According to the accompanying text this is the daily carry for a “fast food restaurant franchise IT director. There’s everything here from an iPhone to electrical scissors; this is a rather large pocket dump.

The gun in question is a Ruger LCP II. I’ve never been a huge fan of .380 ACP, but when the LCP II was brand new and I reviewed it I was impressed by the improvements Ruger had made.

It’s a reliable gun with a comfortable grip that’s actually quite accurate at the expected close-quarter ranges of a .380 ACP. Best of all, the trigger is vastly better than what was in the original LCP.

So who here uses a .380 ACP for their main carry?

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101 COMMENTS

      • .380 Hydroshock round will stop whatever bad is happening. Shot placement in close quarters. What do people think? That it won’t hurt?? A small frame .45 is preferable HOWEVER, don’t think your leaving the house empty handed with that .380. Stay sharp & aim high!!

  2. I prefer a .45 but I carry a .380 by itself sometimes. In most circumstances it would probably work as well. The chances that the slightly more powerful handgun round would make the difference in a concealed carrying scenario are pretty small.

    • I bought a box of generic hollow point .380s and a generic box of hollow point .45 ACPs, they were the same price. $25 for each. The price of .380s is through the roof.

  4. I often carry the LCP II. Deep concealment is necessary for me. The size of the Ruger allows for various carry methods (and locations). My question is, “Where’s the MacBook Air?” He dumps an Apple watch, iPhone and iPad but uses a Dell PC? There’s something wrong with that picture. At least he carries a spare magazine.

    • No, he doesn’t carry a spare mag. Look at the pistol grip. No mag inserted. The one shown is the only one he carries. I wonder if he even carries it in the pistol.

    • Looks pretty normal for an IT guy. Windows is the defacto norm for systems in business.
      Apple mobiles and a Windows main is how many of us roll. The real surprise is the absence of android in an IT guys stable.

    • I carry an LCP2 24/7. Though I’m in the market for something more substantial, a Glock 30 10+1 .45 possibly.

      • One thing to be aware of when pocket carrying is to worry about pocket lint building up in the firearm. I used to carry an AMT 380 Backup, it is a well made firearm but it failed to fire due to pocket lint. As far as 380 vs 45 that Glock is huge! If you are going to carry that Glock 10 shot you might as well carry the next size up because there is not much size difference. I have the 26, 19 and 17 and the 19 is just right and the one I am most comfortable with!

        • I usually shoot my carry ammo when i first get to the range. If it has been a few months it will be FULL of lint. My TCP has always gone bang, and a cloud of dust always goes everywhere.

  5. Jesus! Is that a pocket dump, or a ruck sack carry? Anyway. .380 ACP. Had a Walther PPK/S back in the ’80s. Great pistol. Carried it a couple of times. No confidence in the caliber. Traided it away on a deal for a Beretta BM-62 years ago. Would like to have another Walther (love the pistol), but will never carry the caliber.

    • Funny, I had the EXACT OPPOSITE reaction! I hated my PPK/s Jammomatic, and opted for the Beretta 84F which hasn’t jammed in 22 years.

      • Well, different strokes and all that. Never owned an 84, but shot one once. It was still just a .380 ACP and that was the question. Better than a sharp stick, but not by much. Back to the Walther. Mine never hiccuped. Did you try not limp wristing?

      • I have a Taurus PT58 which is a knock off of the 84 and a Bersa thunder which is a copy of the Walther. both shoot good. I’ve had the taurus for 25 years. Wouldnt think of getting rid of it. You could talk me out of the Bersa.

        • 380 is very capable caliber. It has light recoil and is easier to handle than large caliber; especially in a micro pistols like the Kimber 1911 in mirco sized. I personally have a favor towards revolvers.

    • ‘Is that a pocket dump, or a ruck sack carry?’

      Really. Cut down some of the crap and he’d be able to carry a Desert Eagle.

  6. Lighter recoiling rounds are simply easier to control.
    Easier to control, means better shot placement.
    Better shot placement wins gunfights.

