50% of all the people murdered with firearms in the USA are killed by the lowly .22 rimfire. So the .380 acp is enough, but I don't own one for several reasons.

1. The small pistols are under powered compared to almost any other round.

2. The ammo cost more than 9mm so it doesn't make sense economically.

3. Most .380's can't be shot as accurately as standard 9mm service pistols.

4. Reliability is rarely as good as 9mm, .40 S&W or .45 acp.

5. I don't want my significant other to make fun of my little gun.

#5 lol

#5 is the only one to really matter.

We're not interested in killing/murdering people, we're interested in stopping a determined and aggressive opponent before he can inflict serious/lethal damage. Doesn't matter how lethal a bullet is if the BG expires *after* he does you in.

Is there any data backing up the .22lr figure? Heard that for years but I've yet to see any numbers. The FBI crime reports don't specify that I know of. Just rifle/handgun/shotgun categories IIRC.

This is my sincere answer

This is the ccw guy I want at the mall I go to............

No person is obliged legally to defend a stranger I suppose, however, considering the situation, I believe that I would do all that I could to save people with my ccw, and I'm no hero by the longest stretch of the imagination.

Regarding the .380 as a viable defensive caliber, I was awaken early am one morning by my pre-teen daughter and her sleep-over friend frantically screaming at us that someone was trying to get in our back door. The very first thought through my mind as I awoke from a dead sleep was not to call the police, it was that I need a bigger gun and I need more bullets. I believe I had a Kel-Tec P3-AT at the time and it was my night stand gun until that night. With the adrenaline flowing my first action was to assess the situation and go from there. As I silently made my way towards the noise, I discovered that the cause was not a door knob.........but the ice machine on the fridge. It sounded just like someone was wiggling a door knob, talk about a sigh of relief, adrenaline dump, shakiness. Some lessons are learned in weird ways.

This anecdote does nothing to quantify the effectiveness of a .380 for use as a defensive caliber. But in my mind it did, as having been into guns most of my life, I understood the pistol power levels and already knew the .380 was at the lower end of the scale. I had justified owning the .380 in my mind because it was a small and compact pistol I could have everywhere. Had it been an actual break-in and I had to use that .380, it probably would have been enough considering just firing a gun would have been enough to de-escalate the situation.

Regardless, whichever caliber one decides to use for defense, you must feel confident with it, take it out to the woods, shoot some stuff with it. Some will say this doesn't prove anything either. I say otherwise, when .380 and .45acp leave dents that a .357, .40s&w or 9mm punches holes through, it brings things into perspective. But most importantly, be sure you can be accurate with it, a gun that is hard to be accurate with is not going to serve you well when the adrenaline is flowing.

I trust a 380 to get me out of trouble in my incredibly low risk day to day activities. Often, I even have a 22 mag revolver in my pocket (I wouldn't want to stand in front of it). I do always carry a knife. As a matter of convenience I usually carry either my p238 or my NAA.

That said, if I am traveling or doing a higher risk activity such as a craigslist transaction, I take more gun.

In the event of a terrorist attack I'll throw a few rounds of 380 their way while my family and I run like hell. Hopefully that will make them drop their head and allow us to gtfo. In the much more likely situation of a 1 or 2 on 1 armed robbery, I like to think I'll empty my mag then use my knife until I am either dead or the threat is gone.

I'm not saying my method is correct, I am just saying I am comfortable with it. A 380 is enough gun for me 95% of the time.

The smallest caliber I trust to protect myself with is .22 which I've carried for years, including while hiking. I never go anywhere without it in my pocket.

A few years ago I was hiking with my girlfriend and out of nowhere this huge Kodiak came charging out at us and she was pissed. I think her cubs must have been close. Anyway, if I hadn't had my little .22 I wouldn't be here today. Just one shot to my girlfriends knee was all it took, the bear got her and I was able to get away at a brisk pace.

Please do no post non technical pictures here

Maynard

 

What happens if  a bad "craigslist" psycho shows up in your day to day activities, they won't require "more gun" to defend against in the low risk area....

Convenient rationalization.

Reading some of these replies leads me to believe that some of y'all would still feel "under-gunned" with a S&W 500 Mag..

Do you carry a rifle w/ you every where you go?  B/c all handgun bullets suck.

You prioritize your defense based on the perceived threat level.  If we could afford it, and the homeowners' associations would allow it, we'd all ride around in Cadillac armored cars w/ 20mm cannons in the turrets.  We can't, and our spousi would throw a shit fit, so we carry readily concealable firearms that will probably defeat 99% of the threats we expect to encounter.  Sometimes, .380" satisfies that need.  Sometimes, .308" satisfies that need.

