to .380 or not to .380

And this is a pretty serious question. Actually, every question or idea I've posted on this blog are serious questions, simply because one day (and let's all pray that day never comes) you could be betting your life or the life of a loved one on the choices you've made.

I've gone over calibers and personal choice on which firearm to carry. Every decision is a trade off. You want a small concealable gun, you're going to give up caliber. If you don't give up caliber, you give up comfort and magazine capacity. Trade offs, that's the name of the game.

After doing, what I would consider to be extensive, research, I've settled on the determination that for true concealed carry the .380 is probably the best choice for me. Here's why I say this:

To be of any use to you whatsoever, you have to actually carry your PDF, right? Right. I mean, it's no good to you at home should the poop hit the fan.

So, that means, for me at least, that the firearm in question needs to be small enough to conceal completely but at the same time not get lost in my pocket, etc.

I have that Beretta .25, and I like it, I carry it in a pocket holster on in the waist band pretty consistently. However, and this is just a fact of life, despite what I've said about a .25s power (which admittedly isn't much, but better than nothing) I'd like to step up a couple notches.

I am pretty sure I don't want to carry, ok, I KNOW I don't want to carry a Glock 26, or something of that size. I just wouldn't like it and I wouldn't carry it all that often thus defeating the purpose. I'd love to have one, but I wouldn't carry it.

The .380 sits right in that wheel house of comfortable to carry, easy to shoot, and effective.

Now, there has been an explosion of popularity in the .380 recently, but I've been a fan of the .380 for about 10 years. When I went to my first range and shot my first gun, it was a Bersa .380 and I was in love from the beginning.

If you'll check my reviews of the Bersa and the TCP you'll find that I'm a big proponent of this caliber and the pistols that can be made to fit this round.

So, the question becomes, should you vote for a .380 for your PDF. I'd say yes.
You have a good sized projectile going at a pretty good rate when it comes out of the barrel. It hits, on average, with 200 ft/lbs of force when it hits. Here's how to consider that. Drop a 200 lb weight from a distance of one foot on to your chest, yeah, that's gonna put a hurting on someone..

You tend to get decent round count, 6 or more, and they are usually in slim, lightweight, easy to conceal and manage frames.

Some people will say that you need a minimum of 10 rounds plus an extra magazine, etc, etc. I disagree completely. If I need to shoot more than twice then some very bad things are going on. The main problem is that I'm not hitting my target, the next problem is that I'm way outnumbered... and besides, you can't miss enough to stop and engagement.

So, I'd go with a nice, easy to conceal .380 every day of the week.

Y'all be safe out there.