May need another .380

[outrider58]

What is your prefered carry ammo for the G42?

Remington Gold Sabers.
Inside 10 yards, they shoot and hit the same as Speer Lawmans.

Remington Golden Saber Ammo 380 ACP 102 Grain Brass Jacketed Hollow

The Golden Saber High Performance Jacket successfully combines four critical elements of handgun bullet performance: match-type accuracy, deep...

www.midwayusa.com

 

[Threeband]

What is your prefered carry ammo for the G42?

I recently bought a bunch of this stuff for my Little Crappy Pistol.

380 ACP 68gr. Xtreme Defender Solid Monolithic Hunting & Self Defense Ammo

Underwood Ammo offers the most comprehensive and innovative Lehigh Defense™ Supersonic Lead Free Handgun Ammo for personal defense & hunting. Shop now .380 ACP Copper ammo with Solid Monolithic.

underwoodammo.com

I had been carrying Critical Defense, but I never felt too warm and fuzzy about .380, and after I shot most of the CD, I decided to switch to the Underwood Phillips Screwdriver rounds.

It's on sale right now. Follow my link if you're interested.

 

[teratos]

Still carrying the G42 about 50% of the time(G48 the rest of the time). I carry it with the 6+1 standard mag and carry a second extended mag. I find it very friendly to shoot, even with my longish hands/fingers. So far it's been 100% reliable through 400 rounds and very accurate with its original sights, especially considering I normally shoot red dots.

H&K will be releasing their modular micro-compact in the next few months. You can try mine…

 

[FrankZ]

Remington Gold Sabers.
Inside 10 yards, they shoot and hit the same as Speer Lawmans.

Remington Golden Saber Ammo 380 ACP 102 Grain Brass Jacketed Hollow

The Golden Saber High Performance Jacket successfully combines four critical elements of handgun bullet performance: match-type accuracy, deep...

www.midwayusa.com

She's been trying this for her G42.

 

[outrider58]

H&K will be releasing their modular micro-compact in the next few months. You can try mine…

Absolutely!

 

[John from MD]

H&K will be releasing their modular micro-compact in the next few months. You can try mine…

I see what you did there.

 

[John from MD]

I have switched to the Underwood ammo for both .380 and 9mm (pocket pistol) based on the videos I have watched. They give a much better permanent wound channel than traditional ammo and also give better penetration. While I liked Critical Defense, most of the time they don't penetrate far enough. In many of the videos I watched, hollow points rarely opened from small guns and still did not give good penetration.

 

[RFBfromDE]

I need to change videos.

I found Critical Defense and Sig V-Crowns to be the most reliable in expansion, function, availability and cost.

The GS are right up there but I rarely see them.

I tried some Underwood in my .38 revolver and it was .357-like. Nah.

 

[Biggfoot44]

That's the Major issue with .380 generally , and partial issue with subcompact 9x19 .

Notably hotter ammo ( to get sub compact actual velocity similar to standard ammo in standard length bbls ) is indeed one approach , and Underwood is indeed speedy .

But it can be a two edged sword . Lightweight Subcompacts already are difficult to shoot quickly and accurately. The trade offs with extra hot ammo must be evaluated on case by case basis , in Your Hand , in Your Gun .

I"m sure John From MD is already on top of this , but I"m bringing up for the benefit of the overall membership.

 

[babalou]

Depending on how often you help out new shooters - especially the ladies - consider keeping a S&W M&P EZ in .380 around. Butter to load and shoot.

fondled one at United Gun Shop and loved it. It did not have the thumb safety.

 

[babalou]

I recently bought a bunch of this stuff for my Little Crappy Pistol.

380 ACP 68gr. Xtreme Defender Solid Monolithic Hunting & Self Defense Ammo

Underwood Ammo offers the most comprehensive and innovative Lehigh Defense™ Supersonic Lead Free Handgun Ammo for personal defense & hunting. Shop now .380 ACP Copper ammo with Solid Monolithic.

underwoodammo.com

I had been carrying Critical Defense, but I never felt too warm and fuzzy about .380, and after I shot most of the CD, I decided to switch to the Underwood Phillips Screwdriver rounds.

