380 ballistic testing

by matt/pa , Monday, August 24, 2015, 12:40 (3383 days ago)

I had the opportunity to attend a seminar at Gunsite a few weeks ago, put on by our own Rob Leahy, of Simply Rugged fame.

Rob did a bang up job of coordinating with the Gunsite team, Ruger (who provided guns), Double Tap Ammunition (who provided the ammo), KDM Inc (who provided the suppressors), and NFused (who provided the gun lube) to put one one heck of an instructional week.

Part of the week was to perform ballistic testing in gelatin of various different pistol and rifle rounds by Double Tap. Once the gelatin testing was completed, we had the opportunity to learn about the defensive options in front of, and behind, vehicles. We then took our learnings to practice and shot some of the ammo at targets in/around the 1976 vintage F-150.

I had the opportunity to shoot at the truck first, so it was clean of any bullet holes. I used the Ruger LCP 380 with Double Tap's excellent 380 ACP 95gr. Controlled Expansion JHP round. I was standing about 10-12 yards, at most, directly in front of the old F-150 and fired 4 rounds.

I have to admit that I was astonished at the results! All four rounds penetrated cleanly through the windshield, through the manaquin/target, through the top of the backseat, through the back window, and at least one bullet was found near the tailgate, perfectly expanded. Shock at how well the 380 performed was on most everyone's faces, except perhaps Mike McNett from Double Tap!!!!

Here are pictures:

I can honestly say that this refreshed my outlook on the 380 as a defensive round, especially for those hot summer months where pocket carry is one of the few options and an LCP is nice and flat/light in the front pocket of my shorts.

Thought you guys would enjoy this.

Best,

Matt