CW380 Fail to go into battery...!!!!!

[TheLastDaze]

Going to the range tomorrow I have my gun clean and ready, decided to hand cycle some "factory" ammo thru it and it will not go into battery... even by dropping the slide (as recommended)

I've NEVER had a problem cycling any of my guns, if this is any indicator of what tomorrow's range trip is going to be like I'll make sure to bring another gun or two so I don't waste the trip........

Impressed overall with the 'outside' of the gun and it feels good in hand, but this is simply stupid....

I really don't care to hear about 'tight tolerances' and all that jazz, some company's run just one round while test firing, others 2-3... if you ran one round through this you wouldn't see it fails to return as it would lock-back, but if more round was fired, back to the drawing board... "If" Kahr is only firing one test shot then its no wonder they can't see an issue from the beginning, dunno..

This gun will be audio/video documented tomorrow I really hope it pulls through, but I've never had a gun do this when hand cycling so I'm REALLY concerned.....

[topgun1953]

Hmm sorry to hear. What factory ammo did you use?

[DavidR]

Would it not go into battery at all? You know how mine performed and I could not consistently hand cycle either with the slide release or by sling shot without battery failures. Sometimes it would fail and sometimes it wouldn't.

[TheLastDaze]

Okay before I completely jump the gun here (as I did in my first post) I tried the only 'cheap' factory FMJ that I have which is perfecta someone through this in on another deal I did...

anyhow I broke out some of my reloads and it cycled my 'mixed' range brass 100gn bullets just fine... however with significant 'setback', my bullets range from .975-.980 col... it set them back after 3 cycles to .920 which tells me its slamming hard against the feed ramp which is angled very so slightly.. I don't use a heavy crimp on my casings (preference) but it looks like if this gun turns out to be a keeper I may have to adjust my crimp just for this gun...

with cycling just one time it would set back my bullet .980 to .970 which is still safely shootable.. the perfectas have a major crimp ring so no set back there.... however the straight wall perfecta .380 is .70 od my mixed range brass can range from .67-.70 od...

Because it slams so hard against the feed ramp I will discontinue hand cycling rounds and just take a variety of SD ammo, the box of perfecta I have, and of course my handloads.. and we'll see how she runs...

I took the inner and outer recoil springs and stretched them ever so slightly, really no difference just peace of mind.....

I'm hopeful all is well tomorrow if not I will just request Kahr to send me the "fix" in the mail and I'll do it myself if possible..

[gun papa]

I have found hand cycling to be a poor indicator of performance.

[GeezerD]

More than likely it will need to have the breech face and extractor polished. ------------- GeezerD

[TheLastDaze]

I have found hand cycling to be a poor indicator of performance.
maybe in a kahr, but its a great indicator of how a guns going to perform... I collect old .22's, I had acquired an old Remington pump (103 year old)couple months ago, interested to see if it would cycle I dropped some rounds into the tube and the very first one jammed as did the second, I emptied gun before going any further...

Complete detail strip was required and a lot of elbow grease on the internals, afterward it cycled perfectly..and was a tack driver on the range without a single hiccup..

I've never had a gun NOT go into battery by handcycling so this is new to me and maybe there is some truth of tight tolerances, and maybe I will have to polish the chamber, and maybe I will have to do this, do that,etc.... Which the FACTORY should have done in the first place, I really hope this isn't the case as I will heading to the range momentarily...

[gun papa]

I am hoping it goes well.

[TheLastDaze]

Well went to the range, and it was closed...im an idiot and forgot all about mondays... anyhow making use of the trip to run errands, will go out tomorrow

[gun papa]

Range failed to go into battery. Almost as bad as getting there forgetting ammo or a mag.

[DavidR]

Another sleepless night.

