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gun papa
08-15-2013, 12:29 PM
I have a CZ-83 that I have had for almost two decades. The CZ will feed a brick if you could load it in the magazine.

My Wife wanted something to replace her G26. Something smaller, and liked the P380 out of all of the other guns she picked up.

I have read all of the goods and the bads prior to buying the gun. My main concerns for my Wife was recoil which was not an issue once the gun was fired.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/gunpapa/f58eb5de-1903-45dc-afef-5127c279eb27_zpsb21d62e9.jpg (http://s4.photobucket.com/user/gunpapa/media/f58eb5de-1903-45dc-afef-5127c279eb27_zpsb21d62e9.jpg.html)

My impressions of the gun to look at it is, that I am inamered by it. The fit and finish are excellent. Even with big hands I can handle the gun and shoot it with comfort and without issue.

The gun is tight. The barrel lock up is the best that I have seen. ZERO movement. The mag button is tight and requires me to alter the grip to release the magazine, (which is not an issue as this is hardly a gun that you would stand and fight with, like the G26 was). On this gun, my opinion is that it is better to have a tight release than a loose one.

Trigger. The P380 is the first Kahr I have had my hands on. I have heard rave reviews of the Kahr triggers. The trigger is smooth with most of the weight of the pull occurs within the first 1/3 of the travel. If this was a bigger pistol I probably would be unhappy with it as I am not used to the longer pull similar, but not as long of a travel as a revolver. However, for this micro gun, the trigger is perfect.

Recoil- Recoil is nothing. Unmemorable. No sting, no web redness. I dig it, and more importantly, so does the Wife. You could shoot this gun all day long and enjoy it.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/gunpapa/photobucket-27215-1375769319888_zps2bc5af07.jpg (http://s4.photobucket.com/user/gunpapa/media/photobucket-27215-1375769319888_zps2bc5af07.jpg.html)

Accuracy- I understand that this is, and is intended for our purposes, a belly gun meant to get you out of a jam and arms distance, and enable you the opportunity to escape. I get that. Man, am I impressed with the ability for accuracy. I shoot out at the desert about a mile from my house. In the distance sat a 5 gallon bucket. I held point of aim, and I could hit the bucket every shot with ease. I paced it off at 50 yards. That is danm impressive for such a short barrel and short sight radius.

Reliability and ammo. Again, I had read a lot of bad about the reliability. Again, I understand the break in period of approx. 200 rds. I stripped and cleaned the gun prior to shooting it. I ran Azoom snap caps through her for a while, and then went out to shoot it. I had a 100rd box of Winchester white box and some Herters .380.

I was surprized that Winchester loaded .380's with a flat nosed truncated bullet, and I thought it may cause feed issues. Surprisingly, the gun likes truncated bullets. The gun did have some FTF, FTRB, and FTLSB issues. The FTF's were stoppages as the rear of the case catches as it slides against the bolt face. This smoothed out with use. The gun HATES the Herters rounds. I had never shot these, and have always looked at them suspect. Turns out, the rounds are out of spec, and sereral per box would not seat in a case guage. No more Herters.
The gun also seemed to like my 95gr ball handloads with ease and without incident.
The gun seems to like hollow points as it digested Federal Hydro Shoks. We are only 120 rounds through the gun. I would not call the gun reliable, but I am happy to break her in.

I have regular fail to lock back the slide on empty mag. I just do not think the slide is travelling all the way to the rear since the recoil springs are new.

My local Wal Mart has ammo, and I seem to understand their delivery schedule so furnishing a regular stream of WWB should not be an issue. At this time there is a two box limit, but with 100rd boxes of .380, that is fine.

I am willing to give this gun time to break in. I like shooting it. I would not carry it yet, but, I will see how it goes. papa

SGT5711
08-15-2013, 01:26 PM
Good luck with your new P380. I just sent mine back to the factory this morning. I had e-mailed Jay at Kahr thinking they might just send me some new recoil springs to try, but he sent me a prepaid shipping label to send it back to the factory instead. My last range session I started to experience some FTRB problems, light strikes, and lock back issues.

I purchased mine new in January, but it was manufactured in 2010. Mine has a serial # of RB66XX. I have a feeling they might have worked out some of the kinks with the early P380's, and I think mine will come back and be good to go. I hear of fewer problems with the newer P380's.

