Do you trust .380 ACP?

[OK Corgi Rancher]

First, I'd get the idea of "stopping power" out of your vocabulary when you're talking about handgun calibers. Regardless of what you carry, you shouldn't expect your handgun to stop someone right away. You may not even see any visible or immediate effect on the bad guy of the shots you've made whether you hit him or not.

I carry a .380 often. Once you decide to engage in a gunfight you need to be all in. Start shooting and don't stop until the bad guy stops. Most people who've been shot with handguns that I've encountered during my LE career didn't give a rat's a55 about the caliber they were shot with. They mostly just didn't want to get shot any more.

Your mindset is far more important than the caliber of your gun.

**In the Newhall shooting, all 3 officers who fired shots were using .357 Mag revolvers. The CHP trained with .38Sp ammo. After the shooting, they standardized on training and carrying .38Sp ammo. They also stopped having officers pocket their brass when reloading along with several other changes in how to deal with potentially violent or armed suspects. There were only two officers on scene when the shootout started. Two more arrived shortly after. That was another lesson learned...wait for backup if you can rather than try to search/detain potentially violent suspects 1 on 1 (or in this case, 2 on 2 which is basically the same). That incident and the Miami shootout were (and likely still are) referred to extensively when I went thru the academy back in the 80s.

 

[JD8]

Kind of. It's the minimum I'll carry. I have no delusions that .380 and .357 mag loads perform the same though.

 

[Mr.Glock]

No. Don’t own any anymore. Recently sold every 380 I owned and every round I owned. Carried a G42 from when they hit the market for summer carry. It was not the pistol, it was the round. The pistol was flawless.

 

[Okie4570]

For me yes, and a .32. For the rest of my family no. 9mm it is for them.

 

[JEVapa]

This is interesting. Kinda matches up with what a couple of retired LA cop buddies of mine had to say - ".380 kills a lot of MF"

Analyzing 1800 Shootings: Which Caliber Has the Best Stopping Power? - Tier Three Tactical

I'll cut to the chase. Stopping power is largely a myth. Regardless of what the internet tells you, there aren't any magic rounds that are guaranteed to stop someone violently attacking you. However, there certainly are calibers that perform much better than others. This article is going to look...

www.tierthreetactical.com

 

[bigred1]

This is interesting. Kinda matches up with what a couple of retired LA cop buddies of mine had to say - ".380 kills a lot of MF"

Analyzing 1800 Shootings: Which Caliber Has the Best Stopping Power? - Tier Three Tactical

I'll cut to the chase. Stopping power is largely a myth. Regardless of what the internet tells you, there aren't any magic rounds that are guaranteed to stop someone violently attacking you. However, there certainly are calibers that perform much better than others. This article is going to look...

www.tierthreetactical.com

Interesting.....

 

[conditionzero]

If I get hit with a .22lr, I am done. Maybe not dead, but I am done doing whatever tf I was doing.

 

[yukonjack]

Might be just me but I consider the 380 a get off me round.

That is what it’s about. I just wanna get them off of me so I can exit the kill zone. If I wanted to stand toe to toe and have a gun battle I’d bring something bigger. You gotta work with what you got at the time.

 

[JEVapa]

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

Imagine how many people successfully defend themselves with a gun, without even firing it. Maybe 100s of thousands every year. The biggest lesson is... Have a gun.