P380 Range Report

[Chogers]

Will report back after I put 200 through her.

[dsk]

When Kahr says a 200-round break-in period is needed with these little pistols they mean it. 50 rounds is hardly any break-in at all. Clean it really good, lube it well, and shoot the snot out of it for another couple hundred rounds before you decide if it's still unreliable and needs warranty service.

[hardluk1]

Also be sure to have a second brand of ammo to try!! Make one of the some magtech or remington. Atleast its allways run for me thru the years. No so with some of the russian labels or some american brands. AKA wwb or federal cheap stuff.

The smaller the pistol the more ammo and shooter control can effect how well a handgun works. At some point control goes away along with accuracy and a pistol can start giveing problems again. Tends to be hand fatigue. You did give it a good cleaning and lube job before shooting?

[dsk]

If you examine these pistols closely you'll see how the slide travel distance is really short, which means there isn't a lot of time for fresh rounds to get into feeding position nor much in the way of force when the slide tries to close. If the pistol is held too loose, or is still too new and tight, or is too dry/dirty, either the round may not feed correctly or the slide won't close with enough authority to fully go back into battery. By the same token the slide won't go back with enough force to eject the empty case properly, causing weak/erratic ejection. That's just the price you pay for having a pistol that's engineered to the absolute minimum dimensions for a .380 auto, issues that plague all of these guns (Kel-Tec, Ruger, Diamondback) and ones you often won't see in a larger .380 auto like a PPK or Bersa.

[BucketBack]

Good Luck with the little shooter. You sure don't need my WWB:amflag:

[jocko]

listen to the guys here. 200 rounds seem sto do wonders for kahrs when they act up like urs is. IMO it just needs some more rounds through it..

[BucketBack]

He is having a difficult time finding any ammo at all

[nuke]

He is having a difficult time finding any ammo at all

There's plenty online under $1.00/round; not the best pricing but at least it's available. I see Magtech available at Gander in .380 Auto as well as other brands at Able Ammo. Both FMJ and HP's are in the same general price range.

[BucketBack]

It would be cheaper to meet me halfway @ $0.36 each

[wyattninek]

use some white lithium grease for lube. stays put and works great for my guns

[wyntrout]

My second P380 had a bad extractor... cartridges weren't sliding under the claw because it was out of spec' and the inside part of the claw was actually touching the breech face... no room for the cartridge rim. Pushing the slide into battery allowed the round to usually fire, but the action was then pretty much blowback! Kahr scheduled FedEx to ship it back for me and fixed it.

Lock the slide back and check to see if there's clearance under the claw. You can be careful and see if the cartridge rim goes under the claw as you slowly ease the slide forward and try to chamber a round. It could be that the areas of the claw and breech face need some smoothing or relieving for proper clearance. You can use a snap cap for this.:)

My P40 needed its extractor smoothed and relieved a bit before it became reliable.

Wynn:)

[dsk]

Frankly I'm a bit disappointed you gave up on it after only 50 rounds. It may have only needed to finish its normal break-in routine. I started considering an LCP, but I fired one and I didn't like the recoil one bit. The Kahr is a super handgun once you get the kinks ironed out of it.

[kjkens]

To save you time and money I thought I would post this. I have run several different brands through my P380 and found it does not like any of the flat nosed bullets I tried. Mine prefers Speer Lawman with the rounded nose for breakin and practice. They seem to work very well. For carry it shoots the Hornady zombie killers with the pointed ends that have the plastic dot in the middle well. Both of these load and shoot well in my gun.