Good 380 Ammo

[junkdrawer5]

I am relatively new to this forum, and had a question that (I am sure) can be answered by just about most people on here. I've done a little poking around to see if anyone has already covered this topic, but without spending hours on end staring at the computer screen, I have been unsuccessful so far.

What I am wondering about though, is people's opinions on a decent type of 380 ammunition that I can use while carrying concealed? I carry a Ruger LCP and would like something that's a little more tailored to personal protection than the target rounds I buy when I am just sending rounds down range. I've done a little research, but haven't come to any conclusions as to what I should purchase. I realize that anything is better than nothing, but I am just curious as to what has been used by people on this forum and what they recommend.

I also carry a 9mm when the weather isn't baking the clothes off of my back, and am interested in the same info on those rounds for when I carry that. Any help is greatly appreciated, and I look forward to the responses.

[RJ_Whitlock]

Hornady Critical Defense are a good choice for a personal defense round. I carry them in my 9mm.

[lthawk]

Hey guy. I carry a Lcp as well.and I carry ranger 95gr good expantion almost 5/8 of in.

[Rick246]

I use Hornaday FTX in my 380 Bersa. I use Federal American Eagle or PMC Bronze for range practice.

I use the same rounds in my Glock30SF (45) when carrying in the big city.

[BIGJOHN621]

I use the Critical Defense in my LCP. They feed well and aren't too snappy on the hand. They also have good ballistics for a .380 round.

[Phillip Gain]

Just a few additions:

Remington Golden Sabre has excellent expansion and both temp/permanent wound cavity production in all the calibers in which I've seen it tested. Unfortunately, I've not seen any tests of it in .380 - but it's what I currently carry in my M&P 45.

Winchester Ranger SXT is basically the same ammunition as the old (much over-hyped) black talon cartridge. Some joke that "SXT" stood for "same exact thing" when the line was re-named! But in any case, also very good ammunition.

Hornady Critical Defense - the difference here is that the hollow point is plugged with a rubber tip. Some tests have shown that conventional hollow points clog up when shot through heavy clothing, and do not expand as designed once inside the body cavity. Critical Defense purports to be the answer to this, and there are some ballistics tests that do bear this out. I actually carry Critical Defense in my .38, and am considering it for my .45 as well.

[Everclear]

Whatever you do please avoid Tula ammo. It is the nastiest ammo I have ever seen. It took forever to clean my 380 LCP after just a couple of magazines of this junk. Started misfeeding/jamming during first magazine.

[Everclear]

I use Hornady Critical defense while carrying.

[SGB]

JHP .380acp gives inadequate penetration, ball ammo is the only choice in .380acp

[GB-Boater]

Hornady Critical Defense: 90gr in the 380 / 115gr in the 9mm. The LCP and LC9 normally eat anything you toss in them and most of the time Remington FMJ for target.