Why Not a .380? I'll tell you why not...

The market for small, easily concealable, sub-compact or micro pistols has exploded in just a few years.  All the typical outlets, website, magazines, and online forums, proclaim that these pistols tap a consumer need for a comfortable and concealable carry gun.  These same outlets have nearly uniformly praised the Ruger LCP in .380, the Bersa Thunder, and the new Diamondback as terrific guns for concealable personal protection.

I have a different theory.  I think that the only reason that manufacturers released new .380 pistols is in reaction to the challenge of finding 9mm and .45 ACP ammunition, and now that ammunition is both more readily available and less expensive, the .380 guns are going to disappear.

Here’s why.

Most of these guns are utterly useless.

That’s just my opinion, mind you, but what good is a gun that might be easy to conceal, but fires a round without much stopping power and has a barrel too short to be very accurate at safe distances from an assailant? 

Really, this class of .380 micro-compact weapons nearly always have the semi-auto equivalent of a snub-nosed barrel that seems barely longer than the already short bullet.  The anemic .380 round can barely muster any muzzle velocity to do much damage to a watermelon let alone a crack-addled attacker.  Of course, that’s only if you can hit someone by shooting instinctively, since the ultra-short barrel length of this class of guns offers too little sight radius to be effective in anything more than a point-and-shoot scenario.

I’d be hard pressed to carry any of these guns confidently, and I really see no reason to bother.  Since Iraq started winding down, I haven’t had any trouble finding ammunition in 9mm or .45 ACP.  And, that’s the issue, I think.  While we’ve always had .380 handguns available, the latest tidal wave of product was developed during a period of extreme ammunition shortages in 9mm and .45 ACP.  With most production in those calibers going to resupply various military buyers, little was left to the civilian market.  Many distributors and select buyers hoarded their supply, creating wild inflation in ammunition prices.

With 9mm and .45 ACP in steady supply and prices returning to normal, if slightly inflated, prices, the need for a .380 handgun doesn’t seem as vital.  I wonder if we’ll see such a wide variety of manufacturers still building these guns in a year or two.

My advice, buy a compact or subcompact 9mm and a good quality holster that keeps the butt of the pistol from showing.  Join a club or visit a range and practice good shooting techniques.  Using an empty gun, practice drawing the gun from a holster and finding your sights.  Follow those steps and you will put bullets on target dependably in a crisis scenario .   You don’t need a smaller gun and a smaller round to stay safe on the streets.  Just a good holster and some practice.

But, of course, that’s just my opinion.