I don't know. I know several people with .380 pistols that they bought simply because of the price. Also there is a consideration among many people that this is a "small" center-fire round that is less dangerous than 9mm, or easier to handle the recoil, or whatever, so maybe it's more suitable for training kids or for use by women. Likewise, not just for "deep concealment", but many .380 pistols built on the PPK-style platform are a good fit in smaller hands compared with pistols with a larger cartridge and necessarily larger grip to contain the magazine. Further, many of these PPK-style guns are very affordable and not readily available in 9mm at all or without a big cost increase (think Bersa).KD5NRH wrote:joe817 wrote: The thing that's fishy to me is that it was a .380. I can't think of any target pistols in .380 off the top of my head, nor would it make much sense for animal defense or small game hunting. It's pretty much a deep concealment carry caliber and nothing else -not what you'd give your kid to wander around the farm with.
These days many of the surplus PPK-type guns such as CZ and FEG are 9x18 or .32 but I have heard that in years past .380 variants of these guns were available and inexpensive. I have considered loading up on 9x18 CZ-surplus pistols just to keep around, not because it is a great round choice but because it is effective and the pistols are available at a very attractive price.
So I kind of would think it normal that a teen-age kid would be provided with a .380 pistol, due to the (wrong) perception that it is a less-deadly round, the idea that it is easier to handle the gun for smaller or less strong people, the probable low cost of the gun to begin with, etc. If my teen-age daughter decides that she wants a gun, and rather than buy another one she took a liking to one of the ones I had here I would be inclined to give it to her, and I suspect the one she'd want happens to be a .380.