Intrigued by .380

42! said:
What? Are you serious. Field stripping a walther PP or PPK is almost too simple.

And there is a big difference between the US and German Walthers, the US made ones just plain suck.
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This was a US version. Disassembly and cleaning are primarily a bitch due to the fixed bbl and difficulty using a Dewey rod. Perhaps I am simply too stupid to figure it out but **** it, I hated that gun so much.


Bdh821 said:
People say .380 is a pu$$y round... I haven't met anyone yet that would let me dump a mag in their chest to prove its power... [smile]
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I think the question is relative to what you COULD be carrying in a similar size firearm: 9mm is a demonstrably more effective round and does not increase the size uncomfortably for most.

If you are so confident that .380 is a great round then why not carry .32 ACP or .22? Why stop there?
 
42! said:
What? Are you serious. Field stripping a walther PP or PPK is almost too simple.

And there is a big difference between the US and German Walthers, the US made ones just plain suck.
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l will say that there is something to be said about the originals....but I like my ppk/s in .380. It works good. It's nice to carry and I can hit what I aim at with it. It comes apart easy and is easy to clean. I only have a couple of hundred rounds through it so the longevity aspect still need to be explored. But seems a good gun. Sturdy, heavy and seemingly well built.
 
I miss my West German PPK. Should never have sold it.

Now as for Caliber. Yes the .380 is weak. The 9mm is decent and the .45 is ideal. The difference between the G42 and G43 is very small (I have both). I prefer the size of the G42 (yes on paper it seems like nothing).

Next on my list might be a Sig Ultra Carry (3") in .45.

I'm lazy and hate dressing around my gun, but I DO believe in the .45 over anything else.
 
bigblue said:
This was a US version. Disassembly and cleaning are primarily a bitch due to the fixed bbl and difficulty using a Dewey rod. Perhaps I am simply too stupid to figure it out but **** it, I hated that gun so much.





I think the question is relative to what you COULD be carrying in a similar size firearm: 9mm is a demonstrably more effective round and does not increase the size uncomfortably for most.

If you are so confident that .380 is a great round then why not carry .32 ACP or .22? Why stop there?
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.380 is the weakest round that I'd consider adequate for personal defense. I didn't think this would turn into a hatred debate, but I guess it's going in that direction. Obviously (maybe not so obvious), I was joking about the shooting someone part as I don't intend to do so.. I've done my research on appropriate ammo to use for self defense in .380 caliber and consider my self armed enough for personal defense. That's the key point of "personal defense". I wouldn't use .380 for a gun fight as I'd rather use a rifle if I knew $hit was gonna hit the fan.

Also, .380 shoots the same diameter projectile as a 9mm. It obviously doesn't have as much ft/lbs of energy, but realistically all a pistol round will do is poke holes in people... Shot placement trumps caliber any day of the week
 
I'm not hating but I do think it is a legitimate argument to have: You appear to have drawn a line in the sand at .380 but why not go even smaller? If you think .380 is effective enough well then why isn't .32 ACP?
 
bigblue said:
I'm not hating but I do think it is a legitimate argument to have: You appear to have drawn a line in the sand at .380 but why not go even smaller? If you think .380 is effective enough well then why isn't .32 ACP?
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Because below .380, things start to get really gay, really fast, in terms of ballistics with regards to capability. At least .380 and some .38 SPL loads will consistently make established minimums for ballistic performance. Many of the other mouse gun calibers, routinely do not. They are better than nothing but .380 is considerably more powerful than most of them.

-Mike
 
bottom line...being able to put rounds on target in a stressful situation or it doesn't much matter because if you can't then all you have at that point is a noise maker.
 
I've got different carry guns for different reasons and different seasons, like many on this board.
Lots of clothes? 1911, Commander size, in .45, of course.
Casual? Airweight in .38 works for me.
Tee shirt and shorts? My Bodyguard .380 drops in my pocket and disappears. Not a bullseye gun by any means, (I'll use my Pardini for that, thanks), but easy to conceal and carry? You bet.
And I'm not concerned with the long trigger pull at all, no worse than a double action revolver to me.
We all have our loves and hates, this is what works for me.
 
bigblue said:
I'm not hating but I do think it is a legitimate argument to have: You appear to have drawn a line in the sand at .380 but why not go even smaller? If you think .380 is effective enough well then why isn't .32 ACP?
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That's like saying "If 10 gallons of gas will get your truck the 150 miles you need to get home why not just go with 5 gallons?" Because 10 gallons will do it, 5 gallons will not and you will be on the side of the road. A .380 with the right ammo will meet the minimum FBI standards to qualify as a viable self defense round but to the best of my knowledge a .32, .25 or .22 never will no matter what ammo you put in them.

