CW380 I love it, I hate it.

[gun papa]

I have had high hopes for the diminutive CW380. Tiny, accurate, and ultra concealable. I love the locked breach, and the lack of recoil.

Intermittent slide lock aside, the gun ran pretty well. Well enough for my emergency defensive needs. After 700 rds, the striker broke. After the replacement part went in, the gun fired a box of PPU fine. Today with WWB and Aguila HP, I was getting light strikes with nearly one per magazine for 50 rounds.

In all of my years of shooting, and owning easily over 100 guns of all types in my life, I have to say that the CW380 is the most problematic gun I have owned.

I am going to contact Kahr with my concerns and have it shipped back. When it returns, if it does not run 100%, including slide lock, it will be gone. I hate to say that, but my confidence in the piece for my specific needs has been shaken. I have in excess of 800rds through this gun. 4X the break in period.

I love to shoot it. Today, when it worked, I shot a softball size group, one handed at 7 yards, with a majority of those shots in the 10 ring.

Today I also looked at the Glock 42 for the first time. Not as big as I had thought. Bigger, yes, but not bad. Very light. The sights suck and would have to be replaced. Damn cute little gun, damn cute little mags.

So, there is a good chance that this CW380 may have soured me on Kahr. I cannot carry a gun that I cannot trust. I will be carrying my tried and true CA Undercover with its "unbreakable " firing pin. GP

[sharpetop]

Though I haven't had any issues with my CW380 yet, I'm paying pretty close attention to these broken striker threads.

[Pointblank]

I have bad news for you. The Glock 42 has a worse track record than the CW380. A lot of Glock fanboys on the GlockTalk site won't touch it with a ten foot pole. As for the CW380, I've found it likes hotter ammunition. Precision One makes a +P load that uses the XTP bullet. I wrote Kahr and specifically asked them about using +P in the CW380 and they said no problem. Mine works great with it.

[muggsy]

There was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good she was very very good and when she was bad she was horrid. That's how I would describe the Kahr .380s. My P380 was problematic until Kahr replaced the frame and now it's my constant companion. Patience is a virtue. Hang in there until you get it right. I love baby.

[gun papa]

There was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good she was very very good and when she was bad she was horrid. That's how I would describe the Kahr .380s. My P380 was problematic until Kahr replaced the frame and now it's my constant companion. Patience is a virtue. Hang in there until you get it right. I love baby.

I am really hoping Kahr can work it's magic. It is likely a striker spring, but I am just going to return it under warranty.

[SlowBurn]

I am really hoping Kahr can work it's magic. It is likely a striker spring, but I am just going to return it under warranty.

That's the ticket. Its shooting characteristics are just better than the Ruger LCP and similar. So if you get one that's not right out of the box, its worth the patience involved in sending it back until it is right. I say keep sending it in. And don't waste too much ammo if its not right when it comes back. Send it in again.

[erichard]

As for the CW380, I've found it likes hotter ammunition. Precision One makes a +P load that uses the XTP bullet. I wrote Kahr and specifically asked them about using +P in the CW380 and they said no problem. Mine works great with it.

What'd be nice is the FTX bullet in +P since that is the bullet tip that feeds so well. I guess Hornady has Critical Duty for other calibers, but not in 380. Wish an Underwood type company would step up and do that since the Critical Defense underpenetrates. My guess is that the FTX feeds closer to 100% than the XTP, although I know some like the XTP in the CW380. Hard to judge unless you put 100's of rounds through the gun, and carry ammo can be too expensive to carry out that exercise, especially when you have many guns to test out. I've got 5 calibers, so I'm pretty cheap about testing. I've not heard one bad thing about the FTX (Critical Defense) bullet in the CW-380 with regards to cycling the gun, which is key for this gun. Maybe we should lobby Hornady and Underwood.

[aferguson27]

I'm looking closely at the CT380. Seem to be a better gun then the cw380

[pcv57]

I recently bought a used P380 which worked well on my first trip to the range. My Federal Hydra Shock ammo fed and fired every time, as well as, Winchester and a few other brands. The 2nd range session was very different with several light strikes with different ammo. It's now back at Kahr being looked at. What I've been told is that it's the recoil spring which they replace with a heavier one. The light strikes are happening because the slide is not fully returning to battery. However, the slide was already hard to pull back so I'm wondering what it'll be like when it has the heavier spring. Im also concerned about all the broken strikers I've been reading about.
The LGS where I bought it, sent it back for me. When it comes back, I'll take it right to their range and fire a hundred rounds or so before I bring it home. I really like this gun and am hoping it's fixed but I have to have confidence in it

[Nytcrawler93]

It will loosen up with more rounds. I would bet it will be just fine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bikehiker]

Gun papa, thanks for the info. I have a CW380 and it seems to work fine (except for Perfecta 380 ammo--bad). But I haven't put through as many rounds as you have, and I'm wondering whether I will have your same experience. I would feel a little more comfortable if Kahr's warranty were longer than five years, but I have seen Kahr owners sending their 380s back multiple times. When the warranty runs out, shipping back to Kahr is expensive, not counting the huge charges they inflict on an out-of-warranty gun. I guess that's what we have to endure in order to own a great shooting little piece. Because of these issues, I may not be considering any more Kahrs, no matter how attractive. We don't frame these guns and hang them on the wall. My M&P Shield 9 might be ugly compared to the Kahr, but it works all the time, even with Perfecta 9mm ammo. I really want this CW380 to work for us, too.

