Knowing that ammo choice is as personal as soft drink brands, and realizing this CAN result in some heated discussion, I thought I'd throw this question out there: What ammo are you carrying in your Bersa 380 and what "sold" you on this important choice? Personally, I am carrying the Hornady Critical Defense 90 gr. I used it in my Beretta 84 and I carry the Critical Duty +P in my 92F. Personally I like the extra penetration of the Critical Duty line and just wish Hornady would manafacture a similar load for the 380. There it is in print. Let me know your opinions, and most importantly, why. Thanks in advance!
I use Hornady Critical Defense in all my firearms for self defense... Thread moved to the correct subforum: Ammo & Reloading
Sorry not getting this thread in the correct sub-forum. My tablet went kaput, and I missed that one Working only on my phone at the moment until I can get some warranty love fore the dead Nexus.
No problem...!! The only reason I put it down was because I have had members ask me where their thread "went"...
I use Hornady Zombiemax in my Thunder .380.I asked for Critical Defense but the salesman said they were out and that Zombiemax was the exact same thing except the plastic insert was a different color.
I had read that somewhere about the Zombies, and added to the bragging rights, the box will probably be a collectors item right along with that Walking Dead poster on your Man Cave wall!
I use Winchester 95 grain PDX1 in my Bersa .380. Not particularly hot (1000 fps) but with the full weight it seems to have good penetration and all rounds did expand in the test I've seen. Plus it's 100% out of my 8 round MecGar mags.
I use buffalo bore ammo. They have 2 varieties that are very well reviewed and highly rated. I have the hollow point and the +P fmj. Check out their products and reviews and youtube. They are very expensive though, about 1.50 per round, but my life is worth it,
Hornady XTP. The pedals fold back against the bullet base allowing for consistent penetration over 12 inches. In tests if there was a failure to expand the bullets still stopped between 12 and 18 inches.
I carry Remington 88 grain jeweled hollow points. I found this for a pretty good cost so I picked it up.
For my SD/daily carry ammo in either of my 380's I carry a mixed load of JHPs and FMJs. For years I've been using Speer Gold Dot as my JHPs, but as I use them up, I've been replacing them with 80 gr Corbon DPX. For the FMJ rounds, I use any good quality brass cased, American made round. The mixed load is a JHP in the chamber as well as the first two rounds in the mag. I follow this with an FMJ as ever other round incase penetration is needed. I had tried Bufflo Bore once before and had multiple FTC s, but I think the greater part of the problem was my first 380 was not fully broken in and lack of proper wrist control on my part as I had not fired in over 30 years. I sent some of the rounds to a friend in North Carolina who fired them through his older and well broken in 380 and he had zero problems.
At this moment I'm carrying Remington 88 grn HTPs. Why? Because it was all I could find between Cabelas, Academy, Gander Mountain and some local gun/pawn shops. (Takes a full day to hit all of them) In the past I have carried Fed Hydra -shoks, Winchester Silver tips, and even ball. When I find some Hornady locally I may give it a try. Normally my Bersa 380 is my back up carry gun or my wife's handy house gun. Since my 9mm broke down I have been paying a little more attention to the Bersa. I just recently realized that the Silver tips and Hydra-shoks I have are 1993 vintage, hence the current Remingtons.
I carry hydro shocks in my P32 most of the time but since expansion with a .32acp can be a little sketchy I also use sellior & belloit fmj, because they have a higher muzzle velocity and feed perfectly. My .38 special likes 125 grain jhp, so I stick with those for defense right now and use 158 grain rnl for target/competition. I have a special combo for both my PT709 and my Makarov where the first two rounds out are blue tipped glazer safety slugs and the rest are jhp, typically Hornady or hydro shocks. This both because the glazers are expensive at $15+ for 6 rounds and because of the thick clothing factor, where someone with a thick leather jacket may just get a broken rib with no actual penetration. I figure if it takes more than 2 rounds to deal with than I am probably needing the penetration of the jhp.