  7. Same dump as January 16.

    FFS, am I going to have to add a bunch of “loadouts” to that website just to prevent this constant repetition of the same freakin’ EDC dumps?

    As I said before, .380 and a one hitter box. I think that’s the real question here.

  8. If its not a rifle, or at least an insane hi powered low barrel revolver (460, .50 etc) It really doesn’t make much of a difference for people. I go with 380 most of the time, 357 or a .44 if i’m in the wild and my problems may well have 4 legs.

    • I’ve seen too many humans walk after taking waay too many 9mm rounds, so I opt to carry .45 or .44 mag when I can. Usually just using good ammo and training a lot with a 9mm.

    • If you look at the data Greg Ellifritz put together, there is a step in between: 357 magnum and sig.

      • Thanks for mentioning Ellifritz’s write up. The point he makes is that there is precious little difference in effectiveness between any “normal” handgun round. Shot placement is the single. most. important. thing. about using a firearm for self-defense. From a handgun, caliber is virtually meaningless. For sure, quick stoppages, 12 gauge is king, by a WIDE margin.
        I say all this because I’m sick to death of hearing He-Man tell people that if they can’t dual wield a pair of Deagles in .50AE, they might as well cower in fear in the darkness of their homes. I’m also sick of the saying “only slightly better than a sharp stick”. I realize that it’s exaggeration to prove a point (a device I just used, I know), but it’s divisive, insulting and just plain stupid. Under no circumstances would one retain that opinion after facing an opponent armed with a .22 pistol, even as diminutive as the NAA. Another thing Ellifritz demonstrated is that the lowly .22 is imminently lethal; in fact, equal to the venerable .357 in percentage of lethalities. Stop beating people up for their personal preferences. OR, volunteer to be shot with a “mouse gun” to prove to us that there is no danger.

        • You make an excellent point. There is little doubt that my maternal grandfather survived being shot in the chest with a .22 caliber pistol at point blank range only because the bullet was literally deflected by his tie tac. After driving the tie tac deep into his sternum, the little 29 grain bullet skated along his ribs to stop in his arm pit where it remained until he died. My maternal grandmother was notso fortunate. Distraught over her philandering husband who embezzled her divorce settlement and only slightlyinconvienced by the territory of Hawaii’s restrictions on handguns, she went to Sears to buy a .22 caliber Higgins rifle and a box of .22 shorts. She shot herself in the temple. The 27 grain bullet fragmented as it pentrated her skull and the fragments pentrated only a few centimeters into her brain. No one heard the gunshot and she slowly bled to death.

          The attorney who was shot by VP Cheney had to undergo an emergency Angiogram to remove a #8 birdshot from his heart.

        • Thanks for sharing! As interesting and tragic as your tale is, it does NOT disprove the fact that shot placement is the most important thing. There are also plenty of examples of people who survived and recovered after taking a rifle round THROUGH the head. Long ago when I set up medical oxygen systems one of our clients was a dude who tried to end his life by putting the muzzle of a .44 in his mouth. He missed the most important bits, survived, (even though the bullet did pass through his skull and his motor cortex) although could no longer feed himself. There is also a story about a cop who got shot in the heart with a .357. She still killed the crook and managed to call and an ambulance before she passed out; survived. Sometimes people just won’t die no matter what you do. Other times, we pop like water balloons. The statistics I mentioned were about stoppages, not killing. However, it still stands that the .22 is as nearly as likely to stop a threat as is any other handgun round, and statistically just as deadly as a .357, your (and my) anecdotal input notwithstanding. Your story did not indicate whether or not your granddad was convinced to exit the situation(stopped) or not, but I will be crass enough to point out that your grandmother died. I would not prefer to carry my SR22 into combat, but I would feel safe carrying it downtown.

        • Oh, and the bit about the guy who had to have an emergency procedure to save his life when he got hit by birdshot; actually supports the point that shotguns are the best at one shop stoppages. If it had been a shotgun used on your granddad, it would have pushed his tie tack through his spine, even with birdshot, at point blank range.

