380 Ammo..... self Defense ?
Whats the best self defense ammo for a 380 in a Kel-Tec P3AT?
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Hydra-shock hands down 0 -
glaser safety slugs 0 -
Corbon, Gold Dot, or Hydrashok. Never liked the Glaser stuff, they don't penetrate deep enough. 0 -
Don't want to rain on the parade but...placing the round where you want it to go is more important than the type used. That being said...I would go with the Hydra-shok also.
swede0 -
Sure, shot placement is very important. But a gun fight is not like carefully lining up your sights and aiming at a paper target. Just watch cops try to hit perfectly under the "stress" of qualifying. And look how many police shots completely miss, in real gun fights, something over 70% of them. Or watch people compete in IDPA under the "stress" of competition, they choke and miss all the time. So while shot placement is very important, actually hitting the target is more important and once you hit, the caliber and the bullet type come into big play. That is why I do not carry Glasers and I do not carry anything smaller than a .38. Glasers disintegrate into whatever they hit first, thus they do not have any chance of going through an intermediate target such as a forearm and carrying through into the vital areas. And even if they do hit center mass first, they only create a shallow divot type wound, not enough penetration to get into the vitals. I also do not carry any of the real small 380s or 32s such as the Keltec. While any gun is better than no gun in a gun fight, if you study the ballistics of ammo shot from these very short barrels, it is not very impressive. That is why I do not carry anything smaller than a .38 snubbie. Ammo such as the new .38 special 110 grain +P Corbon DPX (which uses the Barnes X-bullet) is getting 1050 FPS and 269 ftlbs out of a 2" snubbie, while no .380 ammo will get much above 200 ftlbs and the .32 is worse. The 115 grain +P 9mm DPX is getting 1250 fps and 399 ftlbs from a 4" barrel. And many 9mm guns are not much bigger than a 380. 0 -
When I carry my Makarov, I carry 95 grn Hornady XTP. I found it to be a good compromise between expansion and penetration (after using my own half-baked "scientific" experiments involving water jugs, waterlogged phone books, and old pairs of jeans).
I believe Hornady makes a similar round for the .380. Since the 9x18 and the .380 are somewhat comparable, it's what I'd lean towards.0 -
quote:Originally posted by p64mak
When I carry my Makarov, I carry 95 grn Hornady XTP. I found it to be a good compromise between expansion and penetration (after using my own half-baked "scientific" experiments involving water jugs, waterlogged phone books, and old pairs of jeans).
I believe Hornady makes a similar round for the .380. Since the 9x18 and the .380 are somewhat comparable, it's what I'd lean towards.
I use those in my .45 and they are great.
2 problems with those for a .380.
First I have never seen them in a .380.
Second, the Hornady's are a +P round and I would be leary of shooting a +P in a microcompact .380. Not just the KelTec but any of the micro's like that in .380.
That would just be my opinion of course.0 -
shot placement is number one past that I dont think it matters. But I would go with Gold Dots 0 -
quote:Posted - 01/19/2007 : 08:36:06 AM
quote:
Originally posted by p64mak
When I carry my Makarov, I carry 95 grn Hornady XTP. I found it to be a good compromise between expansion and penetration (after using my own half-baked "scientific" experiments involving water jugs, waterlogged phone books, and old pairs of jeans).
I believe Hornady makes a similar round for the .380. Since the 9x18 and the .380 are somewhat comparable, it's what I'd lean towards.
I use those in my .45 and they are great.
2 problems with those for a .380.
First I have never seen them in a .380.
Second, the Hornady's are a +P round and I would be leary of shooting a +P in a microcompact .380. Not just the KelTec but any of the micro's like that in .380.
That would just be my opinion of course.
Actually...my Mak rounds are not +P. I shoot Hornady +P in my .45's, and they are quite clearly labelled +P (on the box, and on the headstamp...). In fact, the 9x18 XTP's have a fairly mild recoil.
Here are the .380 rounds; a 90 grain XTP. Note they are not +P.
https://www.hornady.com/shop/?ps_session=41e3d1d63c0bc8fd7de3ef9404a52260&page=shop/browse&category_id=d74d77c83cf2981df88ee671b099b343
A bit spendy, but you may find them elsewhere for less.0 -
I carry my P3AT loaded with 95gr Win SXT's. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by p64mak
quote:Posted - 01/19/2007 : 08:36:06 AM
quote:
Originally posted by p64mak
When I carry my Makarov, I carry 95 grn Hornady XTP. I found it to be a good compromise between expansion and penetration (after using my own half-baked "scientific" experiments involving water jugs, waterlogged phone books, and old pairs of jeans).
I believe Hornady makes a similar round for the .380. Since the 9x18 and the .380 are somewhat comparable, it's what I'd lean towards.
I use those in my .45 and they are great.
2 problems with those for a .380.
First I have never seen them in a .380.
Second, the Hornady's are a +P round and I would be leary of shooting a +P in a microcompact .380. Not just the KelTec but any of the micro's like that in .380.
That would just be my opinion of course.
Actually...my Mak rounds are not +P. I shoot Hornady +P in my .45's, and they are quite clearly labelled +P (on the box, and on the headstamp...). In fact, the 9x18 XTP's have a fairly mild recoil.
Here are the .380 rounds; a 90 grain XTP. Note they are not +P.
https://www.hornady.com/shop/?ps_session=41e3d1d63c0bc8fd7de3ef9404a52260&page=shop/browse&category_id=d74d77c83cf2981df88ee671b099b343
A bit spendy, but you may find them elsewhere for less.
I stand corrected![:D] I personally had only seen those rounds in +P. That is why I made the comment.0 -
i once had the privalege(sp) of being part of this very discussion with several highly qualified individuals. among them were a county sherriff, chief of a local pd, state trooper, fbi agent and a us district attorney. the general consensus was the best brand and type of ammo to carry in your ccw was the closest possible round to that carried by your jurisdictional police dept. not handloads or factory suped up rounds. whatever the officers in the street carry. since all shooting are investigated and more and more end up in the courtroom regardless of the circumstances, using some rounds(super hot hand loads or competition loads with less recoil to make follow up shot easier etc)are a prosecutors dream. makes it kind of easy to prove you had prior intent( i dont agree with this theory btw). now, if your carrying the same ammo as your local pd, that takes that entire argument off the table.
in my area, its nothing but fed hyrdashoks......0 -
I like the 12 gauge 00 Buck version of the 380 myself.[:D] 0 -
I carry winchester silvertips in both my kel-tec, the P3AT and the 32 cal. Same for my Seecamp. Its a backup for werewolves in addition to a good self defense round.[:D] 0 -
It aint the gun, it aint the bullet, its the placement of the bullet
and number of hits, not misses.0 -
That is ultimately the truth. 0 -
I carry Corbon and Corbon in all my carry guns. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by joeaf1911a1
It aint the gun, it aint the bullet, its the placement of the bullet
and number of hits, not misses.
+1, that, and what functions reliably in your Kel-Tec0
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