View Full Version : Love my PM9...are the P380s as reliable?
AFDoc
08-29-2012, 06:21 PM
Been awhile since I've been on the forum...thinking about getting a P380 but still reading a fair amount of problems, similar to last year. Are they getting the bugs worked out on this thing or should I wait?
Bawanna
08-29-2012, 06:57 PM
My reliable sources tell me the bugs are worked out. We still seem to hear of an issue now and then but nothing like in the not so long ago past.
Having a PM9 in hand, I wonder why you'd want a 380 anything but for those dress up occasions when I have to wear my "Little Black Dress", maybe only the P380 will do.
I'll ponder this and get back to ya.
Tinman507
08-29-2012, 07:11 PM
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2385/1525582389_a0e4f1e7a2_z.jpg
AFDoc
08-29-2012, 07:40 PM
Tinman,
looks like that dress got you a little excited.
Thanks Bawanna. It'd be for the wife and for those occasions you mention.
Tinman507
08-29-2012, 07:41 PM
Only when I feel pretty
mluikey
08-29-2012, 08:19 PM
Cross dressing makes you happy?? :p
bonjorno2
08-29-2012, 08:22 PM
my p380 has been flawless, my previous ones not so much
Bawanna
08-29-2012, 08:28 PM
Great gobs of goose slobber, I got you mixed up with my cyber bride AFRET. I guess you could say I was cross talking.
Can the missus handle your PM9? I'd get her one of those or the CM9.
I'd not hesitate to get the 380 if it's the only one that will fit.
Planedude
08-29-2012, 09:11 PM
My P380 is great, packs along well and goes bang/reload, bang/reload with boring regularity. I've been carrrying it 60%-ish of the time for a couple of years now.
My CW40 rides along when wardrope permits.
With todays SD ammo in the P380 I don't feel undergunned.
It's all in what your comfortable with.
Ninjatarian
10-13-2012, 04:06 PM
I had a p380 and LOVED that gun, but had reliability problems and let it go.
Bawanna, what do you know of the upgrades? When mine was having issues I remember reading that some of the frames were bad and being replaced and the new models had some changes.
The most concerning issue I had with mine was the trigger guard was somehow coming in contact with the end of the trigger and catching, it was as if the trigger guard had warped. Soft polymer? I also carried it in a wallet holster and sat on it regularly, though I wouldnt think that would be a problem.
jocko
10-13-2012, 04:30 PM
My reliable sources tell me the bugs are worked out. We still seem to hear of an issue now and then but nothing like in the not so long ago past.
Having a PM9 in hand, I wonder why you'd want a 380 anything but for those dress up occasions when I have to wear my "Little Black Dress", maybe only the P380 will do.
I'll ponder this and get back to ya.
right and IMO some of the issues today are shooter induced, but that is never gonna go away with the small guns either, see it alot with kel teks. Gun gets blamed for everything, but again even if it is shooer induced, to that particvular person it is an issue. Just sayin
We tend to fallin love with these smalla ss guns but there are drawbacks to them. There4 just ain't alot of anythig to get ahold of and the slightest fokk up with ur grip and u might be a redneck. Just sayin:banplease:
Jeff00042
10-15-2012, 01:28 PM
I have about 800 rounds through my 2nd P380 (Serial #RC4XXX). It is far more reliable than my first one (RA####). Accurate, comfortable to shoot but not as reliable as my LCP or my PM9. I just don't have the confidence in it that I have in my other personal defense guns.
muggsy
10-15-2012, 01:40 PM
I had a p380 and LOVED that gun, but had reliability problems and let it go.
Bawanna, what do you know of the upgrades? When mine was having issues I remember reading that some of the frames were bad and being replaced and the new models had some changes.
The most concerning issue I had with mine was the trigger guard was somehow coming in contact with the end of the trigger and catching, it was as if the trigger guard had warped. Soft polymer? I also carried it in a wallet holster and sat on it regularly, though I wouldnt think that would be a problem.
That all depends on the size of your posterior. :)
spikedog
10-15-2012, 03:33 PM
Mine has been 100%
Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2
Kilibreaux
10-21-2012, 05:14 AM
My P380 started out with the "expected" function problems...failure of the slide to fully close - NOT a "failure to feed", and failure to extract leading to stovepipe jams.
As instructed I set out to faithfully shoot at least 200 rounds through it to let everything work itself in....the problem is, at 200 rounds everything wasn't worked in.
So I started to study the problem...I've been piddling around with guns for nearly 40 years and I've got a pretty good ability to troubleshoot.
The problem - on MY gun, was the extractor...pure and simple. The extractor spring is VERY stiff, and the extractor claw is deep, while the extractor's "reach" is somewhat shallow...exactly the way one would cast or mill and extractor for later fitting. Extractor tension on my pistol is horrendously strong...or it was.
This explains why the gun had failures to close into battery...all the slide energy and spring energy was unable to overcome the resistance of the extractor! Same for the stovepipes...instead of ejecting the overly tensioned extractor claw was preventing the cases from being smoothly released!
So I honed a bit off the inside of the extractor claw, then honed a bit off the tip, or edge of the extractor "nose", and for good measure clipped about 3/4 of a coil off the extractor spring.
Suddenly the gun feeds and extracts perfectly!
It's almost as if Kahr's fitting technicians are simply installing the parts as they come from a bin, then, if a particular gun happens to come back, THEN someone with the know-how actually FITS the parts and creates a 100% reliable pistol.
Cokeman
10-21-2012, 10:43 AM
I hope you have before and after pictures of the extractor.
kahrsport
10-21-2012, 11:40 AM
the smaller the guns get the more issues arise for gunsmith to overcome and designers as well i guess... that's why i just can't believe me eyes when i look at the cm9... it's such a gem... i am no longer impressed by my cw9 anymore...
Nimrod
10-21-2012, 12:01 PM
I believe that Kahr has solved most of the problems. The P380 is ammo sensitive however so you need to determine what will work and what will not. My daughter uses WWB for practice and occasionally she has problems with it. I think you can buy a new P380 without worrying about reliability.
Kilibreaux
10-21-2012, 02:59 PM
I believe that Kahr has solved most of the problems. The P380 is ammo sensitive however so you need to determine what will work and what will not. My daughter uses WWB for practice and occasionally she has problems with it. I think you can buy a new P380 without worrying about reliability.
I agree...I suspect most guns are OTB pretty relliable, and during my break-in firing I could tell the gun was loosening up and starting to fire more than once per jam.
What I did was dissasemble the gun and insert a cartridge under the extractor which pretty well isolated the problem as I could tell the extractor's resistance to allowing the cartridge to slide into position was quite high. Also, the P380 extractor extends down and acts to capture the cartridge rim early in the feed cycle, and this portion is beveled forward a bit.
I then removed the extractor and ran through chambering cycles and the gun chambered 100% reliably...clearly the problem was the tight tolerances of the extractor.
I honed the extractor on it's backside and along it's edge where it indexes into the cartridge groove...VERY little material was removed...a few thousandths at most, but it was enough, combined with that 3/4 coil clipping to allow the gun to feed and eject with near 100% (so far 100%) reliability.
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