No I don't carry a rifle, carry a 9mm minimum and that is only when restricted by work clothes.
Not work clothes: Glock 21 or 30SF (maximum concealment) plus a 9mm in pocket.
I don't downgrade because a location is perceived as "good".
Been carrying 20+ years, increased carry over time.

Then I submit, good sir, that you are denigrating someone else's rationalization while ignoring your own.  You really should have a SUB-2000/ SBR/pistol AR/AK/bullpup stashed in the vehicle.

... pocket carry a S&W Bodyguard nearly everywhere I go

I call this one BS. Ive seen them shot by every kind of gun, caliber, bullet...ect And the .22 is very rare to see used. It was far more prevalent in the '80s and first 1/2 of the '90s but even then it wasnt "common". I'd bet .25s and .32s were used much more. Now you almost never see it and I cant remember the last time I even heard of someone shot with a .22LR or .22mag.

In the 2nd half of the '90s something happened with the gangs and the felons/shooters. Before that almost every piece they used was a Bersa, a Lorcin, an Astra, or some other POS and most often they were .25s, .32s, or at most .380s with almost every one loaded with ball ammo. Even the revolvers they used were mostly shit. I think what happened is the balloon heads learned how to use the internet , that , and the anti-gun entertainment Industry educated them about guns and calibers. TV shows, movies, electronic gaming.

From then on, and most of all now, you see these gangs using quality weapons and most of all ammo. So the more the anti-gun nuts stepped on the 2nd the better the gangs armed themselves, Im not kidding.

And these phoney anti-2nd shitbags in the entertainment Industry have a lot of blood on their hands making their fortunes off the very tools they posture and talk bull shit about. They have no problem making cheap gratuitous violent movies off of violence and firearms but they then have the nerve to say the Constitution should be crushed. Like that wretched mongrel Q. Tarantino and his ilk.

I've seen a lot more quality weapons on criminals over the last ten years.  At one time the "best" guns one regularly saw in the hands of criminals were Hi-Points.  I have three cases I am working on now were the "crime guns" are a Glock 19 with a factory 33 round magazine, a pair of Glock 22s, and a S&W M&P45 with a factory 14 round magazine and an as yet unrecovered 5.56mm semi automatic rifle.

 Why you be hatin' on New Yorkers?  Aimless can run his pump Troy as fast as any semi-auto!  

Bought a 380 to compliment my xds9 and g19.

Plan on ankle carrying/or in the coat pocket in the winter with the underwood penetrators and my g19 on my hip, and pocket carry with the underwood defender in the warmer months with my xds9 on my hip.
HST's in my 9's.

Also will  throw it in my pocket when I walk to the mailbox at night like I'm getting ready to do right now.

There's that.

no. better than nothing...

Revitalizing this post as opposed to creating a new post to beat a dead horse, so forgive me here.

This is more or less a philosophical question and not meant to ruffle feathers, so if your feathers get ruffled, too bad.

I see countless posts about .380 along the lines of "wife's new carry gun", "gun for the girlfriend", "purse gun for my wife" all of the time. Commonality being that it's always for someones special lady. Now if you ask that same person, "what do you carry?" you get the "I won't go below 9mm", "9mm is the smallest caliber I'll carry", "why carry a .380 when a 9mm is only a hair larger". Why the double standard? You fear that .380 won't be enough to stop a fight for you, but you argue that it's more than adequate for women. So what gives?

Besides patriarchal stereotyping of wemin?  Recoil, ease of operating the action, and refusal of purse carry.  Otherwise, she could carry a big 9x19mm in the purse w/ more ammo than him.  Annnd, the .380" is probably going in the purse anyway.

I have been carrying a Glock 42 for about 6 months now, loaded out with the Underwood 90 gr XTP +P. That actually is a fairly stout load, but I am going back to the 43 with the 147 HST ammo,  as people are getting goofier.... I simply want a little more ''punch'' the 9mm affords over the .380. I quit carrying the 43 because the wife wanted a green C/T on it, none on the 42. Both have the TFO sights, though, as does my other Glocks, -----I HOPE I never need a handgun....

I use the Ruger LCP as backup or pocket carry when not possible to carry larger pistol.
I can get very accurate hits and so the .380 is acceptable.
My choice is 9mm or .38 Special +P. Yet the LCP conceals better than a j frame or 9mm Glocks.

I want my wife to carry something reliable that she can shoot accurately.
She can't reliably get most 9mm guns to function.
(Grip strength is part of the recoil system with a semi-auto.)

She could shoot the Airweight revolver, but wasn't fast or very accurate.
And, she hated to practice with it.
Seems like the .380 Glock and Bersa are perfect for her.
No problems with functioning guns, and she can shoot 10-12 mags before fatigue sets in.