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Old July 9th, 2008, 02:46 PM   #23
ppkheat
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob87 View Post
What do you mean by the .380 being a "marginal defense cartridge"?
To me, it means it doesn't have quite enough "UUMPH", so not quite enough power to be a reliable man-stopper. Most people don't care for their primary CCW to be anything less than .38 or 9mm, and if they are already committed to carry a decent sized gun they bump it on up to .40 or .45, which definitely has "UUMPH"

Certainly a .22, .25, .32 or .380 can stop an attacker, and I sure don't want to be shot at by any of them. However a drug-induced "zombie" or someone maniacal and angry may not even know he was shot with a lesser caliber. The .380 is like 9mm's little brother.....a "9mm short", to me it sort of falls in a gray area, it makes a fine choice for pocket or BUG, I have one in my pocket right now. For primary carry there are better choices than .380.

You've done good research on picking out a handgun, it might be a good idea to do some searches on information on the .380. Beware of "caliber wars". I hope this helps......good luck, and by all means carry a gun/caliber you are comfortable with.
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