380s Are Making Me Pull My Hair Out

[Ninjatarian]

So after a 9 month saga of issues with my P380 I decided enough was enough. My last failure involved the trigger somehow rubbing on the bottom of the inside of the trigger guard. It happened suddenly after 4 magazines of shooting at the range. 5th mag I pull the trigger and it wouldnt spring back, looked at it and it was rubbing. I inspected the gun and couldnt find anything obvious, as I played with it the trigger slowly stopped rubbing and clearance came back. Sent it back to Kahr and they installed a new trigger and "updates" (anyone have any idea what those may be?) Looked at it and the trigger now clears but not by a hole hell of a lot.

I put the P380 on consignment unfired and decided to go out and pick up a S&W bodyguard. During my 200 round test run the laser broke and I had several failures of the slide to lock back and a couple mag drops. Waiting to hear from S&W about warranty.

Soooo what should I do here? Take the P380 off of consignment and give it another go? Or leave it and hope for the best with the Bodyguard? At this point I dont trust either and the P380 has shaken my confidence in my PM40 which has a checkered history. Ive been carrying my .45 and its getting heavy.

[CJB]

You put it on consignment unfired....maybe it deserves a new lease on life?

[TucsonMTB]

Hey, if you really want a .380 ACP pocket gun, go with the original Kel-Tec P-3AT. Yeah, they are a POS compared to the Kahr, but making them run is child's play and lots of people know how to do it.

Of course, they are NOT much fun to shoot . . . but, I wouldn't give mine up. Someday, I might even carry it again. :rolleyes:

For now, I am really liking the PM40 in my pocket. It has been reliable with my carry ammo from the beginning and is finally working with some other rounds as well, which does increase my confidence.

Keep the faith. If you have found a round that it likes, your PM40 will not let you down . . . so long as you keep up the steady diet. ;)

[TriggerMan]

So after a 9 month saga of issues with my P380 I decided enough was enough. My last failure involved the trigger somehow rubbing on the bottom of the inside of the trigger guard. It happened suddenly after 4 magazines of shooting at the range. 5th mag I pull the trigger and it wouldnt spring back, looked at it and it was rubbing. I inspected the gun and couldnt find anything obvious, as I played with it the trigger slowly stopped rubbing and clearance came back. Sent it back to Kahr and they installed a new trigger and "updates" (anyone have any idea what those may be?) Looked at it and the trigger now clears but not by a hole hell of a lot.

I put the P380 on consignment unfired and decided to go out and pick up a S&W bodyguard. During my 200 round test run the laser broke and I had several failures of the slide to lock back and a couple mag drops. Waiting to hear from S&W about warranty.

Soooo what should I do here? Take the P380 off of consignment and give it another go? Or leave it and hope for the best with the Bodyguard? At this point I dont trust either and the P380 has shaken my confidence in my PM40 which has a checkered history. Ive been carrying my .45 and its getting heavy.One more try with the Kahr won't cost you anything. It remains a used gun. A better .380 is the Sig P238

[les strat]

Get you a CM9 and call it a day. Tougher round, still small.

[Ninjatarian]

Well, I tossed the P380 up for sale since this is the 3rd issue its had. I didnt want to knowlingly sell a non working gun, I would rather just keep a clear conscience and sell it as kahr sent it back to me. Also, all of the malfunctions happened suddenly with hundreds of falwless rounds inbetween. I feel like even if I went a few hundred more trouble free rounds, it would still be in the back of my mind that something could suddenly fail at any time.

The Keltec makes me hesitant due to the fact that my carry pistols see higher round counts than most. Keltec admits a limit to rounds the gun should handle and in a recent test in a magazine, the Keltec had to be pulled do to the frame failing by the take down pin.

The Sig is nice, but I dont want to pocket carry an SAO, and the other issue is it isnt significantly skinnier than my PM40.

Admitedly, since getting my PM40 back a couple years ago its been good. It had a peened barrel but it still fired. After the slide & barrel were replaced it did push up another bur on the barrel hood which was polished off by Kahr and hasnt returned. I have had issues with it breaking mag followers, however. Between the Barrel peening before, it breaking mag followers recently, and my issues with its little 380 brother, I have stopped carrying it regularly.

[jocko]

buy a cm9 and get over these worries that u have with the ahrs u have now. The 9mm has been a very tuff ad reliable kahr. my feeling with the lightweight polymer 40 cals is that for some shooters the gun is just to much.

I have a P380 that since bakc has been ok have not put enough rounds in it though to get that confidence needed to say it is good to go. Ineed to that is for sure. I would say to you pass on the kel tek, they are what they are. If I was going to go that route it would be the rugler lcp any day over the kel tek. For e my pM9 goes anywhere my 380 has ever went and I totally trus it to and the firepower is appples and oranges.

For ths ol timer I am not on the band wagon with the kahr P380 and I sure think it is a super ergo shooting gun to.

[kerby9mm]

Thers's still Rorbaugh Seecamp,NAA, Micro Desers Eagle. I have complete faith in my p238's which means a lot to me. I can imagine your frustration with your experiences you have had especially with your p380. Good luck

[yqtszhj]

buy a cm9 and get over these worries that u have with the ahrs u have now. The 9mm has been a very tuff ad reliable kahr. my feeling with the lightweight polymer 40 cals is that for some shooters the gun is just to much.

I would say to you pass on the kel tek, they are what they are. If I was going to go that route it would be the rugler lcp any day over the kel tek. For e my pM9 goes anywhere my 380 has ever went and I totally trus it to and the firepower is appples and oranges.



Exactly what Jocko said. My LCP has been excellent too.

But I do have an itch for a MDE and/or P380. The $$$ is the only thing holding me back because I want it just to play with mostly. :confused:

[FLBri]

Pm9, CM9 are great pocket guns. My PM9 is flawless as a shooter and so are most that I know and have heard about. I think it's Kahr's best effort.

That being said, I am all in on the P238 as well. Dimensionally not much different than the PM9, but because of the shape, and the rolled edges on some of the parts, it seems to go in the few places the PM9 doesn't (for me, that is blue jeans ... or dress slacks).

SA is not an issue for me. The trigger is short reset, yes, but still over a 5 pound pull and not hairline in a way. Obviously this has been over debated, and I don't want to resurrect the issue for debate, except to say that SA with a convenient thumb safety is something you grow into. I did and I love it. Anxious for the new 9mm version as well.

The LCP is a very reliable 380 .... but it will never have a Kahr trigger ... and I am addicted.

[Ninjatarian]

**SNIP** my feeling with the lightweight polymer 40 cals is that for some shooters the gun is just to much. **SNIP**

Well my issue isn't that its too much for me, it seems to be too much for the gun. I actually love shooting the gun, and do / have shot it all day. I am very accurate with it and would hate to give it up. The mag followers have been an issue though. I'll probably keep it once I put a few hundred issue free rounds down it to reaffirm my confidence. Like I said, I've never had an REAL failures with it. If it is replaced, the Ruger LC9 and PPS and new Sig P938 9mm and Springfield XDs .45 are up for consideration.


For the 380s, I'm going to see what up with my bodyguard. The only major issue (one that would keep the gun from functioning when needed) is the mag drop problem. The other issues are just inconvenient. If it doesn't get the kinks worked out on the first trip back to S&W, I'll probably just sell it and quit on the pocket pistol idea. As far as the P380, I really don't see myself trusting it even if I fired a few hundred good rounds which blows because I truly enjoy carrying and shooting it.

[muggsy]

Get you a CM9 and call it a day. Tougher round, still small.

+1.

[Cokeman]

I'd keep the P380 even if I didn't carry it.