CW380 Light Strikes...Fack

[Ronni3_J]

Having had 250 trouble free rounds through my CW380 I thought I was home free but todays range trip proved me wrong. I grabbed 100 rounds and headed to my local range this morning while the little one and the lady were in bed. I go about my typical procedure setting up, loading the magazines etc. At about the 50 or so round I get a click but no bang. I drop the magazine, clear the round, reload, and fire away. I then get the bang and finish magazine. This happened 3 times today :confused: After my range trip I cleaned the gun and did the brake clean inside the striker as well. After some reading on the board I do a few pencil tests and everything seems to be in order. Im hoping it was just a dirty striker since its the first time i've cleaned it out with brake clean. Ill hit the range again next week and see if that changes anything. I was hoping I would get lucky with the CW380 and not have any issues since ive broke it in


Shot from earlier

https://igcdn-photos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/t51.2885-15/11325055_1695625724004917_658864278_n.jpg

[muggsy]

I clean the striker channel every time I clean my gun and clean my gun after every use.

[Armybrat]

What kind of ammo?

My Ruger SR9 initially had a light strike problem with WWB, but cleaning the striker channel cured it.

My new CT380 wouldn't run ANY WWB at all, but eats all the Remington & Hornady I feed it.

[ripley16]

Sometimes hard primers happen, but it couldn't hurt to have a little more energy designed into the striker mechanism IMHO. Light strikes not an uncommon complaint.

[SlowBurn]

I clean the striker channel every time I clean my gun and clean my gun after every use.

This. Tried it 1x with a dirty p380 - number of light/no strikes. Quick clean at the range, problem went away.

GET WELL MUGGSY

[Ronni3_J]

What kind of ammo?

My Ruger SR9 initially had a light strike problem with WWB, but cleaning the striker channel cured it.

My new CT380 wouldn't run ANY WWB at all, but eats all the Remington & Hornady I feed it.

Good reloads from a local shop. I've used their 9mm without issues. This is my first batch of 380s from them

[kahrinca]

So, are you guys saying it's necessary to clean the gun after every range trip? I don't particularly care to do that. Of course, I use FrogLube and there's not all that much to clean out anyway. Most of the time I just BoreSnake the barrel a few times while it is still warm, and wipe interior of frame with a paper towel and maybe use a Q-tip on the feed ramp. I really don't think it matters all that much, unless gun is really, really dirty.

When PM9 was brand new, I degreased it and sprayed the striker channel hole with electronic cleaner.

In any event, if the S&W Shield were a Kahr I'd stick with the Shield, but it's not, and not a PM9 with all its other attributes- smaller size and lower weight, polygonal rifling- e.g., a true quality pocket pistol.

[berettabone]

I clean the striker channel every time I clean my gun and clean my gun after every use.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++1

[Alfonse]

So, are you guys saying it's necessary to clean the gun after every range trip? I don't particularly care to do that.

I don't know why you would not want your carry gun to have the highest probability of working when you need it to. A clean pistol has a higher probability of working. That's why I choose to clean my carry gun after each range trip.

[kahrinca]

I don't know why you would not want your carry gun to have the highest probability of working when you need it to. A clean pistol has a higher probability of working. That's why I choose to clean my carry gun after each range trip.

I don't know if that's really a true statement. I don't lubricate polymer guns much, and I've found that if I don't clean the gun each and every time it doesn't make a difference- it still goes BANG. Again, I use FrogLube.

The chance of needing to use it is so slight (YMMV) that I don't worry about it. There's considerable anecdotal authority that we gun owners clean our guns too much and it's not necessary and may even be detrimental.

[berettabone]

I don't know if that's really a true statement. I don't lubricate my guns much, and I've found that if I don't clean the gun every time it doesn't make a difference- it still goes BANG. Again, I use FrogLube.

The chance of needing to use it is so slight (YMMV) that I don't worry about it.

