Very nice. With .380 and .38, it's always a tricky thing to get a good round. Too much expansion will lower penetration, so less expansion within reason is better. Sufficient penetration with just enough expansion to slow it down is about as far as pocket .380's and snubby .38's can go with performance.
Late to the party here but: .380 ACP is similar to .38 Spl/.357 Mag is the sense that ammunition performance can vary so wildly from one gun to the next. So it's a matter of testing what works best in your gun. I have had remarkable luck with Speer Gold Dot, Wilson Combat XTP, and Corbon DPX all across the board. So they're always very high up there in my choices, regardless of caliber.
Nice review. For my LCP2, the pistol is beautiful for pocket carry, but too short for hollow points. I just use FMJ. It's cheaper, especially for practice (I prefer to practice what I carry) & I believe for this situation, the extra penetration covers the non-expansion of FMJ for defense. Keep up the good work.
XTP's always deliver good to great penetration with better expansion than most .380 hollow points. They are typically in the top 3 of choices for the .380.
Right. I didn't think the CD outperformed the XTPs in this video either. He said the CD didn't penetrate enough in bare gel and they didn't look much bigger than the XTP to me.
Your the first reviewer I've heard talk badly about the XTP rounds in a 380 auto. They actually work very well in 380's for a defensive round with a good balance of penetration and expansion. Thanks for the vid though. Its always good to hear different viewpoints.
What can I say, I just hate the "easy answer". I want something with a little more oomph, the XTPs just don't get my heart racing at all. They're just... vanilla. And yes, you are basically right.
Underwood XTP 90 hits 12”+ consistently at .5 expansion every time….Underwood also have it +p also,but Lcp 11 is not rated +p,but u can definitely tell ur shooting something stout …on the 9mm +p platform…Shooting through two gallon milk jugs filled with solid wet newspaper all the way through with Full expansion has made me a believer and I trust them 👍🏾
The critical defense has been my go to 380 round in a Colt Mustang Pocketlite. What needs to be factored in is what barrel length handgun you carry in 380. Nobody has cloned the superior Colt 380 and that is my older Government Pocketlite. Going from 2 1/2,to 3 1/2 barrel means 50-75 fps increase in velocity, and in 380 that makes a big difference in performance. Most of these modern pistols , especially locked breech versions like the Colts, fitted with extra power recoil springs can handle much hotter loads. You can get to 1000 fps easily, and that translates to greater expansion and penetration , from small pistols
A widely held opinion, but doesn't sell a lot of ad time, LOL! I mean, .355 caliber is .355 caliber. A .380 FMJ round will overpenetrate no matter the brand, so... choose on price? I guess?
@@GeographyCzar My preference is the flat nose Winchester FMJs. But, probably doesn't matter that much. Practice enough to know you can deliver accurate shots and things like caliber and expansion and gel performance become less consequential. BTW, I love your channel and all the testing you do for us. 👍
For me, the Critical Defense was the most reliable. I don't know if it's the rubber tip or the sharp bullet angles, but I never had any hangups in my LCP, which is less reliable in chambering a round than most people have issues with in their LCP's. The Speer Gold Dot is in my LCP right now, because it had a little bit of everything positive without too many drawbacks.
I think your onto something with this comment this is reason cor-bon came out the powrball line back in the day since regular jhps were having feeding issues with the 380s back in the day
If I had a 3" barrel 22 magnum, I think they'd be pretty close competition with the Speer Gold Dots. In .38 Special +P they perform better than most "brand name" manufacturer's defensive ammo, but don't come anywhere near the performance of the Underwood and Buffalo Bore loadings.
Paul Harrel has a video where he tests the ftx in one of his meat targets and it performs very well. Its one of the more recent pocket pistol videos. He uses an lcp also.
@@GeographyCzar please try the Underwood Xtreme defender ammo. I think they now come in 68gr copper phillips screwdriver like tip. They are loaded hot and supposedly create huge permanent wound cavities plus they're supposed to penetrate over 14 inches. They sound pretty nasty.
I enjoyed the video but you might be asking too much from the .380 out of a short barrel. I suspect any of those would serve you better than a big gun left in the car or at home. Just something to consider.
I know this is an old video. A good reliable .380 load is the Federal Hydra Shok. The better performer in the XTP is the Fiocchi Extrema or Precision One. The Hornady XTP isn’t loaded as warm compared to the other loads.
Except for the Hornady XTP Custom which is a hotter load than Hornady American Gunner XTP. It's loaded to 1000ft/sec. It's hard to find because it's been discontinued in favor of an inferior loading.
XTP's are great target bullets and perform well with .357 Magnum and the like, but their jackets are just too hard to get good performance with lower powered cartridges.
I have to say, I love the big expanded bullets. But most 380 slingers seem fixated on penetration. That's fine for them, I guess they can use just about any bulk ammo in FMJ - whatever's cheap.
