# What is a .9mm c.(380)



## MadMako (Jan 21, 2008)

My wife just found the gun she had bought before we had met. It's a Astra A-60. I did some research and it was the gun of choice for 
Spains police officers. On the chamber cover it reads .9mm c.(380) . What does this mean? Does it take either .9mm or .380 or is .9mm c equivalent to a .380 caliber. It's a nice gun, small enough to carry and it holds 13+1 rounds of .380 bullets. 
Thanks for the help.


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## jclif1995 (May 28, 2006)

The 380 round is known as a 9mm short. No the 9mm luger, parabellum, whatever is not interchangable with the 380. 

380 is a round that has ballistics like a 38 special, a common revolver round. 380 ammo does not have enough energy to lock a slide back so they use a blow back design. It is generally a lower recoil than the nine but a lot of that depends on the gun. 

380 ammo is expensive compared to the 9mm brother. it is not a bad round at all but many will advise it too weak and too expensive to consider.

now for my unsolicited advice.

I would suggest that rather than getting a 380 to carry, get a j frame smith. load that thing with low recoil hollow point federals for carry and practice with plain old white box winchester or whatever else of quality is on sale.


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## PanaDP (Jul 20, 2007)

I don't know what country the Astra hails from. The .380 is also known as the 9mm _kurtz_ ("short" in German) so 9mm "c" might be an abbreviation of that designation in another language. It was and still is a popular caliber in Europe for pocket pistols.

A j-frame smith is hard to beat but, as long as the gun is reliable, a .380 is perfectly acceptable. I load my own up to pretty hot +P pressures for my PPK and I certainly wouldn't feel underpowered with it.


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## MadMako (Jan 21, 2008)

The Astra gun company from Spain got some of their gun technology from Germany for some of the models they manufacture. I guess that's why it reads .9mm C. In spanish, "short" translates into "Corto" Now everything is making sense. I'll stick to my stainless Ruger .357 Magnum Security Six with a 2.75" barrel to carry and my Remington Marine Mag 870 Shotgun for home security. 
Thanks for the info.


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