I will say it again, a .380 is not ideal and it's not my first or second choice for carry and it will never be a 9mm but it can be adequate with the right ammo if a 9mm or larger is not available or not practical for the given situation. For me it's been great because there are lots of time when if I didn't have my CW380 I would have had nothing.
 
Carl in Ct said:
That's like saying "If 10 gallons of gas will get your truck the 150 miles you need to get home why not just go with 5 gallons?" Because 10 gallons will do it, 5 gallons will not and you will be on the side of the road. A .380 with the right ammo will meet the minimum FBI standards to qualify as a viable self defense round but to the best of my knowledge a .32, .25 or .22 never will no matter what ammo you put in them.

I will say it again, a .380 is not ideal and it's not my first or second choice for carry and it will never be a 9mm but it can be adequate with the right ammo if a 9mm or larger is not available or not practical for the given situation. For me it's been great because there are lots of time when if I didn't have my CW380 I would have had nothing.
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See now that's a solid answer. Props given.
 
robjax said:
bottom line...being able to put rounds on target in a stressful situation or it doesn't much matter because if you can't then all you have at that point is a noise maker.
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In my opinion I think in most stressful situations that someone will encounter while outside the home would be an attempted mugging or carjack situation and in that case your going to be within punching range so getting rounds into someone to stop an attack is not something that I'm overly concerned about with my carry gun. I'm not fighting crime and not concerned about getting into a movie style gun fight. I carry a 9mm Shield but would be totally comfortable carrying a .380 bodyguard, I couldn't care less about trigger pull or any of that BS because it will stop a close range threat like I described. At least that's how I roll, not trying to sell it to anyone but myself.
 
SHOCKNAWE said:
In my opinion I think in most stressful situations that someone will encounter while outside the home would be an attempted mugging or carjack situation and in that case your going to be within punching range so getting rounds into someone to stop an attack is not something that I'm overly concerned about with my carry gun. I'm not fighting crime and not concerned about getting into a movie style gun fight. I carry a 9mm Shield but would be totally comfortable carrying a .380 bodyguard, I couldn't care less about trigger pull or any of that BS because it will stop a close range threat like I described. At least that's how I roll, not trying to sell it to anyone but myself.
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absolutely. You do what you have to do to survive that situation.
 
bigblue said:
How do you get it out when needed? Must be tough to practice the draw, no?
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Without practice yes, but it's the ultimate deep cover. I wear it a lot in the summer when my choice of shorts is swim trunks, very tough to IWB carry with those.

Chet0729 said:
I have no issues with the 238 or 938, I was referring to the 1911.
Wouldn't 5'12" be 6'
loks like drawing would be challenging.
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I usually troll that out there and see how long it takes. Yes drawing is challenging but also so are some holsters where the retention isn't adjustable and you have to yank for everything. If I'm wearing a button up I just tear the buttons away. I practiced this many times with improvement, as has my wife practiced sewing buttons back onto shirts and can sew them back on as quickly as I can tear them off, until she used my 15lb test megabraid fishing line and trolled me back.
 
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SHOCKNAWE said:
In my opinion I think in most stressful situations that someone will encounter while outside the home would be an attempted mugging or carjack situation and in that case your going to be within punching range so getting rounds into someone to stop an attack is not something that I'm overly concerned about with my carry gun. I'm not fighting crime and not concerned about getting into a movie style gun fight. I carry a 9mm Shield but would be totally comfortable carrying a .380 bodyguard, I couldn't care less about trigger pull or any of that BS because it will stop a close range threat like I described. At least that's how I roll, not trying to sell it to anyone but myself.
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Which is why some self defense training is a must.
 
Bdh821 said:
I didn't think this would turn into a hatred debate, but I guess it's going in that direction.
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Nah, not even close. If you had started thread with "Intrigued by .40" you would have to go completely anonymous and move the kids in with the mother-in-law until the 9 fans calm back down. I mean really, can you actually believe that anyone would buy a 9 when there are 40's for sale?

[h=1][/h]
 
TayNinh_66 said:
Nah, not even close. If you had started thread with "Intrigued by .40" you would have to go completely anonymous and move the kids in with the mother-in-law until the 9 fans calm back down. I mean really, can you actually believe that anyone would buy a 9 when there are 40's for sale?
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[troll][troll][troll][troll][troll][troll][troll][troll]
 
I look at it this way....would I rather have a .45 than a .40 or a .40 rather than a 9mm or a 9mm rather than a .380 or would I rather have nothing. If it's nothing or a .380 I will take the .380. Heck, I'd prefer a .22LR rather than nothing at all....

