Underwood Ammo 380 +P Ballistics Gel Test And Review

Like a lot of you, I carry a 380 pocket gun sometimes because it's convient and conceals well in most outfits. And like many of you, I view the 380ACP round as relatively underpowered but still much better than nothing. So, the search for a 380 round with relatively good performance has led me to the 90gr Speer Gold Dot rounds and I've trusted them for many years now. Well, theres a new round out from Underwood Ammo that uses the tested bonded Gold Dot bullet but loads it to a higher pressure (22,900 cup) producing a 43% increase in energy out of my test gun (Bodyguard 380) and that's nothing to sneeze at.   In the calibrated ballistics gel (with 4 layers of denim) used in the video below it got 11'' of penetration, expanded to .48 inches, and had a retained weight of 89.5 grains (5.8g=89.5 grains). Here's a video and some disscussion documenting the performance mentioned above I realize there's no SAMMI spec for "+p" 380ACP but this is certainly a hot round. With that said, be sure you have a firearm that can handle the chamber pressures caused by using this round––-if not, you may damage your firearm (and hand). Underwood uses a 3.5'' PPK barrel for their advertised velocity but since most people who carry 380s use a pocket gun, I tested it in a 2.75'' barrel. Here's the chrono numbers: Speer Gold Dot 90gr JHPs: 964fps, 186 ft/lbs energy Underwood Gold Dot 90gr JHPs: 1154fps, 266 ft/lbs energy