.380 ammo for sd

[moooose102]

ok, i got my kel tec back from repairs. i have read a couple of times that 380's dont have enough punch to make a h.p. round function properly. and that a fmj is a much better carry round. who thinks what. i will have to do some penetration tests one of these days. untill then, i would like some opinions about this.

 

[Rex B]

I'm carrying Buffalo Bore, but after seeing the tests posted on KTOG, I'll probably end up with the Corbon Self Defense (not the correct name) load

 

[sph33r]

I believe Rex B is thinking of Corbon DPX.

I don't really worry myself with .380 ballistic tests. If you're carrying a .380, you're already well aware that you have armed yourself with a smallish caliber. Instead I focus on a good quality round that I can shoot well with. I don't have the attention span to devote hours deciphering ballistic information that, in the end, is just information about what a bullet would do if I shot wet paper. I don't intend on shooting wet paper in a self defense situation so I'll concern myself with how well the gun functions with said round and pray I never have to use it.

I have successfully fed my P3AT the following HP's:

Speed Gold Dot
Federal Hydrashocks
Winchester SXT
Hornady TAP

Each worked equally as well although the Speer had noticeably heavier recoil in my tiny pistol. I believe that any of these 4 rounds (and many others I haven't tested yet) would serve perfectly as a carry round. I ended up going with the Speer simply because I find it easier to source locally and of course Speer's GDHP are considered to be a very fine bullet.

 

[toddmog]

I currently have Gold Dots in mine, but will likely replace with Golden Sabres after reading the ballistics info on KTOG. Howerver, the DPX is a great, but pricey round.

 

[MICHAEL T]

Corbon DPX Corbon used a KT P3AT during the development of the DPX round. They go hand in hand

 

[Lobotomy Boy]

Right now I'm carrying Hornady XTP, but I plan on trying some Cor-Bon DPX and also come Cor-Bon Pow'R Ball. Don't know how effective any of it is, and hope not to find out any time soon, but it seems to me that the initial penetration advantage of the Pow'R Ball would help make the little .380 round be more effective.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

I use gold dots in the P3AT but when I have money to burn I want to pick up some DPX. The gold dots are surprisingly accurate for such a teeny gun.

 

[TyRip]

My dad just bought an NAA Guardian and I am itching to try some of the Double Tap 90gr Gold Dots in it. They are listed at 1000fps from a P3AT.

 

[bannockburn]

A while back I got some Winchester 95 gr. SXT for my Colt Mustang. As far as its performance goes; no complaints yet as it functions just fine in my gun.

 

[jocko]

It must

Whatever round you choose,,,, IT MUST FEED PERFECTLY--EVERY TIME

 

[benzuncle]

A guy with the handle "olgrandpa" did a wetpack test on 380 ammo. After reading his article and viewing the pix, I chose the 102gr Golden Saber HP's for my defense loads in my NAA Guardian 380. I apologize for the picture quality. They seem to have lost something in tranlastion.

Here's the rounds with corresponding numbers:
1 Corbon DPX 80gr copper bullet
2 Corbon 90gr JHP
3 Federal HydraShok 90gr JHP
4 Remington GoldenSabr 102gr JHP
5 Speer GoldDot 90gr JHP
6 Winchester SXT 95gr JHP


The accompanying report was very interesting. He also told how he "built" the wetpack.

 

[moooose102]

I don't really worry myself with .380 ballistic tests. If you're carrying a .380, you're already well aware that you have armed yourself with a smallish caliber

thats EXACTLY why i do worry about it! if it had the knockdown power of my 45acp, then i wouldn't worry about it, just load it with any decent ammo and your good to go. but with a smaller, less powerful caliber, i need everything i can get out of the ammo to make it as effective as it can! if iall i was doing is plinking, no big deal. but using it for s.d., my life (and/or my families lifes) may hang in the balance.

 

[Rex B]

"I believe Rex B is thinking of Corbon DPX. "

Actually, no, it was not the DPX they found best.
I believe they did test the DPX also.

Corbon refutes that claim about the Keltec being the gun DPX was designed around.

And it wasn't the "olgrandpa" test.
This was a test using the P3AT and about a dozen kinds of ammo, fired into fresh entrails and waste fro a packing house, wrapped in denim (yuck!) backed by wetpack.

I'll find that test and post a link

Yes, I recognize the round is marginal, but I'd still like to have the best round available, and I'd like to know what it's capable of.

 

[RyanM]

Unfortunately, only Federal Hydra-Shoks meet the bare minimum penetration for the FBI, and then only because they underexpand after going through a 2-3/4" barrel. Had I a .380 (and I'm planning on getting a Seecamp eventually), I'd use Buffalo Bore 95 gr FMJ.

