Top 5 380 ACP Self Defense Ammo

The 380 ACP is one of the most common concealed carry calibers, mostly because of the low recoil and how concealable 380 ACP guns are. Most 380 ACP ammo will be between 80 and 100 grains with a velocity between 900 to 1,000 FPS. You can expect muzzle energy around 200 foot pounds, while not quite as powerful as the 9mm or 45 ACP it still has enough firepower to get the job done. We've put together our list of top 5 self-defense 380 ACP ammo,
you can check out all 380 ACP ammo here.
1

Hornady Critical Defense Ammunition 380 ACP 90 Grain FTX Box of 25

Hornady Critical Defense Ammunition was purpose built for concealed carry guns and designed to deliver reliable and controlled expansion regardless of target every time.. Critical Defense Ammunition is loaded with Hornady's  bullet which has a soft polymer insert that delivers superior controlled expansion and large, deep wound cavities over a wide range of velocities. Each round is loaded into a nickel case for increased visibility in low-light situations and premium low flash propellants that deliver proven performance, even in very short-barreled handguns that will not disrupt your vision. This ammunition was designed by Hornady to expand every single time. This ammunition is new production, non-corrosive, in boxer primed, reloadable brass cases.

Features

  • Unaffected by thick and heavy clothing, including denim and leather
  • Bullet delivers superior controlled expansion and large, deep wound cavities over a wide range of velocities
  • Clean burning and efficient propellants reduce recoil in lightweight handguns, and perform consistently at all temperatures
  • Minimal muzzle flash protect night vision
  • Feeds reliably in pistols
  • Bullets are custom designed for individual loads
  • Effective, consistent, reliable self-defense ammunition


Notice From Hornady: Temporary suspension of nickel plated cartridge cases for Critical Defense® Handgun Ammunition 5/25/21

Unfortunately, everyone is faced with production bottlenecks and supply chains are stressed. In particular, the freight system is delayed longer than normal. Our current turnaround time on nickel plating cartridge cases is 4+ weeks. This delay has created a significant bottleneck in the production of ammunition.

Due to these issues, we will suspend nickel plating on all Critical Defense handgun ammunition to help reduce production time. We will resume nickel plating when things return to normal.

 

What Customers Are Saying

Excellent ammunition! ...

Excellent ammunition! This fired without any failures or jams from my somewhat finicky Walther PPK/S. It was also very accurate - 7 shots into one large hole at 7 yards - repeatable. It is very clean burning with low muzzle flash. This is by far my new favorite 380 round.
- Caden, 2/25/2010

About Hornady

“Ten bullets through one hole” is the philosophy that brought Hornady® Manufacturing from a two-man operation in 1949, to a world-leading innovator of bullet, ammunition, reloading tool and accessory design and manufacture today. Change is their constant and daily challenge. They outperform their competitors by ensuring the products they make are the ones their customers need right now, and accurately predict what they’ll want in the future. They recognize trends, and respect when to leave well enough alone. Their workforce includes an ample number of hunters and competitive shooters, as well as veterans and former law enforcement officers. At Hornady® Manufacturing, ammunition is more than their livelihood. It’s a major part of their daily life.

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2

Sig Sauer Elite Performance Ammunition 380 ACP 90 Grain V-Crown Jacketed Hollow Point Box of 20

SIG V-Crown defensive rounds combine perfected material specifications and fine-tuned design innovations, including a stacked hollow point cavity, to deliver exceptional on-target energy with maximum weight retention and optimal expansion for ultimate stopping power. SIG V-Crown ammunition creates a consistent V-shaped main cavity on top of a deep narrow trail with superior weight retention, maximum expansion, optimal penetration depth time after time. This ammunition is new production, non-corrosive, in boxer-primed, reloadable nickel-plated cases.

Features

  • Designed to match Sig Full Metal Jacket ammunition
  • High Quality components
  • Reloadable nickel-plated brass cases

 

Note: Due to availability of components, this ammunition may or may not be shipped in nickel plated brass.

