Is a small .380 or a lightweight .38 snub better for pocket carry?

>>34483318
The .380 pistols are going to tend to be thinner and lighter. Most people would consider that to be enough, since the goal in a small gun is mainly just the ease of carry.

The revolver has some other advantages, though. You can fire it from within your clothing without worrying about the second shot getting caught on fabric. You can hold it up against the bad guy's chest and pull the trigger without worrying about the slide being pushed out of battery. You can also chamber a slightly heavier bullet with more momentum and therefore more penetrating ability than the .380 ACP. The major disadvantage is that while semi-auto pistols can be made with a wide variety of trigger configurations, you only get DAO (or DAO with a cockable hammer) on a pocket revolver.

Incidentally, there are a lot of .380 pistols that are unreliable, but the small revolver designs don't have nearly as many issues as something like a Kel-Tec or Taurus .380 would give you. The S&W Bodyguard has mixed reviews, most of the complaints center on the hammer spring being too weak. Beretta Pico had a badly received introduction, but might be fixed by now, considering that Beretta is a top tier company. The Sig P238 and Ruger LCP are 100% reliable in my experience, so there are some good models out there, though.

>>34483318
Pocket carry is stupid.

>>34484103

Wrong, faggot.

>>34484148
Then why didn't your thread get any replies?

>>34483318
WTF? isn't 0.38 the same as 0.380? The extra 0 at the end should literally mean nothing

>WTF? isn't 0.38 the same as 0.380? The extra 0 at the end should literally mean nothing
bait

>>34483438
It seems like DAO wouldn't matter that much in situations where you're shoving it into someones chest or firing from within clothing...

Is it implied in pocket carry that you won't be carrying extra mags/speed loaders?

>>34483318
The .380 bodyguard is trash.

>>34484946
>It seems like DAO wouldn't matter that much in situations where you're shoving it into someones chest or firing from within clothing...
It's not THAT hard to master a DAO trigger, it's just a little harder than single action and striker-fire type triggers. Your gun can't only be usable for certain situations, though. You need to be able to hit at a variety of distances.

>Is it implied in pocket carry that you won't be carrying extra mags/speed loaders?
For me, I don't pocket carry guns, but if I did, I would be hard-pressed to fit the rest of my stuff on my body if both my front pockets were taken up by guns and ammo. My keys, phone and wallet have to go somewhere.

>>34484963
that's what purses are for anon.

>>34485002
I don't carry a purse.

.38 Special had much better terminal ballistics than .380 ACP.

>>34483438
>Incidentally, there are a lot of .380 pistols that are unreliable
This. I had a Colt Mustang that I could never get reliable, and the Keltec P3AT I owned was also a piece of junk that choked on FMJs. I don't know why gun manufacturers can't figure out how to make small guns reliable.

>>34483318
Whichever one you can shoot better. You're looking at about the same ballistic performance, but J frame .38s have significantly more recoil, lower capacity. You'll get better accuracy at ranges past 7 yards with the .38 as well

>>34485028
Not really, at least with certain .380 loads you're almost getting 9mm performance. .38 special performs about the same out of a snubby

>>34485054
Just do more research before you buy guns. Me and my friends all have reliable pocket guns. LCPs LCP2s and I have a Jetfire. None of us paid more than $300. No excuses.

>>34485098
Comprehensive ballistics testing proves otherwise: http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/self-defense-ammo-ballistic-tests/

>>34483318
Better balistics and more reliable, .38 special over .380 auto. Easy choice.

>>34485149
But revolvers are a lot wider, generally larger in footprint, and have worse triggers than autos.

1" barrel from a snub isn't going to allow full powder burn and thus is no better than a 380

>>34485588
Barrels on revolvers are measured from the front of a chamber, whereas barrels on pistols are measured from the rear of the chamber. The full barrel lengths are pretty comparable. Also, the projectile and powder charges are different. Why do you think that a 90 grain projectile traveling at about 800 fps is going to do more damage than a 130 grain projectile traveling at 900 fps? Educate yourself.
http://ballisticsbytheinch.com/

>>34483438
>>34485054
>>34485138
Sig P238 is a very small pistol that's got SAO and is pretty darn small. Its also very reliable, at least for me. I haven't had it stovepipe or fail to feed, except I had a bad slide catch when I first bought mine. Sent it back to sig, they replaced it for free, worked fine ever since.

Its a good alternative if you prefer SAO and a safety to a DAO gun.

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>>34483438
My Pico has been pretty good, honestly it's my main carry pistol since I'm basically always carrying. If I'm wearing pants, I've got a gun.

>>34484946
I'll sometimes carry a single spare magazine in the other pocket, sometimes not, mostly depending on what pants I'm wearing. Today I did. Pic related.

>>34484103
Only carrying 25% of the time is stupid.

>>34484349
In the exceedingly unlikely event you're serious, the bullet diameter is close for the two (about 0.38 inches, give or take) but the rest of their numbers are different.

>>34485143
I've seen lucky gunners shit. Did you look at .38? They perform most of the time equal to, or even shittier than the best .380 like XTP. Not sure what point you're trying to make

>>34486510
>Only carrying 25% of the time is stupid
What did he mean by this?

>>34486721
>What did he mean by this?
He probably means that someone who says
>pocket carry is stupid
is more likely to simply leave their gun at home than to pocket carry in those rare (e.g., 25% of the time) situations where IWB isn't an option (e.g., in scrubs or athletic shorts)

>>34486761
>Not an option
Literally when. Ive read articles about nurses carrying guns clipped to their scrub drawstrings.

