Help! Brand new CW380 cannot chamber a round

[tkarl]

My brand-new CW380 has never been fired. First, which way does the recoil spring go on? (I know there are two springs, they stay together.) Mine has a flatter end, while the other end is just an end. Once when doing a field strip, the take-down pin popped completely out -- along with everything else, and I have lost "how it was originally". If I try to put the coil-end into the gun, it wants to poke out the hole intended for the guide rod. If I put the flatter end into the gun, then the spring wants to start coming off over the large flat portion of the guide rod. Either way, it is extremely difficult to put the guide rod / spring back into the slide. Please help!

There's more. Today I bought some .380 ammo. I put one round in the magazine with slide locked back. Then I pressed the slide lock release and the slide did not go all the way home. It appears to get hung up on the extractor. If I push the slide home, it will go, but it leaves the guide rod sticking out ~1/8". There is no way I'm going to a range with a gun in this condition -- new-gun break-in or not! Mine appears to be non-functional.

Has anyone had this type of difficulty with the CW380? How to proceed? :confused:

[pbagley]

I've had no problems with my CW380. It should strip the top round out of the magazine with the case against the breech face, with the rim sliding up under the extractor. Did you try dropping a round into the barrel when it was field stripped? The round should drop in and end up with the back of the case flush with the back of the barrel shroud. Before you load, with the action closed is the guide rod sticking out? Can you provide a photo or two?

[Alfonse]

The guide rod goes in with the "open" ends of both springs towards the muzzle end. If you rotate the springs so those open ends are turned towards the barrel, 6 o'clock if you are holding it upside down, it is easier to keep the ends from popping out while inserting the guide rod.

What ammo are you trying to chamber?

Welcome!

[TennSCN]

The closed end of both springs goes against the flange of the guide rod which fits into the recess at the front of the barrel lug. Open end of springs toward muzzle; don't let them into the guide rod hole.


- Sorry, Alfonse, I should have refreshed before posting.

[tkarl]

I had a response all typed, then dragged a picture over and everything blew away. I have no URL to upload picture to.

With barrel out, the round loads up to the start of the taper inwards of the brass case. With action closed, the guide is very nearly flush with slide.

I am using Perfecta .380 95gr FMJ ammo. $12 @ Walmart. If it doesn't work with these and wants more expensive ammo -- the gun goes back. ***UPDATE*** I'm now not willing to give up my gun over a $12 box of ammo!!!!! Please enumerate brands that work. I'm saying this because I fully intend to reload all .380; and yes, I have Lee's Bulge Buster on my list of items to get.

I also tried putting a round against the breech face -- making sure the firing pin was not protruding! It fit.

[tkarl]

The springs are in as you describe.

My Perfecta ammo has a "Crimp Ring" behind where the bullet is seated. This is my first ever .380, first ammo I've had or seen.

[Tilos]

Take the slide off, remove the barrel, and drop a round in the barrel, and check that it will fully chamber and is flush with the barrel hood.(the re-loader's plunk test).
Remove that round before re-installing the slide :o:o
:D

[SlowBurn]

The springs are in as you describe.

My Perfecta ammo has a "Crimp Ring" behind where the bullet is seated. This is my first ever .380, first ammo I've had or seen.

Bad luck. Perfecta is the problem. I have 2 Kahr 380s and it doesn't cycle in either. You could do the barrel test as described or just take my word. Unless you want to do a mod to your gun, return it or give it away.

Try Remington or Blazer Brass, Aguila, lots of others. But nothing flat nosed, and no Browning cort, no Fiocchi. That's my experience fwiw.

[b4uqzme]

...

I am using Perfecta .380 95gr FMJ ammo. $12 @ Walmart. If it doesn't work with these and wants more expensive ammo -- the gun goes back...

that's a shame. But it's your choice I guess.

[marshal kane]

Getting into reloading let's you shoot more for the same price. More "bang" for the "buck". A box of 9mm FMJ cost me about $6.00 to reload. If I reload with plated bullets, it's even less. Keep your CW380 and start reloading.

[Alfonse]

That's why I asked about ammo. Perfecta seems to be universally a no-go in Kahr .380s. Fiocchi probably makes Perfecta for Walmart, since they seem and act the same. I agree, if that makes it a no go for you, a shame but so be it.

[online34]

They have already stated this the cw380 will not work with the Perfecta, I bought 400 rounds of it on a deal and I can't use it in my Cw380 or my Walther PPK380. I use Federal range,target,practice at the range and Hornady critical defense to carry and both work great.

[tkarl]

Are you guys saying that my ammo is the only problem? Reloading: My intention was to reload exclusively for this gun! However, I have no other ammo nor components at this time. I only bought this ammo because I have an opportunity to get to a range as part of my CC class on the 26th.

