what's the best .380 pocket pistol?

[chiefrcd]

I own a Keltec and a Sig232 which wasn't on the voting list. The Keltec is my smallest but by far and away the Sig 232 is the best shooting and most naturally pointing small gun I've ever owned.....of any caliber.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Ghettokracker71]

Of course, it's the KelTec P3AT. It is so good, Ruger copied it. The only thing that Ruger added to it was a recall.

Couldn't agree more. Keltec was making the p3at long before Ruger copied them. Before Taurus , Sig, Kahr, or S&W decided to jump on the bandwagon too.


The original. No recall. I bought my first p3at, made the mistake of trading it in/selling it. Got another p3at with CT grips, and LOVED them both. Excellent weapons, always took any kind of rounds I put through them at the range without problems, straight out of the box(Well, I always strip and lube before shooting and clean/lube VERY well after.). You won't want to put tons of rounds through it in one session, because its designed to be a reliable, easy to conceal, carry weapon.

Call me crazy, but I LOVE my p3at. I've been so pleased with it, I plan to purchase a Keltec pf9 and Sub2000 carbine when my budget permits.

[ajbeau]

sorry i meant the lcp..thanks

love my LCP

[sixshotman]

I own both kahr p380 and ruger lcp.

Both go bang every time i pull the trigger so I can confidently carry both

Criteria
1 Cost - advantage lcp
2 Sights - big advantage kahr
3 Felt recoil - big advantage kahr
4 Trigger pull - slight advantage kahr
5 Size/Weight/conceilability - slight advantage LCP
6 Overall design and features - advantage kahr
7 reliability - equal
8 speed to reload magazine - big advantage kahr
9 accuracy - equal

To me, the only legitimate criteria are 3, 4, 7, 9 and maybe 8. With reliability and accuracy being equal, the p380 is superior in felt recoil and follow up shots. The LCP is a bit snappy for my taste and frankly hurts my hand. While this can be mitigated by purchasing a decent grip, it still does not compare to the kahr. Also, the kahr locks open on last shot which permits faster reload versus the lcp which requires racking the slide to chamber the first round of a new mag (manual slide stop). This is a small factor imo but an advantage nonetheless to kahr.

while the lcp is considerable cheaper and poses a much greater value, i would never choose to carry it over the p380. That said, the lcp is a fine gun and i do not regret buying one.

[Deerbnb]

I have only had dealings with the Sig, LCP, and Bodyguard. For pocket carry I choose the Bodyguard. If i were trying to shoot bullseyes it would be the Sig. But purely for a defensive weapon with the options I want (a slide that holds open and a safety, the only thing I use the laser for is to play with the cat) the Bodyguard is for me. The Sig is a fine feeling piece of equipment but I want DAO for pocket use.

[Glockwatcher]

Despite its relatively high price, I was initially impressed with the Kahr P380's overall quality appearance, (night) sights, and smooth, if long, trigger stroke, so I bought one along with 4 additional magazines, as well as an IWB and a pocket holster, and proceeded with the recommended run-in procedure.

First, the good news; it was nicely zeroed, grouped well, and its relatively low recoil was impressive .

Now the bad part; without going into gruesome detail, it constantly malfunctioned during, and well after, the prescribed 200-round break-in. This continued even after Kahr provided a replacement slide stop, so, after some 550 rounds wasted, back to its birthplace it went.

After over six weeks at Kahr in Worcester MA, It was returned (actually, mostly replaced) with a new frame (with a new serial number), and some other new parts. The next 100 rounds fired (various FMJ's) produced 5 malfunctions, but the subsequent 250 assorted rounds functioned properly.

Next, I'll try another two boxes of Speer TMJ's. I've chosen this as my carry ammo for the P380 as there's little reason to expect .380 hollow points to expand from such a short barrel, and such expansion would only decrease needed penetration. If those hundred rounds finally prove reliable, I may eventually consider carrying the P380, that is, if I ever find I can't carry a .38 snub, Glock 27 or Glock 23.

However, do not construe this as any kind of endorsement. In fact, I will be cautioning my personal and professional contacts against this weapon for now. It may indeed be a great design, but my experience shows that it is severely lacking in execution, and I am far from alone in this experience. If Kahr ever achieves consistent quality control, their P380 will have my endorsement.

I've always fired a few hundred rounds through any weapon I carry before I depend upon it, but only to confirm reliability, not to finish off its construction. Regardless of all the excuses its groupies may make, no quality defensive weapon, especially such a relatively expensive one, should require such babying.

[JohnWFD]

LCP...all the way

[bigdog44]

Had the LCP but sold it and got the Kahr p380. Great choice for me. I love the Kahr. All black with night sites. Much better trigger and far superior barrel.

[kaboomkaboom]

sold my LCP and bought a late numbered Diamondback...The diamond back has better trigger and less recoil...It seems more accurate shooting to where you point too... My DB 380 had been very reliable to this point, but the LCP was always reliable too ...400+ rounds thru The DB and I feel confident with it...the biggest difference is how the DB .380 feels so much better in my hand than the LCP ever did...plus the LCP always pinched the bottom of my finger when I pulled the trigger...

[gglass]

This...

[adric22]

Well, I love my Taurus TCP. It has been very reliable and I like that it has a working slide-lock, where the Ruger LCP does not. The TCP is available in .380 and .32 caliber and is also very inexpensive. I've seen them for sale brand-new for as little as $259 in some cases. They also come in different colors. (incidentally, the picture below is not my hand, I just found it on the internet)

[C hawk Glock]

I would take a Glock 28.........

[PPKman]

Lot of votes for the Sig and a mention or two of the PPK / PPKS, but while these are great pistols I wouldn't consider either of them true pocket pistols, they're too big. Some great choices like Kahr and others that are expensive. LCP is great all around but for a balance of reliability and value I think it's hard to beat the TCP and KelTec which are right there in the mix.

[deafdave3]

Bersa Thunder Plus on my side. Bersa Thunder CC in my pocket. Yep, I trust my life to those awesome little guns.

[livewire]

Wow, suddenly an old thread.

Buddy of mine has an LCP (anyone else notice that the OP put LCR in the poll?), and I shot it a bit... pinched the bejezus out of my trigger finger, some genius put a flat ledge at the top of the trigger where it meets the frame. When a guy like me with long fingers shoots it, recoil drives my finger onto that ledge so that the trigger reset pinches the flesh of my finger in it. OUCH.

I dry-fired one at my LGS after that to make sure it wasn't specific to his pistol, and I got the same effect. Not as bad because it wasn't under recoil, but I could tell it was the same burr.