CW380/P380 Broken Strikers/pin

[topgun1953]

I bought a CW380 last fall and after 300-400 rounds the striker broke. While it was at Kahr, I bought a P380. After a similar number of rounds, the striker broke. I've been carrying the CW and been using the P primarily at the range. Today, while dry firing, the stiker broke AGAIN on the P380. Any suggestions on what might be going on. I'll call Kahr tomorrow and don't expect any problems with getting it returned but if I'm doing something wrong, I'd sure like to know what it could be!!!

[DJK11]

Been there myself. If you find an answer let us know.

[topgun1953]

Yeah, saw that thread from a while back. I took the slide down when it first happened on the CW. When the same thing happened on the P380, I just sent it back. This is the first time it broke when the pin was protruding out of the hole. Not that it matters. When I took the CW apart There was some metal slag down at the end of the channel. I couldn't get it out and figured it was left over from manufacturing. Don't know if Kahr took it out. We'll see what they say tomorrow.

[wyntrout]

Dang! It sounds like a batch of bad strikers. We went for about 5 years here and only heard of 3-4... seemed really rare... and now this multiple or repeating instance.

Please keep us in the loop with what Kahr says/does.

For much dry firing, I use snap caps... just never trusted "excessive" banging of the striker against the breech face... unrestrained.

Good luck. I hope you get back reliable Kahrs with your problems fixed.

Wynn:)

[jocko]

I think I would have just had them send me a new striker and re-installed it myself. That is all that kahr will do. It rare, and I gues I would cease the dry firing without a snap cap or sumpin to absrb the enertia.

Personlly I think it is a bad batch of strikers, but who knws. Error on te side of caution and buyy some snap caps.

[topgun1953]

I think I would have just had them send me a new striker and re-installed it myself. That is all that kahr will do. It rare, and I gues I would cease the dry firing without a snap cap or sumpin to absrb the enertia.

Personlly I think it is a bad batch of strikers, but who knws. Error on te side of caution and buyy some snap caps.

Kahr will let me send it back. I want to make sure they inspect the interior of the striker channel. Currently waiting for the label. I have snap caps for my M&P 9mm but rarely use them. It's a pain to have to load up a mag after I cycle through them. Kahr's literature says its ok to dry fire, but perhaps I should take your advice. :)

[muggsy]

I blew up your photo and it appears the the metal at the break in the striker is crystallized. It could be due to the grain structure of the metal or the metal could have become work hardened from dry firing. I've dry fired both my CM9 and P380 repeatedly without incident. This one's a head scratcher.

[jocko]

nice thing about snap caps in ur kahr is that it only take sone to do ur practice, as u can just pull the slide back a 1/4" every time and ur good to go again, so no ejection is needed.

If ur comfortable sending the gun back indeed do it.

[topgun1953]

nice thing about snap caps in ur kahr is that it only take sone to do ur practice, as u can just pull the slide back a 1/4" every time and ur good to go again, so no ejection is needed.

If ur comfortable sending the gun back indeed do it.
Oh, didn't know that jocko ... I'll buy some ... I'm still waiting for my email/label... hope I get it soon cuz I'm going out of town tomorrow and want to get it shipped before I go!!!
:D

EDIT:...got it. off it goes!

[gun papa]

nice thing about snap caps in ur kahr is that it only take sone to do ur practice, as u can just pull the slide back a 1/4" every time and ur good to go again, so no ejection is needed.

If ur comfortable sending the gun back indeed do it.

I have the aluminum A ZOOM type snap caps with the rubbery insert in the primer pocket to dampen the striker impact. Yes, as Jocko says, just retract slide enough to reset after dryfiring, no need to eject. I dry fire the hell out of my CW380.

[CPTKILLER]

Poor metallurgy and even worse QC!

[muggsy]

There is no way to visually inspect the grain structure of a part. It's possible that a batch of strikers were improperly heat treated.

[topgun1953]

Got my p380 back today. Kahr turned it around in a week, but I had to wait until I returned from vacation to have FedEx deliver it. Besides replacing the striker assembly and extractor, they replaced the slide itself. Will be going to the range soon!

[kenm]

Got my p380 back today. Kahr turned it around in a week, but I had to wait until I returned from vacation to have FedEx deliver it. Besides replacing the striker assembly and extractor, they replaced the slide itself. Will be going to the range soon!

So what happened with your P390 during the past 9 months? - did it work okay?

I just got mine.

[TheLastDaze]

Poor metallurgy and even worse QC!
Poor HT yes, but QC wouldn't be on Kahr as I'm sure they farm out their HT....and I'm not sure they even check the RC on these, not individually anyway and if they do a batch and check one they have to toss it from the indentation it leaves.. these things can happen to the best of them


There is no way to visually inspect the grain structure of a part. It's possible that a batch of strikers were improperly heat treated. agreed, bad batches happen..


Got my p380 back today. Kahr turned it around in a week, but I had to wait until I returned from vacation to have FedEx deliver it. Besides replacing the striker assembly and extractor, they replaced the slide itself. Will be going to the range soon!
outstanding turn around time !! I'll just assume this wasn't an isolated incident and they were well aware of the batch and culled them as soon as they were getting reports of failures...

