New cw380 owner here. gotta question.

[jsooner34]

I have put 280 rounds through my cw380. It has ate everything with no failures. The only issue I am having is about every 3 or 4 mags the slide will not lock back on the last round. Has anyone else experienced this? Any ideas on what is causing this to happen? I'm left handed so it is not my thumb hitting the slide stop. I've also tried 2 different mags. Thanks for any help.

[rahmann62]

Mine did that occasionally for a while. Mine has close to 500 rounds now and I no longer have that issue.

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[jsooner34]

Thanks for the response. Hopefully it will work itself out.

[muggsy]

Could be that low power ammo isn't fully moving the slide to the rear. Could be that you magazines need cleaning and the follower is hanging up. Could be an occasional limp wrist on the last round.

[Bill K]

If will have this happen in 9mm and .45 when shooting my brothers reloads. He purposely downloads a bit to save wear and tear on the gun in practice/training and because of this, when shooting his ammo, will sometimes get failure to lock back on in the last round. This has not been an issue with any of the factory ammo I've shot.

[pbagley]

I've experienced the same thing, more often with very small lightweight handguns. I think there are three things that contribute to the malfunction:
* 1: Firearm is "tight". New firearms often need a break-in period to help the parts run smoothly with one another.
* 2: Ammo is "light". Covered above concerning reloads. Some factory ammo is a bit light as well.
* 3: Shooter is not using a firm grip. A light hold, as you would use with a target gun, will allow too much recoil energy to be soaked up by the shooter, which means there is insufficient energy to fully cycle the action. I've experienced this in combination with #2 - My most accurate reload in 9mm will not lock back my CM9 unless I use a firm grip. I blame the CM9's ability to digest +P ammo since the SCCY (not +P rated) will function perfectly with the same load with no grip concerns. The problem has disappeared over the last 3-400 rounds; perhaps due to #1 but more likely due to #3.

The cure for #1 and #3 is to go to the range more often and shoot more rounds. This cure may not fix #2, but it can't hurt.

Good luck, and enjoy the range time.

[jsooner34]

Thanks for all the replies. I love the size of the 380.I will continue to put some more rounds down range. Thanks for the suggestions.

[jocko]

Muggsy is right, try some hotter ammo to see if that solves the issue. Defense ammo per say is what I am referring to. alot of the fmj over the counter ammo is alittle on the weaker side. Personally if tha tis ur only issue, then I would think ur good to go, This is a defense gun and more than likely ur never gonna need that slide to lock open . If u can't get the job done in a full magazine then more than likely ur dead. Every 3 to 4 mags also could just be shooter fatigue. small ass guns are picky, the demand a good grip, good ammo.IMO u have enough rounds for the break in, Just shoot the fokker like u stole it. If I had to pick one thing, I would say it is shooter grip changing, more than even the ammo.If u had a mechanical issue it should duplicate itself, in this case 3-4 mags is not real duplication..

[TominCA]

My p380's did that for a while, always with low power ammo, never with "boutique" ammo. Then one day they just stopped - probably wore in. I still notice occasionally when shooting low power (ie range ammo) that the last round locks back, but the lock is not fully engaged - probably light ammo that gets the slide back far enough for the slide stop to catch but it is so marginal that it can't get all the way up into the slide notch.

As a defensive gun these should be evaluated with defensive ammo which is much more consistent. These little 380's are probably right on the line for what is possible with the cartridge and they are made to very tight tolerances. Mine like; Hornady Critical Defense 90 grain, Buffalo Barnes +P 80 grain, Grizzily 90 grain +p and (surprisingly) C.O.P. 80 grain. There are probably more which will function fine. I never get 100% reliability with any "range ammo" which basically means cheap fmj regardless of where they are made.