Lehigh 380 defense ammo?

[Ibock]

Just wanted some feed back on Lehigh defense 380 ammo. Is it a gimmick or the real deal? Would you rather have 12 inch penetration with full expansion of hollow tip or 16 inch penetration of the Lehigh defense?

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Could always look at Buffalo Bore.

They also offer +p, if your gun can handle it

 

[rotor]

Just wanted some feed back on Lehigh defense 380 ammo. Is it a gimmick or the real deal? Would you rather have 12 inch penetration with full expansion of hollow tip or 16 inch penetration of the Lehigh defense?

Everything I have seen is positive. Bill Wilson bought them out. Underwood loads a bunch of their bullets.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

So I'm confused.
Is it "ammo" as stated in the OP, or just the bullets?

 

[Sasquatch]

Lots of test videos out there on the EwToobs of guys testing Lehigh ammo in various mediums, and hunting with them.

In a .380 - I'd be looking for penetration more than expansion, because .380 is at that power threshold that *most* expanding ammo just doesn't have the poop to reliably hit the vitals. Expanding ammo in pistols is primarily to keep the rounds from exiting the target - its not nearly as much about causing max damage. Ultimately with pistol ammo you're poking holes - preferably holes in the right places to gain the intended effect in the least amount of time possible.

Which pistol will you be packing in .380?

 

[rotor]

So I'm confused.
Is it "ammo" as stated in the OP, or just the bullets?

Lehigh Defense sells ammo (MidwayUSA), bullets, and supplies Underwood bullets for their line of ammo. They may provide other companies their bullets as well.
I buy the bullets from Lehigh and roll my own. My KelTec P32 is a potent gun with Lehigh loads but they no longer sell 32 ACP bullets to anyone but Underwood. I have a bunch though, long enough to last me. They sell most other bullets and provide load data as well.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Lehigh Defense sells ammo (MidwayUSA), bullets, and supplies Underwood bullets for their line of ammo. They may provide other companies their bullets as well.
I buy the bullets from Lehigh and roll my own. My KelTec P32 is a potent gun with Lehigh loads but they no longer sell 32 ACP bullets to anyone but Underwood. I have a bunch though, long enough to last me. They sell most other bullets and provide load data as well.

So, then you're actually not looking for ammo, like you said?


ETA: Sorry, you aren't the OP, lol.

 

[Ibock]

Lots of test videos out there on the EwToobs of guys testing Lehigh ammo in various mediums, and hunting with them.

In a .380 - I'd be looking for penetration more than expansion, because .380 is at that power threshold that *most* expanding ammo just doesn't have the poop to reliably hit the vitals. Expanding ammo in pistols is primarily to keep the rounds from exiting the target - its not nearly as much about causing max damage. Ultimately with pistol ammo you're poking holes - preferably holes in the right places to gain the intended effect in the least amount of time possible.

Which pistol will you be packing in .380?

I am carrying a LCP max when I carry 380.

 

[Ibock]

So I'm confused.
Is it "ammo" as stated in the OP, or just the bullets?

I am talking about which carry load for my LCP Max

 

[Ibock]

Why doesn’t anyone shoot cadaver to check ballistics instead of gel so we could know what happens to real tissue?

 

[Sasquatch]

Why doesn’t anyone shoot cadaver to check ballistics instead of gel so we could know what happens to real tissue?

Paul Harrell comes close with his "meat target" - its far more palatable of a test for most than shooting actual human cadavers. Still doesn't 100% simulate shooting living tissue - for that, the closest you can come is shooting game animals or invasive animals, such as hogs, deer, or other larger game animals with similar tissue elasticity to humans.

Shooting a cadaver that has been drained of blood won't show you the real blood loss or how the circulatory system may react. Then you have to factor in decomp, and the fact that dead tissue doesn't react or have the same feel as live tissue.

If you want to know exactly how something will react when you shoot a human with it - the only 100% accurate measure, would be to shoot another human with it - and well, that really hasn't been done as a test medium since the 1940's with certain evil groups.

Lehigh's bullets do tend to perform quite well when shooting hogs. There have even been anecdotes of people bringing down deer and hogs using their .380 slugs - loaded hot of course - but I'm not sure I'd rely on any .380 to take either animal cleanly and humanely, or to stop a charge. Better than a pointy stick though.

9mm loads are actually pretty commonly used by handgun hunters to take white tail deer and smaller hogs, as well as varmints like coyotes. Chuck Taylor (gun writer, not the shoe guy) used to write all the time about hunting with his 9mms, he's also the guy who was doing a decades long torture test of a Glock 17 that allegedly included submerging it at the bottom of the ocean for months, freezing it in a block of ice, dragging it behind a truck, dropping it off buildings, and I think the last article I read of his on the subject 10+ years ago, he had something like 200,000 rounds thru it with the only replacement parts being springs.

 

[seeker_two]

Why doesn’t anyone shoot cadaver to check ballistics instead of gel so we could know what happens to real tissue?

Because cadavers are terrible at filing research reports.....

 

[Sasquatch]

Because cadavers are terrible at filing research reports.....

Hey, they can still vote democrat or be elected to the US Senate though!

 

[RoadRunner]

You may want to take a look at the youtube videos of tests of Federal Hydra-Shok Deep 380 rounds. All of the ones that I have watched showed that it performed very well.

 

[reddog]

I am carrying the extreme defender in my EDC 380. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1018748889?pid=120032 I don't think 380 has what it takes to make a HP dependable, and then there is always the risk of the HP becoming blocked and acting like a FMJ. The theory behind these makes sense to me and from the videos I've seen they seem to work as advertised. That being said, holes kill things, anything that makes the holes more effective is a plus from my standpoint and these will not stop working because of a heavy layer of denim or two.

 

[leVieux]

<>




Ayoub notwithstanding, I have 2 observations:

1). A .380 in hand is eminently better than a 10mm back home in the safe.

2). I participated in the care of two Officers, each gut-shot w/ one .380 round, mid upper abdomen, no armor, by a BG on a traffic stop. Both were really torn-up internally and almost died.

leVieux
.

 

[Hoji]

Just wanted some feed back on Lehigh defense 380 ammo. Is it a gimmick or the real deal? Would you rather have 12 inch penetration with full expansion of hollow tip or 16 inch penetration of the Lehigh defense?

My friends that live in grizzly country only carry Lehigh in their guns when in the woods.. Whether it is a .44 mag, 10mm, or 45-70

 

[BeatTheTunaUp]

Quite a difference between 380 and 9mm. Here is me trying some Hornady Critical Defense in 380 ans 9mm.

 

[seeker_two]

<>




Ayoub notwithstanding, I have 2 observations:

1). A .380 in hand is eminently better than a 10mm back home in the safe.

2). I participated in the care of two Officers, each gut-shot w/ one .380 round, mid upper abdomen, no armor, by a BG on a traffic stop. Both were really torn-up internally and almost died.

leVieux
.

.380 has always been underestimated as a defense round. In small guns like the P365, the .380 version makes more sense for most people. Plus, you can get away with using your FMJ practice ammo as your defensive ammo with less chance of overpenetration than 9mm & .45ACP....

 

[leVieux]

<>

Please don’t misunderstand, I’m not advocating .380 for EDC, just saying that it is a Helluva lot better than shooting the bird finger for defense.

leVieux
..