Front Sight, Press

Man, I really stirred up a hornets nest with this thing on a .380 failure. Actually it has been fun. It has doubled the traffic on my blog for the past few days. Some of my favorite bloggers stopped by to agree or correct the error of my ways. Maybe I ought to do a “Why I hate the 9mm” next. Unfortunately, it has left the impression in many peoples’ minds that I’m a caliber snob and completely insensitive to the needs of those who choose small guns for self-defense purposes. For the sake of clarification, I would like to address this impression and give you a more complete picture of my ideas on this matter.

First of all, I am a bit of a caliber snob. I like the .45 ACP for self defense, and my personal preference is for the .45 ACP in the M1911 platform. That’s my choice. Do I always carry a .45 M1911? No, I don’t. That does not change my conviction that a .45 will probably work better than a .32. Why don’t we grab a .22 pistol when we go deer hunting? Because we know from experience that it probably won’t do the job very well unless we are extremely lucky, and a rifle in 30-30 or 30-06 will probably work better – bigger bullet, more power. While this is an extreme comparison, exaggerated for the sake of illustration, I think that in general, the principle holds true: larger bullets and/or more power tend to be more effective than small bullets with low power. If everything else is equal, bigger and more powerful is better than small and under-powered. I’ll own up to some caliber snobbery.

Does this mean that there is no role for small guns? Obviously there are many circumstances in which a small pocket gun could be a life saver, and may be the only viable option for carry. Many people work in environments in which the concealment of a service auto is all but impossible. Many people have injuries or infirmities which make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to carry and use a full-sized handgun. I have a little Kel-Tec P32. It is extremely handy for certain circumstances. I really like lightweight snubnose revolvers in .38 Special. They are light, easy to carry and reasonably effective. There is a role for small guns.

The “Truisms”
There are rationalizations or “truisms” that bubble to the surface in this discussion that seem to try to create the impression that all handguns are really equal and that you really aren’t losing anything by opting to carry a small, under-powered handgun. Some of these bother me:

“All handguns are lousy stoppers.” In the whole firearms universe, this is basically true when you compare handguns to rifles and howitzers. This statement tends to mask the fact that the effectiveness of handguns generally improves with larger, more powerful cartridges.

“Large caliber handguns have failed dramatically” True again. Everyone knows anecdotes about some guy shot five times with a .45 who didn’t go down. Statistically, such incidences are rare. It is more likely that someone shot five times with a .45 will go down than someone shot five times with a .25.

“Shot placement is what counts.” Absolutely true as far as it goes. The problem with this one is that self-defense situations are usually highly dynamic affairs in which everyone is moving and suffering adrenaline dump. You may not get a perfect hit in the way you do at the range. Lousy hits with anything don’t work, but a so-so hit will benefit from a larger bullet and more power. This is a matter of tipping the odds in your favor, but there are no guarantees.

“No one has volunteered to be shot with my mousegun.” Is that a fact. All that really demonstrates is that the human race hasn’t gone completely stupid yet. Even the smallest guns do have a deterrent effect, and if deterrence is all that is required in a situation, then one is truly as good as the other. If the situation moves beyond the deterrence stage, then you may have a problem.

“Small guns have shown themselves to be lethal.” Well, yeah, sometimes. It has happened, but they fail more than they succeed.

and my all-time favorite…

“The .32 in your pocket is better than the .45 you left at home.” I couldn’t agree more. And yet, if you really thought you were facing a threat, would you leave the .45 at home?

My Specific Beef With The .380
Small bullet, mediocre velocity, and poor penetration. When the .380 was developed, we didn’t have the small, compact 9mm’s that we do today. Today, you can get a 9mm pistol that is only a little bit larger than the average .380, and in doing so, get a significantly more powerful cartridge. I just don’t see the point in the .380 in light of the other options available to us. If after reviewing the evidence, one still chooses to use a .380, I think it’s important for the user to understand that the cartridge has some real limitations. If one does choose to carry a minor caliber gun, the only compensation is to practice a lot with it until you become truly expert.

Conclusions
So there you have it. I’m a bit of a caliber snob, but not a mousegun hater. While I acknowledge that shot placement is generally more important than caliber, I object to the truisms that try to make all handguns equal in effectiveness. I just don’t believe that to be true, and I am not willing to tell my readers, “Oh, yeah, your .380 will work as well as a .44 Magnum.” Sorry, but there are real differences in effectiveness, and I cannot in good conscience say otherwise.