25 Rounds of .380 ACP Ammo by Hornady - 90gr JHP

Personally tested this round using 10% ClearBallistic gel with the Glock 42 following the protocols set forth by Marshall and Sanow in their book, Handgun Stopping Power. Temperature was 46 F with a test distance of 10 feet. In the bare gel test, the round expanded nicely, but only penetrated to a distance of a little over 8 inches. This is completely unacceptable for self defense with Marshall and Sanow calling for a minimum of 11 inches in bare gel. Rounds penetrate 15-20 % further in bare gel than living tissue. Thus to account for possible to having shoot through a fat, or heavily muscled threat, or having to shoot sideways and the bullet pass through the threat's arm then into the torso, a penetration of just over 8 inches in bare gel just is not enough. Denim tests were not performed due to the failure to pass the bare gel test. No malfunctions were experienced. In higher calibers, this round may be acceptable, however, my focus in on the 380. (Posted on 2/20/2016)