Can Your .380 Fight a Rifle?

By Clay Martin

Posted in
#Skills

How far should your concealed carry handgun be capable of shooting? If you’re running off of averages, the statistics say seven yards. And I would buy that, given all the things a normal street crime lethal-force encounter involves. Positive ID, clear and present danger, blah blah blah. But if you base your needs on raw averages, you could risk it and leave your gun at home.

While a .380 might seem like a close-range-only option, a solidly accurate gun like the Hellcat in .380 ACP can give you some options in a pinch.

I don’t live that way, and odds are you don’t either. When I leave my house, I carry a Springfield pistol in my holster to help me address lethal threats.

Springfield Armory Hellcat 380 ACP pistol — Shown here is the Springfield Armory Hellcat .380 pistol with a variety of self-defense ammunition selections. Image: Jeremy Tremp

The fact of the matter is, the world is changing. You might find yourself in a rifle fight, holding onto just your CCW gun. If push comes to shove, will your gun reach? This week, I decided to find out.

Sight alignment is critical when shooting long range targets with the Springfield 911 — A set of good sights can a make real difference in the long-range performance of a tiny .380.

All the things that make a gun great for concealment also tend to make it not great for shooting. Short sight radius to go with the short comfy barrel, thin little grips for stashing in your waistband, and not exactly a target gun trigger since you’re cramming it in your pants. But are there exceptions to that rule?

Federal and American Eagle .380 ACP ammo used in long distance testing — Clay ran some basic and also high-end defensive Federal ammo through the 911 during the test.

From my experience with the 911, I would have to say yes. While I have seen CCW specials that wouldn’t hit paper at 25 yards, this isn’t one of them. I have been impressed from day one by the accuracy of the 911, all the more so since it actually has a stubby little 2.7-inch barrel. So I took my .380 ACP version on a walk back, and it reached out farther than I would have bet. Take a look at the video above to see how it did.

Federal HST self defense round in .380 ACP — Clay really likes Federal Premium’s HST .380 ACP ammo for self-defense use.

Would I pick a .380 over a rifle in a gunfight? Nope. But, if I found myself in that situation and the 911 was what I had with me, I’d be ready to reach out with it to stop the threat. Part of being ready is to carry a quality .380 ACP handgun like the Hellcat .380 with you, and couple that with quality training.

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