The .380 ACP is, technically speaking, underpowered when compared with some other mainline self-defense cartridges. Introducing a gun to a situation makes you an instant elephant in the room. So given all this my LCP is in the category called "GOOD". It has never been a problem. THAT should NOT be! Lasers are a joke on a .380 and I don't like sights that may snag for deep concealment.. I'm carrying a Kel-tec p3at in a Velcro ankle holster at work. Ahh yes, the less expensive knockoff of the 238 (which in and of it self was a knockoff of the colt mustang) brought to you by the company who sold the residents of IL down the river for the all might $..No thanks, you can keep it. This only naturally makes it more difficult to fire properly like we just talked about. I also disagree with Danny-I think the II looks much better than the original. It runs Underwood penetrator, defender, Federal HST, Precision one, critical defense, you name it, The only reason I dont carry it is because it jammed on an HST ONE TIME. Great reviews, here 's my 2 cents. If I hadnt been carrying a high capacity Glock Model 21 I very much doubt that Id be writing these words right now. Owned a S&W Bodyguard 380 for a couple years . You do not pay Last 10 years carried a Glock 36 . We'll cover what the round can do, things to consider in choosing a gun, ammo, and our top 5 picks of the best .380 pistols. The models I'm looking at today are the Glock 42, the Sig Sauer P238, the Kahr CW380, the Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 380, and because nearly half of all .380s made in the US come from Ruger, we've got two of their micro pistols: the LCP Custom and the LCP II. The few failures I have had maybe are my fault. It's called a Patience will get you free shipping, too, as Palmetto makes that available every so often. I know there is bad talk about Remington pistols, but this one I have rocks. "They get the job done, but several shots may need to be fired to get your point across." Won't lie though, "long and heavy" sure is accurate on the trigger pull. You say the LCP2 has a long stiff trigger not true the first gen LCP did the LCP2 are one of the best triggers available on a 380 hadgun. My biggest fear with the LCP as an everyday carry is that most micro 380s have the reputation of being a bit finicky. Let us know which one you chose and how you like it! I don't care for the whole 1911 thing, I'd rather have a single or double action striker but this P238 is amazing. Those are all brand name and very fine and reliable guns I am sure but I have a Taurus TCP 738 pocket rocket and I love it. The P238, as Sig would say, is 1911 inspired.. Different primers some Full Metal Jacket some hollow points. Select what level shooter you are! I think a good one for the list would be the Remington rm380. Stainless steel Magazines with stainless steel follower. I have both Cheetah and an LCP (with an upgraded trigger) and carry the LCP often for those reasons. I felt bad about taking his $100. Now this is real world data and results. If you're at the mall, theater, gas station, busy parking lot, etc., when attacked I doubt that I will be worried about what's behind my assailant. I do like the Kimber Micro too. Youre the biggest liability and should resign or be fired immediately for your comment as you are a clear and present danger to the public you are supposed to serve. I have a micro 9 and an ultra carry ii .45 and both are very reliable and groups are good. 1. Just my 2 cents I carry a Ruger SR22 and I can fire off 10 fast shots accurately due to no recoil.. The XTP bullet has a good track record with several calibers but was one of the top performers with the .380. I have a Ruger .380. There is nothing magical about the the .410 slug, either. Of course, like all good husbands, i shoot her handguns too.to keep them running. Very reliable, I have only had one brand of ammo that gave me feeding issues, and that was some cheap wal mart steel case surplus ammo, that would still fire but I had to reduce the amount loaded in the magazine for proper feeding. I would recommend it. Another way of looking at it isthe gun youve got on your hip is better than the one youve got in your sock drawer. Did they succeed? I cant win. l looked at those models on your list (and several others), but found what I was looking for in the Springfield 911, which, in my opinion, was far superior in design, construction, features, and feel. Seatbelts