What Customers Are Saying

Very good ammo at a great price

Tested in wet-pack (soaked paper with a 5/8" sheet of southern pine plywood packed about 1" from the front of the block to simulate bone/cartilage), Sig V-Crown bullets expanded perfectly when fired out of my Ruger LCP, overall performance was comparable to several other premium choices but at a much lower price. The photo shows two of the expanded V-Crown bullets next to a Hornady Critical Defense 90gr, the Critical Defense expanded noticeably less and penetrated only an extra half inch (I placed the red tip on top of the Hornady bullet for the photo, it was not still attached when I dug it out of the wetpack). Sig V-Crown is outstanding ammo at a good price in every caliber I have tried so far (.380 ACP, 9mm +P 124gr, 357 Sig, 40 S&W 180gr, 45 ACP 230gr).
- Matt, 11/2/2018

About Sig Sauer

Born from the Swiss Wagon Factory company in 1853, the Sig Sauer brand we know today is one of the most recognized and trusted brands in the firearms and outdoor industry. In their world-class facilities, they build the toughest, most precise rifles, pistols, suppressors, optics, ammunition, and airguns, while offering the finest firearms training — all as a fully integrated system. They offer models such as the P365 Pistol, Tango Rifle Scope, MCX Rifle, and ROMEO-X Reflex Sight. They do this because they share the same drive to be the best, the same love of freedom, the same unwillingness to compromise — as those who choose their brand. SIG SAUER--NEVER SETTLE.

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3

Hornady American Gunner Ammunition 380 ACP 90 Grain XTP Jacketed Hollow Point Box of 25

The American Gunner line of ammunition is a collection of tried-and-true, versatile loads that are popular with shooters for their target shooting, hunting or self-defense needs. Made with premium components, American Gunner ammunition combines generations of ballistics know-how with modern components and technology. Preliminary offerings feature legendary XTP (eXtreme Terminal Performance) bullets that have been favorites for decades. Designed for hunting, self-defense and law enforcement applications, the XTP bullet is exceptionally accurate, and is the choice of many top competitive shooters around the world.

Features

  • XTP (eXtreme Terminal Performance) bullets are exceptionally accurate and deliver excellent versatility and superior ballistic performance
  • Propellants are matched to each load to ensure optimal pressure, velocity, volume and consistency from lot to lot
  • High quality primers and Hornady cases combine to deliver consistent shooting in the field.

What Customers Are Saying

Qualified Terminal Performance

I recently purchased a Sig P238. It was my first 1911 style and my first 380 caliber. Being a new caliber to me, I watched all the youtube videos for the caliber... I think I've seen them all, from recommendations of using ball for EDC to the super expensive ammo with lots of tactical sounding names in their names. These affordable, XTP bullets are the only ones I found that had multiple tests showing them to meet minimum penetration and with adequate expansion. This style of bullet can be found in other offerings, but these are affordable and they perform. I've only bought a few boxes so far--some for testing and some for carry... and I've not had any malfunctions. Do some research on the internet and youtube... there are a lot of hollow points in this caliber available, but these have been shown to perform.
- TD, 7/16/2017

About Hornady

“Ten bullets through one hole” is the philosophy that brought Hornady® Manufacturing from a two-man operation in 1949, to a world-leading innovator of bullet, ammunition, reloading tool and accessory design and manufacture today. Change is their constant and daily challenge. They outperform their competitors by ensuring the products they make are the ones their customers need right now, and accurately predict what they’ll want in the future. They recognize trends, and respect when to leave well enough alone. Their workforce includes an ample number of hunters and competitive shooters, as well as veterans and former law enforcement officers. At Hornady® Manufacturing, ammunition is more than their livelihood. It’s a major part of their daily life.