[sharpetop]

Does any body have serial number range beware of? I've dry fired the hell out of all my firearms for the past 35 to 40 years and never had an issue.

[topgun1953]

So what happened with your P390 during the past 9 months? - did it work okay?

I just got mine.
It's been running fine. A few hundred rounds through the p380 since the last trip to Kahr. I got rid of the cw380 when the trigger pin started working its way out. Just tired of the issues and didn't neet two 380s. Love the p380.

[topgun1953]

Poor HT yes, but QC wouldn't be on Kahr as I'm sure they farm out their HT....and I'm not sure they even check the RC on these, not individually anyway and if they do a batch and check one they have to toss it from the indentation it leaves.. these things can happen to the best of them

agreed, bad batches happen..


outstanding turn around time !! I'll just assume this wasn't an isolated incident and they were well aware of the batch and culled them as soon as they were getting reports of failures...

"Aware of the issue". I hope so. In a few months I had broken strikers in a new cw380 and then twice in this P380 :)

[kenm]

It's been running fine. A few hundred rounds through the p380 since the last trip to Kahr. I got rid of the cw380 when the trigger pin started working its way out. Just tired of the issues and didn't neet two 380s. Love the p380.

Great to hear that it works okay now.
It took me a lot of agonizing over the various pocket guns before I settled on the Kahr P380.
Looking forward to a (hopefully) good relationship with it.

[Whaleman]

My striker also broke just like yours.

[Leucoandro]

New member here. I found this thread while checking to see if Kahr will supply a return shipping for warrant work on a new handgun.

I seem to have the same issue with a CW380. I say seem to, because I have never removed the striker unit for visual inspection, but the firing pin protrudes from the slide (does not move) while the striker is retracted.

I bought it 29 May 2014. I have shot it less than 300 times. Dry fired maybe 50 or 60 times. I am filling out an RA form right now.


Charlie

[topgun1953]

Sorry to hear this. If it is broken, you should be able to push the pin in and hear it rattle she you shake the gun. Kahr covered the costs on all 3 of my broken strikers. 1 on my CW380 and twice on P380. They replaced the slide the second time on the P ... This last spring or so. Don't have the CW any more but carry the P and love to shoot it.
good luck

ps... 300 rounds is about how long each of mine lasted...

[Leucoandro]

topgun1953,

The process you described was how I accidently discovered it was broken. After I fieldstrip and clean a striker, I typically try to actuate the striker to make sure nothing is binding it. After I did that on the CW380, I assembled the gun and found the trigger felt very different. I disassembled the handgun again and noticed the striker was stuck back. I held the striker back and shook it and that is when I heard the firing pin.

Including my Wife's, I have three 380's. A Ruger LCP (Wife's), Kahr CW380, and Glock 42...The Kahr was and still is my favorite.


Charlie

[kenm]

The romance is OVER.
P380 - rubbish??
Had problems from day 1 with this gun.
Did all the advised prep before my first range trip.
At the range. it took 2 hours to get a 100 rounds to fire - after stopping countless times due to the dreaded "click" and no "bang".
The Range Master came to help and said, "Ah, it's that #!!# "xxxxx gun". He struggled with it, trying 3 different major manufacturers' round-nosed ammo (beside the PMC and HPR I was using)
Finally, I took out my trusted Glock 17 and put 30 rounds dead on target before leaving the range - just to get the bad P380 taste out of my system.

Went back couple of days later (yes, cleaned & lubed the thing first, per our Lube Chart)
This time it was almost all clicks. Another Range master came up and played around with it - no luck.

Took my new P380 back to the dealer. He played around with it for a day and I got a call the next day.
"The striker is marking the base of the shell, but not enough to ignite the primer every time"
They've sent it back to Kahr.
Also we noticed that the polymer frame had bits hanging off it when the slide was removed.
Anyway, I ordered a Glock 42 today and will be picking it up early next month.
What an utterly frustrating experience.

[SkeletonSlinky]

Well, guess I'll add my cw380 to the list of broken strikers..was noticing that the trigger felt wrong and so I did the ol' pen in the barrel test (with it unloaded, of course!). Firing pin/striker would not "launch" the pen and sure enough, no pin extended through the breech-face. I disassembled the slide and found that the striker looked just like DJK11's pic..snapped in two. I probably have approximately 3-400 rounds through it and did all the proper prep (thanks Jocko!). I do dry fire just like I do with my pm9 (with no issues in thousand of rounds)...guess I have to give Kahr a call tomorrow. I also noticed that just to the right of the firing pin hole (in the 1st pic..not the end of the extractor..down inside the striker channel) there is another "hole"/dent..is that normal or is it damage after the striker broke? Thanks for your insight!
12054
12052

[gb6491]

