I have a P3AT that i really miss carrying.  Came across some remington UMC 95gr hardball.  Would you carry this if you couldnt find anything else?  I cannot find any defensive ammo in .380 whatsoever.

I carry FMJ in my LCP after reading a long thread about the penetration on JHPs in a .380. I figure If I need my BUG things are really bad so I want the penetration.

I had thought about this, then when Hornady came out with Critical Defense I was excited, but now its not getting very good reviews.  I wish Federal would make that expanding FMJ stuff in .380

A buddy of mine Tried critical defense in his LCP. He had a bunch of failure to fires. The all went off after a second hit but it's enough for me not to want to carry them.





 

That was the exact same thing I had heard about.  Too bad, that stuff looks like it has potential.

I'd carry the hardball.

Or a softball.

More damaging.

If you can find it, try the Magtech guardian gold. It has the same power as a 38 special when fired from that pistol. My ex and I both had the P3AT and I chronographed the loads. they were the same velocity as what was listed on the box. My ex is obviously not here anymore, and I sold mine, but I do still have 5 rounds left in a box. They feed great, we fired a couple of hundred rounds out of ours to be sure before we carried it in them, and they are really accurate as well. I was so impressed I tried them in my .45 acp, and got just as good results, chronographed at a higher velocity than listed. For the 380 +p 85 grain, it's 1082fps and 221ft lbs. I got 1150 out of the Kel Techs that we had, measured a 15 feet from the muzzle. I don't know what shipping regs are, but if you IM me and let me know, I'll give them to you.

2 things w/ .380 :choose one that runs reliably in your gun

next, IF it runs well, make sure its proven to expand reliably (DPX is my top recommendation), if not, i'd run FMJs

overall, i'd run FMJs considering they tend to feed the best in most .380 autos (which tend to be picky as it is) and it will reliably penetrate

I've actually had zero malfunctions with my kel tec.  FMJ, HP, everything i've fed it feeds well.  I guess I'll be using FMJ since its impossible to find anything else

My P3AT runs goldots and reduced recoil federal hp's. I haven't found any good FMJ for it, just some remax reloads that run fine at the range... the federal is available at my local shop, Coliseum had the GD, but I'm not sure if they do now.

This,  the only failure I ever had with my P-3AT is when I accidentally hit the mag release.  Even feeds truncated cone shaped rounds and hydra-shoks.

I personally carry Gold Dots.  They expand reliably and testing usually shows 10-11" of penetration.  yes that's a couple inches short of the "magic 12 inches" but I figure that for a close in empty it into the guys chest gun, 10" is adequate.  Another really popular round is the 102 grain Golden Saber.  Those are usually pretty easy to find, but all .380 ammo is hard to find these days.

In a pistol with such a short barrel AND chambered in .380 I would carry FMJ

1. Placement
2. Penetration  

Are the 2 MUST HAVE criteria in self defense with firearms, everything is nice and good to have but not 100% necessary.

I used to carry Golden Sabres in my P3AT but have since switched to FMJ.  The GS ammo fed fine but it didn't feel as smooth going up the ramp into the barrel. It was a similar feeling to my 1911 before I sent it back for warranty work and Springfield polished the ramp and tuned the extractor.  It's a hard feeling to describe but you can feel it not feeding smoothly.  FMJ feeds smoothly and puts my mind at ease with reliability and pentration.

Why wouldn't you?  Do you think the bullet will just bounce off b/c it's FMJ?