      • Last summer, Ellifritz published an article with the title, “Real World .22s for Self Defense”. It contained several paragraphs of a letter from Henry, an 88 year old who lives by himself on a mountain in Tennessee. Henry likes eight shot, .22 snubbies which he carries in his front pockets. Messing with him would not be conducive to a long and healthy life.

  9. Better than nothing and EZ to conceal. Had a TCP years ago. If I get a 380 I opt for a LCP or LCP 2…Taurus has opted for lousy 1 year warranties.

    • Shot a friends LCP several years ago and was unimpressed as the trigger sucked major. Tried the LCP2 when it came out and really liked it, so I bought one. It isn’t EDC for me since I just use it when a bigger gun isn’t an option. I always carry a spare mag for it unless I am carrying it as a BUG.

    • Umm, there are actually two different LCP 1’s. The first version had a terrible trigger that literally drove away potential customers. Ruger then produced a revised LCP 1 with a much improved trigger. Especially when fitted with Hogue grips and a 7 round magazine, these revised versions make excellent carry guns. Many LCP owners, myself included, prefer them to the LCP II.

  10. .380 is really understand. I have fired the Smith and Wesson MP Shield and have found the recoil to be very manageable. In close quarters it’s very effective. The X-facter is that they are very loud without proper ear protection and the noise is most likely to be a detourant when dealing with multiple threats.

  12. I carried a Bersa thunder for a few months as when I was working with child protective services. I felt completely under gunned too. I switched to a rotation of a glock 26, Ruger sp101 357, and a CZ RAMI.

  13. I was bit of a caliber snob, but I now think the .380 ACP definitely has it’s place. I just bought a 380EZ for my wife and she says that it is indeed easier for her to shoot than the other calibers/firearms we’ve tried. I’m sold.

    • I also just bought a .380EZ for my wife. She is 5′-0″ tall with small hands and can’t comfortably hold a larger 9mm, and can’t deal with the recoil of the small micro 9mms out there. The single stack .380 was the perfect solution for her. I just bought a Ruger LCP.380 for myself so we could carry the same caliber handgun. Yeah, it sure is tiny, but I own smaller guns in smaller calibers. I also own a .44magnum that my arthritic wrists force me to use .44 special ammo. Sucks getting old.

    • My wife has a condition that has affected her hand strength so the 380 EZ has been perfect solution. Handles like a 22LR but shoots a real caliber. Better to have something she can handle, will actually practice with, and with the right ammo is plenty effective. It gets a TLR-3 and is kept bedside at all times when she doesn’t carry it.

  14. I carry a Ruger LCR 327 Federal Magnum or a Ruger LCP 380. Either one is sufficient up close ad most encounters are. Easy to control so my shots are where I want them. Its whatever works for you that is the best.

  15. The LCP is my main carry, that’s primarily based on convenience. In a DeSantis Nemesis pocket holster, it disappears. I have an extended magazine for the extra round, and will occasionally carry another magazine in a different pocket on days I’m feeling spicy.

    • The simple way of looking at it is this. .380acp ammo is relatively expensive. Then from a capacity stand point most .380’s don’t have a capacity more than most revolvers. Granted there a few exception. My personal opinion a 38 special would be a better choice. The price of ammo is only slightly higher in price.

  16. I’ve seen a few people shot with a .380. A couple of them actually died. Went to their autopsies. If you had you’d carry a large caliber handgun. Or a rifle.

  17. A .380 pocket pistol is the answer when you can’t conceal anything bigger. It will get the job done if you use the right ammunition. Since the cartridge is weak, you have to choose penetration over expansion to make a wound deep enough to cause incapacitation. ShootingTheBull410 did a series of .380 tests on YouTube. He found that any cartridge that used Hornady’s XTP bullet worked well. Federal’s Hydra-Shok was a second choice. Since that was several years ago, there may now be better ones.

    As far as accuracy is concerned, watch Hickok45 on YouTube ringing the gong at the back of his range with a Kahr P380.

    • This. If you won’t dress around your gun (I am willing to bet that nost of us won’t) then 380 is the best choice of the pocket calibers. Its not a 9 but it’s far better than 32, 25, or any 22. And WAY better than “harsh words” or “a sharp stick” despite common gun guy wisdom.

