Never say never, right? Or is it, “never say die?” Or should it be, “never say that any particular ammo test is your final ammo test for any given caliber”… because even though ShootingTheBull410 wrapped up the .380 Ammo Quest several months ago, there keep being new, interesting, and improved rounds coming on the market (or finally coming available!) to keep testing . . .
In this test, CorBon’s DPX in .380 ACP is put through the pocket pistol. CorBon’s DPX was a standout performer in 9mm, so optimism runs high that perhaps it’ll prove equally superb from the .380 pocket pistol.
Spoiler alert: the DPX actually did really rather well, with an average penetration through the bare gel of 11.95″, and through the denim-covered gel of 11.70″. But there was one bullet in each group of five that notably underpenetrated all the others; in each test one bullet went about 10″, whereas all the others averaged around 12″. The standards being tested to are a minimum of 12″ of penetration for each round and, while we can fudge a bit (because hey, it’s only a .380 pocket pistol after all), it’s quite a stretch to allow for a 10″ bullet when the minimum desired standard is 12″. Accordingly, the determination reached here is that the DPX is a good round that will probably do quite well from the pocket pistol, but it does have the potential of sometimes coming up short — and because of that, it just misses making it into the winner’s circle.