Kahr P380 Pull Back Slide Difficult

[varnco]

I have a Kahr p380 and a Ruger LCP.

The Kahr is more difficult to pull back and lock back or sling shot it than the Ruger - considerably more strength is needed.

Is this considered normal? Is there any way to make it easier to do this? I'm concerned my wife will not be able to pull it back.

Have about 250 rounds through it at this point

Thanks.

[FearlessNKY]

Kahr does not recommend you "sling shot" the slide in order to load a round. You're supposed to lock the slide back, insert the magazine, then release the slide stop to load the pistol.

If your wife is having problems racking the slide, then perhaps she would be better off with a revolver.....as this is a VERY common problem among women. Even if taught proper technique, it can still be difficult for a lot of women.

While the P380 will "loosen up" slightly after you break it in with several hundred rounds, I doubt she'll be able to notice any real difference in racking the slide.

[jocko]

I have a Kahr p380 and a Ruger LCP.

The Kahr is more difficult to pull back and lock back or sling shot it than the Ruger - considerably more strength is needed.

Is this considered normal? Is there any way to make it easier to do this? I'm concerned my wife will not be able to pull it back.

Have about 250 rounds through it at this point

Thanks.

the ruger has a 9# recoil spring ur kahr is problaby twice that, IMO your wife will never be able to hand rack the P380, just ain't gonna loosen up that much. LCP basically start out made ooose, kahrs are made tight and they tend to stay that way. If she uses the slide lock lever to load the gun she willbe good to go but if she ever has a FTF or anything that requires clearing the chamber, she is IMO screwed. Probably even with the lcp. Ifr uhave 250 good rounds thorgh the P380, u keep the gun and carry it as it is far better than the lcp in shooting ability, although the lcp will go bang every time when needed.

Liek someone stated buy her a revolver or give her the lcp if she can handle it OK. P:ulling the trigger is a no brainer for women with a semi auto . IT IS GETTING TO THAT STAGE THAT SCREWS THEM UP../

[varnco]

Thanks for the info. The LCP is soooo much easier to pull back.

And the concern is for a FTF, etc. not the initial loading as I could do that using the slide release, as it should always have one in the pipe.

The P380 is a pleasure to shoot, and love the trigger for DAO, but dang it's hard to pull back, even to get it to lock to load it "properly"

Anyone know of a semi in the Kahr/LCP side with DAO trigger? I was thinking the SIG, but it's SA, and prefer the inherint "safety" of DA.

[JFootin]

Thanks for the info. The LCP is soooo much easier to pull back.

And the concern is for a FTF, etc. not the initial loading as I could do that using the slide release, as it should always have one in the pipe.

The P380 is a pleasure to shoot, and love the trigger for DAO, but dang it's hard to pull back, even to get it to lock to load it "properly"

Anyone know of a semi in the Kahr/LCP side with DAO trigger? I was thinking the SIG, but it's SA, and prefer the inherint "safety" of DA.

The CM9 is also extremely hard for me to wrack, having partially paralyzed hands and wrists. But it is loosening up a bit with rounds fired. I have had the same concerns as you regarding ability to clear a jam, but with confidence and practice it is becoming easier to do it. My hands are too clumsy and weak to get the slide all the way back, hold it there and push the slide stop lever up. So I insert an empty mag, wrack it and it locks. It is only after cleaning or dry firing it that I find a need to do that, because I still don't have enough confidence hand racking to load one in the chamber that way. So, I keep one of my 3 mags empty around the house for that purpose, only loading that mag before going for a range session. After it loosens up some more, I will practice hand racking with snap caps. If need be, I will do Greg's mag follower mod (http://kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?t=6943) to make it more forgiving of my weak hands.

[TominCA]

My P380's were very hard to rack initially-After many rounds (one has about 1800 the other 800) they were much easier and I could slingshot the slide easily. At first I thought it was the springs getting normally weaker. I changed the recoil springs in both of them as normal maintenance - an although the slides were a bit harder to rack they were not nearly as hard as originally.

My conclusion is that the tight fit of the pistol is causing the hard racking - I doubt if I have turned into superman suddenly and I think the triangle of force formed by the Barrel contacting the hole in the end of the slide, while the slide is being forced against the rails and the resistance of the slide stop pin through the slot in the barrel lug, is so tight it makes the gun hard to rack. (if this doesn't make sense at first look at the slide in full recoil and think what must be contacting what in the frame and at the lug)

The metal is so hard that it takes a long time for the last little bit to wear off. That's why they like so much lube at first. Another way to think of this is that the barrel (or barrel lug cut) is a little oversize.