      From what I gather, a 380 fmj should perform virtually identically to a 9mm fmj for personal defense purposes. The same sized hole with a clean pass through. Not ideal and of course hollow points change things dramatically, but worth considering.

  18. I carry either a .44 Magnum in a Model 29 or a .45 ACP in an FNX-45 or a 9mm in a Kimber Micro 9, which is my main carry.
    .380 just seems too.. light in the loafers.. to me.

  19. You Tube!? LOL Really? I’m sorry, I guess I’m old school, but getting my self defense education on You Tube seems, well, stupid. I always went to the range to learn to shoot. You know, where I fired tens of thousands of rounds. Not to mention a couple of actual real life armed encounters. Kick up your recliner and enjoy your chilli cheese fries.

    • OK, grandpa. You know professional trainers and top shooters do YouTube videos, right?

      Anyway, you’re probably right, it’s all just a fad, and those “radio” and “TV” things are probably not going to catch on, either.

  21. I carry an Diamond back 380 almost all the time. Loaded with the correct ammo at close range ( less 7 yards) it’s deadly combo.

  22. LCP baybeeeee….ever day…..and twice on Sunday

    And…..Quit re-using pocket dumps. Write something original and source a picture.

    Be creative….

  23. A walther P.P. Still on the job for forty years. Yes very comfortable for everyday practice. Or my Walther P.P.KS. First time every time.

  24. I carry a Ruger 2 1/2 inch in my pants pocket for years. I can pull it and shoot in 4 inch circle in around 3-4 seconds at 30 ft. I do not sight it I point finger and fire! It has never failed. Carried 1911 for years but fat roll won. Hurt with belt holster! Love my .380. Believe would knock down but have never tried!

  25. Yay.
    Carry what you are willing to. It shouldn’t be for us to tell others what to do. I’m a grown ass man.
    I don’t care if you carry a Desert Eagle with 4 mags or pocket lint.
    I’ll have my gen1 LCP in pocket holster for 8 or 9 hours today. Spare magazine in other pocket.
    That’s what I carry most followed by single stack 9 then Glock 23.
    I’m proficient with both and they have both been through many rounds and informal testing.
    As for that photo…I would need a shopping cart for all of that.

    • It’s a pretty dumb article and it’s actually arguing the “shot placement” theory backwards.

  27. I alternate between the LCP2 in. Vedder pocket locker and Sig P365 also in a Vedder pocket locker depends on what I am wearing and where I am going.

  28. When I did carry a 380 several years back. It was a Sig P238. After the P938 came out no real reason to still use a 380 at all.
    Mine has been sitting in the safe unfired fir the last 5 or 6 years.
    Probably never will use it again.

    • Never carried a 380 but agree with you regarding the 938. Great for pocket carry or when I don’t think i can carry my Shield 45, G27 or PPS M2 without printing.

  29. My lcp is something I will carry in hot weather, bigger guns I would probably not. Looking at real 1shot stopping power statistics you see the380 is not weak at all. IAM confident the 380 is, in most cases enough

  30. 6 out of 7 gunshot victims survive. Probably 9mm Since very popular. NYC cops only hit 20 percent of the time. Most gunfights happen at 9 feet average, with not very many bullets. It is like real estate. It is bullet placement. You unload six shots in a row at close range at somebody’s dead center and you hit him in the heart they can keep fighting longer than you think. People don’t drop dead from being shot unless hit in the head. A fight isn’t over until someone’s incapacitated or out of bullets you’re not going to have time to do a Reload everybody should really just check their research. They’ve done studies where they’ve shown that up close and personal caliber trigger pull nothing matters except hits. I have researched this to an extreme extent. The bottom line is any gun is better than no gun so carry what you can.x

  31. LPC2 is all I carry, pocket (Alabama Holster kydex $40) and IWB (Desantis $20). Bullets make the gun, I use the Lehigh Defense 380 Auto 65gr Xtreme Defense® Ammunition.