have saved my life, but I drive without a helmet and 5point restraints. I put LCP in "Good", Bodyguard in "Better", and Sig in "BEST". and I WANTED to dislike the Sig (all metal freame, it's HEAVIER). It can handle Plus P ammo and with the 3.75 inch barrel is extremely accurate. The Bodyguard triggers have gotten better, but I absolutely agree. We can learn from trying different stances, but none is perfect or "THE" answer. In actuality the Seecamp 380 is smaller. I own a spanish Gamo rifle 4.5 mm caps and a Turkey made ,38 rubber bullets revolver brand Ekol It's not a lot of the fun at the range as it is small and powerful and beats up your hand but it's not supposed to be. Still mystified by the issues with Hornady as that is my 9mm choice for personal and home defense. In the order acquired, they are a PPK/S, S&W Bodyguard with CT laser, Ruger LCP-II, and Ruger LCP Max. I wear shorts mostly all year around and this is the best of ALL the rest for deep reliable concealment. Rating the Ruger LCP II above the Sig P238 made me laugh. You left of far and away the best .380 on the market the Springfield 911, best of the bunch as far as recoil and a beautiful gun optically, sights are top of the line right out of the box. - The CPX-3 can be had on-line for about $200 so it's just about the cheapest .380 out there I was worried seeing a lot of internet Kimber slamming between the time I bought the pistol and the time I had a chance to run it. I thought this would be a good combo for the lady, but she has had difficulty using it on the range. I had the Glock 42 FTE all the time and the Bodyguard kicked almost as bad as my 38 didn't like either one. LMAO. Got a good deal on mine. The sights on the LCP II are built into the top of the slide like its predecessor. Nonetheless, it still suffers from many of the issues that we just talked about in the previous section: the trigger pull is awful, they are difficult to shoot, it can be difficult to get a good grip on the pistol for some shooters, and the slide wont even lock back on the last round fired. It was absolutely horrible! I found a Desantis pocket carry for it to ride in. A little larger than the CW380, and much easier to hold for large hands. The new LCP II has a light very crisp awesome trigger for a small .380. Mine was complete garbage and would come out of battery requiring disassembly! Don't be offended, Joshua, but I don't think a serious overhaul of the best 380 ACP pistols can stop including the Walther PP Series. Pass on the II and get the original. The trigger guard on the LCP has also been enlarged in order to accommodate a gloved finger without risking pulling the trigger. over again. Center mass has never been a problem from the get go. She knows a good gun. This is typically not discussed or practiced. Had a stovepipe with a Hornady 90 gr Civil Defense, though. While I dont personally own one, Ive fired my fair share and can say that they are reliable and accurate. However, in the .380 you are missing the very best of them. I always thought I needed to carry a 9 or 45 now I know I don't. put hyper-velocity rounds through your .22 semi-auto rifle and enjoy 80% .22 mag performance for the first what, 50 yards, mostly in the first 25??? I've got thousands of rounds through it. I love the gun and the 380. I went to Government schools too :-) but there is more than I can ignore. Another 380 that didn't make this list, but considered top 5 on many others is the Bursa FireStorm. A P238 with rosewood grips may be prettier, but this one is a no-nonsense carry piece and looks it. How come the Kimber Micro isn't on this list? And most humans I now aren't and can't be willing to live on a bag of rice, some band-aids, and water along with 10-20lbs of ammo and gun???? Because I have carpal tunnel and arthritis in my thumbs, I bought the S&W 380 EZ. I have read alot of bad about the Taurus TCP 738 but I love mine and at $239 and reliable as heck with the fix I did it"s alot cheaper than the top 5 in this article, not trying to take anything away from the top 5 or anyones personal choices.. Kimber Micro .380ACP TLE I'm liking it a lot. These were offered decades ago for the Thompson-Center Contender. That being said, I will say that I'm a fan of the concept that if you can't hit your target then no firearm will be for you. If youre looking for an easy to take apart gun, opt for one of the others on this list. It's reliable, accurate enough and