I just brought a dead .380 back to life. Ask me a question

How much have you got in it total now?

I have a 9mm Beretta that uses .380. It's a dandy!!! WW2 vintage.

Pics?

For gun thread

$99. The smithing was all just elbow grease.

What was wrong with it? Failure to eject or failure to feed?

Sweet!

That's a good idea, but will take too long tonight.

If you are still interested tomorrow, PM me a reminder and I'll take pics and describe what I did.

JK

You guys.

Fucking both, if you can believe it.

Before I started smithing it, it would alternate between those two problems.

I was literally ready to take a hacksaw to in the throw in the garbage.

Spring was too soft? I've seen that with both. Also have seen a shitty feed ramp cause failure to feed's.

Just did a super easy fix on a marlin 60 that was simply refusing to eject. Turns out the previous owner was incapable of cleaning anything. Amazing what a bit of gunk will do to make a rifle useless.

Nice, I need a .380 pocket pistol. Got it narrowed down to the S&W Bodyguard with Crimson Trace installed or the classib Walther PPK.

Anyone have experience with either of these? Is there another I should consider?

^ classic

I bought a pos Davis 380 in the day I think I went through 5 strikers in it.it did save my but ice fishing though two guys who think they owned a lake started walking towards me with clubs screaming at me so I racked a round and they did a 180 have a nice day sir lol

Strangely enough, the first thing I did was cut a coil out of the recoil spring.

Second was polish the hell out of the feed ramp with mere 400 grit wet/dry.

^ Most useful .380 story I've ever read ^

I use Dupont Multi-use with Teflon.
It's like WD40 with suspended Teflon particles.

Cleans great, and if I miss anything, it's covered in Teflon.

Walther.

Had a S&W PPK in 380. Ran ok, but would give me slide bite. Even with the beavertail.
Then S&W recalled it. After they "fixed" it, the damn pistol would never go threw a magazine without some kind of failure. Traded in that POS.
Never tried the bodyguard.
Right now in 380, I have a Sig P230, Glock 42, and even a cheap pre-lock Bersa. All 3 run excellent.

And that Bersa cost a whoppin' $150 at the local pawn shop.
Only investment into it was to buy another magazine and remove the magazine disconnect safety.

I'd recommend the Glock 42 if price is of no concern though.
The Sig P230 is really nice too, but weighs as much as a brick.

.380 are awesome little pocket guns..
have a couple for when I can't carry my regular..

One of mine is a Bersa Thunder, and you know what.. I've shot the hell out of that little thing with out cleaning it, because of price and not knowing it. It has never failed!

Do not buy the Bodyguard, whatever you do. The triggers are the worst. They're not really even triggers so much as a "switch." Which is to say they suck to have to shoot.

Not sure the Walther is much better, but I don't have a ton of experience with them.

The Ruger LCP .380 has a decent reputation. If you can afford more, sig makes some nice little .380 pistols.

Tried a buddys LCP.
To me they're too small. Always having to re-adjust your grip, as it doesn't point naturally (for me) Found myself inadvertently pressing the magazine release while shooting it.
Definitely try it before you buy it.

The Sig P230 is a little gem. But as was mentioned, it's really heavy. And some can't get over the "heel release" for the magazine.

So I use the Glock 42 when choosing the 380 for carry.
It's not too small, has a "normal" size trigger and magazine release.
Light as a feather, decent trigger, and not a blowback, (so it's soft shooting as a 22.)
And 100 % reliable.

I agree the Glock .380 is a great option.

I have one in my back pocket now.