It's on sale right now. Follow my link if you're interested. View attachment 425957

Love underwood stuff but they are always out of stock.

 

[RFBfromDE]

fondled one at United Gun Shop and loved it. It did not have the thumb safety.

Yes, but that ridiculous grip safety.

They Ruger Security 380 is tops.

If I didn't already have the Security 9 Compact, (same frame/size) I'd be all over it.

 

[Biggfoot44]

Seriously though , compact .380 may be a niche particularly suitable for " Phillips screwdriver tip " bullets .

The mechanics of fluid dynamics are more linear with velocity , and not have two abrupt cut off points of conventional JHP . Ie very narrow window of velocity between no expansion and too much expansion in .380 .

IF I were to ever go back to .380 , I would be testing several of the these .

 

[RFBfromDE]

There is always something to be said about tumbling hardball, but perhaps elsewhere...

 

[John from MD]

Love underwood stuff but they are always out of stock.

They are having a sale today on .380 and 9mm.

 

[John from MD]

That's the Major issue with .380 generally , and partial issue with subcompact 9x19 .

Notably hotter ammo ( to get sub compact actual velocity similar to standard ammo in standard length bbls ) is indeed one approach , and Underwood is indeed speedy .

But it can be a two edged sword . Lightweight Subcompacts already are difficult to shoot quickly and accurately. The trade offs with extra hot ammo must be evaluated on case by case basis , in Your Hand , in Your Gun .

I"m sure John From MD is already on top of this , but I"m bringing up for the benefit of the overall membership.

That is true. You can't get away from physics. Once I have proved a pocket gun reliable, usually about 200 rounds for me, I don't routinely shoot them at the range. The one exception to this is my Diamondback DB9 Gen4 which I have been shooting a lot to try to get more people to buy them and get the aftermarket accessories to take notice.

One thing to beware of with the Underwood ammo is a POI change. When sighted in with traditional ammo, neither my Diamondback nor my P365 will shoot the 68 grain Underwood Extreme Penetrators to POI. They impact at 7 oclock about three inches from the center of the target. This may have something to do with the short barrels.

 

[babalou]

They are having a sale today on .380 and 9mm.

cool. I have a lot of their 9mm 90 grain Xtreme Defenders Tried to get subsonic 300 but no bueno ever.

 

[Threeband]

Love underwood stuff but they are always out of stock.

They had the .380 on sale and in stock... yesterday.

 

[Biggfoot44]

One thing to beware of with the Underwood ammo is a POI change. When sighted in with traditional ammo, neither my Diamondback nor my P365 will shoot the 68 grain Underwood Extreme Penetrators to POI. They impact at 7 oclock about three inches from the center of the target. This may have something to do with the short barrels.

I won't presume this one .

Did you mean * three inches low , at 7 yards * or * impacting three inches low and slightly left , at unspecified distance * ?

But yes POI/ POA is something to be aware .

Yes , generally with regular handguns , at " typical handgun distances " , light or fast , and particularly light and fast bullets will POI lower than standard for caliber weight bullets at more or less standard velocities. I varies from person to person , and gun to gun how much.

And everyone must answer the Paul Harrell Rhetorical Question;, " Is it enough difference, to make a difference? " .


What's the Intended Purpose, and what's your expectation ?

I'm outspoken in my druthers , but we can safety say that for large % of people 3 inches low at 7 yards , with subcompact pistol , that they only forsee using at 7 yards or less , would dismiss 3 inch shift as trivial ( if they bothered to check ) . And it would usually work out for them.

I have seen 6 to 12 inch offset at that distance, and I moved on with prejudice to other choices .

 

[Bertfish]

I'd like to see the 80X become more available at a lower price point. If so that'll be my first new 380