easily concealable no matter what you are wearing which is why I own one. Its also a sleek, well built little pistol with no rough protrusions that virtually disappears in your pocket. The AMT has a small finger hook at the bottom that helps with recoil. After each gun's name, you'll see its average user rating, that rating's margin of error and the number of votes: 1) Diamondback Firearms DB380 (4.3 stars 1.0, 25 votes) It pains me to include the DB380 on this list because I bought one a couple years ago. It is just fun to shoot, unlike most mouseguns.. Got one for the Mrs and liked it so much I got a second for myself. Weve got a dedicated section for the AR-15 here. purchase helps support my work in bringing you more awesome gun and gear articles. I've not needed to use deadly force in my 1st 60yr, and I hope to make the peashooter suffice during my second. With a tight grip, you can get v. tight groups at 15 - 20 feet. In contrast to this, the original LCP did not lock back on the final round. And not just quality -as my wife pointed out, it has style. Got rid of it and got a Sig P238 and a Glock 42. . The thing that got me was for handgun rounds from 380 to 44 Mag, the lethal/incapacitate results were pretty much equal! Thank you for the info. Yeah, I like Clones, mainly those made in Turkey because they've been well made in NATO spec facilities. It simply is the best gun, dollar-for dollar I own. Its a small pocket gun with similar specifications to most every gun you did list. Not adjustable and too hard for me to comfortably see down. I owned one of these years ago and it was a dream! The edges and dove tail are tapered to allow true pocket carry. We carry a variety of popular models from leading manufacturers including Smith and Wesson, SIG Sauer, and Glock. Personally, I don't mind the heavy trigger pull. I think the human interface of the grip and trigger is different with each individual shooter. Sharing my experience. As for range ammo I have had no issues with Federal, Fiocchi or Winchester. I think you may have been thinking of the original LCP.. The look like high end custom 1911 mags. The G42 has a barrel of 3.25 inches, one of the longer ones on this shortlist, and weighs in at 13.76 ounces. Your mileage may vary. Accurate and adequately handles the recoil of best defence ammo available. Carry it anyway you like, in a situation It's a joke. Same thing with big hands. The Beretta Pico is top dog. So well designed is the Walther PP Series Pistol, that it can be carried in complete safety, with live ammunition in the chamber, without activated safety, ready to be fired with just the trigger in Double Action, just like a revolver. CC) tend to expand inconsistently on "real" targets, that is solid targets covered in cloth, etc.. I was carrying a Kruger 357 mag short barrel ed I am a big guy Go to a gun store and check out the pocket pistols. I like how the CTC laser activates just from gripping the gun and not having to worry about finding a button to activate laser. For the last 15 years as a plain clothes Detective, I chose to carry the nickel finish Beretta 84FS Cheetah. Nonetheless, the fact that they are difficult to shoot can be a major problem for training and self-defense purposes. If you can't hit the side of a barn in a pressure situation the caliber of your weapon isn"t going to save you. Amen! Have both the Sig 238 and 938. pretty sweet passive aggresive comment there. Once I found ammo that worked, it ran like a champ. My two sons, their wives, my wife and I, and my wife's sister all have the P238. Yea yea, .380 is underpowered, etc, but if you need something you can handle and/or throw in your pocket, .380 beats a .22 or .32 and anything else is to large to pocket. besides, if you hit the target, the .380 WILL do the trick. There are some who believe target ammo (or, FMJ, otherwise known as full metal jacket, ball, etc.) Easy to shoot, very reliable and inexpensive (~$285). Snappy but controllable and also pretty accurate for the size. Most likely it wasn't discussed because the the Sig P365-380 is quite a bit larger than these yet offers no additional capacity. It's the best of both worlds, no compromise, no having to choose one or the other. Check out our Best Places to Buy Ammo Online or jump straight to .380 ACP self-defense rounds. You might need to refresh or clear your cache then. Thanks for the review. I read your article and found it very interesting and somewhat