Two choices of .380 ammo

[kannonfyre]

Scenario: You may only make one choice due to budget constraints and there are only two brands of ammo in stock.

Choice A is Remington Express 88gr JHP

Choice B is Winchester Super-X 85gr STHP

You will be carrying a decent sized .380acp pistol as a primary CCW piece.

Which choice would it be for you and why?

Please assume that the environment is VERY tropical.

 

[rcmodel]

I would buy a box of each and see which one works 100%, and is most accurate in your gun.

Either one is good ammo if your gun likes them.

rc

 

[Water-Man]

You might have a penetration problem with either of your choices.

 

[earlthegoat2]

the heavier the better

 

[007BondJamesBond007]

What you can find .380 ACP ammo?

 

[kannonfyre]

My local dealer has .380 in stock but the ammo is 8-10 yrs old.

Remington express JHP/Winchester silvertips = $19.35/box

Fiocchi 95gr FMJ = $18.75/box

are the prices reasonable?

 

[rcmodel]

You might have a penetration problem with either of your choices.

Oh?
Hows that?

The Win Silver-Tip and the Rem 88 JHP both have a decent track record, and have been around for a long time.

Most any name brand .380 JHP will penetrate 12" or more in ballistic gel.

Round these parts, BG's don't run much thicker then that, half-way through at least.
Matter of fact, I can't remember the last time I saw a 24" thick BG.

http://www.brassfetcher.com/90 grain Federal Personal Defense Hydra-Shok.html

http://www.brassfetcher.com/380acp 90gr Federal Hydra-Shok (light clothing).html

are the prices reasonable?

Any .380 ammo you can find in stock right now is reasonable. It is out of stock everywhere.

Better getsum while you can!

rc

 

[007BondJamesBond007]

Buy it and send it to me. Hard to find right no.

 

[blkbrd666]

I would buy Fiocchi 95gr FMJ = $18.75/box all day long. It's likely to be a bit hotter than the others. Their hollowpoints are also rounded...will feed in anything.

 

[Water-Man]

rcmodel...You walking around in a tee shirt now?

 

[kannonfyre]

Can anyone direct me to a suitable website where the 88gr remington JHP is tested in ballistics gel?

 

[harmon rabb]

you have a dealer with 380 in stock? buy every single box. now.

 

[Javelin]

Heavier JHP the better in the .380

I'm going to throw my .02 in here.

A .380 is not a .45 by any means. Unless you live in a nudist colony that never gets cold enough for anyone to wear jackets and clothing I recommend using a hot & heavy FMJ in .380.

I would recommend getting the hottest heaviest FMJ that your gun feeds reliably. Your shooting a mouse gun and you need the penetration to hit vitals and that means penetrating bone (sometimes multiple bone if you have to defend yourself and you hit the attacker in the side of the upper arm and the bullet still needs to travel through 2 more layers of denim or leather jacket, ribs, and then vitals, to make an exit).

Just give it some thought. Defensive shootings are never optimal conditions. And you need the penetration to protect yourself.

 

[ar10]

Someone can get .380 ammo

 

[PX15]

FWIW:

There are new 380 cal. self defense rounds hitting the shelves with regularity now since so many new 380cal pistols are being produced.

Well, perhaps not actually "hitting the shelves", but being produced, (yet hard to find) and from such folks as Hornady, Cor-Bon, Buffalo Bore, and Double-Tap to name a few.

My recommendation is that anyone who expects to use a 380 for personal defense (and actually I do, an LWS380) should try several brands of self defense ammo and find which one YOUR individual pistol likes best.

Since RELIABILITY is job one in a self defense firearm unless your pistol of choice will feed and function properly with whatever ammo you chose for it then at best it's just a small hammer.

So, find out what works in YOUR gun, and work from there.

My LWS380 loves and feeds Speer Gold Dot jhp's like "corn thru a goose".. I don't know that SPG jhp's are the absolute best round available, but since I know it will work in my gun, that's what I have in it.

I wouldn't limit my choice of a self defense round to just one or two I've read good things about.. I would SHOOT some of the suckers in MY gun, then decide.

No offense.

Jesse

 

[usp9]

My local dealer has .380 in stock but the ammo is 8-10 yrs old.

Remington express JHP/Winchester silvertips = $19.35/box

Fiocchi 95gr FMJ = $18.75/box

are the prices reasonable?

Buy it! Buy it all!

 

[007BondJamesBond007]

I got 4 boxes of Horaday Crictical Defence. Looking for some cheap practice ammo to break in a gun. I will try the defence rounds in the gun but there expensive. I know tody no ammo is cheap.

 

[GRIZ22]

Penetration is an issue with the 380. I carry FMJ. I know of a incident where a LEO was shot in the mouth, the bullet was deflected by his teeth, exited the bottom of his jaw, and lodged in the flesh of his chest. Fortuinately, he was able to return fire and killed his attacker. The LEO fully recovered.

 

[dudester]

I just bought 6 boxes of Remington .380 at Cabela's on line for something like $18 a box.

 

[Byron]

Grizz22 is correct in using FMJ.Penetration to the central nervous system is important. I use the WW flat point FMJ in my BDA. Byron

 

[searcher451]

By all means try them out before you stock up and start carrying one particular brand over another. What works fine in my gun may not work at all in yours, and we could own the same model of gun.

Get a box of each, take it to the range, and give it a thorough run-through. One will doubtless work better than the other.

 

[mormandy1]

A far better load is the buffalo bore 105 grain hard lead flat point load at I think 1100 fps. That will give far superior penetration when it comes to striking deep and hitting vitals. In 380 and 32 penetration is always an issue especially when you encounter heavy clothing or leather, forget about expansion if it even happens.

Fast, heavy, hard bullets seem like the best recipe to me. I carry Buffalo Bore in my 32 tomcat and they make everything else seem very timid.

 

[71Commander]

You might have a penetration problem with either of your choices.

I'm sure the OP thanks you for the useless, unsolicited advise.

 

[deacon8]

A bullet ricocheted off of a guy's teeth, straight downward? What were his teeth made of? Maybe he was robocop because that seems highly ridiculous.

I'm pretty sure a bullet turning at a near 90 degree angle, due to thin piece of attached bone, defies physics! The round would have to be so weak that the teeth don't even break. Just try to imagine a bullet doing that...no way.

 

[deacon8]

GRIZZ22,

That last post was a response to your post.



Sorry if anyone got confused...