Well, guess I'll add my cw380 to the list of broken strikers..was noticing that the trigger felt wrong and so I did the ol' pen in the barrel test (with it unloaded, of course!). Firing pin/striker would not "launch" the pen and sure enough, no pin extended through the breech-face. I disassembled the slide and found that the striker looked just like DJK11's pic..snapped in two. I probably have approximately 3-400 rounds through it and did all the proper prep (thanks Jocko!). I do dry fire just like I do with my pm9 (with no issues in thousand of rounds)...guess I have to give Kahr a call tomorrow. I also noticed that just to the right of the firing pin hole (in the 1st pic..not the end of the extractor..down inside the striker channel) there is another "hole"/dent..is that normal or is it damage after the striker broke? Thanks for your insight!
12054
12052
Sorry to read of your striker issue (BTW, excellent photos).
As to the other hole, it's normal. That's where the striker channel intersects the pocket that the extractor sits in.
Regards,
Greg

[topgun1953]

Looks like my CW380. I broke the striker twice on my P380. Kahr replaced the entire slide the second time, so not sure what was going on. Could have been just a lot of bad parts. I don't have an exact count, but I'm pushing 1000 rounds through it since. I shoot it nearly every weekend.

[Pointblank]

Hence the old saying about carrying a backup gun: "Two is One, One is None".

[SkeletonSlinky]

Thanks Greg..I was hoping it was something like that and not damage. Hopefully they'll just send me a new striker and I'll be back in business. Good point PB..I carried this broken .380 for a few days without knowing it wouldn't go bang!

[SkeletonSlinky]

Got my new striker today..called Kahr on the 18th and they immediately asked if I wanted to send in my cw380 or if I want to fix it myself. I said I'd just take the striker and fix it myself this time but if this happens again after a few hundred rounds, I'll be sending it in. No problem. Asked if they were having a problem with their strikers and the rep said no..so I guess we'll see. It's an easy fix and it's back in business already!

[shadohh]

I had the same problem as the rest of you today. I purchased my gun 1/5/2015. I have been racking the slide and dry firing the entire month. I have been alternating between snap caps and not using them. I have no yet fire the gun using live rounds.

I have the same striker break.

I bought this as a CCW and I am seriously having doubts with it now.


https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/558261/rifle/kahrbrokenpin720152.jpg

[gun papa]

Damn, pretty sad with no live rounds fired. Exact same beak point.

[topgun1953]

Dang! That's three of us here in the last 30 days. Just got my P380 back Thursday after breaking striker number 3. Kahr turned it around in a couple of days and also called me to ask about ammo. I put about 140 rounds through it today. I hate to hear about your failure, especially not having fired a round. When you call Kahr, tell them you know of several others with broken strikers on kahrtalk.com and that there is a lot of concern. When I talked to them I mentioned how the striker looked very minimal at the point of failure and suggested beefing it up. Oh, what does your serial number start with?

[shadohh]

Dang! That's three of us here in the last 30 days. Just got my P380 back Thursday after breaking striker number 3. Kahr turned it around in a couple of days and also called me to ask about ammo. I put about 140 rounds through it today. I hate to hear about your failure, especially not having fired a round. When you call Kahr, tell them you know of several others with broken strikers on kahrtalk.com and that there is a lot of concern. When I talked to them I mentioned how the striker looked very minimal at the point of failure and suggested beefing it up. Oh, what does your serial number start with?


RJ4***

The design looks very weak.

I was using tipton snap caps at the time. Basically I ran 3 snap caps then when I dry fired without the caps I noticed it didnt feel right. So it must have broke on the last snap cap.

[RRP]

Damn, pretty sad with no live rounds fired. Exact same beak point.

This kills the speculation that the problem is somehow related to ammo, doesn't it?

Based on the anecdotal evidence presented on KT, I'm now convinced that the failing strikers are a result of poor design/manufacture.

[gun papa]

It seems like an easy redesign of the striker. Beef up that area.

[topgun1953]

This kills the speculation that the problem is somehow related to ammo, doesn't it?
.

Yes, 'shoots' it down.

[timboy]

As CW380 owner I am not sure what is more frustrating,knowing the striker could fail at anytime or knowing there is a problem with the strikers and Kahr is boldfaced LYING to their customers about it!

[RRP]

As CW380 owner I am not sure what is more frustrating,knowing the striker could fail at anytime or knowing there is a problem with the strikers and Kahr is boldfaced LYING to their customers about it!

I can understand your frustration. I, too, would not find much comfort in carrying a gun I thought might fail when I need it the most. However, I don't think it's fair to say that "Kahr is boldfaced LYING" about it. They have not ignored the problem. They have responded quickly to replace broken strikers.

Without knowing how many of these guns they produced, we don't know the statistical significance of the problem. If enough broken strikers surface, they may offer replacements proactively. But if the number of complaints is 1 in 100,000, why push the panic button? They may still be gathering data to determine what's going on. Several owners have said Kahr surveyed them for information. That sounds to me like they are looking into the problem.

[sharpetop]

I took a good look at my RH model CW380 yesterday. It's got roughly 300 rounds through it. The striker and everything else look good so far.

[gun papa]

I agree that a specific ammo is disputed. It appears that the cause of the breakages is using the pistol as intended. Design, material, and production method, should be examined.
The striker in each case appears to break in the same spot.
I love the gun. I hope that when this is resolved, there is a redesigned, forged, heat treated striker available.