New P380 owner with some questions

[Cole125]

Gentlemen

New P380 owner here. Just got my P380 and put 300 near flawless rounds through it. I did the clean and lube as suggested on this forum. Very happy with the gun so far. Anyways I have a few questions for you guys.

1. In my 300 round break in range session the slide locked to the rear before the magazine was empty several times. Is this a normal part of the break in?

2. What is the life of the recoil springs? At about what round count should I replace them?

3. How do the 7 round extended magazines work for the P380? I want to get a couple to EDC with the gun as long as they are reliable.

4. Will it cause extra wear and shorten the life of the gun to shoot +p loads?

Thanks

[wyntrout]

Welcome to the forum, Cole. Sometimes the slide will lock to the rear while there's still ammo because the top cartridge bumps and activates the slide lock on its way to the chamber. Sometimes a bit of light and cautious reduction of the actuator can reduce this occurrence. Resting your thumb on or near the slide lock lever can cause this in some instances during recoil.(edited)

The recoil springs are pretty strong and should last for several thousand rounds. I wouldn't worry about them until then or you're having problems with weak springs.

The seven round mags work fine. I have at least 4 of those now with the addition of a second P380. I carry them as reloads and use them at the range. I plan to have one in the pistol and at least one spare for my wife's Get Home pistol when it returns from Kahr. It apparently had an out of spec' extractor.

Shooting a limited number of +P won't hurt the pistol and i prefer the Buffalo Bore version of Gold Dots for carry. I've fired over 120 of those at the range in the last two years and don't worry about them damaging the pistol. Would I advise a steady diet of them... NO. It's like shooting +P 9mm ammo... more kick and wear and tear on YOU and the pistol.

Here's a link to some of my "testing" and video stills:

http://kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?p=76509#post76509

7-Round P380 mags:

http://kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?t=8100&highlight=7-round+extended+grip+magazines+P380

Wynn:)

[jocko]

try the gun lefthanded and see if it locks open, My opinion is kthat ur proabably hitting the slie lock lever and pre engaging the slide lock. There is a memo in the kahr tech section under propper prepping of ur kahr that address's this and how to check to see if it is round related also. takes 5 minutes to check out.

+P ammo isn't gonna hurt your P380, I would order a couple sets of recoil springs to have arund but whqt wyn stated is about the correct thing to do. I never shoot +P 380 for range fodder, just to expensive but my defense stuff is certainly +P..

stillin my opinion a very very good initial report. It do0es look like the P380 is becoming the little gun that surely "could". Just sayin

[Cole125]

Wynn, thanks very much for the input. Are there any online guides that tells you the correct way to take material off the slide release? I ordered a couple 7 round mags today so I'll try them out for myself before I carry them, good to hear they are working out for you.

jocko, I am left handed so it would be impossible for me to hit the slide release while shooting. I am thinking its possibly the issue Wynn mentioned or simply that the gun needs to be broken in more.

I am happy with the P380, its one of those guns you want to like. Hopefully I can resolve the premature slide lock open issue. For a .380 its easy to shoot well, has great sights. It feels like your shooting a "real" handgun. Look forward to learning more on this forum, you guys are very helpful.

[Cole125]

I put more thought into the issue and will call Kahr and get them to hopefully ship me a new slide lock lever free.

This should not be an issue on a gun this expensive and I don't feel comfortable filing to tuning a gun I am going to bet my life on everyday.