I agree with you, I really love this little pistol. Surprisingly easy to handle for the size, great smooth trigger, fun to shoot, and the accuracy is amazing.

I guess I will just have to get by with my K9 until the P380 returns. It has been flawless since break-in.

gun papa
08-15-2013, 01:51 PM
Good luck with your new P380. I just sent mine back to the factory this morning. I had e-mailed Jay at Kahr thinking they might just send me some new recoil springs to try, but he sent me a prepaid shipping label to send it back to the factory instead. My last range session I started to experience some FTRB problems, light strikes, and lock back issues.

I purchased mine new in January, but it was manufactured in 2010. Mine has a serial # of RB66XX. I have a feeling they might have worked out some of the kinks with the early P380's, and I think mine will come back and be good to go. I hear of fewer problems with the newer P380's.

I agree with you, I really love this little pistol. Surprisingly easy to handle for the size, great smooth trigger, fun to shoot, and the accuracy is amazing.

I guess I will just have to get by with my K9 until the P380 returns. It has been flawless since break-in.how can I determine when my gun was made?

Tomac
08-16-2013, 06:45 AM
Wife's P380 has been 100% although we did the suggested prep/lube before firing the first time. It's here CCW; light enough to carry in her purse yet powerful enough to do serious damage if needbe (loaded w/Buffalo Bore 100gr +P hardcast).
Tomac

Jeff1000
08-16-2013, 09:12 AM
PMFJI, but where did you guys find/ buy your P380s? I want to buy but can't find one anywhere, even online.

Bill K
08-16-2013, 11:09 AM
Excellent review. Thanks for taking the time to share your P380 break in experience.

A reliable .380, IMHO, makes a fine carry gun when something larger is inconvenient to carry (or difficult to conceal).

gun papa
08-16-2013, 09:45 PM
PMFJI, but where did you guys find/ buy your P380s? I want to buy but can't find one anywhere, even online.

We hit every gun store in a 60 mile radius. We found 2. The first one was used. Good shape, but used for $600. It was the first one the Wife had held, so we acted interested and played with it for awhile. Now that she had her hands on it, she liked it. She had handled the Bodyguard, LCP, etc., but nothing spoke ro her. She liked the Kahr.
The second one, and last one of the two we found was in Reno, NV. It was new and had night sights. It was very tight. The difference between new and used was evident as the slide on the new one was far more difficult for my Wife to rack. It was a nice piece, but $750 was a hard number to justify, even with the sights. We passed and returned home emptyhanded. The next day I found the little P380 on Gunbroker located at a gunstore in Colorado. It was new in the box with two bids on her, 3 days left in the auction, and a "buy it now " price of $550.00 with $35 shipping. I considered the time and gas it took to find the two we had passed on. It was an easy choice. I bought it. I bet the 2 bidders prior are kicking themselves. My local FFL charged $15 for the transfer. My Wife has a CCW, so no background check required in my state. No Tax to pay. $600 OTD I thought was an exceptional price.

SGT5711
08-17-2013, 05:37 PM
how can I determine when my gun was made?

I called Kahr and they told me the manufacture date.

gun papa
08-18-2013, 08:24 AM
I added a few pics to the original post.


I called Kahr and they told me the manufacture date.

I do not lnow the, "born on date", but it is an RD frame and has 2013 literature, so it is recent.

SGT5711
08-19-2013, 08:25 PM
Very nice pics, thanks. Yes, I believe the RD serial #'s are the most recent. Mine arrived back a the factory Friday morning, and I can't wait to get it back.

dsk
08-20-2013, 12:18 AM
Interesting to hear the Herters was out of spec. My P380 doesn't like it at all either. If I have any left in my stash I guess I'll have to run it through my Glock or Beretta.

BTW I can back you up on that CZ-83. While it may be big and heavy for a .380 it's an accurate and stone-cold reliable gun, and a great choice for a female user who doesn't mind the weight.

