.380 Underpowered for self defense?

[mkosmo]

I don't know where people get off saying it won't penetrate aluminum foil, but the ballistics gelatin looks good enough for me, and its good enough to stop my threat. Maybe we should all wear aluminum foil armor

Or you could just catch the .380 bullet with your teeth.

From what I gather from the more knowledgeable members here is that with the "marginal" stopping power of the .380, the bad guy may theoretically be able to get a shot off after being wounded therefore putting my life in danger. The questionable stopping power and the apparent 380 ammo shortage
(when I asked for 380 at the academy they laughed) makes me second guess my Kahr 380 purchase. Should have went with the PM9.

Next question: What do you tell your wife when she asks why you need so many guns?

Two to the chest, one to the head. Good luck getting one off on me in that condition

[gigag04]

I don't know where people get off saying it won't penetrate aluminum foil, but the ballistics gelatin looks good enough for me, and its good enough to stop my threat. Maybe we should all wear aluminum foil armor

Or you could just catch the .380 bullet with your teeth.

From what I gather from the more knowledgeable members here is that with the "marginal" stopping power of the .380, the bad guy may theoretically be able to get a shot off after being wounded therefore putting my life in danger. The questionable stopping power and the apparent 380 ammo shortage
(when I asked for 380 at the academy they laughed) makes me second guess my Kahr 380 purchase. Should have went with the PM9.

Next question: What do you tell your wife when she asks why you need so many guns?

Two to the chest, one to the head. Good luck getting one off on me in that condition

At what range to plan on getting in this confrontation? Shot placement may be key, but I know well trained shooters that when placed in combat stress are doing well to hit upper torso...trying to place a well aimed head shot at any sort of distance under any load of stress is DIFFICULT. You cannot simulate the true stress of pointing a gun at someone and taking the slack out of the trigger.

I'm all for the .380, and I think it will do the job if I ever have to call upon it, but I am not going to tout with any degree of certainty where my perfect shots are going to hit an approaching threat when fired from the miniscule frame of my Kahr P380. I can shoot great groups with it, but under stress, that little gun is going to be a whole lot harder to shoot well.

[03Lightningrocks]

I'm all for the .380, and I think it will do the job if I ever have to call upon it, but I am not going to tout with any degree of certainty where my perfect shots are going to hit an approaching threat when fired from the miniscule frame of my Kahr P380. I can shoot great groups with it, but under stress, that little gun is going to be a whole lot harder to shoot well.

I recently purchased the Kahr P380 and I whole heartedly agree! My first impression is that getting the proper grip on this little gun for accuracy may be tricky, especially when placed in a stressful situation. For now I am not feeling the confidence in this gun and my ability to shoot it properly it takes to bet my life on it. It isn't the capability of the caliber that concerns me. My concern is the ability to place accurate shots with some of the mouse guns this caliber comes in.

[handog]

Accuracy with the Cahr .380 is my concern as well. The first 200 rounds were all over the place. My buddy who served in Iraq said he was trained to shoot twice in the torso then one in the head with his 9mm. For me, at this point a head shot with a mouse gun would only be possible up close.

I appreciate the Buffalo Bore ammo tip. I just ordered four boxes of .380AUTO+P 90GR. JHP from Cabelas

[frazzled]

Is this what we're talking about? I may look at for the Wife's popper.

http://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l= ... tail&p=129" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[PUCKER]

Hey, if you guys and gals think the .380 is underpowered...how about my NAA .22 Magnum?

On the .380, a buddy of mine used his Walther PPK .380 to stop an intruder late at night in his home/garage. The shot to the forehead was what finished him off.

[frazzled]

Thoughts on this one?
http://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l= ... tail&p=218" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[handog]

Almost pushed the mouse button on this rubber thingy to improve the grip: http://www.pachmayr.com/slip-on-grips.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; but would it slow the pocket draw? Would the rubber make it stick rather than slide out of the pocket?