Thank you for the review, very informative. I frequently buy my 380 in bulk from Sportsman's Guide in St. Paul, and I found that Fiocchi has two different hollow points for the 380, an XTP clone (the more expensive type) and a JHP Critical Defense clone (without the red plug). The JHP is so cheap I've decided I don't need to buy FMJ bullets for practice anymore. They're like .28 each, whereas the FMJ are like .21-.30 each depending on the brand. But with defense HP or underwood solid defense type rounds costing 2x and even 4x more, I have a hard time believing the Fiocchi JHP is a real defense round. They shoot well, I've shot over three hundred out of my bersa 380, with no issues, so I am using what I practice with, but I wonder, maybe you can use your equipment and tell us how they perform?
Shootingthebull410 tested the Fiocchi version of the XTP. They weren't quite as good as the Precision One XTPs, or the Hornady load. I think your Bersa has a longer barrel and will get more velocity, which should help them expand properly.
So I am guessing this is from a under 3" barrel. Guessing if you go regular small carry it might get you what you seek. Some of them tiny guns are just not meant for that higher level. Also for a fat small 380.At least 9 inches seems pretty good. It being a short round. Saw two wound tracks. The 9 mm long had almost the same. As the 380. The barrels where almost the same length. 100 vs 115.
@@GeographyCzar yeah, they stop a little short but the wound channel they leave is probably the same diameter as 44 Magnum hollow point. They have a test of 38 special maximum expansion gel chest on here you should check it out
The low power of the 380 means that any decent expansion will lead to underpenetration. With other low power rounds, it was common for the old school cops to carry wadcutter target ammo because it acts like a partially expanded bullet much like the american gunner. Unfortunately 380 auto doesn't really come in a full wadcutter because it doesn't load well from a magazine. Personally I think 10 inches of penetration with reliable 60 caliber expansion from the HST is more than enough in close quarters pocket-pistol fighting. The 12 inch guidelines were based on fbi and police shootings where criminals were shot from distance from several angles including through arms and walls/windows. Rarely will a citizen have to shoot someone from the side or through a wall in self defense. If You do have to shoot someone from the side in self defense, just aim for the head. Nobody has a 12" wide head.
Given that there is a wide choice in 9mm pocket guns available today perhaps you should reconsider your choice of small pistols. .380 is a more appropriate caliber for a compact pistol like a PK380, Shield 380 EZ or a classic Beretta 84.
Those Normas are a good choice. I got fair performance out of them, but I think they'd do even better with the extra 3/4" of barrel on the Bersa. I owned one once, had to replace the magazines periodically, but it was a good gun for the price. I wound up giving it to my Mom for Christmas one year when she was between carry pistols. She traded it for a Sig, which promptly blew up, lol. She got it repaired free of charge, but I still think it's funny that the expensive brand malfunctioned while the Bersa ran great despite the critics.
Master Zerak 0 seconds ago I'm not sure why you say 7.5 inches of penetration is horrible; what do you think the distance is from the skin to the: heart, lungs, liver, aorta, etc. It seems to me getting substantial expansion, and adequate penetration would make this a good cartridge for personal defense...
I'll just go with barrel above 3 inches if you want better expansion with deeper penatration for a 380 acp. Those pocket 2.5 barrel guns just won't give you good Result.
No then they are the same as the XTPs the critical defense don't expand much at all That's why I'll use them at all. Thanks to your PDX ones there's a reason that FBI uses them, with 8 in and very gel that's 24 in of human flesh that of course does not include bones those tend to stop the bullet much quicker
I like them too... Been thinking about these a lot lately. 99 grains, 9" penetration, magnificent expansion... can't ask much more than that out of a pocket pistol like the Ruger LCR. I feel like with smaller bullets you might as well just go FMJ.
He just doesn't like XTP's ! That damn Critical Defense didn't expand as much as the XTP's, but he still favors the Critical Defense. I just don't understand his thinking on this video. I personally like the XTP's and that's what's in my Glock 42 .380 right now !
No, you got it right. You do understand my thinking. I don't like the XTPs. I don't really have any excuse, I just don't like easy answers. I don't like 9mm either - it's too simple, there has to be a better solution... I used to carry a S&W Shield 9, but then the FBI went back to 9mm, so I dumped it at a pawn shop and acquired a 38 spl and a 40 cal Springfield.
@@GeographyCzar Why dump the 9mm Shield because the FBI went back to the 9mm's ? That's stupid as hell because the Shield is a fine gun and I'd rather have a 9mm Shield that a damn 38 spec. or a damn 40 Springfield ! I've had 2 Springfield's and they were both a piece of crap. I know Springfield's are supposed to be good guns, but the 2 that I had were the worst guns I've ever owned. You really do have some weird thinking, my friend !
@@jerrepeak9083 Maybe so but then again variety is the spice of life. 9 mm has been done to death, who wants to watch another 9mm video? But I can do exotic stuff like revolvers and 22 Magnum.