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4

Winchester Silvertip Defense Ammunition 380 ACP 85 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point Box of 20

Winchester Silvertip has been trusted for decades when it matters most. Silvertip Defense ammunition offers the time-proven design with the Power to Defend. The jacketed hollow point design provides maximum stopping power for personal defense scenarios. The jacket profile of the Silvertip bullet ensures reliable functioning, precise accuracy and consistent expansion. This ammunition is new production, non-corrosive, in boxer-primed, reloadable brass cases.

About Winchester

Winchester is The American Legend, a brand built on integrity, hard work, and a deep focus on its loyal Customers. Considered one of the world’s leading ammunition and firearms manufacturers, Winchester has built its reputation on delivering innovative products, providing top-shelf Customer service, and demonstrating industry leadership. Along with ammunition and firearms, Winchester offers many gun parts and accessories as well as tools, apparel, safes and storage, air guns, and more. We offer a huge selection of Winchester products, including the Model 70 Rifle, Super-X Ammunition, SX4 Shotgun, and AA Target Ammo. From our research and development efforts to our manufacturing processes, we understand the value of product quality and performance. With a reputation steeped in tradition, we have earned the moniker ‘The American Legend’ by delivering on our commitment to excellence in everything we do.

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5

Underwood Xtreme Defender Ammunition 380 ACP 68 Grain Lehigh Xtreme Defense Lead-Free Box of 20

While taking advantage of state of the art testing equipment, this high performance ammunition by Underwood is field tested using popular, real firearms that customers are most likely to own out in the real world with all the elements you would experience. If for some reason Underwood Ammunition fails to meet performance expectations, Underwood stands by their product 100% and will make sure the customer is satisfied with every purchase. This ammunition is new production, non-corrosive, in boxer primed, reloadable nickel plated brass cases.

The Xtreme Defender is based on the popular Xtreme Penetrator product line. The XD ammunition has an optimized nose flute, total weight, and velocity to achieve a penetration depth up to 18 inches with a permanent wound cavity (PWC) that is just simply enormous; no other expanding hollow point comes close to achieving anywhere near this diameter and volume. Not only is the PWC over 100% larger than any other expanding bullet, expansion is achieved despite being shot through barriers. The solid copper body ensures that wallboard, sheet metal, and automotive glass will have no effect on the Permanent Wound Channel. All of Underwood Ammo rounds utilize flash suppressed powder so that your vision will not be compromised if it becomes necessary to use your firearm in low light.

The Underwood nickel plating process provides several key benefits including; improved feeding in all actions of firearms, enhanced corrosion resistance over traditional brass, improved cosmetics, and ease of cleanup during reloading. Nickel plated casings will not tarnish like brass during storage or when in contact with foreign materials such as leather, moisture, and other metals. Until the development of the Ducta-Bright 7a process, nickel plating casings often limited the number of reloads as compared to raw brass. It was claimed that nickel plated brass casings embrittled the brass therefore making it less desirable for reloaders despite the ease of cleanup that nickel plating offers. In addition, ammunition engineers raising concerns of using nickel plating in very hot +P or magnum loads found that traditional nickel plating often cracked deep-drawn cases, or worse, lead to a total failure. This new process eliminates any concern, to the shooter or reloader, of hazard or ability to re-use the brass.

Features

  • Reduced recoil.
  • CNC machined from solid copper to overcome barriers to penetration
  • Radial flutes that force the hydraulic energy inward to build pressure
  • Minimal surface area to increase the force at the point of contact and sharp cutting edges that defeat barriers



What Customers Are Saying

My carry ammo for my LCPII

Functioned perfectly and very accurate. So far the only ammo that will shoot to point of aim in my LCPII, everything else printed low. Recoil is sharp but manageable even in this light gun. I feel confident with this in the mag for everyday carry.
- Jim, 1/7/2018

About Underwood Ammunition

Kevin Underwood started Underwood Ammo in 2013 after seeing a need in the market for better ammunition at a reasonable price. Some of you may be reading this while on-duty, on-reserve, or while off-duty from protecting our neighborhoods. Where-ever you are - We Salute You. Thank you for your service.

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