[A-R]

Be aware, Ruger apparently specifically cautions against using +P ammo (like Buffalo Bore) in an LCP. Don't have a citation but I've seen it somewhere (maybe at Cabela's?) I know people still do it, but just wanted to throw that out there.

[A-R]

I'm all for the .380, and I think it will do the job if I ever have to call upon it, but I am not going to tout with any degree of certainty where my perfect shots are going to hit an approaching threat when fired from the miniscule frame of my Kahr P380. I can shoot great groups with it, but under stress, that little gun is going to be a whole lot harder to shoot well.

I recently purchased the Kahr P380 and I whole heartedly agree! My first impression is that getting the proper grip on this little gun for accuracy may be tricky, especially when placed in a stressful situation. For now I am not feeling the confidence in this gun and my ability to shoot it properly it takes to bet my life on it. It isn't the capability of the caliber that concerns me. My concern is the ability to place accurate shots with some of the mouse guns this caliber comes in.

Accuracy with the Cahr .380 is my concern as well. The first 200 rounds were all over the place. My buddy who served in Iraq said he was trained to shoot twice in the torso then one in the head with his 9mm. For me, at this point a head shot with a mouse gun would only be possible up close.

Practice. Practice. Practice. I agree with a previous post (Compvest, I think it was?) that it doesn't matter what type/caliber of gun. You need to practice regularly with EVERY gun you plan to carry. If you just don't like shooting an LCP and therefore won't practice with it, THEN DON'T CARRY IT.

I have the same concerns all of you do that I will be a mess under real life self-defense pressure. But I practice as much as I can. Under normal range conditions I can put two in chest and one in head at 7 yards in under three seconds with my LCP. Under improvised situational practice (drawing, moving while shooting) etc., I'm not as good with any of my guns (even mid-size and full-size Glocks). But I'm working on it and I can now consistently put two shots in upper torso with all my guns, including my LCP, while moving at a diagonal to the target. And usually I can get the head shot if I stop, aim, and place it.

I've never received any professional "tactical" training. Never really practiced much other than normal range practice; until recently I've just never had a place to practice it. But I've had 12-plus years of muscle memory training so that generally speaking when I point a gun it's close to on target, even under stress (my misses come from anxiety/tension causing me to pull the trigger less than smoothly and pull shots down and left).

I prefaced with my relative lack of tactical training to pose this question when it comes to shot placement under high stress. Isn't the whole point of the "Mozambique" technique that you put the two shots in the chest to stunt the attacker, then take a bit more time and concentration to really aim for the headshot? Again, I've never had tactical training of any kind other than picking up pointers from people who've had some such training and what I read.

[handog]

Be aware, Ruger apparently specifically cautions against using +P ammo (like Buffalo Bore) in an LCP. Don't have a citation but I've seen it somewhere (maybe at Cabela's?) I know people still do it, but just wanted to throw that out there.

I think Kahr can handle the BB+P

I sent an e mail to Kahr to make sure.

Their response: The Kahr P380 WILL handle Buffalo Bore +p, no problem. Ruger on the other hand has not given the green light on BB for use in the LCP.

[sookandy]

I carry my .380 about 90% of the time. I'm comfortable with the round and what I can do with the gun. Just for giggles check out the article in Shooting Illustrated in May about the .22 LR for self defense.

[gigag04]

Under ideal conditions I find the Kahr P380 EXTREMELY accurate for what it is. Unless something is wrong on the gun, I would diagnose the issue as something with the shooter. I broke it in and qualified with it to carry it on duty as a BUG and shot like 298/300, including shots out to 25 yards. Now this is relaxed, unstressed shooting.

Send some bullets over my head and some coworkers screaming on the radio and I bet that group would get bigger in a hurry.

[03Lightningrocks]

Like any other gun it takes practice. I figue I will eventually get this thing figured out. It stinks that ammo is so costly. I also owned an LCP and of the two I found the Kahr to be the easiest to shoot accurately. The sights on the LCP are terrible in my humble opinion. At least the Kahr has real sights.