Ruger LCP ammo choice?

[flb_78]

Well, I bit the bullet and will be picking up a Ruger LCP this Tuesday. Paid 335+tax for it, but I'm getting a free box of S&B ammo thrown in so the price is decent. Dealer said he can't keep them more then 2 hours. He will be getting 1 on Tuesday and it's mine.

Regarding the incredible ballistics of the mighty .380, should I carry FMJ or JHP in it? It seems the FMJ have the penetration required for an effective self defense round while the JHP does not.

Any opinions or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[NcongruNt]

I carry Hornady XTP in my LCP. I have had nothing but good experiences with this round, as it feeds beautifully and is quite accurate. All the ballistic tests I have seen put the XTP round in the top performers for the test, with both expansion and penetration. From what I have read, the XTP penetrates eleven to twelve inches in ballistic gel tests, expanding to around .42 inches.

FMJ, on the other hand, seems to penetrate around 18 inches, and obviously does not expand. There are plenty of BGs out there who are not 18" thick, and a shot in soft tissue or between the ribs may exit the rear of them, which is not desirable. I do know several people who carry FMJ ammo in their .380 guns, but I am not one of them.

You may also consider that wound channels from FMJ and JHP are quite different. FMJ ammo simply pushes aside tissue as it penetrates. A shot can be quite close to a vital and not damage it due to the fact that the bullet is simply pushing it aside. JHP (and other rounds such as wadcutters) have sharp edges that tear tissue as they go along, rather than simply pushing the tissue aside. The same near-miss on a vital with FMJ turns into a vital shot on a FMJ. Given the option of deeper penetration from FMJ or a more significant wound channel from JHP, I'll go with the JHP.

[fenster]

my first 100 rds of FMJ went thru my LCP without a hitch. I picked up some cor-bon HP's. ..that is one snappy load. and lots of muzzle flash. out of the box of 20, I had 3 ftf's. one of the ftf's wedged things up really good. I had to really put some muscle to the slide to get it free. not good.

I'll try out the Hornadys next.

[NcongruNt]

my first 100 rds of FMJ went thru my LCP without a hitch. I picked up some cor-bon HP's. ..that is one snappy load. and lots of muzzle flash. out of the box of 20, I had 3 ftf's. one of the ftf's wedged things up really good. I had to really put some muscle to the slide to get it free. not good.

I'll try out the Hornadys next.

You're the second person I've read of having issues with Cor-Bon ammo in the LCP. I wonder if they're slightly out of spec in some fashion. Out of the roughly 300 rounds I've put through mine, I've had no stoppages at all. XTP feeds like butter.

[Nicolai]

The Sep/Oct 08 issue of American Handgunner has an article (written by John Taffin) on the LCP. He put 10 different brands of ammo through the LCP. Shooting at 7 yards, his best group (.75") came from Winchester's 95 gr. SXT (786 FPS). Zippiest of those tested was Buffalo Bore's 100 gr. Hard Cast Flat Nose at 1090 FPS (2" group).

[HighVelocity]

all the 380 info you can stand http://www.ktog.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB. ... 1199737660

[fenster]

my first 100 rds of FMJ went thru my LCP without a hitch. I picked up some cor-bon HP's. ..that is one snappy load. and lots of muzzle flash. out of the box of 20, I had 3 ftf's. one of the ftf's wedged things up really good. I had to really put some muscle to the slide to get it free. not good.

I'll try out the Hornadys next.

You're the second person I've read of having issues with Cor-Bon ammo in the LCP. I wonder if they're slightly out of spec in some fashion. Out of the roughly 300 rounds I've put through mine, I've had no stoppages at all. XTP feeds like butter.

glad to hear the XTP feeds well. I was a bit discouraged. the one particularly bad FTF would have definitely taken my LCP out of the fight. where did you pick up the XTP's ?

[DoubleJ]

Again I say Doooooood.

[NcongruNt]

my first 100 rds of FMJ went thru my LCP without a hitch. I picked up some cor-bon HP's. ..that is one snappy load. and lots of muzzle flash. out of the box of 20, I had 3 ftf's. one of the ftf's wedged things up really good. I had to really put some muscle to the slide to get it free. not good.

I'll try out the Hornadys next.

You're the second person I've read of having issues with Cor-Bon ammo in the LCP. I wonder if they're slightly out of spec in some fashion. Out of the roughly 300 rounds I've put through mine, I've had no stoppages at all. XTP feeds like butter.

glad to hear the XTP feeds well. I was a bit discouraged. the one particularly bad FTF would have definitely taken my LCP out of the fight. where did you pick up the XTP's ?

Cabela's carries them, which is where I got mine. I have also seen them at Cost Plus 10, but he is supposedly closing down this month due to the end of the world or some such thing.

Academy, McBride's, and Sportsman's Warehouse are also listed as Hornady retailers, and I seem to remember seeing .380 specifically at the latter two.