informative. As always, be safe out there and thanks for taking time to read this. It looks like a Walther PPK, which is neat, but other guns beat it. Wouldn't trust a striker gun in my pocket, even with a pocket holster. Any list discussing pocket-carry guns that does not at least mention the best on the market, the Seecamp, is incomplete. I'm a 65-y-o man with arthritis in both hands and carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists, and the easy rack and milder recoil are the primary reasons I chose the EZ in the 380 model. All in all, I love it. Pretty much any brass case standard ammo you can think of has gone through this gun and fired flawlessly. It feeds anything that I put in it. I would say no - unless you really needed the ultra-compactness and reduced recoil. The only .380 cartridge I'd ever use, is Precision One. It's hard to find something online, as almost everyone is talking about JP/JHP rounds. A .380 bullet in the size of a Glock 19, lol. Very, I mean extremely very, reliable and accurate for what they are. Like you said the safety is difficult to disengage but with the double action trigger and long trigger pull I feel comfortable carrying with the safety off. The size and design of the gun must also be taken into account. We had one jam with my initial reload recipe, since corrected. The reason the trigger pull is lighter is because it is a SA trigger versus the DA trigger on the original LCP. Most instances of conflict occur within 5 feet. They run like sewing machines. S&W Bodyguard .380 7. Add Pearce grip extenders and a Pachmayer grip for a perfect .380 great trigger (practice makes perfect) gooot sights and shoots like a dream for me. Josh is an avid firearms enthusiast who fired his first gun when he was just 10 years old. Their main appeal is their often sub-$100 price tags. Of the 7 Sig 238s we own, we have had zero FTF or FTE with factory loads, having fired over 3,000 rounds combined. As a side note, during the interim and before I found ammo that would feed consistently I purchased a Ruger LCRx in .38spl. I have nothing bad to say about it except it feels cheaper than the others. It is made in Brooklyn, New York, USA. The V-10 went back to SA, and they did a phenomenal job on the feed ramp. I fired over 500 rounds through my Sig using dozens of different ammo and it NEVER gave me an issue. .380 guns tend to conceal better than many others out there on the market. One of the best concealed weapons out there is the 380 pistol. Depending upon who you ask, it beats the .38 in terms of velocity but doesnt hit quite as hard as the revolver cartridge does (because a .380 bullet weighs 95 grains and a .38 Special bullet weighs up to 158 grains). But despite those advantages, .380 pocket pistols have also been plagued by a number of downsides. This gun is amazing and feeds/extracts EVERY ammo I give it. Opens up a little bit more at 10 yards. So, .380 will do the job. (My LCP had the same problem.). Haven't tried the new Ruger. I also have a Micro 9 which is a bit larger than the Micro 380. trigger!!!!!! I appendix carry with a desantis holster. had the 40 cal. Which surprises me due to how hard the slide is to pull back. I am a retiring Law Enforcement officer. Hi Chuck-I was thinking the exact same thing in regards to the trigger. I have put a thousand rounds of all kinds into these beauts and only 2 FTFs. for CC, I have a Lg. I have not shot one, but think the new Smith & Wesson Shield EZ is going to eventually grow into a popular CCW firearm. I purchased a Ruger LCP last month, ftf/fte, 35 out of 50 rds, 95 gr. Know your target and what is beyond it! Your last paragraph says it all Bullet placement is the key. Accurate and nice to hold, great controls. Both the front and rear sights are black which can make it difficult to see them if you are aiming against a dark background. up to the present, it cannot be ignored. Still, shoot whatever makes you most comfortable; that S&W is a fine choice. It's about 30% heavier as a result, but it shoots awesome. My favorite are .45s by Kimber, Taurus, Remington, Metro Arms --- 9mm by CZ, CANIK, SARZILMAS (SAR), Remington, Taurus Millennium G-2 --- .380 by BERSA (Thunder .380 and .380 PLUS), Browning, Beretta and the well built GIRSAN MC-14 With a pistol carrier/user like me a 45 ACP caliber handgun will always be king! Have I had problems with Taurus guns? They get the job done, but several shots may need to be