>>34487512
Going to the gym and or playing an active sport makes carrying a gun difficult if not impossible.

>>34487545
I skateboard with a jetfire in my pocket. And not cruising around on a longboard like some kook. Real sweaty climbing fences getting hurt skating.

>>34484349
when machining parts the number of zeros at the end indicate how precise the part has to be machined. with .380 the implication is that the caliber is precision manufactured to 1/1000th of an inch. semi automatic guns have to have more precise actions than revolvers, revolvers still work even if the cylinder isn't lined up right, they just shave off part of the bullet on one side.

>>34487875
>I skateboard
Fag.

>>34485008
>not carrying his tactical purse
>not have 2 guns, 10 mags, a flashbang, knife, and backup knife
This guy

>>34487899
Better than the g-shock sheepdawg LARPing you do.

>>34487973
What?

>>34483318
lcp or bust OP

Anyone have an opinion either way on the the 442 vs the LCR .38?

>>34488009
Both are good guns. Smith revolvers feel a bit more refined than Rugers in general. I've owned revolvers from both companies before. The triggers on Smiths are heavy when new, but get lighter after several hundred rounds. Ruger triggers tend to be about what they will ever be right out of the box, which feels lighter to me, albeit more stagey, but a broken in Ruger trigger is not as smooth as a broken in Smith trigger.

I happen to have bought a 442 (no lock) earlier today. Haven't shot it yet, but it seems pretty solid to me while still being pretty lightweight.

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>>34486510
not busting balls, am serious about your decision process about the Pico. Weight? capacity? size? ergo?

vs. say like Glock 42 or Kahr P380/CT380 or even SW Bodyguard 380

I'm seriously considering an Accu-Tek LT-380 (15oz/6rnd/2.80 barrel), but haven't fingerfucked enough comparable guns yet.

Input/experience appreciated

>>34486574
Did YOU look at it? Even out of a 2 inch barrel, the majority of .38 Special loads have good performance. Meanwhile, the majority of .380 ACP loads fail to even reach the FBI minimums for penetration on top of not having a meaningful advantage in capacity.

>>34488009
Default LCR grip is kind of uncomfortable, and can mess with your hand when shooting it (particularly with +P). I'd recommend swapping out for a different grip.

>>34483318
Personally I don't see a point in carrying a revolver with such a small barrel. Maybe in the days before subcompact single stack 9mms/380s. It is just as thick as any other J frame and you get shit ballistics velocity and blind/deafen yourself after every shot. Might as well add another inch to the barrel for an extra couple hundred FPS since it doesn't add that much more bulk.

>>34488307
>>34485722

>>34488307
>Personally I don't see a point in carrying a revolver with such a small barrel.

Back-up/last resort gun

>>34483318
Use the revolver, you don't have to actually get it out of your pocket. Give mr bad guy a hug and blow him away from retention.

>>34484349
.38 is implied to mean ".38 special"
.380 is implied to mean ".380 ACP"
Two very different cartridges despite having similar nominal bullet diameters

>>34488623
.357 vs. .380 the classic .38 should really be called the ".36" if it wasn't for marketing majors.

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>>34488115
It's super thin and weighs very little. I've got the iPhone 7 Plus and that's more annoying in my pocket.

The Glock 42 is a lot bigger. A Ruger LCP is basically the thing it's competing with. The trigger sucks on the Pico. I didn't like the LCP as much though and went with the Pico. I've been meaning to play around with one of the new LCP2's, it's supposed to be a bit better than the original.

>>34488429
Read the rest of his post.

J-frames are hard to shoot, but everything else about them is super easy (which is why they're still around).

Easy to conceal, reliable, aftermarket's solid, and .38 Spl is everywhere.

I carry a 642 in a Mika on weekdays (I work in business casual hell). It works. Not the best gun in the world but VERY easy to fold into a carry rotation.

I chose a revo over a .380 for pocket carry because I can get a much better firing grip on the draw. YMMV.

>>34483318

i like my ruger lc380 muchly got a trigger kit from galloway now it has 1/'2" pull vs 1" stock

i'm not concerned about shooting from within my pocket but that's me

those s&w bg's are a bit clownish for my situation

forget revolvers too much training needed for that DAO trigger

>>34483318
.380 and standard .38 special loads deliver about the same muzzle energy for a given barrel length so whatever you're more comfortable shooting is probably the better bet.

>>34486510
>Ruger LCP
The difference is certainly not 0.38 inches.

>>34492108
hello can'tread

>>34490916
So .380 probably works better for the average person then

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I like my 442.
>apex spring/FP kit
>stoned internals
>clip draw
>happy hamburger holster

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>>34492108
You seem confused.
Here, have a pretty picture.

.380 ACP bullet diameter = 0.355" (9.0mm)

.38 Special bullet diameter = 0.357" (9.1mm)

9x19mm bullet diameter = 9.01 mm (0.355")

>>34483318
does anyone even own one of those new Bodyguard .38s like in OPS pic?
if I hear pocketcarry I instaly think about a s&w 442 or 438 and not a pistol
because
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V3x_7OZw84

>>34484349

A bullet's nominal diameter is not always it's true diameter. Why, I don't know.

For example, a .380 actually measures .356. And a .38 actually measures .357.

>>34493470
or take 8mm mauser
it's actually 7.92mm

>>34493470
Some are based on bullet diameter, others are based on case diameter. The case diameter of a 38 special is about .38 inches. The bullet diameter of a 9x19mm is 9.01mm (and it's neck diameter is 0.380 inches.) And then sometimes it's just made slightly different for marketing reasons.