We don’t seem to talk enough about .380 ACP much anymore, most likely because pistols chambered for that caliber don’t look as cool on Instagram. For those of us who lived through the 9mm vs. 45, 9mm vs .40, .38 vs .380, and, let’s not forget, the .22 vs. .25 debates, it’s both refreshing and a bit odd that the argument over the best military, law enforcement, and concealed carry handgun cartridge has now been settled.
Before you even type the first word of your pithy comment, the debate has been settled at the cash register, but probably not in online forums or on socialist media. If the American shooting public was demanding more .40 S&W or .357 SIG pistols with their dollars, the gun companies would be happy to make them. This being mostly free market capitalist system, manufacturers will gladly sell the public anything for which they are willing to pay.
A perfect case in point was/is the .30 Super Carry cartridge developed by Federal and promoted by both Federal and Smith & Wesson. Despite celebrity endorsements and a million dollar ad campaign, the .30 Super Carry cartridge and the guns that were chamber for it are now about as popular as rectal warts. We’ve heard tell that SAAMI was thinking of bringing suit against Federal for willfully wasting a million small pistol primers that could have been used to load 9mm rounds, but that might just have been scuttlebutt.
Getting back to the .380 ACP, known in Europe as the 9mm Kurz, the round was very popular during the WWI and WWII era. During the post-WWII era in the US, gun makers were constantly attempting to build compact and pocket pistols around the .380, with varying levels of success.
Then there was the Great .380 ACP Bubble around fifteen years ago. First KelTec designed the popular P3AT, a tiny polymer double-action .380 ACP pistol. Then, when Ruger reverse-engineered the P3AT and called it the LCP that really started the fire. For a while, every gun maker in America was producing some kind of sub-compact (pocket-sized) .380 ACP handgun.
While that seemed to be all well and good, the reality of the situation was that, even being a relatively mild cartridge, the .380 ACP when fired from guns weighing only eight or nine ounces, it was pretty snappy and those who shot them, particularly new gun owners, found the experience unpleasant.
Also, those tiny guns were so small that there wasn’t much to hold onto, therefore, stoppages were common. Good, bad, or indifferent, those little .380 pocket rockets gained a reputation for being less-than-enjoyable to shoot as well as unreliable. But, was that the fault of the cartridge?
Taurus PT 638 Pro SA
While it seemed that every gun maker in America was trying to come up with their version of a .380 pocket gun, Taurus did something a bit different. They designed a 380 ACP pistol that was big enough to hold onto and had enough weight so as not to be snappy.
Specifically called the PT 638 Pro SA, this pistol is comparable to the size of a GLOCK 26, but a bit longer in the frame. As you’d expect, it has a polymer frame with steel slide and barrel that contrast with the black polymer frame.
Empty weight is right around 24 ounces. Overall length is 6.2 inches with a 3.2 inch barrel. The total height is only 5.3 inches. When you grip the frame, your second and third finger make contact and the pinky is left to hang out on the magazine baseplate, a common situation for sub-compact pistols. Magazine capacity is 15 rounds.
The “SA” in the name stands for single-action. There’s a trigger drop safety blade on the gun’s trigger as you find on most “safe-action” designs and you have to depress it for the pistol to fire. However, when you chamber a round, the striker mechanism is fully cocked. Taurus put an ambidextrous frame-mounted manual thumb safety on the pistol that functions like the one on your favorite 1911…up for safe and down to fire.
On the left side of the frame you’ll find the slide lock as well as the takedown pin. To disassemble the pistol, the user needs to lock the slide open first. The takedown pin is rotated downward 90 degrees, then you can pull it out. With the takedown pin removed, the slide can be eased off of the frame in a standard fashion.
Note, you will need to take the tension off of the striker by pressing the trigger as you remove the slide. Simply reverse the steps to reassemble.
I read a comment online that stated “some users stated that disassembly could be cumbersome.” The directions for taking the gun apart are in the owner’s manual. After you’ve disassembled and reassembled it a couple times it should seem simple enough.
The PT 638 Pro SA was made back during the internal gunlock era. A few companies experimented with putting specially made internal locking mechanisms in their handguns that required a unique key to enable and disable it. Taurus did this as did Smith & Wesson, Ruger, and others.
The internal gun lock design wasn’t popular at all with end users and, thankfully, it has since largely been discarded. The PT 638 Pro SA comes with two funky key devices that double as the safety lock key and a micro-flathead screwdriver to adjust the rear sight.
Shooting the PT 638
My first introduction to the PT 638 was at an industry event where writers were invited to test out various guns and ammunition. When it was my turn to shoot the PT 638, I was pleasantly surprised at how it felt and performed. Naturally, the event only allowed for a brief introduction to the pistol; a couple of mags worth of ammo. When I returned home, I ordered one to work with and evaluate more thoroughly.
For this review I had two different loads from Black Hills, one from Hornady, and one from Liberty Ammunition. All the projectiles were of different designs. The Black Hills ammunition included their 90 grain JHP at 950 fps and the Honeybadger 60 grain FTM bullet at 1150 fps. The Hornady round used their 90 grain XTP bullet at 1000 fps. The Liberty Ammunition was most unique with a silver-coated, 100 percent copper, deep hollow-point 50-grain bullet moving at a whopping 1500 fps.
My first magazine fired from ten yards onto paper showed that the rounds were right on for windage but a couple of inches low from point of aim. I was glad to have that tool included to raise the rear sight. I actually made two adjustments to get the rounds where I needed them to be. Accuracy was definitely minute of bad guy with ten-round groups clustering in the three inch range from ten yards. That was from a standing, two-hand hold.
When I moved to steel, I started at ten yards and moved back in five-yard increments until I was twenty-five yards away. The PT 638 had no problem keeping rounds on target from any of those distances.
The bottom line here is that the old-ish PT 638 Pro SA is a pleasure to shoot. I didn’t experience any stoppages, regardless of the load used. While compact, there is enough gun to hold onto, even single-handed. I ran the gun with two hands and then single right and single left. No problems.
Though this model is long since out of production, they’re still out there so keep an eye out online and on your gun store’s used handgun case. You can find them for well under $200 and with modern .380 loads, it’s a very valid choice as a good, affordable personal defense gun.
Paul G. Markel is a combat decorated United States Marine veteran. He is also the founder of Student the Gun University and has been teaching Small Arms & Tactics to military personnel, police officers, and citizens for over three decades.
Ruger has this covered with their Security 380 – a little smaller and lighter but the same general size and capacity. If S&W ever bothers to update their .380 Equalizer with more capacity it would fit the category as well. I’d call these “right-sized” for .380 – big enough to hold on to but compact enough to carry comfortably.
“.380 ACP, known in Europe as the 9mm Kurz”
.40 S&W is also known in America as 10mm Kurz.