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.380 Auto (9mm Browning Short) VS .38 Super

Head to Head Comparison

.380 Auto (9mm Browning Short)

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50%

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50%

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.38 Super

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MSRP:

$12.50

Used Price:

$12.50

New Price:

$13.89

MSRP:

$0.00

Used Price:

$0.00

New Price:

$0.00

Gun Specifications

Specifications

.380 Auto (9mm Browning Short)

.38 Super

Height

0.68

0.00

Average FPS

980

Average Grain

91

Average Energy

194

Recoil

0.41

0.00

Ballistic Coefficient

96.34

Gun Stats

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.380 Auto (9mm Browning Short)

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.38 Super

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MidwayUSA

$5.39

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Cheaper Than Dirt

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Brownells.com

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KYGUNCO

$19.96

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GrabAGun

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Academy Sports + Outdoors

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Gun Descriptions

.380 Auto (9mm Browning Short)

About The .380 ACP Ammo is a rimless, straight walled cartridge designed for pistols introduced in the year of 1908. Ever since it was released into the market, it has been very popular in the self-defense department and has been widely used in numerous handguns. The .380 ACP Ammo is considered a misnomer since it doesn't strictly conform to cartridge naming conventions that are named against the bullet's diameter. Using the standard naming process, the .380 ACP Ammo should be named .355 ACP Ammo since it uses a cartridge .355 in diameter. The .380 ACP Ammo, because of its low blow-thrust, delivered a soft recoil to the shooter. The overall length of the .380 ACP Ammo is 25mm, while the bullet diameter measures 9mm. The 45-grain variant of the .380 ACP Ammo can travel at a velocity of 1,835 feet per second while creating an energy level of 337 ft.lbf.  Manufacturer John Browning designed the .380 ACP Ammo in 1908, and Colt's Manufacturing Company manufactured it in the same year.  Uses The .380 ACP Ammo has experienced a wide array of uses over the years. At least FIVE European nations picked it up as their standard pistol ammo before World War II. The .380 ACP Ammo is light and compact and delivers a short-ranged shot, creating less stopping power. The .380 ACP Ammo remains a popular cartridge for self-defense purposes. 

.38 Super

The .38 Super has traveled a rather rocky road during its 121-year history. Due to its ballistic performance, accuracy in modern guns, wide selection of components and ease with which top-notch handloads can be assembled, it has become popular for action pistol competition, defense and field use. The addition of the “Automatic +P” designation in 1974 helped differentiate it from the old .38 Automatic Colt. The history of the .38 Super starts around 1897 with the development of the .38 Automatic Colt cartridge (.38 Rimless Smokeless) designed for the Colt Model 1900 Automatic Pistol. Early advertising listed a 130-grain FMJ bullet at around 1,040 fps, which was later increased to 1,070 fps. This cartridge was designed at least five years prior to the 9mm Luger. During the 1920s there was growing demand for handgun cartridges that could better penetrate car bodies, so in 1928 Colt responded with the .38 Super Automatic in its Model 1911. Essentially, the Super was dimensionally the same as the .38 Automatic Colt, including bullet weight and profile. However, being chambered in the notably stronger Model 1911 pistol, it could be loaded to much greater pressures, with velocities pushing 130-grain bullets to 1,300 fps by 1933. Pressures were increased from 23,000 CUP to 33,000 CUP. For clarification, the .38 Super should never be fired in comparatively weak Model 1900 pistols, which can be disastrous. The Super had another significant problem: It produced poor to mediocre accuracy at best. There were several contributing factors that included a bullet diameter specified at .356 inch while barrel groove diameters were known to measure .355, .356 and .357 inch. Period Colt Government Model pistols were not built with proper tolerances to achieve top accuracy. However, the largest single obstacle was Colt’s chamber specifications that resulted in poor headspace control. The .38 Super originally fired a 130-grain bullet at 1,215 fps, but by 1933 velocity was bumped to 1,300 fps before it was eventually standardized at 1,280 fps. Remington and Winchester list 130-grain FMJ loads at the original 1,215 fps while Federal offers the same bullet weight at 1,200 fps. Several smaller companies such as Buffalo Bore offer loads containing 115-grain and 124-grain JHP bullets at 1,415 fps and 1,350 fps, respectively.

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