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What ammo does your P380 like and hate?

30634 Views 10 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  Cokeman
Please post what ammo your P380 likes and doesn't like. I thought it would be good to have a list of what works in most of our guns and what doesn't. That way, new owners can have an idea of what to use without the trial and error that others have had to go through. This could also help the people that think their gun is defective when it's really a type of ammo that none of our guns works well with. If enough people post, this thread could be stickied,
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My P380......Likes: American Eagle, PMC, Hornady CD.

DISlikes: TULA. Even my LCP dislikes TULA by throwing empty casings back at me.
She likes:

1. Magtech 95gr FMJ – 200rd break-in w/2 anomalies in the 100 – 150 range. This was expected during break-in, so I consider her to like it since 198rds were flawless.
2. Speer GD 90gr JHP – 20rds flawless.
3. Winchester SE 95gr Bonded PDX1 – 20rds flawless.
4. CorBon DPX 80gr HP – 20rds flawless.
5. Hornady CD 90gr FTX – 25rds w/1 stovepipe.

This was all done in one day in the order listed w/only the initial tear down, clean & lube. She was very comfortable to shoot w/added Pachmayr Slip-On Grip #4 and was very accurate. The Speer GDs gave the most felt recoil which was obvious after the previous 200 Magtechs. The Winchester & Hornady’s felt recoil were about the same. The CorBons were the most comfortable & controllable in the single hand position both strong & weak hand. I currently have them loaded 6+1.
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Works best with Remington Express 88 gr jhp.
After trying 32 different varieties, the only troublesome rounds were Tulammo, Fiocchi, and Sellier&Belloit. Fiocchi wouldn't allow the breach to lock so it was a TOTAL failure. I got a few of the other two to work.

http://mousegunaddict.blogspot.com/2011/07/great-380-fmj-jhp-ammo-test-results.html
I just went thru my 200 round break-in shoot-fest. My P380 was very happy with Winchester 95 gr.FlatNose, Hornady 90gr.XTP, Aguila 90 gr.HP, Blazer 90 gr.RN, essential no trouble with any of these.
It would not feed Magtech 96 gr. at all, Speer Gold-Dot 90Gr.HP about 50%, PMC Starfire 95 gr.HP wouldn't chamber dependably. One of the Speer loads split the case, tho I didn't notice any difference when I was shooting.
I have 4 clips that I mixed-and-matched and results were all similar, and I polished the slides and ramp as suggested here on the Forum before going out, and used Ballistol oil. I'm going to try setting the bullets in all of those problem-children just a little deeper and see what happens just for giggles.
stealthy said:
I'm going to try setting the bullets in all of those problem-children just a little deeper and see what happens just for giggles.
Not sure if you did this yet, but you run the risk of a possible unsafe pressure spike by reseating the bullets deeper into the cases.
Seating the Magtechs a little deeper made them cycle perfectly in my P380, and I didn't note any symptoms of over-pressure, was definitely watching for that.
I shot PRVI today and it is the dirtiest sh!t. I was shocked at how black the inside of the gun was. I shot one of the rounds and smoke kept coming out of the gun for about a minute. At first I expected the spent shell to still be in the gun. I pulled the trigger and the gun went bang. I had one round that didn't go off. I pulled the trigger again and nothing. I put it in another mag and it still didn't go. I shot some more and then put it in another mag and it finally shot.
Likes:
CorBon 90 g HP
Speer Gold Dot
Rem UMC
Fed Red Box
S&B
Black Hills 90G HP
Black Hills 100g FMJ
MagTech +P hollow point
Buffalo Bore HP +P (Tooo Powerful! - Bought one box and it worked fine - but too much recoil)

In the Middle:
Fiocchi (hard primers)
Prvi FMJ (not all rounds powerful enough to work the action fully)

Hates:
Winchester white box (feed of bullet profile)

Thats all I've tried
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Worked well:
S&B
American Eagle

Worked ok:pRVI Partizan


Not so well:
Remington UMC FMJ (Not enough power to lock the slide back every time)
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