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April 2003

Pocket Pistol Pair-Off: We Test A Set of .380 Surplus Handguns

A brace of Colt’s Mustangs beat out two clones by Iver Johnson and Firearms International. But after the fact we wonder: Are any of these guns really the right tool for portable self-defense?

Senior Tech Editor Ray Ordorica thought the Colt Pocketlite would make an acceptable backup gun. There was enough iron to hold onto, and recoil was not an issue, but he would have liked more accuracy.

The .380 cartridge has been around since early in the last century. It was another of John Browning’s designs, and has been known as the 9mm Kurz, 9x17, 9mm Browning Short, and .380 ACP. We also know it as the .380 Automatic, or simply the .380 Auto. It’s been chambered in a host of small autoloading pistols, some of them quite famous, such as Walther’s PPK.

The .380 is not a cartridge many of us would pick for all-around use. It’s hardly a plinking cartridge, because of the relatively high cost of ammunition, and because the pistols that chamber it are generally not all that accurate. Reloaders don’t exactly flock to…

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