CW380 Ammo- What do you like, what would you avoid?

[Hawkeye911]

This may have been well covered, but I did not find a lot in a brief search.

I have a new CW380 coming, and need to pick up some more FMJ for break in. My local gun shop had only Aquila. I had my doubts, but they claim it's "really good!" I bought 2 boxes, $24 for box of 50. We'll see...

Got me thinking... with all the experience here, what brands of .380 are you happy to find, and which ones have you decided to "pass" on, even if it is the only thing on the shelves?

I'd appreciate your opinions. Thanks!

[smokersteve]

I shoot all types.
WWB, ppu, blazer brass, tula steel, herters, federal...no issues with any of them.

[jocko]

every gun can have a finicky brand, MY P380 hated Remington 102 golden sabre, ate everything else. after 500 rounds I retried that ammo and it was flawless, so WTF. Bt I never went back to it. I shot corbon pwerball in my 380 for carry. Might not have been the ultimate defense round by somes standards but it worked perfect in my 380 and I figured the BAd guy would not be happy eiteher way what was going through his body. Normally most fguns seemt o eat good ammo, but some new gun makers even specivy what brand to shoot if u want to have no issues. I think Rohrbaugh is one of them that recommends winchester brand, soif u shoot remingtor or federal and haveissues, then u did not do ur homework. I thin k the kimber solo at first recommended hot +P 9mm ammo for reliability. Not sur etoday if they worked that issue out or not I would shoot +P all day long if i could buy it as low in price as 100 pak of WWB at wal mart..

In allthe guns I have ever owner I have never been a fanati of certain defense rounds in my guns. I find what is most offered locally withinb driving range and test it out and then I just stick with it. Most big frame kahrs other than the 380 are just not ammo sensitive and what seems to give an issue today more than likely 500 rounds later is OK:blah::blah::blah:

[Jollyrogers]

I have had problems with Fiocchi 95gr FMJ in my P380 and Aguila 95gr FMJ in my wife's BG380 and in my P380. Otherwise I've shot Blazer Brass 95gr, Federal, PMC, and WWB with no problems.

[Jollyrogers]

For SD Federal and Hornady have been flawless.

[MinnBill]

Just picked up my CW380 today and fed 100 rounds of Magnetech 95 gr. FMJ (gun shop has these for 19.95 for a box of 50) with no problems whatsoever, then tried Remington's 88 gr. JHP and nothing but failure to feed 3 out of every 6 per magazine. Next up was Winchester PDX1 95 gr. JHP. I only shot two magazines with no problems (too freakin expensive lol). I noticed the Remington's were a little longer than the others which might be the problem. I'll get a mic on them tomorrow and see if they are within specs. They feed fine through my Bersa. All I know is my hands are freakin tired!

[Hawkeye911]

Very interesting. Thanks for some interesting perspectives!

[muggsy]

For range fodder WWB, Blazer Brass, or PMC works just fine. Do yourself a favor, clean and lube the gun every fifty rounds during the break in. You'll avoid a lot of problems. Avoid steel and aluminum case ammo.

[bob98366]

When you find brands that work well, you don't have to depend on local availability or pricing. Here are two ammo shopping bots that give real time availability and pricing:
http://www.gunbot.net/
http://ammoseek.com/

[gun papa]

I have tried WWB, Blazer, Rem, . No issues other than fail to slide lock.

[Hawkeye911]

Thanks, all.

Bob, I've used both of those sites you mentioned. Beats running around, and occasionally, really good deals pop up. Shipping stinks, but is offset by gas and sales tax savings...

[TeaDub]

My brand new CW 380 has loved the Federal FMJs. A couple boxes with no incident or hiccup. I plan on trying the Hydra Shok (ease of finding), the Golden saber, the Gold Dot (if I can find a couple boxes), and perhaps even the Fiocchi Extremas. The Hydra Shoks are the easiest to find locally and do pretty well vs lightly clothed targets. I love Gold Dots in nearly everything.

Truth be told. I'd not feel unarmed carrying this CW with FMJ. Peace of mind on feeding and a slight tendency to over penetrate vs under penetrate. That's the worst case scenario. Not perfect, but I tend to carry other guns on all but the hottest days.

[Falcon3]

My new Cw380 would not even chamber fiocchi 95gr FMJ. Insert mag in gun, release slide the kahr way, jam. The round would not go into the chamber. Kahr told me they only recommend high quality U.S. manufactured ammo in a phone call to customer support. The gun handles Fed Am Eagle and Fed RTP fine. As for defensive ammo, Hornady CD has been flawless. Fed hydrashok good but a couple of FTF.

As you can see from the experience in postings, each individual serial number seems to have its own appetite.

[Jollyrogers]

Falcon3, I posted in another thread, my P380 will not chamber Fiocchi 95gr FMJ either. In fact, that ammo will not drop into a 380auto case gauge!
http://www.kahrtalk.com/showpost.php?p=301382

[SlowBurn]

No prob with Aquila in my p380. Magnetech works great, I like it better but not sure why. Shot some steel case Russian ammo when nothing else available. Dirty but ran fine.

