These are my personal, unqualified observations, YMMV.
I shot a Bodyguard and hated it. It's owner hated it and my buddy who was with us hated it. We all shot my Kahr cw380 and we all loved it and we all shot it very well. I also shot a Ruger LCP and hated that, couldn't hit diddly with it. I admit I am just an average shooter but I did very well with the Kahr. The recoil on the CW380 is light but it even felt less snappy than Bodygaurd or LCP.
I held a Taurus and didn't like the way it felt in my hand. My finger had to be jammed up tight against the front of the trigger guard to get the trigger to reset, the Ruger was similar in that regard. Never shot a G42 but it is noticeably larger than the others mentioned. Probably a great gun but not what I was looking for in a pocket pistol.
I recently held a Remington RM380 and liked it. I am not a Remington fan but this one at least felt good and the slide was noticeably easier to rack. Not that the others were hard but with small guns sometimes it's hard to get a good grip when you're in a hurry. The RM380 was nice in that regard.
In the end the CW380 is much smaller than any 9mm I looked at. Yes, some 9s look close but the true test is putting it in your pocket fully loaded (preferably with a pocket holster if possible). For me the difference was night and day. The weight difference was noticeable and the difference in the thickness of the guns was noticeable.
Yes, the 9mm is the far superior round, no question. That is why I have a CW9 as my EDC. My nightstand gun and occasional EDC gun is a SR45 with light and Truglo TFX fiber optic/tritium sights. The purpose of the CW380 is not EDC for me. It is for when I can't or don't want to carry something in a holster.
The trick with making the .380 effective is finding the right ammo and it's not easy. The .380 is an underpowered round and most, if not all, hollow points fail to expand properly or consistently. They either open up and under penetrate or they don't open and don't cause a large enough wound cavity and wind up over penetrating since the didn't open. I have researched two rounds that I feel are the best based on what I have seen/read on the interwebs. The Lehigh Defense Xtreme Penetrator and the Ruger/Polycase ARX. I have not been able to get my hands on any of the Lehigh Defense rounds but I do have Ruger ARX rounds. They cycle and shoot just fine in the CW380 and the ballistic tests show it performs adequately as a self defense round. I really want to try the Lehighs as they seem better than the ARX but I just haven't been able to yet. No, it's never going to be a 9mm but with the right ammo it's still a viable option.
I shot a Bodyguard and hated it. It's owner hated it and my buddy who was with us hated it. We all shot my Kahr cw380 and we all loved it and we all shot it very well. I also shot a Ruger LCP and hated that, couldn't hit diddly with it. I admit I am just an average shooter but I did very well with the Kahr. The recoil on the CW380 is light but it even felt less snappy than Bodygaurd or LCP.
I held a Taurus and didn't like the way it felt in my hand. My finger had to be jammed up tight against the front of the trigger guard to get the trigger to reset, the Ruger was similar in that regard. Never shot a G42 but it is noticeably larger than the others mentioned. Probably a great gun but not what I was looking for in a pocket pistol.
I recently held a Remington RM380 and liked it. I am not a Remington fan but this one at least felt good and the slide was noticeably easier to rack. Not that the others were hard but with small guns sometimes it's hard to get a good grip when you're in a hurry. The RM380 was nice in that regard.
In the end the CW380 is much smaller than any 9mm I looked at. Yes, some 9s look close but the true test is putting it in your pocket fully loaded (preferably with a pocket holster if possible). For me the difference was night and day. The weight difference was noticeable and the difference in the thickness of the guns was noticeable.
Yes, the 9mm is the far superior round, no question. That is why I have a CW9 as my EDC. My nightstand gun and occasional EDC gun is a SR45 with light and Truglo TFX fiber optic/tritium sights. The purpose of the CW380 is not EDC for me. It is for when I can't or don't want to carry something in a holster.
The trick with making the .380 effective is finding the right ammo and it's not easy. The .380 is an underpowered round and most, if not all, hollow points fail to expand properly or consistently. They either open up and under penetrate or they don't open and don't cause a large enough wound cavity and wind up over penetrating since the didn't open. I have researched two rounds that I feel are the best based on what I have seen/read on the interwebs. The Lehigh Defense Xtreme Penetrator and the Ruger/Polycase ARX. I have not been able to get my hands on any of the Lehigh Defense rounds but I do have Ruger ARX rounds. They cycle and shoot just fine in the CW380 and the ballistic tests show it performs adequately as a self defense round. I really want to try the Lehighs as they seem better than the ARX but I just haven't been able to yet. No, it's never going to be a 9mm but with the right ammo it's still a viable option.
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