.380 or 9????

[bikejunkie]

For myself, it depends on the season. During the summer/fall months when I, and everyone else, are wearing minimal clothing (shorts and t-shirt) I carry a Sig P238 HD (.380) I feel during the months when people aren't wearing much in the way of heavy clothing that may stop a .380 rd it has plenty of capability. During the later fall/winter months I carry a Springfield XDm compact in 9mm for the additional capacity and ability to punch through heavier clothes. If I could do it over again I'd buy the Sig p938- marginally bigger than the P238, but in 9mm. In fact I've considered selling both my p238 and my Springfield for this one pistol because of it's easy concealability. That said, some .380's may have some nasty recoil- the p238HD however barely has any at all- the struggle for accuracy mostly comes from the short sight radius of a super-compact pistol. Accuracy with a bit of practice is not hard to come by. I'm not a fantastic shooter but I can shoot groups I can cover with my hand at 21yds all day with my tiny p238- and that's really as much accuracy as you need. The groups with my Springfield are half that size, simply because of the longer sight radius. Ammo cost is a concern, but not to much as to be a detriment in my opinion. I've been finding .380 ball rounds consistently for about $17/box of 50. The Wal Mart Federal 9mm ball I practice with is $19.97/100- so yes, it's more expensive but not prohibitively so.

My only complaint with my .380 was finding hollowpoints in Salem- nobody had any except Guncrafters and I'll never give them another nickel. Thank God for the interwebs

Also, to the idiot above that says a 9mm isn't accurate unless you're a fictional character from a TV show- maybe the reason you can't hit anything with a 9mm is because you stink at shooting?

 

[accessbob]

Given the Florida Internet Cafe situation, you can go with .380 if you want, but unless you are spot on with your shots (an Ace under pressure and can hit a spot to stop them) you'd better think about something bigger. The Internet Cafe guy (Mr. Williams) shot the two perps and one of them was hit twice and they were still very mobile and all. They chose to leave (run away) but had they decided to stand and fight, Mr. Williams might not be here today. I don't want to trust my life to a perfect shot placement. I would like to go .45 but right now all I have is .40.

 

[bikejunkie]

To me, Mongo the Scumbag running away is just as good as Mongo laying on the sidewalk dead. I don't know if there is a statistic to prove it, but most criminals in the civilian world, when shot- probably choose escape over stay and fight- that's why I practice 2 rounds center chest, and 2 rounds to the pelvic area to stop forward motion. Honestly if some scumbag is jacked up on drugs it may not matter what you shoot them with, you're just gonna have to shoot them a bunch