a flat nose. It seems logical to me to alternate. If one does not work, maybe the other will. I have tested this at the range, and they feed perfect, and I can't see a difference in the point of impact. And with such low recoil, 7 rounds can be put into a very small area very quickly. Just the thoughts of strange individual.

 

[cosermann]

FYI - 380 ACP

 

[knot4reel]

Corbon DPX.

 

[eric001]

Yet another vote for the Hornady Custom FTX.

According to the video above and other stats I've looked up, the Custom carries about as much energy as anything in .380, and expands at least as reliably as anything out there.

More importantly, it feeds flawlessly in my Walther and always goes boom when it's supposed to.

 

[acarnahan]

My vote is either the Federal Hydro or Hornady Critical Defense. Those seem to constantly be rated the highest when I see hollowpoint comparisons.

 

[Dean C.]

If I had to carry a .380 it would be the new Federal HST as that is what I carry in all of my handguns, the results from HST are just too good to ignore. The only hard part is actually finding HST to buy it is still scarce.

 

[Cygnus]

I use Critical Defense. Feeds great in my P3AT which is essentially a stripped down LCP. (No slidelock, rougher fit and finish).
For you XTP fans. Is the Critical Defense simply a XTP bullet with the red insert? Any info on Hornaday CD versus Hornaday Custom?

EDIT: I do carry 95gr ball in the spare 9 rounder though. I figure if I need a spare I want the extra chance of function versus the expansion.