  32. The “fast food ” establishment allows weapons on THEIR property? My employer goes into histrionics if an employee is caught with an unauthorized Leatherman pocket tool , or a pocket, folding, lock blade knife! The Mgmt. Personnel would scream that YOU have an “ILLEGAL ASSAULT WEAPON” on their premises, surrender the item now, or YOUR suspended…Go home pending a disciplinary hearing…Fits most East Coast employers….

    • Maybe that’s the exact reason the establishment is unspecified and why he carries an “inadequate” (according to the keyboard warriors anyways) but easily concealable handgun.

  33. Carry a LCP with lazer sight usually in a Bug Bite ankle holster with one spare mag. Senior, portly, handicapped. Pocket holster when ankle won’t work. Has Hornady Critical Defense ammo. Rule #1. When going to a gun fight, take a gun. May not kill, but will give a hell of a belly ache.

  35. I carry a S&W Bodyguard in a DeSantis pocket holster. I have a Garrison Grip extension on the magazine for a much improved, full hand grip and I have it loaded with Underwood’s Extreme Defender ammo, since hollow point expansion seems to be iffy for such a small gun. I do carry a 9mm on occasion, but the convenience and comfort of pocket carry is hard to beat sometimes!

  36. It has been almost 2 year’s ago I was shot twice with a .380 LCP with hollow points. One through the face, And one in the ball joint in my left hip. I was still standing after both shots. I was still able to run on a hillside for a block before getting help from a neighbor. I would not carry and thing less than a 9mm.

    • Ron i’m sure i am not the only one who would like to hear the ‘long’ version of this story. Are you up to it?

  37. That’s a whole lotta dump. Must have some mighty big pockets.

    As far as my EDC, it’s mostly .380 with a Bersa Thunder Combat. Gone from .40 to 9m to .380 (with periodic 9×18) as I’ve gotten older. Sore, aged hands can’t manage 9m like they used to, but I can still get multiple on target hits quickly with .380. Ya gotta play the cards you’re dealt.

  38. Got others, but most often a Kahr CW380 with Barnes HP. Kydex IWB or DeSantis pocket holster. Usually an extra mag.

  39. I carry a lcp 1 with 7 round mag. Those saying 380 is too small a round go watch the ballistic gel tests with the ribs in front of the guy who shot through a car door with a 380 round. It’s not a matter of size but the location you place the shot. The stomach has a lot of nerves and veins one shot their will end most fights before they take another step closer.

  41. I have carried a .380 for over 27 years and love them. I always keep a backup 9mm, 40, or 45 in one of my vechicles regardless. Shot placement is the key you can do the same with a .22 if you understand that.

  43. Everyone tells me 380 ACP isn’t effective, but they won’t let me shoot them in the leg to prove otherwise. 💁🏻‍♂️

  44. My EDC carry for the past 20 years has been either a sig 232 in 380 or Ruger sp101 in 357. One under-kill, and other is over-kill , right? No!
    With ammo technology getting better 380 is not 380 of decades ago. Hell some Euro police still carry 32. The FBI did some extensive research with Federals HTC. 13” I think penetration. Plenty. Plus, it’s reliable, I would only be shooting if my life is threatened, so a few shots at close range with a ton of practice should do it. In the winter and many layers of clothes, perhaps denim, leather, etc. my 357 in a 2 inch platform burns and wastes a lot of powder with the massive ball of fire it makes after you fire. In this case the energy is reduced so overpenetration is not an issue. I do not carry one during the others season. I only do if I miss it. Guns need to perform but they have to look good to you and you have to look cool with it. I decided to F-@# everything up and I know longer have either. After watching thousands of YouTube videos I am carrying a HKP2000SK, And I have a Kahr K9 on order. I’m gonna try going between those two for a while and see how it works. My brother was murdered with a 38 special that was shot a point blank range three times in the head. I was almost a month and had a knife pulled on me but managed to slightly and casually walk backwards very slowly moved myself so my side was facing him to make myself a smaller target, And begin explaining what frangible bullets do to the human body compared to his knife. I explained my advantage by years of practice and that I had children Then how I had the Law on my side. I give him a chance to run instead. He took it. Thank God for both of us. I can tell all of you hello I will be, mentally, emotionally today if I would have pulled and emptied all 7 rounds in him. ( I always carry one less in the magazine to reduce too much tension) I was very excited that I stayed calm and cool but I’ve been caring for 20 years and I would’ve fired if I had to. I knew the police and they’re 21 foot and I was probably around 15 feet But who knows I probably would’ve been writing this from the jail cell if I would have “ emptied my magazine”

