what do you think of the .380 Auto?

Mr. Friendly

Mr. Friendly

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yeh, for those that shoot it, what do you think of the cartridge?

from what I can see, it's a lightweight 9mm Luger and good for small frame pistols. oh, and costs a bit more than 9mm Luger.

how is it's recoil in comparison to the 9mm Luger?

is it cheaper to handload?
 
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Yo tha 380 be aiight. My homie tha lung got mad love fo da P-3AT. Recoil be less than tha nina but nina mo powerful strait up. They be homies get shot wit tha 380 but it aint stop them son
 
Mr. Friendly said:
yeh, for those that shoot it, what do you think of the cartridge?

from what I can see, it's a lightweight 9mm Luger and good for small frame pistols. oh, and costs a bit more than 9mm Luger.

how is it's recoil in comparison to the 9mm Luger?

is it cheaper to handload?
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I only shoot it 'cause I happen to have a vintage Colt M1908 pocket hammerless pistol in it, otherwise I wouldn't bother with it.

Less powerful than the 9mm Luger. Shooting the .380 auto in a 'pocket pistol' it can be quite snappy, though.

For factory ammo: 9mm Luger can be had around here for ~ $15 per box. Cheapest .380 Auto [local store] is $24 per box.

Reloading it is more expensive, too. Sourcing 90 - 100 gr FMJ .355" bullets can be a bit of a pain, too. [Shorter case & mags in .380 Autos require shorter bullets = less grs].

Lots of bullet choices for the 9mm, though. [The 9mm tends to be reloaded with heavier .355" bullets - ie: 120 - 145 gr]

If I was Stateside & had CCW I'd carry something like a compact pistol in 9mm or a J-frame Smith wheelgun in .38 Spl over a pistol in .380 Auto any day of the week.

Just my .02

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NAA.
 
In Canada the 380 is kind of pointless, in the US it's sightly more viable, but not by enough to make it a good idea. The majority of 380's (in the US) are poorly made - sure there are some Sigs and Colts, but cheap guns predominate. The cost of ammo is prohibitive in both countries and the round lacks the power of the 9mm, reloading it is a pain and components aren't common.
 
hmm...so no love for the .380 Auto because we don't have CCW.

I'm interested in the coming Browning 1911-380 because the .22LR model I have fits my small hands so well.

honestly though, I was put off by the cost differences. however...you can get some Norinco .380 auto @ 7.99/box from Canada Ammo. not that I want to shoot cheap/dirty ammo all the time. I hate cleaning guns. LOL!
 
In my experience its usually less pleasurable to shoot than 9mm because the guns chambered in it are generally smaller and they are simple blowback which results in just as much, if not more, felt recoil than a 9mm. Add in the extra cost of ammo and the fact most .380s are designed with CC in mind which means I wouldn't buy one, especially if it had a barrel wang hanging out the front of it.
 
My father had a 380 PPK. It was a lot of fun to shoot for what it was - a lower power round in a small package as you say. The PPK was a very neat gun (though not very reliable). I agree that the perceived recoil was not less than a 9mm in a bigger platform. If we didn't have barrel length restrictions, I would have a PPK, Sig 230/2, or 380 HK P7, but none of the available platforms that I'm interested in shooting are chambered or limited to 380 so i don't shoot it.

If you like the browning 1911 platform and you want to shoot it in something other that 22rl, go for it. If you don't mind the extra cost of the ammo (though Can Am, Marstars and SFRC have some now that is about the same price) and you are just going to do some plinking, it is no more or less pointless than any other pistol round in Canada.
 
.380 will have less recoil in a similar framed pistol running 9mm. Many of the 380 pistols in the USA are subcompact, which we can't get anyway. Cool thing about the Browning that's coming here is that it's a factory 4.25" barrel and an 85% scale 1911 platform. Felt recoil will be less than 9mm in a large framed pistol. Shoot a compact polymer pistol in 9mm and see how much snap there is. I have a compact SD9 in 9mm and it has more felt recoil than my USP in 40 S&W!

It's just as viable as any other pistol in Canada as most likely you will never be able to carry anyway. Good option for those who want to try centerfire calibers and is a low velocity option.
 
.380 Auto in anything other than a subcompact pistol is pretty pointless IMO. 9 mm ammo is cheaper, much easier to find and isn't exactly punishing recoil-wise (especially in 115 gr).
 
capp325 said:
.380 Auto in anything other than a subcompact pistol is pretty pointless IMO. 9 mm ammo is cheaper, much easier to find and isn't exactly punishing recoil-wise (especially in 115 gr).
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X2. I have a few older prohibs that shoot .380. No way I'd purchase a modern gun chambered for it ahead of the same gun in 9mm. 9mm is considerably cheaper and not exactly hard recoiling...
 
Every small pistol I ever shot in 380 had a surprisingly nasty recoil impulse. They are very snappy and become painful to shoot after a few mags.

Years ago I had a Walther PPS in 380. Beautiful little gun but the slide rails would slice open the web of my hand between the thumb and forefinger every time I shot it. That gun went by-by after a few years.
 
I use it in my FN 1922's, which are small framed blowback guns. I find them to be low-recoiling. The .380 was designed by God (JMB), and is therefore perfect in every way. Is it cheaper than 9mm? No. But the only cheap round is an unfired one.
 
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I love my p238 but that is because it is tiny and I can carry it daily. Not really a point to have a .380 for a range gun.
 
.325WSM said:
You could just as easily say not really any point having a pistol in Canada, since they're all range guns.
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Not really. .380 is more expensive and less available then 9mm so it makes less sense for a range gun.
 
cadgo said:
Not really. .380 is more expensive and less available then 9mm so it makes less sense for a range gun.
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Didn't really have any problem getting my stockpile of 1600 rounds together, and paid only a little more than 9mm, but a hell of a lot less than .45, 40, .357, and a lot more than 7.62 by 25. What's your point? As I said before....only cheap cartridge is an unfired one, especially since all the ones up here are just for punching holes in paper. If cost was the only thing that mattered, .22LR all the way.

I for one love having a variety to play with.
 
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