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Can anyone give some suggestions on a good 380 self defense ammo ??
I know bigger is better and all that. Strictly looking at 380 ammo only

Thanks Guys

.380 gets a bad rap for penetration particularly in the cooler months when folks are wearing layers, so one option to mitigate this is ball, or full metal jacket, ammunition. Hornady Critical Defense gets good reviews for a hollow-point design.

How timely. I just picked up a Kahr P380. Neglected to take photos for a range report, but it ate a total of 175 rounds of Academy's Monarch brand (for practice) and Hornady Critical Defense (temporarily for SD) flawlessly. I'm not recommending the Hornady in .380 without more research, but the price was right for the Monarch range rounds.

I, too, am all ears!

Middle Age Russ wrote:Hornady Critical Defense gets good reviews for a hollow-point design.

Thanks, Russ! I can not attest to their performance, but the Hornady rounds fed well through the P380, which I've read can be finicky during the break-in period.

"The Perfect 380 Ammo ???"

Is a 9X19 (Luger) 115 or 124 grain load. Better even if they are +P or +p+. Sorry, I carried a P3AT for years and never felt good about it even with CorBon ammo in it. I carry a .38 snub and a 40 S&W now.

If Iwere to carry a .380 again I would load it with CorBon JHP, Corbon PowRBall or DPX if they ever load .380 with DPX. Corbon ammo is really good stuff.

My P380 does not like flat / square head .380 training ammo. I can see it being picky with certain hollow points. The Hornady Critical Defense rounds will likely work best from a reliability point of view. I've read some good reviews on this round - good penetration, but good lodging too - won't pass through center mass.

My wife uses Hornady Critical Defense in her Sig P238. I also use it in my Sig P220 (.45), Kimber Stainless II (.45), and have some for my Ruger P89 (9mm).

Mojo called it! This is why I got rid of my .380 and went to .38 as my bug. It doesn't reliably penetrate when I did informal tests. The best though is the Barnes 80 grainer. They are probably the deepest penetrating .380 load that expands nearly every time. Double Tap and Corbon both offer the Barnes bullet. These are the best you are going to get in a HP bullet for .380.

.380 has 60% less muzzle energy then 9mm. why does anyone think this is a good round for self defence?

alvins wrote:.380 has 60% less muzzle energy then 9mm. why does anyone think this is a good round for self defence?

'Cause they like the cute l'il guns that are chambered in .380. I carried a .380 as a Back Up Gun nothing smaller than a .38 special +P or a 9 mm for primary.

What is "The Perfect 380 Ammo ???"

Where someone is dyslexic and transposes the last two digits.

Once again check out the late Mr. Camp's corner. Here are some of his links. http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/Bersa%20Thunder.htm viewtopic.php?f=104&t=924 viewtopic.php?f=104&t=21291

Some of the best info on .380 hp rounds online!

I do own and have owned lots of .380s

not every one could feed the perfect round reliably

I settled on mixing a few rounds of an expanding HP (Critical Defense with some Buffalo Bore hard cast Flat Nosed (heavier grain, +P more penetration .380 Auto +P Ammo - 100 gr. Hardcast F.N. (1150fps/ M.E. 294 ft. lb http://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l= ... _list&c=29" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I have one old gun that won't feed anything but Remington round nosed HP with the tiny hole in it.
So, be sure that whatever the ultimate round you decide on actually works in your gun. Just because the magic round has a recovered weight of 4 pounds and expands to a 82 caliber, doesn't meed it will be reliable in your gun.
Today, I carried a .380 with 6 rounds (5+1) for in case when my Glock 26 (20+1 rounds), then my PF9 (8 rounds) or P11 (12+1 rounds) run dry, so I can have something when trying to insert a second 20 round Glock mag I carry (actually 17+3 - Pearce PG39)

I might trade one of my .380 ( I hate to part with the ones I haven't sold yet) along with some cash for a new DB9 though)

I don't figure any round of any caliber would make a person I shot real happy with me; I knew a guy who took an empty .38 away from a guy and beat him with it, even though the 6th round went through the hand he was beating the guy with and the other 5 were in various parts of his torso.

In 9mm and .45 I carry Critical Defense too.

Coincidently, I just got finished looking around for and locating the last 7 rounds removed from my LCP before the last class. In research done years ago - after Ruger said "no +P" - I settled on Remington Golden Sabres, one reason being it is 102 grain.

RPB wrote: I don't figure any round of any caliber would make a person I shot real happy with me; I knew a guy who took an empty .38 away from a guy and beat him with it, even though the 6th round went through the hand he was beating the guy with and the other 5 were in various parts of his torso.

In one of the gun rags back when the 9 mm vs. .38 spec debate was the hot thing there was an article which told of a guy who was shot 6 times and still crossed a street and almost killed the shooter by choking him. The gun used to shoot the guy was a .44 mag!

I think the idea was that there is no 100% effective cartridge, at least that can be carried in a handgun.