[muggsy]

Kahr test fires every gun it manufactures before they are shipped. They fire a minimum of six rounds through each gun. If the gun doesn't function correctly the fault is corrected and the gun is test fired again. They do not clean the guns before shipping them out. That's why the guns are dirty when you receive them. I suggest that you purchase some quality ammunition before you test fire your gun. I don't think that I can handle another rant without going off myself. :)

[TheLastDaze]

range ftf LOL... that was a good one papa....pretty much sucked for sure, range isn't exactly around the corner.... I did however stop by a local reload/gun shop and checked out the newer LCP and compared it to the old one I had on me.... WOW, the trigger is out of sight, probably the best trigger out there for a 380... Maybe a little to good/light for me, I'm used to old elsie but if I get rid of her I know what I'm getting for sure....

six rounds...!!! good to know, that's way more then I would expect anyone would do... Then maybe I can sleep tonight knowing my gun will run :) Do you happen to know what brand/type of ammo they happen to use??

maybe I'll throw some silica sand with my gun oil, lube it up and cut the break-in period in half?? :p

what say you??

[gun papa]

Yeah, sucks. I know how things command the brain, especially when uncertainty is at hand. I forget how lucky I am to be able to shoot just down the street.

[yqtszhj]

Almost as bad as getting there forgetting ammo ...

I've done that recently. .:(

[TheLastDaze]

tis okay as I've brought ammo and forgot the gun !!!! course I had two others in 9 but I had also brought 40 ammo, but wrong caliber gun...... now I double check my glock cases before I stow them in the bag...

[timboy]

I hope you have better luck than some of us and rememder to throw a crap ton of high dollar self defense ammo in it for the 200 round break in,at least $1 a round minimum should break it in niceley.

[TheLastDaze]

the verdict is in....

shot 250 rounds today... let me start off by saying how impressed I am with this gun, it feels better and shoots better (not more accurate) than my LCP (pocket carry)...I honestly believe this is what a pocket gun should feel like, perfection (maybe cuz its a tad bigger than LCP,makes it feel better)... course today I was simply shooting it to break in not really focusing on accuracy as much, still pulling a little low left with the Kahr trigger (same thing pm9)..I'll get use to it..

I shot 200 handloads and a various mix of others... Only failure was FTRB, almost all handloads returned to battery, there were a few exceptions probably less than 10% FTRB...My handloads are mixed range brass 100gr berrys RN bullets, cci primer, CFE Pistol Powder....

I shot three types of Corbon, lots of battery issues, maybe 35% or more...
I shot only 3rds Lehigh XTP no problems

Now on to the perfecta trash that wouldn't hand cycle, well it wouldn't do it live either.... I gave up on it after a few struggles, mangaged to fire maybe 5 rounds....

I have 3 mags, two 6rd flush, and one 7rd... The gun failed to lock back almost all the time, except with the 7 round mag.... I'm going to chalk this up as user error and didn't even think of the slide lock and my thumb until the drive home, I will be more observant of this next time but I'm pretty sure it was me as with the 7 round mag I could adjust my grip to accommodate the extension...

These battery issues are most likely chamber related and or spring related really hard to say as it cycled brass that's been shot at least 2-3 times almost without a hiccup...

ANYHOW its safe to say gun is broken in and I will clean it up, may even detail strip the slide as well, though I'm sure not necessary with this few rounds.. I only detail after 1k normally....

It will be interesting to hear back from the guys that have sent their guns in...

In Summary: I really am pleased with this piece, and will remain hopeful that after I clean the gun it will never have another issue, again the failure to lock back was most likely me....

[TheLastDaze]

stripped the little 380, wow talk about small parts !!!!reminds me of a .25.. I dropped the extractor plunger out in the garage and luckily it didn't land in a box junk I have under the bench as it was hard enough to find in plain site!!!!!

I was surprised how oily the striker and other parts were from the factory....

I've detail striped my PM9 and used a super small rod from my leatherman to depress the plunger, but man on this thing its really small.... found the best thing to use is a big paper clip which now resides in my cleaning box... :)

cleaned everything up with alcohol and left it dry for installation.....

she's ready for the range...

[DavidR]

Glad to hear you like how it feels and shoots. I felt the same way about mine. There's no way I'm going to detail strip any gun let alone a tiny 380!

Will be interested in your next range outing. My FTRB improved some with use but after 500 rounds the continued failures rendered the gun acceptable for carry. Only ammo that was flawless was Hornady Critical Defense.