Poll

No contest. I'd take the .38-Spl over a .380 any day....Only question is, why is this in the 'semi-auto' section and not the 'ammo' section?....it is about caliber differences, eh?

DGW
 
And number of each caliber.
I saw the "number of each caliber" referenced in the OP but I dismissed it as not being relevant to the actual question.....unless of course, one misses his target a lot, then maybe.... I can also see where someone may choose to believe that having the potential to put more hits on an attacker somehow makes up for not using a more powerful cartridge to begin with. The fact of the matter though, is that the .38Spl is capable of striking a much more serious blow than a .380, and that is actually the question at hand as I understand it....Oh and BTW, good luck to anyone on putting multiple hits on an aggressor. Most people would be very lucky to dig their little .380 out of their pocket in time to get one hit, and that's assuming the bad guy is dumb enough to stand still during the party...which in itself, is nothing that I've seen happen in real life.....Point is, I don't subscribe to the Walter Mitty school of thoughts that seem to be so prevalent these days, but I do believe in bringing enough gun.

DGW
 
If the choice is literally "5 rounds of .38 or 10 rounds of .380" with no other variables, same shooter, same level of training, same carry commitment, I'd tell you to take the ten rounds. More chances to make hits, faster reloads, and a cartridge that's proven itself enough to trust.
 
I saw the "number of each caliber" referenced in the OP but I dismissed it as not being relevant to the actual question.....unless of course, one misses his target a lot, then maybe.... I can also see where someone may choose to believe that having the potential to put more hits on an attacker somehow makes up for not using a more powerful cartridge to begin with. The fact of the matter though, is that the .38Spl is capable of striking a much more serious blow than a .380, and that is actually the question at hand as I understand it....Oh and BTW, good luck to anyone on putting multiple hits on an aggressor. Most people would be very lucky to dig their little .380 out of their pocket in time to get one hit, and that's assuming the bad guy is dumb enough to stand still during the party...which in itself, is nothing that I've seen happen in real life.....Point is, I don't subscribe to the Walter Mitty school of thoughts that seem to be so prevalent these days, but I do believe in bringing enough gun.

DGW
I read the post as a More powerful few rounds vs less powerful many rounds polling question. I would rather have my Max9 than a CP 33 in a bad situation.
 
I read the post as a More powerful few rounds vs less powerful many rounds polling question. I would rather have my Max9 than a CP 33 in a bad situation.
I get what you're saying. There's other guns that I'd rather be armed with too. I was just trying to stick to the question, that's all.

DGW
 
On my own, Security .380

Traveling with the wife... LCRX .38 - keeps things common between us.
 
Seems to me you can get a .357 that's the same size as a .38 spl. So, unless there is some over riding reason a .357 would be my choice. That said, since no one makes a lefty .357 (the over riding reason), I choose,
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.38. Why? because its a revolver and semis may possibly fail.
20+ years ago when qualifying for my concealed weapons permit I was using a revolver and had two failures to fire with it... bad ammo..

I'll vote for the .380 just because I'm a semi-auto guy now... did carry a .380 for years but it only held 7 rounds with another int he chamber....
 
.38. Why? because its a revolver and semis may possibly fail.

20+ years ago when qualifying for my concealed weapons permit I was using a revolver and had two failures to fire with it... bad ammo..

Actually, that's a revolver win. No need to stop and and rack the slide for a new round, just pull the trigger again, provided that wasn't the 5th round (in the OP's scenario) or a squib (which would sideline both a semi-auto or revolver).
 
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Do some realistic tests of terminal performance of .380 vs .38SP and then decide.
The .380 is a wimp on both ends. Better than a sharp stick but universally unimpressive. :rolleyes:
Advancements in ammo technology has come a long way. For ALL calibers. It all comes down to what you can shoot the best.

If you can put a round into your attacker's eye, then a .22 rimfire would even work.
 
Other than the 200 grain round nose, a .38 Special Snub nose doesn't have a better track record thana PPK/S. Now a six inch .38 Special +P isn't exactly apples to apples for a pocket pistol. But the 3 inch barreled 9mm's have antiquated both of them.
 
Advancements in ammo technology has come a long way. For ALL calibers. It all comes down to what you can shoot the best.

If you can put a round into your attacker's eye, then a .22 rimfire would even work.

There it is. One thing I can say for certain, I can shoot 5 rounds from my LCRs into a much smaller "group" than my Elsie P, and be much closer to POA to boot.
 

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