Originally Posted by
Cub Slayer
Nowadays, there doesn't seem to be much difference in size between the pocket 380s and the pocket 9mms. I suppose some of the Kel-Tec 380s are pretty tiny, but who wants to trust their life to a Kel-Tec?
I think you need to get out into the market a bit, the pocket 380’s remain considerably smaller than the pocket 9’s. There are some larger “9 sized 380’s,” like the Ruger LC380, Bersa Thunder, Kimber Micro380, etc, and a couple smaller 9mm’s like the Sig 290R, but there’s an entire fleet of pocket 380’s which run about an inch shorter in length and half inch shorter in height than the smallest 9mm’s. Pocket 380’s typically fall in the ballpark of 5.0” long by 3.5-4.0” tall, 0.9-ish inches wide, while the pocket 9’s will fall about 5.5-6” long by 4.5” tall, and usually over an inch wide. And the 9mm’s have to have a lot more “mass in the @ss” to tolerate the far more powerful 9mm cartridge - weighing 50% or more greater than the 380’s.
Pocket 380’s a “size smaller” than any of the 9mm’s on the market include: Ruger LCP and LCP II, Taurus TCP and Curve, S&W Bodyguard 380, Kahr P380, Kel-Tec P-3AT, Sig P238, Diamondback DB380, Glock 42, Beretta Pico, Remington RM380...
Personally, I carried a Beretta Tomcat and a Jennings J22 for a handful of years before the Kel-tec P-3AT was introduced which marked a step up in power. I carried a Kel-tec for 5 years until the Ruger LCP was released, and I remain to carry the LCP almost daily. For pocket 380’s, we have or have had the Bodyguard, P238, LCP, LCP Gen 2, LCP II, Glock 42, and P-3AT. The Jennings and Berettas weren’t reliable. All of the others I have owned have been perfectly reliable.
I never, ever recommend a pocket 9 or 380 with a manual safety. I never recommend any pistol with a manual safety for defensive carry for any of my students - I want as few dexterous manipulations between, “oh schitt” and “bang” as possible - but I absolutely warn against a manual safety on a pocket 380. The selectors are tiny, and typically stiff, which makes them difficult to manipulate, especially in a high stress scenario.
If I were to only have one pocket pistol, it would be a Gen 2 Ruger LCP (not to be confused with a LCP II). With an honorable mention tie for second place going to the Glock 42 and the LCP II.