"Ask the Rabbi" by R. Mermelstein

Let me begin by writing that although I am a gentile, I have been very impressed by your responses to the posted questions - you are providing a vital service. I do want to suggest, though, that you might want to amend your answer to the question about the stopping power of a .380. Although the load is generally inferior to full power cartridges, selection of load in the .380 does make a considerable difference. According to Marshall and Sanow's Street Stoppers, the best loads are the Cor-Bon JHP, Federal JHP, and Federal Hydrashok, which are 70, 69, and 69 percent stoppers respectively; the Federal JHP has 109 shootings on record. The next best stopper is the Winchester Silver tip, only 61 % effective.

Cheers,

Bill McKinnon

While I've spent a lot of time in load development for the .380 ACP, my emphasis was on feeding reliability and accuracy at 7 yards. That distance is my accuracy benchmark for a street carry piece. I don't have a copy of Marshall and Sanow's Street Stoppers. I referred to a dated book purchased, perhaps, 15 years ago in S. Africa. The low rating assigned to .380 ACP stopping power in that book was with FMJ fodder, certainly not the cutting edge of technology expanding bullets which are available today.

Like most, I, too, am a creature of habit. If weather dictates that I dress light, I'll usually carry a S&W Mod. 60 with Federal +P 158 gr. SWCHP rounds. If its cold enough for a jacket, the carry piece is a Colt Officers Model, .45 ACP.

My original education in ammunition effectiveness came from the writings of Elmer Keith. While many, today, pooh-pooh his "antiquated" and dated ideas, the man had a great deal of experience with different cartridges and bullet designs on all sorts of game before any of us were born. Times and technology change, but mammal anatomy remains static. He was a believer in heavy, large diameter lead bullets of his own SWC design.

Yes, the .380 commercial loadings you mention no doubt perform admirably according to the statistics compiled by Marshall and Sanow. They have far more statistical data on street shootings than Elmer Keith did. I've no reason, or conflicting data, to question their conclusions.

Meanwhile, I'll stick to my J-frame S&W in the summer and Colt's Officers Model when Jack Frost nips at the nose.

Sincerely,

R. Mermelstein