Jeff1000
08-20-2013, 06:34 AM
We hit every gun store in a 60 mile radius. We found 2. The first one was used. Good shape, but used for $600. It was the first one the Wife had held, so we acted interested and played with it for awhile. Now that she had her hands on it, she liked it. She had handled the Bodyguard, LCP, etc., but nothing spoke ro her. She liked the Kahr.
The second one, and last one of the two we found was in Reno, NV. It was new and had night sights. It was very tight. The difference between new and used was evident as the slide on the new one was far more difficult for my Wife to rack. It was a nice piece, but $750 was a hard number to justify, even with the sights. We passed and returned home emptyhanded. The next day I found the little P380 on Gunbroker located at a gunstore in Colorado. It was new in the box with two bids on her, 3 days left in the auction, and a "buy it now " price of $550.00 with $35 shipping. I considered the time and gas it took to find the two we had passed on. It was an easy choice. I bought it. I bet the 2 bidders prior are kicking themselves. My local FFL charged $15 for the transfer. My Wife has a CCW, so no background check required in my state. No Tax to pay. $600 OTD I thought was an exceptional price.

Thanks for the feedback; I'm in Nevada too, actually Vegas.

Congrats on your find; it looks like you got a great deal.

I picked up a Ruger LCP but I'm still interested in a P380. Thanks again.

:Amflag2:

gun papa
08-20-2013, 10:49 PM
Thanks for the feedback; I'm in Nevada too, actually Vegas.

Congrats on your find; it looks like you got a great deal.

I picked up a Ruger LCP but I'm still interested in a P380. Thanks again.

:Amflag2:

We found the new gun with night sights at "Mark Fore and Strike" gun store in Reno. It is one of those gun stores that looks to have been there for decades. The P380 was very new, and very tight.
They had no idea that they had it. In fact, they had a lot of used Kahrs in there. I was surprised to see them all.

gun papa
08-20-2013, 11:18 PM
UPDATE:

I cleaned the gun and ran it wet for 50 more rounds, putting it up in the 170 rd range. WWB truncated FMJ bullets. I slingshotted every magazine without issue. It fed all 50 without a hitch, but only locked back twice on empty magazine, which is an improvement. I think the recoil spring is still too stiff.

A few pieces of brass to the face, which at this point is my most annoying issue with the little pistol.

I bought 100rds Aguila 90gr hollowpoints that are very close in dimensions to the WWB truncated bullets. I will run a mag or two of them ASAP to see how they feed.

I have another WWB 100rd box and another 75rds left from the last box. I plan on getting those down the pipe this weekend. I am determined to break this gun in in short order. My Wife doesn't seem to mind.

I am again getting a pretty healthy stash of .380 brass. I may again have to caliber convert my XL650 to the .380. The little .380 is such a fun cartridge to reload on a progressive. One thing about the ammo crisis, it is easy to find my brass, as no brass is left anymore. The brassrats get it all. I spend more time finding my brass than shooting.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/gunpapa/6da8438b-b797-4a16-8fc9-82dafe37777a_zps5da08739.jpg (http://s4.photobucket.com/user/gunpapa/media/6da8438b-b797-4a16-8fc9-82dafe37777a_zps5da08739.jpg.html)

yqtszhj
08-21-2013, 08:37 AM
nice pictures. I have an itch for a new flame thrower now too :)

gun papa
08-21-2013, 09:41 PM
nice pictures. I have an itch for a new flame thrower now too :)

This may work better in the flamethrower department! Draco Pistol aka Nevada Flashlight
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/gunpapa/Draconight4.jpg (http://s4.photobucket.com/user/gunpapa/media/Draconight4.jpg.html)

Albo5542
08-23-2013, 06:32 PM
Hi Gun Papa. Im brand new to the forum and a newbie Kahr owner. I loved your review. I recently purchased a used P380 and have thrown approximately 300 rounds through it so far including the Buffalo bore 100gr. Hardcast. The previous owner must have broken this little gem in right because I have had absolutely no problems with it. The magazine release is still tight and I also have to adjust the grip to release it, but to me its of no consequence. I love it so much it replaced my Colt Mustang as my everyday carry piece. I also heard of the legendary Kahr trigger pull and all i have to say is ,WOW! I was always partial to the 380 round and could never really find a DAO pistol that I was comfortable with so I went with the Mustang and the single action. No regrets there, the Mustang is a hell of a little gun, but the Kahr totally won me over. Anyway, best of luck with it. great pics btw.