  45. TCP 738 in my sports coat pocket every day. I drive Uber and so I need something I can conceal tightly on my person, since having it get discovered would mean I don’t get to drive for Uber anymore. I don’t carry it for my passengers, mind you, but because drunken road rage is a thing at the hours that I work and my passengers and myself need to be protected in an absolute emergency, and a .380 certainly works in such a pinch. The goal isn’t a gunfight, it’s to get away from the fight. If I was expecting a gunfight, I’d be carrying my PX4 Storm – which, I have, for private clients.

    I picked the TCP because of its reliability, and after running 500 rounds of the cheapest Russian ammo through it with no cleaning, no lube, no failures and no complaints. I’m certain it’ll go bang when I need it to. I also picked it because it was the only pistol that I looked at that could fit in my favorite vest’s pocket without protruding. Smallest and most reliable available. That’s a winner, there.

  46. I carry a 380 as I have gotten old and with the proper ammo it will be effective however a carry a Sig Sauer 238.

  47. Having seen many .380 gunshot victims between a career in the fire/ems service and now law enforcement I would never carry a .380 for self defense. Yes it hurts. Yes sometimes it penetrates. Yes it also kills occasionally although very rarely. However most of the times I’m dealt with someone who was shot with a .380 they were still on their feet and pissed off. I relate it to shooting a grizzly bear with a .22 and only pissing the grizzly off more before he reaches you.

  48. My truck gun is a CZ83, 380 ACP.
    It’s extremely accurate. 6″ spreads at 25 yards, all steel, so recoil is nonexistant.
    Low cost means if I have to use it, Law Enforcement has a $250 gun to hold till court, verses a $ 6-700 gun. And 380 in the.Precision One brand has excellent penetration and wound creation.
    Not worried a bit. I hit what I shoot at

  49. Wow. I carry a Makarov in the .389. Built like the old PPK with a fixed barrel. Double and single action decock with ambi safety. If it fits in the barrel it shoots. Never jammed never stove piped. Been carrying it for almost 25 years. Cost less than a hundred when I bought it. People are too much into the minutiae instead of what is comfortable and works for them. A pointed stick will kill just as dead as a 500 dollar hand made knife.

  50. Absolutely Yay for the .380.

    A .380 is an “always” gun. I can carry it quickly, easily, conveniently in any clothes I own. I can carry it while running, I can carry it at the gym.

    shoot, I even throw my little Kahr PM9 in the pocket of my pajamas when I’m sitting around at night watching TV with Mrs. Don from CT.

    Its very simple. EVERYONE should own one. Because there will be times when you can’t carry what you want. And as the saying goes, a .380 in your pocket is far better than a .45 in the safe.

  51. I used to carry a .38 snubbie – sometimes I still do – but it was awkward when I would carry wearing dress slacks as opposed to more usual jeans or cargo shorts; also didn’t like the minimalist sights.

    Now I carry a SA 911; great sights, great shooter, and can carry almost no matter what I’m wearing.

    I know it’s not a “death ray” but I know it will at least incapacitate with good placement, and I practice regularly.

    • So true. Been carrying a Sig 232 in 380 for years. Every few years, I felt the need to go bigger from reading all teh hype. All nonsense! FBI tested the HST Micro and it penetrated 13 inches of ballistic gel. good enough for me since I shoot well with it and carry it and forget about it. No It’s not plastic, you polymer junkies. Steel. Carrying gun is comforting, not comfortable. I have fallen asleep for the night with mine on me holstered. HST, frangible ammo, ARX, All will do much better than being a potential victim. You know the type rigtht? “I decided to buy a plastic mouse gun in 45 and never practice so I don’t carry it…”

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