.380 +P ammo?

[Will Carry]

Has anyone ever shoot this ammo? I thought .380 +P was called 9mm.

[Oh Shoot]

Has anyone ever shoot this ammo? I thought .380 +P was called 9mm.

There's no SAMMI standard for it, so it's whatever the manufacturer says it is.

Or not.

- OS

[JAB]

I haven't fired any and have no interest. I figure that if premium, standard pressure ammo in that caliber won't get the job done then some nebulous (non-SAAMI rated) "+P" load probably won't, either. To me, the reason for carrying a .380 (in my case, a P3AT) is that it is so small and light - which means that (IMO) it is already pushing the operating envelope for the caliber. I see more potential for harm than good from using 'hot' loads in such a pistol.

Of course, with modern bullet designs I am not even all that sure that I believe there is a whole lot of benefit to using +P ammo in a 9mm. Heck, for that matter I kind of go back and forth on the benefits of +P in .38 Special with modern bullet designs. I mean, generally +P ammo generates more recoil, etc. while picking up, what - maybe a couple of hundred feet per second from a short barrel? I'm not sure its worth the trade-off (although I do carry .38 +P in my .357 snub, sometimes.)

Edited August 20, 2010 by JAB

[Will Carry]

I was looking at ammo on line and saw some .380 +P. What next? 22 short +P? I talked to a guy from a (Gun manufacturer that I will not mention) about 380+P and he said it was just another way to market over priced ammo. They don't recomend it in their 380, but people have reported shooting them with no problems. I'm like you, I stick to standard pressure loads except 38sp+P in my snubby.

[mikegideon]

There's no SAMMI standard for it, so it's whatever the manufacturer says it is.

Or not.

- OS

Even tho there's no SAAMI spec for .380 +P, Ruger sez don't use it in the LCP. I take that to mean anything over standard pressure is a no no