LCP: FMJ or HP for Carry?

In your .380 LCP/P3AT/TCP ccw, do you carry FMJ or Hollow Points?

  • Full Metal Jacket

    Votes: 63 36.8%

  • Hollow Points

    Votes: 80 46.8%

  • Dump your LCP and carry your 642 instead, you moron

    Votes: 28 16.4%
  • Total voters
    171
  • Poll closed .
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T

TrailWolf

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Messages
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Location
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Just picked up an LCP to carry when I cannot get away with my Glocks or 642 during the AZ summer... Put a box of FMJs and Gold Dots through her and performed flawlessly - 2" groups at 20 feet off hand will do the trick for me, so I am pleased that I can wear board shorts and still carry SOMETHING as opposed to just a Spyderco. Killed my trigger finger however and I think I need to add a hogue or inner tuber to give me a better grip.

Anyway, read and heard more than a few times of guys not trusting a .380 hollow point to either penetrate enough, get hung up on clothes and/or break up and thus carry flat nose FMJs. So was wondering what your alls opinion on the matter was?

In your .380 LCP/P3AT/TCP ccw, do you carry FMJ or Hollow Points?

Thanks!
 
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Tough choice. I prefer HPs like the Hydrashok or the Gold dots over the run of the mill FMJs which I feel are underpowered. I would however feel fine with a load like the Buffalo Bore LFPs in my Bodyguard but not in the LCP.
 
My first three choices would be -
Get rid of that lcp and pick up a sig p238
If you go with what you have, use the 642
If you HAVE to use the lcp, I'd carry some gold dot short barrel ammo

I recently got rid of my lcp and got a p238. I cant stress enough how much better the p238 is. There's not a thing wrong with the LCP, I just like the p238 better in every area except price.
 
If you carry the LCP, load it with the hottest FMJ it can handle safely. In anemic calibers lower than 9mm, penetration>expansion.
 
dubya450 said:
My first three choices would be -
Get rid of that lcp and pick up a sig p238
If you go with what you have, use the 642
If you HAVE to use the lcp, I'd carry some gold dot short barrel ammo

I recently got rid of my lcp and got a p238. I cant stress enough how much better the p238 is. There's not a thing wrong with the LCP, I just like the p238 better in every area except price.
Click to expand...


P238 is much too heavy for my intended purpose - its the heavier than my 642 loaded so it wouldnt make too much sense. Besides, carrying a pocket pistol with exposed hammer cocked and locked is just not a great idea, IMHO. Further, I refuse to spend that amount of money on a .380 - I'd rather buy another Glock :)

The LCP is for those times when "I'm not carrying" or am in board shorts with no belt, plus its light enough that I can carry it as a BUG in my pocket.

.
 
Buffalo bore 90gr JHP. 260 ft lbs out of a LCP. I sure wouldn't want to be on the wrong end of that. I say no to 22+" of FMJ penetration.
 
HP in the chamber and a mag full of FMJ's here....normally for the past three years....However.com for the past few months I've been carrying all Hydra-shoks. :eek:
 
I carry a 102 gr. Remington Golden Saber as the chambered round in my LCP followed by six Winchester White Box 95 gr. flat nose fmj's.
As is noted hollow points do not always expand while fired out of a micro barelled 380 so the first round is basically a Hail Mary round followed by reliable penetrating fmj's if fate has it that the pistol has to be used in defense of my life.
 
If you carry the LCP, load it with the hottest FMJ it can handle safely. In anemic calibers lower than 9mm, penetration>expansion.
Click to expand...

Taking into account smileys, and bullet setback, and EXTREMELY thin chamber.........I'll pass on shooting hot ammo in an LCP. If you really have this philosophy I would recommend a Bodyguard 380, or other 380 that is more capable of shooting hotter ammo safely. In most tests I've seen Hydrashoks manage about 10-12 inches if they expand and even more if they don't. Shooting a hotter FMJ isn't going to profit much if anything in the LCP. I would stick to standard ammo in the LCP and get a different gun if you want more.
 
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Remington 102gr Golden Sabers. Why? Because Federal Hydra-Shok bullets are notorious for clogging with clothing material and not expanding as designed▬especially the lower velocity rounds like .45 ACP, .380 and .38 Special
 
Remington 102gr Golden Sabers. Why? Because Federal Hydra-Shok bullets are notorious for clogging with clothing material and not expanding as designed▬especially the lower velocity rounds like .45 ACP, .380 and .38 Special
Click to expand...

The hydrashok 380 tends to have limited expansion meaning that it usually penetrates about 12 inches in gelatin tests when it expands. Heavy clothing tends to inhibit the expansion and increases penetration. The Golden Saber is slightly heavier, lower velocity, and tends to over expand for the caliber. In tests it usually fails to penetrate past 10 inches in bare or clothed gelatin. If I was in a warmer climate where you don't encounter a lot of "heavy clothing" I think the Hydrashok is the best choice in 380 with the Gold Dot being close. Both rounds have limited expansion but they do tend to expand so they give some benefit from the bullet design while still offering better penetration. During the winter months I tend to carry the Gold Dot. The the extra sectional density added by 7grs with the Golden Saber is not enough to offset the amount it expands and chances are it will under penetrate. The 380 just does not generate enough energy for full expansion AND penetration in my opinion but I do think there is a benefit to a JHP if it has some expansion.
 
kokapelli
Quote:
Originally Posted by dogtown tom
Same round, fatter, heavier gun with exposed hammer.
There are 9mm's the same size as the 238.
Click to expand...
Yes but the micro nines don't shoot like the P238. The P238 is a dream to shoot!
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The Kahr PM9 does.....and does it cheaper too!:D
 
dogtown tom said:
The Kahr PM9 does.....and does it cheaper too!:D
Click to expand...
I have a PM9 too, but it's a little too big for my pockets so I got a P238 and to my surprise at twenty feet I can easily put seven rounds into center mass much faster with the P238 than I can with the PM9.
 
In your .380 LCP/P3AT/TCP ccw, do you carry FMJ or Hollow Points?
Click to expand...
Good JHP, like Corbon, in the camber.
Top round in the mag is FMJ. Then JHP and FMJ staggered in the mag.
 
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I know a lot of people might not agree with it, but check out the Strasbourg tests http://www.thegunzone.com/strasbourg.html. Even in 380 a FMJ bullet took twice as long to incapacitate compared to a JHP. In fact they found that a JHP 380 was more effective than a FMJ 45. In my personal hunting experience I have found FMJ bullets to be just about worthless.
 
When I carry my P3AT, it's loaded with...Remington 88gr hollowpoints. Not the hottest thing out there, but not the wimpiest thing either. Plus, I was able to do the 200-round test in the gun without breaking the bank, so that's a plus. That said, I'm not 100% sold on using hollowpoints over FMJ in the gun.

If I hadn't switched primarily to the LCR (Hydra-shock, FWIW) I might give it more thought.
 
56hawk said:
I know a lot of people might not agree with it, but check out the Strasbourg tests http://www.thegunzone.com/strasbourg.html. Even in 380 a FMJ bullet took twice as long to incapacitate compared to a JHP. In fact they found that a JHP 380 was more effective than a FMJ 45. In my personal hunting experience I have found FMJ bullets to be just about worthless.
Click to expand...
After seeing actual ballistic gelatin tests with MagSafe ammo and The fact that MagSafe supposedly swept the Strasbourg tests was enough to convince me it was a total fabrication!
 
I load HPs in my wife's LCP in the summer when people wear lighter clothing. FMJs in the winter for heavier clothing. FMJs in an LCP is like stabbing the BG with an ice pick. But it's better than nothing.
 
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