Anyway, interesting video of the 9 vs the 40...

[video=youtube_share;ifLoo707w3A]http://youtu.be/ifLoo707w3A[/video]

below is 9 vs .380 on cow bones...

[video=youtube_share;8Li_A24exE4]http://youtu.be/8Li_A24exE4[/video]
 
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If you are getting a .380 for pocket carry, go small and simple. I like the LCP, but the Keltecs are nice also. If you are going any bigger than that, you might as well get a 9mm.

Have you considered a snub .38? Great pocket gun and better ballistics. The reload is slower, but 5 rounds will be sufficient if you do your job and hit the right parts.

Just understand the limitations of the gun you choose and make sure it fits the role you are carrying it for. Any gun is better than no gun.
 
In God We Trust said:
If you are getting a .380 for pocket carry, go small and simple. I like the LCP, but the Keltecs are nice also. If you are going any bigger than that, you might as well get a 9mm.

Have you considered a snub .38? Great pocket gun and better ballistics. The reload is slower, but 5 rounds will be sufficient if you do your job and hit the right parts.

Just understand the limitations of the gun you choose and make sure it fits the role you are carrying it for. Any gun is better than no gun.
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+1, lots of good posts in this thread without the usual deluge of ".380 sucks" trolling, just some good discussion. It does suck compared to a 9mm but it doesn't suck in general with the right ammo.

The other thing I liked about the CW380 was how it fit my hand. Obviously this is just a note on how it fit me personally, YMMV. I can't remember which ones it was but some of the pocket guns that were a little bigger had my pinky half on, half off the grip. The CW380 has my pinky completely off and comfortably tucked under the grip. A grip big enough to get my pinky all the way on meant a gun that was bigger than I wanted for my pocket carry gun. Just another thing to consider when handling them.
 
robjax said:
I look at it this way....would I rather have a .45 than a .40 or a .40 rather than a 9mm or a 9mm rather than a .380 or would I rather have nothing. If it's nothing or a .380 I will take the .380. Heck, I'd prefer a .22LR rather than nothing at all....
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Is a .22 better than nothing? It sure is. I can't imagine taking 10 rounds of CCI Stingers feels very good. That's a lot of tissue damage.

I carry a .380 IWB under a tee shirt. Is it a 9? No. It's also not my .40 either but it hides well.
 
Asaltweapon said:
Is a .22 better than nothing? It sure is. I can't imagine taking 10 rounds of CCI Stingers feels very good. That's a lot of tissue damage.

I carry a .380 IWB under a tee shirt. Is it a 9? No. It's also not my .40 either but it hides well.
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100% on every aspect. you also have to be able to shoot it well enough to put rounds on target. You can let some .44 mag go and the noise should scare anyone...but if you can't hit them then what good is it?

And that compare of the .380 to the 9 when he shot the bone with the .380 and the bullet turned and exited in a different direction...that is probably not going be too good for your insides either.

I carry my .380 ppk/s IWB. It's heavy but it too hides well.
 
There's a few different guns I'll carry throughout the warmer months depending on what the dress and situation is. For years the stainless Interarms Walther PPK/s .380 was my summer carry gun. In 2008, it was shelved once I bought and started shooting the East German Makarov 9x18mm. Ballistics-wise, that round is somewhere between 9x19 and .380. With Buffalo Bore or Hornady XTP rounds, you can get some pretty nasty performance out of that caliber. The factory sights on the Military Makarovs are garbage so I had a set of Novak's installed on mine and it makes a world of difference. That gun is on my hip most often during the shorts & T-shirt weather. As far as compact autos go, the Makarov platform is about as reliable as you can get. Right up there with the Glock 42 in fact, which is the last .380 gun I bought. IMHO the G42 is the best all-around .380 handgun ever made. I enjoy shooting mine so much, it's the main reason I started reloading .380. I wouldn't have bothered otherwise. I still shoot my Walther PPK/s once in a while, just for nostalgia really. It is nowhere near as comfortable to shoot as the G42, which handles like a kitten compared to any other .380 I've ever fired. Also, it took me a long time and several replacement parts to get the PPK/s to where it was reliable enough for carry. Not necessary with the G42 (provided you get the newer models that have the kinks worked out).

I also have a Ruger LCP which has proven to be 100% reliable but it is no fun to shoot. I'll carry that if it's a sweltering summer day and I'm hiking for hours out in the dunes.

.380 is a "pussy round" compared to .45acp, no question. It sure beats a rape whistle though.
 

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