I always try to increase the probability that my firearm will work properly. You must feel real lucky that you feel you won't ever need it. I compare it to fishing...............some guys don't ever change their line, or lube their reel, figuring it will just get wet again, until that day, when they latch on to the largest fish they've ever seen, and the line goes snap.........................I changed my line three times a summer, because, guess who lost a whopper.:o

[kahrinca]

Some guys are obsessive about cleanliness of their firearms, some aren't. To each his own. I really don't think that it makes much of a difference.

Let's be realistic- in the end, for the vast majority, these guns are nice to have for self-protection but they really are mostly fun range toys. I look at mine as a range toy that
might come in handy some day but I don't get paranoid or worry about it much.

Anyway, a revolver is the best if you are a worrier.

[kahrinca]

Sometimes hard primers happen, but it couldn't hurt to have a little more energy designed into the striker mechanism IMHO. Light strikes not an uncommon complaint.

Would you think this is a problem more so with a relatively new Kahr or one that has, for example, 500 or more rounds through it?

[jpshaw]

I always clean after shooting. Even if it's a single shot at an armadillo.

[kahrinca]

I clean the striker channel every time I clean my gun and clean my gun after every use.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++1

Will certainly give considerable weight to the above, though I think that it's unnecessary. However, I've been wrong in the past. I've come here, like everyone else, to pick up pointers and learn some things, and, perhaps, contribute some things. If the striker channel is not full of debris, dirt, gunk, etc. I will usually clean it later down the road. Then I use the spray cleaner in the striker channel hole. Every three or so range trips I would do it with the CW9. And it is true, I will admit, there's a lot of dirt and carbon and debris that comes out when I do it, even if it appears otherwise to the naked eye.

But I just don't worry about it much if gun is not pristine-clean because it operated fine.

Thanks.

Here's how my new PM9 slide looked a few moments ago (FrogLubed gun, 150 rounds fired in range session last week) with and without flash:



http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x225/brentfoto/DSC_4015_zpse6wystgx.jpg (http://s187.photobucket.com/user/brentfoto/media/DSC_4015_zpse6wystgx.jpg.html)

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x225/brentfoto/DSC_4017_zpsy6it2one.jpg (http://s187.photobucket.com/user/brentfoto/media/DSC_4017_zpsy6it2one.jpg.html)

[sharpetop]

I clean all my guns every time I shoot them. I wipe down and lube my carry guns about every two weeks or so because of pocket lint, fuzz from clothing, etc. It's amazing how much crap that accumulates from a pocket or IWB.

[Ikeo74]

Looking at your pictures, I recommend that you lube the the recoil springs with auto chassis greese lube. Get in in between the inner and outer springs with a liberal amount worked into the springs with your fingers. I see either gunk or rust in the pictures. That may cure your light strike condition as if the slide doesn't lock up tight it can cause light strikes.

[Armybrat]

I clean my guns after every use. That's the way my Dad & Grandpa taught me 60 years ago. It's not a bad habit to get into, especially for a little bitty compact gun that you tote around for self defense.

[Ronni3_J]

I stripped the slide of both my CW9 and CW380 tonight. I had to strip the CW9 since the slide is getting sent to our coater for some Cerakote black :) I figured I may as well do both and clean out the strikers. Hopefully that was my issue


http://jdlautodesign.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/IMG_0415-e1440470903463.jpg

[ripley16]

Looking at your pictures, I recommend that you lube the the recoil springs with auto chassis greese lube. Get in in between the inner and outer springs with a liberal amount worked into the springs with your fingers. I see either gunk or rust in the pictures. That may cure your light strike condition as if the slide doesn't lock up tight it can cause light strikes.


Would you think this is a problem more so with a relatively new Kahr or one that has, for example, 500 or more rounds through it?

The short answer to the new versus 500 round question is No. The reasons for a light strike are;
A) not enough force
B) hard or bad primer
C) out of battery, striker falls short

IMHO, the overall design of the Kahr has too little "over design" built in. It seems to have "just enough" to function, but little more. The original Kahr, K9 was first made with a very heavy recoil spring which overpowered some amount of gunk that could prevent the bolt face from being in proper position, which, as Ikeo74 pointed out can be a cause of light strikes. Over time these spring rates have lowered.