fired to get your point across. The S&W gave me an issue with certain brands of hollow point, but, more investigation needs to be done because I think it occurred with one individual magazine. Everything about it is perfect for me. How about all that for $459.00 in a plastic box? I don't think your experience here is typical for the LCP line and you are probably correct that it was due to being a rental. Taurus and Bodyguard quite snappy but you can adapt. The higher-grade 911 (the original model) has superb (night) sights. Know your target and what's behind it as you are responsible for that round that goes through the target and lands in something/someone else. I bought a LCP II but the extended clips don't work in it, so I am still carrying my old LCP in my front pocket. Now mind you I am only comparing 380s. Glock surprisingly snappy for its size and felt cheap. Only issue was my wife's hands are frail so she had limb wristing issue, which she has not had with the Sig P238 and she could not rack the 42/43 which was the main reason for the Sig P238. I recently purchased a 911 because I am a fan of Springfield Armory. The only way you're gonna hit your attacker is if you stick it in their gut and start pulling the trigger. Traded for the RM380 and never looked back. Thankyou. If I could find my wife a SC 9mm that she felt as comfortable shooting as the P238, I"d dump the .380 round altogether for reliability of avail firearm issues though and not because it's a "puny" round. The downsides are, well, it's easier just to bullet point this: Unreliable Poor fit and finish I looked carefully and tried both, as well as the S&W Bodyguard .380.. I literally went out and bought a P938 in 9mm because of the P238's reliability. glock but too big to carry,, traded for glock 42,, excellent patterns at 25 and 50 feet,,at range yesterday,, over 200 rounds,, use the precision on ammo plus p,, called them,, they said this best ammo out there ,, 12 inch penetration with 1/2 in hole,, you right,, if you don't hav it you can't use it.,,also bought finger extension on magazine and haugh grips,, excellent helpers and made patterns alot better. I have just started working with some SIG Sauer V-Crown but dont have a good data set yet. Also, the penetration is very low. By the way I also own a S&W Shield 9mm and a full size S&W M&P 9mm both great guns , the Bodyguard .380 sucks though . Add to that that .22 ammo has come a long, long way too??? This makes me nervous so Ive always sought help to clear the chambered bullet but now I know what to do! I'm sure it is because the rental wasn't maintained well. I inherited my Dad's Browning BDA .380. Thanks! We are often alone in situations where LE isn't dispatched to clear our scene because of the 911 nature of the call. Patrick O. Really??? The author is not clueless. I couldn't believe it when I first saw it, but now I have two. On the other hand, my Taurus TCP 738s, although not 13 rd capacity like the 84, just keep running and running, and running. Will say that I really liked the Sig because of the night sights,cause goblins come out at night, My p3at , is great. Won't go wrong with the Sig, the Real gun, Besides it last long enough to pass to your grandkids . the plastic won't. Extra patience is necessary at the moment since the 12 is temporarily out of stock (other 238's are in stock but at much higher prices). I have some arthritis in my hands and find that the LCP II kind of beats them up. Should be on the list! As a gal new to the conceal carry scene, I looked the .380"s over very carefully and settled on the Sig P238. , If I were to replace my Bodyguard the Ruger LCP would be my choice. LCP is the CHEAPEST and SMALLEST springs, etc on a 380 ever). YMMV, of course. I load them both with Hornady Critical Defense FTX and feel those will do the job, when I do my job with placing the rounds where they will have the best effect. Plus, there is almost always a more powerful self-defense round out there. My favorite carry firearm is my Kahr P380. In terms of kinetic energy, the .380 ACP always lags down near the 200 foot-pound line, and struggles to add another 10 or 20 foot-pounds of KE due to limited case capacity. Concealment is key in our world. For me the other pistols you mentioned don't fit my human make-up. you can see it on Ammoquest .380 youtube if you want to see how it performs..awesome round for the 380.

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