I started carrying my new Sig P238 in the past month. Smaller ammo, less power than my 9mm, lots of reviews for "the best" ammo.
My LGS sells some cheap standard .380, some Buffalo Bore and similar (I am not a fan) and the nice Fiocchi .380 in JHP both "standard" and the XTP Carry ammo.
After finding I really like the Fiocchi in my 9mm Sig, I decided to try it in my new .380. Feeds and shoots like a charm. 300+ rounds in my new P238 and not a single FTF/F/E. (BTW, the same experiment in my deprecated S&W Bodyguard was a fail: could not shoot well with the gun AND it had primer strike failures ever other magazine - can't carry that gun.)
Well, I wanted REAL carry ammo, buy my LGS did not have any Speer LE Gold Dot JHP (which is my carry ammo for my 9mm and my .38 sp). So I ordered some Gold Dot online.
It arrived yesterday and today was range day. I shot a box of 50 Gold Dot. 2 Failures to Feed. Once on the empty chamber full mag step (and not limp wristed - bullet just did not feed into chamber.) And once mid magazine - bullet did not go into chamber.
The POA was a bit lower and to the left of my other ammo.
My thumb got black marks after 1 magazine. (Never had this with any 9mm or .380 in a couple of years.)
And the ammo did not look right. Even in the rather dark shooting lanes - the ammo looked 'off'.
1) There was a very noticeable bulge on the casing where the bullet was seated on every bullet in the box of 50.
2) The nickel casings looked dull and scratched. (Very noticeable next to the Fiocchi XTP which is also nickel cased.)
The recoil felt a bit more stout than my Fiocchi, but not a huge delta.
I came home and looked at my other calibers of Gold Dot (I have quite a few boxes to look at, bought over many different times.) They all looked like my other ammo. Cases were bright. No bulges. But none were .380 ammo.
I took some pictures and posted below. The most important picture (of course) is blurred. It is hard to take a picture of the bulged casing because the cases are so reflective. But you can see the bulge in one photo, and every round has this bulge. I also took a shot of my Fiocchi ammo so you can see there is a distinct difference in the polish on the Fiocchi vs the Speer.
I am not sure what to make of this. The ammo had my first FTF in my P238, but people have the same complaint about the Fiocchi in the Ruger .380. Smaller guns can be very picky about ammunition.
But I will be using my one other box of Gold Dot for range ammo. I am willing to try other .380, but the Speer flunked in my gun.
Many people here know 10x more than I do about ammunition. I have seen similar bulges on ammo, but only on factory reloads. This is clearly brand new ammunition.
Does anyone have an insights into why there are bulges in new factory ammo?
Needless to say, I am doing to be carrying with my Fiocchi XTP .380 ammo.
Gold Dot JHP LE for .380 ACP (not a good review)
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Last edited by max129 on Sat Jan 26, 2019 6:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.