[bobbyh]

My new Cw380 would not even chamber fiocchi 95gr FMJ. Insert mag in gun, release slide the kahr way, jam. The round would not go into the chamber. Kahr told me they only recommend high quality U.S. manufactured ammo in a phone call to customer support. The gun handles Fed Am Eagle and Fed RTP fine. As for defensive ammo, Hornady CD has been flawless. Fed hydrashok good but a couple of FTF.

As you can see from the experience in postings, each individual serial number seems to have its own appetite.

I had the same experience with JHP ammo. Hornaday CD was perfect and Federal HS had a couple FTF after dropping the slide on a new mag.

If I decide to pack JHP instead of FMJ for carry I'll just use the Hornaday CD for now.

[Falcon3]

Falcon3, I posted in another thread, my P380 will not chamber Fiocchi 95gr FMJ either. In fact, that ammo will not drop into a 380auto case gauge!
http://www.kahrtalk.com/showpost.php?p=301382
I had to chuckle over that one! I wont ever buy any Fiocchi again. I was licky that the shop i bought it at did give me full credit for the 8 boxes i bought.

[SDGlock23]

The only way I could get Fiocchi ammo to chamber in my CW380 was to take a hammer and tap out the excessive belling around the case mouth. After that, they ran like a champ. Otherwise they wouldn't even chamber.

My favorite ammo is the Winchester Train/Defense line of both the FMJ and JHP, both run awesome in the CW380 and both averaged right around 872/873 fps. Both aren't that hard to fine online.

[Jollyrogers]

I just ran a box of 95 grn Blazer alum case. zero malfunctions through the P380. Plus we shot a sig M400 and SCAR 16 tonight, but that's a diff story... scored a 250 box of UMC 95 grn for $80, so will try that soon enough:)

[wildguzzi]

I had to chuckle over that one! I wont ever buy any Fiocchi again. I was licky that the shop i bought it at did give me full credit for the 8 boxes i bought.

Thanks to this post, I have realized it is not a problem with my BRAND NEW CW380.

I just bought it today to compliment the CM9 I bought a couple months ago. I love these Kahrs.

First trip out to my range (my back yard:) ) and I tried to begin the break in period with some Fiacchi and Perfect Ammo. NO GO. Wont even feed. I can push the slide forward to put the bullet into full battery and fire it, it ejects, and fails to feed the next round. Again, This happened to me on BOTH Fiacchi and Perfecta.

I put some HRC JHP in (6 +1) and they rattled off without a problem. CRAP, now I need to find some better ammo to run through this 380 for the 'break in' period. I have about 600 rounds of the other junk. Luckily, my Glock 42 will eat that junk up just fine.

I've come to the conclusion to stay away from any ammo that has the crimp marks half way up the casing. Maybe after a good break in, it'll eat this stuff, but I'm not placing any bets.

FWIW, I hit my target dead on all 7 times with the quality JHP that fired without a glitch.

[wildguzzi]

The only way I could get Fiocchi ammo to chamber in my CW380 was to take a hammer and tap out the excessive belling around the case mouth. After that, they ran like a champ. Otherwise they wouldn't even chamber.

My favorite ammo is the Winchester Train/Defense line of both the FMJ and JHP, both run awesome in the CW380 and both averaged right around 872/873 fps. Both aren't that hard to fine online.

I would like to know more about you tapping out the 'belling'. I may need to try this.

[Jollyrogers]

Thanks to this post, I have realized it is not a problem with my BRAND NEW CW380.

First trip out to my range (my back yard:) ) and I tried to begin the break in period with some Fiacchi and Perfect Ammo. NO GO. Wont even feed. I can push the slide forward to put the bullet into full battery and fire it, it ejects, and fails to feed the next round. Again, This happened to me on BOTH Fiacchi and Perfecta.

I've come to the conclusion to stay away from any ammo that has the crimp marks half way up the casing. Maybe after a good break in, it'll eat this stuff, but I'm not placing any bets.

FWIW, I hit my target dead on all 7 times with the quality JHP that fired without a glitch.

First, congrats on the CW380!!! The pistol will never eat that Fiocchi FMJ as the chamber is tighter then a lot of the other 380s, unless you were to modify the chamber. I wouldn't do anything more then just polish the chamber. The G42 may shoot it, as my wife's BG380 will… I guess the Fiocchi could be run through a taper crimp until it dropped into a case gauge, and then it would work, but I have other ammo that runs fine in my P380, so I ain't messing with it. As far as avoiding bullets with a crimp mark halfway up, the Federal Hydra Shoks have that, though it doesn't dent the case like the Fiocchi, and the Federals work great. That crimp is to prevent setback when chambering, which is a good thing IMO.:Amflag2:

[wildguzzi]

I just ran 100 rounds of HPR without any hiccups at all. Good ammo, clean too.

[TeaDub]

Another endorsement for the HPR. Locally I have a really good supply of the XTP loaded HPs. I ran a box of them through today with no problems. I have seen some seemingly well done ballistics videos with these being right near the top of the heap for ballistics. It doesn't hurt that they are not bad on the wallet. $27/50 at my LGS. Very mild shooting, BTW.

Tried Golden Sabers as well and had no issues. I still hope to try the Hornady Custom (w/ the XTP) as they are loaded a little hotter than these HPR.

[GreenMan2814]

Blazer worked great for me. Aguila was horrible. WWB shot a lot harsher than Blazer and Hornady