.380 ACP, jacketed soft-point?

[Foo909]

Well after much hunting and realization you either have to go with expansion or adequate penetration in .380 I stumbled across this product from Winchester:




Winchester WinClean.

It has a brass enclosed base to stop erosion from the lead core and designed for indoor ranges, however that's not why I am interested in it. It appears to me that it looks like a jacketed soft point round with an exposed lead flat nose...brass jacket.

This should provide a limited mushroom and adequate penetration (12"+) in my opinion. Has anyone ever tested this round for penetration or expansion?

Remington also offer a similar type but it appears the nose is more rounded:



So are there any experiences with this round as a defensive round or any ballistic tests floating around on the internet?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[msc8127]

I don't own a .380, and have never even fired one. I do however have a friend that carries an LCP, and he swears by basic old, cast lead, solid bullets for the .380 to insure that it gets adequate penetration. I'd think that the rounds you have listed would perform similarly assuming that they have everything else in check on them to allow for good performance.

[JustinApple]

Buffalo Bore is what I carry...
380 Auto +P Ammo - 90 gr. Jacketed Hollow Point (1200fps M.E. 288 ft. lbs.)

This is the only ammo I will carry in my .380 as it will give you the penetration with expansion that is needed for this round to be effective.

It's carried in a Sig P238.. I get 2" MOA @ 15 yards. So far it has fed reliable with 100 rounds down range..

I reload my own ammo so I can bump the loads up to match this load for when I practice, have about 1000 rounds down range total with Hornady FTX.

From all my privet tests on this Buffalo Bore ammo it gives the best results, I've tested it against Gold Dot, FTX, Critical Defense, Hydra Shok, and PDX. Most will only give an average of 9" penetration as the BB gave no less than 10" with an over all average of 11 5-8"

A few of the tested rounds in the others lost petals, some even fragmented.. But the BB all opened up well while retaining there mass. Again this is only my tests, but you won't find any of the other .380's pushing 1200fps in factory ammo, Buffalo Bore got it right, I'm sold!

[Mark_in_wi]

I don't think these were ment to be PD rounds. They are lead free and I think these were designed for ranges that are lead free. I would be careful and do some testing before I depended on this for PD. The idea is good but not sure if these would work.
Mark

[Foo909]

These are not lead free. The base of the bullet is covered with a brass jacket. The nose of the bullet has an exposed flat lead nose. I know they were not designed for personal defense but I believe if they expand/mushroom/flatten out a bit they may offer a very good defense round for the .380 Acp.

These rounds were designed with brass enclosed bases so the lead doesn't erode and vaporize into the air when shot at an indoor range.

[Ljutic]

I spent my July 4th holiday 2011 doing a basic 380 velocity test on over 30 different loads in 3 different 380s. Both of the OP's loads were tested as part of that exercise. Full write up is here. Pocket Guns and Gear: The Great .380 FMJ & JHP Ammo Test - The Results

This year, I'm cherry picking from that list to do terminal testing on the best performers. The Rem/UMC Leadless FNEB is on my list to test this fall when it cools off a bit. I like the velocity and energy of this load and really want to see how if it shows any expansion.