Opinions on ratings of .380 JHP ammo

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September 05, 2010, 04:20:12 AM

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Latest Member: zerpesr

With the .380acp caliber becoming popular for both backup and sometimes primary carry, most of my test work has been with .380 ammo and pistols. Many new pistols are on the market now. New, improved ammo offerings are also available. After over 6 years of personal wetpack tests and excellent gelatin, waterjug, and other tests by others, (plus a recent poll) I decided to do a rating of JHP ammo. Various opinions exist as to whether penetration is more important or expansion. FMJ ammo is prefered by some but not included in the ratings here.

I should emphasize that the ratings are basically for pistols with barrel 2.5" and longer. Shorter barrels, like 2" that I've tested, give erratic results, both in penetration and expansion. I'm sure some will disagree, venomously!!

These ratings are only an opinion based on ammo I have tested and data from other limited sources. Your ratings may vary and not even agree with mine. The lists are in order from best to lowest rating for JHP (hollowpoint) .380 ammo. The difference between 1st and 2nd on the lists is close and could be a tie. In fact, all the penetration ratings are slightly above or close to the 12" min. gelatin requirement. The expansion ratings range from a .650" high to .450" low.

Best Penetration (with reliable expansion)
Fed HS 90 gr "PD"
Speer GD 90 gr
CorBon DPX 80gr
Win Ranger 95gr
Hornady CD 90gr *
Hornady XTP 90gr
DoubleTap 90gr
Win SXT 90gr
BB Std.Pres. 90gr
Rem GS 102gr

Best Expansion
BB Std.Pres 90gr
Rem GS 102gr
CorBon DPX 80gr **
Win Ranger 95gr
Win SXT 90gr
Hornady CD 90gr *
Speer GD 90gr
Fed HS 90gr "PD"
DoubleTap 90gr

*not tested by me and some reports of FTFire.
** some partial expansion noted.

Not Rated (poor results in my tests)
CorBon 90gr JHP
CorBon PowerBall 70gr
Win SilverTip 85gr

Your choice of ammo for selfdefense is up to you. Some prefer penetration, some expansion. So, in no way are these lists a recommendation. Reliable functioning in your pistol is a primary requirement and should be understood. And of course, your personal marksmanship and placement is up to you. We all understand that! Since without it, the ammo is wasted!!

Cheers,
og

P.S. +p ammo not included since it's not SAAMI approved!

OG ,That's an impressive list of bullet brands and weights and penetration figures for the loads you list. As an addition to your list, I like to always test the accuracy of these to see what your gun likes the best. In my only .380 Bersa ,an older all steel version , the 90 Gr. JHP Hydra-shok is the most accurate by far of many I've tried in this pistol. Your results may vary ,due to individual pistol's tendency to like certain loads . Since the bullets in the 380 cal. are very short for caliber ; the actual contact area of the bullet that has contact with the rifling ; some loads shoot and stabilize better. Keep up the good work as we all enjoy your thorough test reports.

agreed that the 90gr HydraShok is a good bullet. It may not be the prettiest, and not expand as big as some of the others. But it's reliable for what it does. Midway has some of the "PD" version right now and the regular HS supposed to be coming soon.
Cheers,
og

Do you have any information or thoughts on the differences between the HS "regular" and the Personal Defense. And then there is the law enforcement .... TACTICAL. (play the Star Trek theme here).

I wonder if there is truly any difference other than perhaps flash suppression in the powder.

The Personal Defense Hydra-Shok label: Muzzle vel. 1,000, 25 yards 940, 50 yards 890.
The law enforcement "Tactical" label: Muzzle vel. 1,000, 25 yards 950, 50 yards 910

Energy levels are same at muzzle and 5 foot pounds different at 25 and 50 yard, certainly not enough to even make different labels in my opinion.

Quote from: fastgun for hire on April 29, 2010, 02:42:59 PM

I'm not sure there is much difference. It may be mostly a marketing thing to sell ammo. Best way to find out is with a chronograph. The Shooting Chrony is what I have. Maybe later I can do a comparison.
Until then, use either one you can find.
Cheers,
og

Maybe a waste of time, but I plan to do a .380caliber "penetration" wetpack to compare the two best brands that "meet" the magic, mystical FBI requirement of 12" gelatin. These happen to be the Speer GoldDot and the Federal HydraShok.
Both are sold as either std. civillian ammo or "law enforcement". The difference being, the LEO type is supposed to be "bonded". While I've never had jacket separation with either of these in wetpack tests, the bonded is supposed to be better. At any rate I've obtained some of both. This will compare both the Std. and LEO of both brands in the same wetpack. I will try to include a round or two of DPX just for extra comparison.
Most of the opinions these days seem to lean toward penetration being more important than expansion, with some expansion wanted. And not too much penetration to avoid overkill that FMJ gets.
So, what do you think, waste of time?? Or what??

(the papers are soaking now.)

og

I am looking forward to reading your test results.

One advantage I can see in YOU doing the test is that your methods are hopefully consistent
from one test to the next. This gives those of us that follow what you have been been doing a
baseline to compare. At least a closer baseline than a willy nilly approach.

I thank you!!

thank you, fastgun, for the encouragement. Yes, the papers are soaking (in the "standard" method Cheesy

). Plan to do the test this coming Monday. Should be interesting.