[DavidR]

My M&P Shield 9 might be ugly compared to the Kahr, but it works all the time, even with Perfecta 9mm ammo. I really want this CW380 to work for us, too.

My 9mm Shield is beautiful.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d33/David-R/C309A774-A1F2-44C4-9309-2D3CBBFD6AFD_zps0qwci1aw.jpg (http://s32.photobucket.com/user/David-R/media/C309A774-A1F2-44C4-9309-2D3CBBFD6AFD_zps0qwci1aw.jpg.html)

[b4uqzme]

I always thought Shields looked OK. And the ones I've seen first hand are real reliable...even with lazy, never clean 'em owners (that's a jab at my BIL). Personally, anytime I see a trigger with a hinge in it or some other voodoo...I just lose interest. Not to mention a manual safety. I heard that the non-safety Shield trigger is a bit too light and a little scary to carry.

Is this thread about .380's? :)

[Pointblank]

Two Shields in the family here. Mostly reliable, they choke on 115 grain Gold Dots.

[Higgy Baby]

Newbie here...I just ordered a CT 380. I hope it doesn't have these issues. The reviews I have seen on youtube have been positive.

[erichard]

Newbie here...I just ordered a CT 380. I hope it doesn't have these issues. The reviews I have seen on youtube have been positive.

Don't own the CT, but as for the CW, if one ran only Hornady Critical Defense (for self defense) and a round nose FMJ like Federal Champion or Federal American Eagle (for practice) and if everyone stuck to the flush mags, I suspect most folks would not notice very many issues with their 380 Kahrs, and those rounds are good enough for their intended purposes. Maybe that's what newbies should do for the first several hundred rounds. Makes life easier.

[marcinstl]

GP,
yadda, yadda, with the tiny square .380, if your a revolver guy, wear your CA Undercover in good health. I always carry a Kel-Tec P-32 (in shirt pocket instead of cigarettes) and some other gun in an appendix carry holster (other guns can include a CM9, CW9, Colt DS lookalike from Armscor, Ruger P89). if you have a small fortune laying around look at a S&W 360pd, 12oz. and it shoots .38spl or .357 mag. (I've shot the DAO 340pd with .38spl. and it's 12oz. of mule kick, I think I'd pass on .357mag.) 95gr. vs 158gr. that's a question. the other question is which one fits your hand and comes out of the holster fastest? put a target out 2- 3 yds., is either the Kahr or the CA better at getting lead on target from the hip? (practice combat shooting with a combat gun at combat range).
good luck, I hope Kahr gets your gun fixed.

[gun papa]

GP,
yadda, yadda, with the tiny square .380, if your a revolver guy, wear your CA Undercover in good health. I always carry a Kel-Tec P-32 (in shirt pocket instead of cigarettes) and some other gun in an appendix carry holster (other guns can include a CM9, CW9, Colt DS lookalike from Armscor, Ruger P89). if you have a small fortune laying around look at a S&W 360pd, 12oz. and it shoots .38spl or .357 mag. (I've shot the DAO 340pd with .38spl. and it's 12oz. of mule kick, I think I'd pass on .357mag.) 95gr. vs 158gr. that's a question. the other question is which one fits your hand and comes out of the holster fastest? put a target out 2- 3 yds., is either the Kahr or the CA better at getting lead on target from the hip? (practice combat shooting with a combat gun at combat range).
good luck, I hope Kahr gets your gun fixed.

The Charter Arms is just a matter of practicality. I am not a revolver guy per se, but I am not adverse to a revolver either. I think that either is suitable for delivering shots on target, with the edge going to the Kahr.
The edge goes to the Kahr for both concealability and weight. I practice with small targets and have no issues in that department.
I received the Kahr back yesterday afternoon. The documentation said that Kahr "reworked the slide" and "replaced the recoil springs" reporting that the gun shot fine for 29 rds. I hope to try her out this evening.

Any idea what "reworking the slide" means.

[marcinstl]

"Any idea what "reworking the slide" means?"
any visible difference? feel different when you chamber a round? if they replaced the recoil spring they might have cleaned up that part of the slide where the spring seats?
anyway, glad they got your gun running. happy shooting.
(you might enjoy this, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42Liq00CYmw , Hickok45 talking about revolvers and semi-autos, etc.)

[pcv57]

I recently got my P380 back from Kahr for the light strikes I was having. The repair order stated "Complete parts upgrade" and they replaced my 2 magazines. When I called them to find out what work was done, they only replied that they went through the gun and replaced whatever it needed or had an upgraded part available. They put 42 rounds through it and sent it back. Since getting it back I've made 2 trips to the range and put about 250 rounds through it with the 2 new magazines and 2 older ones I had (one extended mag). I had no FTFs or failure to feeds. The only issue I had was that the slide didn't lock back after the last round a few times. I noticed that it seemed to happen with the new mags. After today's range session, I have narrowed it down to 1 of the new mags they sent. Kahr said to send it back and they will replace it. I am starting to have confidence in this gun again and am very happy to have it back in the fold :)

[b4uqzme]

pcv57...thanks for the report and I hope the same can happen for GP.