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Author Topic: What Am I Missing?  (Read 8603 times)

MikeBjerum

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What Am I Missing?
« on: January 28, 2009, 09:58:23 PM »
I'm trying to figure out what is driving the "craze" with .380.  Does this round have an advantage over a 9 x 19?  Is there something I have missed, or is it a marketing thing that is driving this.

One thing I know is that I hate having .380 ammo around.  It is really easy to mix up with 9 x 19.  If you have both don't drop some unless you want to spend some time reading fine print to insure there is no intermixing.

Not really important, but I am scratching my head over why this has become such a popular caliber lately.
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tombogan03884

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Re: What Am I Missing?
« Reply #1 on: January 28, 2009, 10:36:58 PM »
Mostly I think it's because the guns are small and easily concealed under minimal clothing. Haz has often said that where he is it's shorts and T shirts most of the time so the P3AT is perfect to drop in a pocket. Then you have an increase in CCW 's were many people have no real knowledge of guns and either think (mistakenly) that a little gun will be easier to handle than a bigger one, or that the little gun is "cute". The .380's have a valid place in self defense, if you wear limited clothing you can't conceal a 1911, in  situation where an awareness that you are carrying could have adverse consequences the .380 again is extremely concealable. For example, your employer has a "No guns" policy, but you leave at 1:15 am in a bad part of town, so you decide to carry anyway, a .380 could be completely hidden behind your belt buckle and no one would detect it unless they frisked you or tried to attack you.
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Dakotaranger

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Re: What Am I Missing?
« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2009, 11:17:30 PM »
The only reason I have a .380 is because I wanted a pocket pistol as a BUG.  I keep looking at a snubbie but I can't feel confident with my grip on it because I messed up my hands.  It isn't something I shoot alot, it's just a BUG.
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twyacht

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Re: What Am I Missing?
« Reply #3 on: January 29, 2009, 05:43:26 PM »
Like Haz, I also have a P3AT and LOVE it. Warm weather and light clothes are no problem. I also have a Walther PPK/S, much heavier but more large hand friendly, and recoil is much lighter.

IMHO, bullet technology make a .380 valid as an up close SD firearm. Cor-Bon, Golden Sabre, Gold-Dots, those new ones from Winchester (can't remember the name,) ???

The mad rush to get CCW permits, LOTS more women getting permits, the manufacturers must have done demographic studies finding a demand.

Great link with 1 shot stop percentages ammo specific. (Can also change caliber and bullet weight.)

http://www.handloads.com/misc/stoppingpower.asp?Caliber=10&Weight=All

Cor-bon has a 71% 1 shot stop. Not too shabby...



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Big Frank

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Re: What Am I Missing?
« Reply #4 on: January 30, 2009, 05:52:05 PM »
Several gun experts consider the .380 to be the minimum effective SD caliber. A lot of people probably carry them for that reason. They can't, or don't want to, carry a full sized .45 so they carry the minumum amount of firepower reccomended by the experts. In just the past few years the ammo has finally been developed to the the point of making it truly effective. I think that's the main reason for the current .380 craze.
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Re: What Am I Missing?
« Reply #5 on: Today at 02:07:58 PM »
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2HOW

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Re: What Am I Missing?
« Reply #5 on: January 30, 2009, 06:00:16 PM »
I hear you, I like the 762x25 far superior to the small 9
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tombogan03884

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Re: What Am I Missing?
« Reply #6 on: January 31, 2009, 01:54:12 AM »
Quote from: 2HOW on January 30, 2009, 06:00:16 PM
I hear you, I like the 762x25 far superior to the small 9

Can you get effective SD ammo for it ? I thought it was all FMJ.
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MikeBjerum

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Re: What Am I Missing?
« Reply #7 on: January 31, 2009, 09:27:27 PM »
I think I've been misunderstood, and it is because I wasn't clear with my question.

The actual cartridge package of the .380 auto and the 9 mm Luger is so similar, why did everyone (manufacturers) go with a less common choice.  I believe that the slight increase in size for the 9 mm would not be noticed by any but those with the smallest of hands, and the recoil increase would be insignificant.

That is where I was headed.  Why market a gun that uses less common and more expensive ammo than one that uses one of the most common and inexpensive out there.
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Big Frank

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Re: What Am I Missing?
« Reply #8 on: February 01, 2009, 07:01:23 AM »
It's easy to make lightweight blowback operated pistols in .380 that don't have much recoil. A 9mm blowback pistol would be heavier, and a locked breech 9mm would be heavier, more complicated to make, and more expensive.
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""It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even his personal services to the defence of it, and consequently that the Citizens of America (with a few legal and official exceptions) from 18 to 50 Years of Age should be borne on the Militia Rolls, provided with uniform Arms, and so far accustomed to the use of them, that the Total strength of the Country might be called forth at a Short Notice on any very interesting Emergency." - George Washington. Letter to Alexander Hamilton, Friday, May 02, 1783

THE RIGHT TO BUY WEAPONS IS THE RIGHT TO BE FREE - A. E. van Vogt, The Weapon Shops of Isher

Timothy

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Re: What Am I Missing?
« Reply #9 on: February 01, 2009, 08:50:02 AM »
More people in the market may mean that those buying have less knowledge of handguns in general relying on the knowledge of the salesman to persuade them to buy what he has in stock. 

Since blowback pistols are cheaper to make and cheaper to inventory, salesman want to unload what they have rather than order a gun for a customer.  If you let someone think too long on the sale, sometimes they will back out.  Small, light, cheap, easy to conceal with or without a holster, drop it in a purse, pocket, glovebox, car visor....these are all selling points for these pistols.  As more people have them and shoot them, the price of ammo may come down, maybe not.  It's a hundred year old cartridge that has it's place.

If I could get the wife to carry anything, it would be something easy to shoot, easy to carry and most importantly something she was comfortble with.  My problem with .380 ACP is that there are so many names for that particular cartridge (9mm Kurz, Corto etc....), less knowledgable people may try and force 9x19 into one and get hurt.

2-1/2 cents...

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