Largest 380

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KMAX

New member
I see the 380 in small pocket pistols and ones that are slightly bigger. What is the largest gun, past or present, chambered in 380acp? I used to see the Browning BDA and it was pretty large for 380. I thought it looked good, but why not go with 9mm, which I did with the Hi Power.
 
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carguychris

New member
It's probably something in the Ingram/Cobray MAC-11 family, likely its very scarce carbine-length variant, the Cobray CM-12.

The bulkiest .380 that's not related to a submachine gun or machine pistol is probably the Hi-Point. The longest is likely the Erma KGP-68 or -68A or its Beeman MP-08 twin, possibly the rumored long-barrel "Navy" variant, if it actually exists. (The Erma KGP's are rather uncommon blowback Luger Parabellum lookalikes, and there are supposedly some weird and poorly documented variants floating around. Carbine or "Navy"-length Erma .22's are known to exist, but the .32/.380 versions may be apocryphal.)

Beretta made some long-barrel centerfire Series 70 pistols after the 68 GCA rendered the short-barrel versions impossible to lawfully import, but I THINK that all of these pistols were .32ACP.

Also, the Browning BDA 380 and Beretta 84 are not THAT big. Thick, yes; big overall, no. They're comparable in length to a PPK/S or a Bersa Thunder.
 
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K

KMAX

New member
I wouldn't think there's much of a market for a full size 380.
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I agree in today's market there doesn't seem to be much interest in large 380s. I would think the large 380 is a thing of the past.
 
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ricko

New member
The Colt 1908 that introduced the .380 cartridge was fairly good sized, kind of in between a typical .380 and a 1911. At that time, the .380 wasn't a scaled-down .45 so much as a step up from the .32 (which was not considered as small then as it is today)
 
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Laz

New member
The CZ-83 is a pretty large 380 in dimensions and certainly in weight at a hair over 28 ounces and all steel.
 
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KMAX

New member
What is the object of the original question?
Are you looking for a large pistol in .380?
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No. I am not wanting a large 380. It was just a thought about how firearms offerings change over time. A few years ago a small gun that is now chambered in 380 or even 9mm would have been available only in 22 or 25 calibers. I was thinking about a Browning BDA and realized that there aren't that many small caliber handguns in a larger frame these days except 22lr and 22mag. Just something I was thinking about.
 
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5-SHOTS

New member
The old CZ 38 was a very large pistol for the caliber. It was also (in)famous for its incredible heavy trigger pull.
Today the Tanfoglio FT9 Full Size .380 is as large as the 10mm Auto model.
 
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carguychris

New member
christian812 said:
If I do remember well, Browning BDA was in 380 !?
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The OP discussed the BDA.

Actually, I think this may be a good time to clarify which BDA. :) There were two different families of pistols marketed in the USA as the BDA.

The first family consists of a compact .380ACP pistol which is essentially a Beretta 84 with a slide-mounted decocker/safety, a spur hammer, and a conventional ejection port instead of an open-top slide. This pistol was actually built alongside the 84 in Gardone, Italy, and was marketed in the USA as the BDA 380. Additionally, the very similar FN 140 DA was marketed by Fabrique National for European and Asian police sales; this is simply a BDA .380 with plastic intertwined FN-trademark grips instead of wood grips with Browning "buck mark" medallions, and some surplus examples in the USA are actually marked "BDA 380" on the frame!

The second family consists of full-size versions of the SIG P220, marketed as the BDA 9, BDA 38, and BDA 45 in 9mm Luger, .38 Super, and .45ACP respectively. Browning/FN served as SIG's U.S. importer in the late 1970's and early 1980's, and had the pistols marked as Brownings. AFAIK these pistols all have heel mag releases, as do early SIG-branded imports.
 
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James K

Member In Memoriam
The largest pistol I have in .380 is an FN-Browning Model 1903, but it was converted from 9mm Browning Long.

Jim
 
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RickB

New member
Imbel (Springfield Armory in the US) makes a 1911 in .380. I seem to remember it is a hi-cap Commander configuration. It's never been imported. A guy on another forum was going to try to import some, and I had a very small interest, but the paperwork and other hoops to jump through were too much.
 
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James K

Member In Memoriam
I think a full size 1911 type would have to be modified to blowback operation for .380 to work, but I would see no point in making one in such a caliber. .22 for training is OK, but a .380 or .32ACP 1911 would make little sense.

Jim
 
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CajunBass

New member
I think the Browning BDA 380 is one of the prettiest pistols I've ever seen and is a joy to shoot. I had one at one time, and it's one of the few guns I'm sorry I sold. I may pick up another one if I run into a really nice example.
 
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Kev

New member
I just put $$ down on a Astra A-60
13 round double stack, Walther on steroids and a close copy of the Sig
$170.00, can't beat it.

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