Trenton Forge
12-18-2014, 09:49 AM
Looking for a pocket 380, I had come to the conclusion that there were no reliable choices based on all the negative posts and videos. The Kahr CW380 appeared to be the best option considering it’s size and features but it too had a lot of negative posts. You could say I was a little “gun shy”. But then Kentucky Gun Company had an offer I could not refuse so I “pulled the trigger”.
My son and I both purchased new Kahr CW380s, both serial numbers RJ0XXX.
Both guns were stiff and gritty out of the box, covered with machining oil.
Gun #1 was detail stripped (see “proper prep of a new kahr” sticky), cleaned with brake cleaner, dried and lubricated with CLP according to “Kahr’s lube diagram”. It was racked a couple hundred times, cleaned with Ballistol, dried and re-lubricated with Mobil 1.
Gun #2 was detail stripped (see “proper prep of a new kahr” sticky), cleaned with brake cleaner, dried and lubricated with Militec and CLP according to “Kahr’s lube diagram”. It was racked a couple hundred times, cleaned, dried and re-lubricated with Militec and CLP.
During the first range trip, both guns were fired over 200 times using six brands of FMJ ammunition. Both guns were very easy to shoot, recoil was manageable and the grips were comfortable. The point of impact vs point of aim was left with both guns, and varied depending on ammo (Monarch, steel cased, 94 grain was worse than others) but not so far as to be ineffective at self-defense distances. Both guns had a dry “bore snake” run through the barrel after every few magazines but were not cleaned and re-lubricated until after 200 rounds.
Gun #1
Winchester White Box 95 grain, 50 rounds fired, one FTE out of the forth magazine, cleared by racking the slide. American Eagle 95 grain, 50 rounds fired, no failures including one magazine fired strong hand only and one magazine fired weak hand only. Aguila 95 grain, 25 rounds fired, no failures. PMC 90 grain, 50 rounds fired no failures. Monarch 94 grain steel cased, 25 rounds fired, no failures. Geco 95 grain, 25 rounds fired, eight failed to chamber fully resulting in the gun not going into battery and needed the slide manually pushed forward.
Gun #2
Winchester White Box 95 grain, 50 rounds fired, two premature slide lock backs, pressing the slide release chambered the next rounds. American Eagle 95 grain, 50 rounds fired, no failures. Aguila 95 grain, 25 rounds fired, one FTE when shooting weak hand only (probably limp wristed). PMC 90 grain, 50 rounds fired, one FTE when shooting weak hand only (probably limp wristed). Monarch 94 grain steel cased, 25 rounds fired, no failures. Geco 95 grain, 25 rounds fired, seven failed to chamber fully resulting in the gun not going into battery and needed the slide manually pushed forward.
With the exception of the Geco ammunition, all failures occurred early in the break-in or were attributed to limp wristing and both guns functioned better as the round count increased. We compared the Geco ammunition to the other brands and found that the Geco cases were larger in diameter.
After the break-in, gun #2’s striker broke when dry fired. I emailed Kahr with the problem and they agreed to send a new part. I plan to install the new part and shoot the gun more to establish reliability. There are a few other posts out there regarding broken strikers in the CW380 and P380 from 2014, http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?24139-CW380-P380-Broken.
http://i1370.photobucket.com/albums/ag251/trentonforge/P1200551_zpse12e17d8.jpg
My son and I both purchased new Kahr CW380s, both serial numbers RJ0XXX.
Both guns were stiff and gritty out of the box, covered with machining oil.
Gun #1 was detail stripped (see “proper prep of a new kahr” sticky), cleaned with brake cleaner, dried and lubricated with CLP according to “Kahr’s lube diagram”. It was racked a couple hundred times, cleaned with Ballistol, dried and re-lubricated with Mobil 1.
Gun #2 was detail stripped (see “proper prep of a new kahr” sticky), cleaned with brake cleaner, dried and lubricated with Militec and CLP according to “Kahr’s lube diagram”. It was racked a couple hundred times, cleaned, dried and re-lubricated with Militec and CLP.
During the first range trip, both guns were fired over 200 times using six brands of FMJ ammunition. Both guns were very easy to shoot, recoil was manageable and the grips were comfortable. The point of impact vs point of aim was left with both guns, and varied depending on ammo (Monarch, steel cased, 94 grain was worse than others) but not so far as to be ineffective at self-defense distances. Both guns had a dry “bore snake” run through the barrel after every few magazines but were not cleaned and re-lubricated until after 200 rounds.
Gun #1
Winchester White Box 95 grain, 50 rounds fired, one FTE out of the forth magazine, cleared by racking the slide. American Eagle 95 grain, 50 rounds fired, no failures including one magazine fired strong hand only and one magazine fired weak hand only. Aguila 95 grain, 25 rounds fired, no failures. PMC 90 grain, 50 rounds fired no failures. Monarch 94 grain steel cased, 25 rounds fired, no failures. Geco 95 grain, 25 rounds fired, eight failed to chamber fully resulting in the gun not going into battery and needed the slide manually pushed forward.
Gun #2
Winchester White Box 95 grain, 50 rounds fired, two premature slide lock backs, pressing the slide release chambered the next rounds. American Eagle 95 grain, 50 rounds fired, no failures. Aguila 95 grain, 25 rounds fired, one FTE when shooting weak hand only (probably limp wristed). PMC 90 grain, 50 rounds fired, one FTE when shooting weak hand only (probably limp wristed). Monarch 94 grain steel cased, 25 rounds fired, no failures. Geco 95 grain, 25 rounds fired, seven failed to chamber fully resulting in the gun not going into battery and needed the slide manually pushed forward.
With the exception of the Geco ammunition, all failures occurred early in the break-in or were attributed to limp wristing and both guns functioned better as the round count increased. We compared the Geco ammunition to the other brands and found that the Geco cases were larger in diameter.
After the break-in, gun #2’s striker broke when dry fired. I emailed Kahr with the problem and they agreed to send a new part. I plan to install the new part and shoot the gun more to establish reliability. There are a few other posts out there regarding broken strikers in the CW380 and P380 from 2014, http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?24139-CW380-P380-Broken.
http://i1370.photobucket.com/albums/ag251/trentonforge/P1200551_zpse12e17d8.jpg