The striker spring is not at fault per se, but it too has no redundancy, nor does the striker itself either in energy or length. The debris, (primer scraps), pulled into the striker channel can't help either, but it shouldn't be the cause of a failure.

Light strikes and failure to lock up are two of the more common complaints. I think the Kahr design leaves little room for error. The tiny Kahrs and polymers in general seem to be more susceptible to these problems.

My suggestions are to keep the gun clean and find ammo that reliably works, and change the recoil spring routinely if you rely on the gun for protection.

[kahrinca]

Ripley, thank you for your remarks!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

[bobbyh]

I find that when I take my CW380 to the range that when I have light primer strikes and FTF issues it occurs at around the 50+ round count. I think it gets fairly dirty from the ammo I use and I clean it after every range visit.

I would prefer to not have to do that, but I need to eliminate any chance I have with the light primer strikes and FTF issues I encounter and am still fighting from time to time.

My CM9 hasn't had any issues since day one with 1150 rounds through it. I also clean that one after every range trip.

The only pistol I have that I don't clean that often is my Glock.

[kahrinca]

I find that when I take my CW380 to the range that when I have light primer strikes and FTF issues it occurs at around the 50+ round count. I think it gets fairly dirty from the ammo I use and I clean it after every range visit.

I would prefer to not have to do that, but I need to eliminate any chance I have with the light primer strikes and FTF issues I encounter and am still fighting from time to time.


Doesn't make all that much sense to me. Seems like using a bandaid over a cut that won't heal.

I think there may be other issues unrelated to cleanliness of the firearm involved, but I am certainly no expert.

As described, some would not feel confident using gun for carry. You can count me among them. I'd temporarily switch over to another Kahr for carry
or go with the superb S&W Shield for IWB carry. Some even manage it for pocket carry for short time periods.

[Ronni3_J]

Update

My light strikes were due to the local reloads. With different amo haven't had that issue.

[wyntrout]

I found that my P380 needed cleaning DURING range trips. I think that the feed ramp gets cruddy and needs at least to be wiped clean every 50 or so rounds. None of my other Kahrs needed attention at the range, but got cleaned before use, though not necessarily soon after the trip to the range.

Wynn :)

[Shoop]

Statistically, cleaning your gun and then carrying it will make it LESS likely to work due to human error. Especially if you're messing around with the striker and extractor.

If you're really worried about making your gun the most reliable you would clean it and then run a mag through it before carrying.

Unless your gun is filthy (turned black) it's going to work as well as super clean.

[muggsy]

I clean my gun after every use, because I don't want what happened to the original poster to happen to me when I need my gun the most. The loudest sound in the world is a click when you expect a bang. I always function test the gun after it's reassembled. Oil attracts dirt and dust. Oil is also hygroscopic. I can't think of anything that I want less than a dirty rusty gun in my pocket. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

[Ronni3_J]

I also clean my guns after every trip. I originally thought it was the striker due to it being a common issue. After I disassembled it and cleaned everything out I still had light strikes. The only other change was the amo. With the new amo the issue went away.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[muggsy]

What kind of ammo gave you the problem?

[Ronni3_J]

Reloads purchased from a local shop. I haven't had any issues with the 9mm reloads they sell so I thought their .380 would be the same. My brother in law had the same issues with his CW380 running their amo

[muggsy]

That may be a part of the reason that Kahr doesn't recommend that reloads be used in their firearms. I don't trust anyone's reloads, but my own and sometimes I'm not sure about them . :)

[Bobshouse]

I never shoot reloads in my Kahr......hear that Kahr? NEVER!!!

[Ronni3_J]

I never shoot reloads in my Kahr......hear that Kahr? NEVER!!!

Ya I haven't had any issues with new.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk