Lehigh 380 XD

[DavidR]

Here are some comparison photos of the Lehigh XP (left) and XD (right).






Dave

[Bobshouse]

Thank you Dave, couldn't find a pic anywhere.

[erichard]

The pictures make is seem like the tip is significantly narrower, but not really. The corners are rounded off briefly, but a mm or two lower, it's about the same diameter as the XP. It is an improvement though.

Dave, it sounds like a few people (on devensivecarry.com) got follow up emails from Lehigh with a 20% off coupon for a couple boxes worth. I didn't get one though. Not a real productive discussion there though.

[erichard]

Another new one:

http://www.ruger.com/micros/ammo/index.html?r=y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=103&v=1WW88w0xThY

The .380 version is going over 1300 fps (not in video). Maybe it will feed well, who knows. People are commenting elsewhere on how light these bullets are ("too light"), but it seems that the width of the wound track is dependent on speed and the size of those scoops in the bullets, not the mass of the bullet (relative to other self defense bullets). So I'm guessing they (Lehigh and Ruger) can lower the weight and up the speed and scoop size to get just the right amount of penetration and destruction. The Ruger bullets could eventually be cheaper to make. I would think the Lehigh ones are better at pushing material radially since they are focused that direction, whereas the Ruger ones look like they might spend some of that energy on spinning the round, which may not add to destructive capability meaningfully. But maybe the scoops can be bigger in that orientation. Probably so, although just 3 vs 4 in the Lehigh.

[DavidR]

Shot 20 XD rounds through my LCP today with no issues. These XD rounds must be better than the XP rounds because they make bigger holes in paper.
5 XD and 4 XP: