The buffalo bore bullets might be seated too far out in the casing for your Ruger LCP. I bought a LCP in June and it had one of the short throat barrels. Would not chamber Corbon hollowpoints at all, the slide would not close. Ruger sent a new barrel and I returned the original. I think any LCP made after the middle of July has the newer style deeper throat barrel from what I have read. I shoot cast lead bullets in mine from a RCBS 90 grain roundnose bullet mould, similar in shape to the roundnose factory loads. No problem with these and no leading in the bore or chamber.

That is very good information.

When I send it in for the recall, I'll ask them to address my barrel issue, at the same time. I would really like to be able to use the Buffalo Bore hard cast ammo. I think it gives a good compromise between the poor penetration of hollow points (in .380) and poor expansion of FMJ's.

Thanks.

I would think that the best tactic with a .380 is to maximize penetration, as opposed to attempting any kind of expansion. I have seen a specialist report to LEO's recommending that if they carry a .380 as backup, to use ball ammo in them to effect penetration. Ball also will not foul the barrel with lead.

Thanks for recounting your experience. I have considered using hard lead rounds in my LCP but now I shall discard that idea. I think that having something that feeds reliably and penetrates is optimum for this caliber.

Originally Posted by Teuthis

I would think that the best tactic with a .380 is to maximize penetration, as opposed to attempting any kind of expansion.

A lot of fairly knowledgeable 'gun people' disagree on this subject. One argument is that the 'super' expanding JHP's, like Corbon DPX, create a huge wound channel, despite penetrating quite a bit less than the FBI standard (in .380), and are therefore more likely to cause immediate and massive blood loss, if used in a SD situation.

Personally, I lean slightly in favor of ball ammo, for its ability to penetrate better, and possibly debilitate an attacker by damaging bone. But it's a close call, and I was trying to compromise with the +P 100 grain hard casts.

Please note that the BB ammo did not fail, and I am not criticizing the ammo, at all. I intend to ask Ruger to check my barrel, when I send it in on the recall, and if they agree that this is a legitimate issue with the barrel, and do something about it, I will try the BB ammo again. I think it is a good solution, if it can be reliable in my gun.

Thanks for recounting your experience. I have considered using hard lead rounds in my LCP but now I shall discard that idea. I think that having something that feeds reliably and penetrates is optimum for this caliber.

You're welcome.

If Ruger resolves this issue for me, and I am eventually able to use the BB ammo, I'll post the details.

Well I alternate my LCP mag with 90 gr HP Buffalo Bore and 95 gr FMJ-FN Buffalo Bore.

Have not had an ejection issue yet. I looked at the hard cast, sent BB an email asking their recommendation. I ordered what the suggested. I really like this little gun.

If you don't like yours, I'll happily take it off your hands.

Originally Posted by plentyofpaws

Well I alternate my LCP mag with 90 gr HP Buffalo Bore and 95 gr FMJ-FN Buffalo Bore.

Have not had an ejection issue yet. I looked at the hard cast, sent BB an email asking their recommendation. I ordered what the suggested. I really like this little gun.

If you don't like yours, I'll happily take it off your hands.

I used the same. I think the JHP was Gold Dot. Both shot just fine, I ended up carrying the Gold Dots. I seriously considered the hard cast, but I felt the expansion of the Gold Dots outweighed the slight penetration gains with the hard cast.

Also, didn't the lead penetrate the furthest of all three BB offerings? I'm pretty sure it did...

The issue I had was only with un-jacketed lead bullets. I have had no problems with any jacketed bullet ammo.

Can you give me a link to the ballistic tests that show only a 'slight' penetration difference between the Gold Dot and the Hard Casts? I have not seen any similar results. Maybe I'm wasting my time, trying to use the un-jacketed lead bullet.

Bisley: Bet if you email BB they will give you the straight scoop right from the horses mouth.

They seem like pretty good guys to me.