 

[Skofnung]

Call me weird, but I use FMJ in my mousegun. I figure that penetration and shot placement are more important than expansion.

 

[Ala Dan]

My KEL-TEC P3AT is stoked with the 102 grain Remington Golden Sabre's

 

[jocko]

dead wrong

Rex b. Corbon used two guns for their tests of the dpx 380. BOTH WERE KT'S. Call them, they will tell you that to. It has been reported on this board also that Mike from Corbon verified that. at the time of their design the 380 kt was the biggest selling gun on the market over all the others combined, so it made sense that they would choose the kt 380 for their testing purposes. It should work perfect in the lcp's also. It does in my lcp..

 

[MICHAEL T]

Corbon refutes that claim about the Keltec being the gun DPX was designed around.

Wrong posted right here 22 may when was claimed they used NAA 380

Not sure where the NAA barrel comments came from. We do have an excellent relationship with NAA and we do use some of their guns in our tests.

We did however use 2 different Kel Tec P3AT pistols to design the 380 DPX. It is the most popular 380 on the market. To do otherwise wouldn't be right in our opinion. We use other guns for testing the 380 loads, but in developing that specific load, we wanted to make sure it would feed, function and perform out of the Kel Tec. We figured if it would expand out of that short of a barrel, it would certainly perform when fired from a longer one.
__________________
Michael Shovel
National Sales Manager
CORBON/Glaser

 

[Dan-O]

After getting tired of not being able to find Corbon DPX anywhere I decided to go with Buffalo Bore 90 gr. Gold Dot Hollow Points.

I like the other offerings from Buffalo Bore, so I figured, why not?

 

[EHL]

I use only two rounds for any of my .380's. Corbon DPX and Winchester Ranger T's. I fired one DPX, one Ranger T, and one Federal Hydra shok. (fired from two feet away)I was underwhelmed with how little the hydra shok actually expanded. The Corbon DPX was very impressive with it's outstanding expansion. THe Ranger T was equally impressive since it opened up the most and had those nasty talons shredding up plastic. I highly recommend either of these two rounds for SD since they definetly perform. I would have gotten buffalo bore, but it seems to me like a glorified hot reload. The .380 will do it's job. Put a few of these centermass and I will be dumbfounded if it doesn't give a BG more than indigestion. It's no sniper round, but it'll put somebody down. (I have the Remington GS as well, those are cool rounds too, but it seems that the DPX and Ranger T are in a class all their own)

 

[Tribal]

If I may make a suggestion, use something other than what you use in your 9mm guns (assuming you have any). I like Gold Dot in 9mm, and since .380 and 9mm can be so easily mixed up if you're in a rush I've only used Golden Sabre and Hydra-Shok (I prefer the latter, as it gave me a narrow vertical pattern rather than more of a spread like the Golden Sabres), as they're clearly visually different.

 

[GRIZ22]

I use 95 FMJ in a 380. They feed all the time and are reasonably accurate. I think the extra penetration is better than any expansion in this kind of round.

Expansion tests are interestiing but only prove how that bullet will expand in wet paper, sand, balistic gelatin, etc. Ballistic gel is probably the more accurate as it duplicates tissue to a degree. Human targets are distinctly varying densities.

 

[sm]

Partial to Fiocchi FMJ myself...

 

[AndyC]

Call me weird, but I use FMJ in my mousegun. I figure that penetration and shot placement are more important than expansion.

Likewise - in anything below 9mm Para (Luger, x19, Nato, whatever), I use FMJ for reliability (#1) and penetration (#2) - I figure the shot-placement is up to me. I keep the fancy ammo for the larger calibers where under-penetration isn't a factor.

 

[legion3]

I am very confident in my LCP it has fired a flawless 600 rounds down range, 50 rounds of Remington Golden Saber was tested today. If I had a Kel Tec I would still have tested these rounds in order to feel comfortable for SD.

I have seen a bunch of tests; the kel tec guys offer these links, some say DPX is Great others say its weak, some say Golden sabers are the best others are not so sold, and still others say go FMJ only in mouse guns.

http://www.ktog.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1199737660

http://www.ktog.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1209241627

In my gun the following ammo has also been flawless
Fiocchi FMJ
Fiocchi JHP
Winchester WB
Winchester SXT
Speer Gold dots
Corbon DPX
PMC Bronze
Santa Barbara JSP - this packs quite a wallop!!!

The only remaining ammo I am looking to try out is Corbon PP

But frankly I like the combination of Golden Sabers and Santa Barbara for SD.