Seecamp .380

American Handgunner, May, 2000 by Charles E. Petty

There is only about 0.750" clearance between the trigger and the front of the trigger guard. It is, therefore, inevitable that your trigger finger is gonna get smacked by the trigger guard when the gun recoils. The .32 does it too, but the .380 does it better.

One of the surprises that came when we shot the various other loads was how much more recoil they had compared to the Silvertip. Even though velocities were very similar, recoil was noticeably more because of the greater bullet weight. During that part of the testing, I wore a glove.

Accuracy? One of the criticisms leveled at both the .25 and .32 was that they didn't have sights. Obviously some folks just didn't get it. I can't remember the exact quote, but Seecamp said something to the effect that if you needed sights, the target was much too far away for this gun. The .380 doesn't have them either. Wise words, Mr. Seecamp.

But just because it doesn't have sights doesn't mean that you can't hit something with it. At 7 yards it was easy to hit a soda can and even smaller objects. I don't know how anyone else does it, but my eye focused on the target, and as soon as the top of the pistol came into the line of sight, I mashed the trigger. Actually, because of the long DAO stroke, I quickly learned to begin the trigger stroke as the pistol rose from the ready position. With just a little practice the shot broke at the same time that the "slide picture" looked right.

The trigger action on all the little Seecamps is a product of sound engineering. Getting a double-action drawbar and conventional hammer into little guns isn't the easiest thing to do, but the Seecamp's trigger is smooth and even throughout the stroke. At 10 1/4 lbs., it isn't too heavy and suffers from none of the "stacking" often found on double-action pistols. (Stacking refers to the trigger becoming heavier or harder to pull near the end of its movement.)

So what's the bottom line here? Even though it has 30 percent more muzzle energy than the .32, the .380 isn't a magnum. The best news is that it makes a bigger hole. I am sure that we can expect to see some refinements in ammo and it shouldn't be hard to get some expansion from the bullet if the factory designs it so, but I'm not sure I'd trade expansion for penetration.

As with most stories, there is some bad news to this one. Seecamp is a very small company and they don't make a lot of guns. Customers already on the waiting list for a .32 will be given the option of switching their order to the new .380. This is one of those cases where patience really will be both a virtue and a necessity. But it will be well worth the wait.