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Best .380 Defense ammo? #5712408 04/23/15 01:50 AM
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HuntingTexas Offline OP
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Just ordered my wife a Sig P238 and wondering what y'alls experience or opinions are on the best 380 ammo for defense.


" In God We Trust "



Re: Best .380 Defense ammo? [Re: HuntingTexas] #5712444 04/23/15 02:08 AM
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whatever your gun will cycle... hollow points are hollow points to a large extent... reliability means a whole lot more than how much damage they cause. id rather be able to fire off 6 fmjs without a failure than 1 hollow point that wont feed.


The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference. -George Washington
Re: Best .380 Defense ammo? [Re: HuntingTexas] #5712450 04/23/15 02:12 AM
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Me and my brother did some 380 ammo testing last fall. I have always been a huge fan of the Speer Gold Dot in every caliber I have ever tested it in.........until we tried it in a 380. We absolutely could not get it to open up reliably at all. Hands down the best we tested was the Winchester PDX1. Those performed perfectly every single shot.

Re: Best .380 Defense ammo? [Re: HuntingTexas] #5712454 04/23/15 02:14 AM
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i carry the winchester pdx1 in .40 i never did any testing, but it cycles well.

Last edited by Tff caribou; 04/23/15 02:14 AM.

The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference. -George Washington
Re: Best .380 Defense ammo? [Re: HuntingTexas] #5712455 04/23/15 02:15 AM
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Been looking for another JCB ammo test! Maybe after the sand bass quit running at Ray Hubbard??


Originally Posted by Jungleexplorer
I really hate to do what I am about to do, because it will be very painful for you.


Re: Best .380 Defense ammo? [Re: HuntingTexas] #5712464 04/23/15 02:22 AM
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Here is a pic of the two loads we tested that day. The two on the bottom are Speer Gold Dots. The one on the top is the Winchester PDX1. All the Gold Dots we recovered look similar to those two and all the PDX1's we recovered looked like that one. In the past I have tested other 380's but none have ever been as reliable as the PDX1. I will also say the 380 has produced more of what I would consider "bullet failures" than any caliber I have ever played with.

Re: Best .380 Defense ammo? [Re: HuntingTexas] #5712476 04/23/15 02:29 AM
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One other 380 I tested. This is about as bad as it gets for a hollow point.


Re: Best .380 Defense ammo? [Re: HuntingTexas] #5712561 04/23/15 03:51 AM
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Hornady

Re: Best .380 Defense ammo? [Re: HuntingTexas] #5712576 04/23/15 04:12 AM
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Thanks for the advice, really appreciate it. From online reviews I had just about decided to get the Speer. Great test JCB,I'll definately try the Winchesters.


" In God We Trust "



Re: Best .380 Defense ammo? [Re: HuntingTexas] #5718763 04/27/15 09:52 PM
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Very good info. I'm going to look into those pdx1

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