I might have to eat my words about .380....

[enfield]

I thought the whole point of .380 was being able to pocket carry. If you're going to carry a full size handgun, why not just carry .45?

Am I missing something?

 

If so, you're missing the same thing I am.  Why carry a .380 that's the same size as a 9mm, .40 or .45?

 

It's akin to carrying a pocket pistol on your hip.  WHY?  Carry a big-caliber, easy to shoot gun on your hip and put your pocket pistol in your pocket!

Edited March 26, 2015 by enfield

[Garufa]

The .380 was designed by John Moses Browning himself.  Therefore, it is perfect and further debate is not required.

[Ugly]

Is there a bad 30 cal? :shrug:

[leroy]

Yeah, I get the longer barrel thing, but if everything else is equal, .380 over .45? Really

 

I may be misunderstandin a bit... I wasn't advocating carrying of a larger 380 nor debating the merits of one caliber over the other...

 

I wuz explainin that in the old days they were some larger 380's; and that some folks were comfortable carryin them as both backups and primary guns, depending on the situation...

 

I carry a small 380 in my pocket just like a pocket knife... I keep a 10mm glock 20 pretty close...Sometimes i've even got a 44 special sheriff's single action or a 357 sheriff single action around; or even an "N" frame smith... There are lots of ways to skin the proverbial cat...

 

leroy

Edited March 26, 2015 by leroy

[JAB]

I thought the whole point of .380 was being able to pocket carry. If you're going to carry a full size handgun, why not just carry .45?

Am I missing something?

 

I am a 'fan' of .380, to an extent, but I have to pretty much agree with you here.  However, I can think of one, good reason - if someone wants a more or less 'full size' gun that has ammo compatibility with their pocket pistol then the larger .380 would make a lot of sense, IMO.  Personally, I have no interest in the teeny-tiny 9mm pocket guns.  I kind of think that .380 is pushing the reliability envelope in a package that small and light not to mention the issues of accuracy and follow-up due to increased recoil from a 9mm in a 'mousegun' sized package.  Therefore, if having a larger gun that used the same ammo as my pocket pistol were an important factor, to me, then I would go with a larger .380 as a 'big brother' to my pocket pistol.  As it is, the ammo compatibility thing isn't all that important, to me, not to mention I carry revolvers about as much as (or more than) semiautos, anyhow.  I wouldn't mind having a CZ82 equipped with a .380 barrel (or a factory .380 CZ83) but that is just because I like my CZ82 so much and would like to have an identical gun chambered for 'Walmart available' ammo.

 

Come to think of it, I do 'hip carry' my CZ82 sometimes and 9mm Makarov is said to be pretty comparable to .380 in performance so maybe the idea isn't quite as far-fetched to me as I first thought.  I carry the 82, though (loaded with 9mm Mak Critical Defense), because I shoot it really well and like the characteristics of the gun more than because of the caliber (which, with 12+1 rounds on board, I do think would get the job done.)

 

For some, strange reason I think I would like to have a full-sized or nearly full-sized gun in .32acp (I currently own nothing in that caliber) but that is another thread.

Edited March 27, 2015 by JAB

[jtmaze]

I hand load my wifes SD Ammo and load one grain less than max and have done really well dependability wise. I usually load 95-105 grain critical Defense bullets and the recoil and report are considerably more than factory ammo. I have heard the horror stories of what can happen if you SD shoot someone with handloaded ammo. I can go on the stand and same with a clear conscious that I loaded that ammo to never be used. If it get used then I will deal with those times when they get hear. But my wife will be safe.

Edited March 28, 2015 by jtmaze

[1gewehr]

As i remember, the great George Patton carried a Colt 1908 pocket hammerless in his coat pocket... A Colt hammerless is 7 inches long and weighs 24 ounces...

leroy

Patton also carried a Remington 51 in .380. He used that to shoot at a strafing Luftwaffe fighter plane.  He sometimes carried a S&W .357 Magnum.  Probably a better choice against aircraft!

The Remington is a bit lighter and thinner than the Colt, with the same barrel length.  The old Remington 51 is one of my favorite pistols.  I was VERY disappointed with Remington's 9mm version!!