Please reply back to confirm that this ammo is the issue!! I would not prefer to get rid of the gun over a $12 box of questionable ammo! With the Perfecta ammo I have, there is a crimp-looking ring about mid-point of the case wall. Are you saying this is not normal for .380 ammo?

[tkarl]

It is unclear exactly where the bullet needs to drop to from your description. The chamber face is not even. Please clarify.

[tkarl]

Getting into reloading let's you shoot more for the same price. More "bang" for the "buck". A box of 9mm FMJ cost me about $6.00 to reload. If I reload with plated bullets, it's even less. Keep your CW380 and start reloading.

What powders would you recommend for .380 in the CW380? What quantities are you buying (or from where) to get your price/round that low? I'm new to .380, and the per-round prices I've calculated are $.20/round with once-fired, polished brass and $.14 without brass with plated bullets. That's about $7/box of 50 w/o brass. Do you make your own bullets? Where are you getting your lead from? It's kinda hard for me to cast -- I'm living in an apartment presently -- but I have the cast pot, molds, etc. But I will try at some point.

[tkarl]

UPDATE: Back to Walmart. Took the Perfecta ammo back. Got Federal FMJ. Loaded Federal round in magazine. Hit the button. Round chambered completely and slide closed! You guys are PRICELESS! Shouldn't there be a Sticky on this site advising others not to use Perfecta ammo in their CW380's?

ADDED: Yes, I was expecting a battle trying to return the Perfecta ammo, but WM did, with no questions asked.

[topgun1953]

Great! Glad to hear that. Also surprised took back the ammo. I didn't know they did that.

[Alfonse]

The Perfecta and Fiocchi have issues in more than just the Kahr, as noted by the Walther owner above. It sounds like you are probably good to go now and that is super!

[gun papa]

What powders would you recommend for .380 in the CW380? What quantities are you buying (or from where) to get your price/round that low? I'm new to .380, and the per-round prices I've calculated are $.20/round with once-fired, polished brass and $.14 without brass with plated bullets. That's about $7/box of 50 w/o brass. Do you make your own bullets? Where are you getting your lead from? It's kinda hard for my to cast -- I'm living in an apartment presently -- but I have the cast pot, molds, etc. But I will try at some point.

I have used ww231 powder in all of my semi auto guns. I have been working on a several pound lot from the 1990's. There may be something better or equivalent, but WW231 has been flawless from a Dillon progressive machine. 380 is a fun round to load.

[Bobshouse]

Great! Glad to hear that. Also surprised took back the ammo. I didn't know they did that.

Me either, scary huh?!

[getsome]

Hi tkarl and welcome to Kahrtalk....Sounds like you found the problem is with ammo and not the gun... Fiocchi and Perfecta don't get along with Kahr .380 pistols but if you use the Remington or Blazer Walmart ammo things should work much better.... I think the Winchester white box has a flat tip so stay away from them and go with round nose FMJ bullets....Keep shooting it and collect several hundred rounds of the brass that will work to do your reloading....I don't know if you have a press or are still shopping for one but for new beginning reloaders I suggest a simple single stage kit from RCBS or Redding for about 300 bucks for everything...Get a Lee primer tool and an inexpensive digital scale which will make it much easier....Get more than one manual and compare loads....Start off with standard loads and don't experiment from what the book says and you will be fine....

I reload for .38 .380 9mm .44 mag/special and .45 acp and only use one powder Universal Clays and it works good in all of them and I can get it at a decent price....There may be better choices but it works for me and I like the "KISS" method, keep it simple stupid and this way I don't have to worry about using the wrong powder by accident.....I would buy plated bullets and start using them at first since they are fairly inexpensive and easy to load....Good luck and keep on shooting your pistol, the more you shoot it the better it gets and you will learn to love it

[Tilos]

It is unclear exactly where the bullet needs to drop to from your description. The chamber face is not even. Please clarify.

The very back surface of the barrel, the surface that touches the slide face/surface.
:D

[tkarl]

Hi tkarl and welcome to Kahrtalk....Sounds like you found the problem is with ammo and not the gun... Fiocchi and Perfecta don't get along with Kahr .380 pistols but if you use the Remington or Blazer Walmart ammo things should work much better.... I think the Winchester white box has a flat tip so stay away from them and go with round nose FMJ bullets....Keep shooting it and collect several hundred rounds of the brass that will work to do your reloading....I don't know if you have a press or are still shopping for one but for new beginning reloaders I suggest a simple single stage kit from RCBS or Redding for about 300 bucks for everything...Get a Lee primer tool and an inexpensive digital scale which will make it much easier....Get more than one manual and compare loads....Start off with standard loads and don't experiment from what the book says and you will be fine....

I reload for .38 .380 9mm .44 mag/special and .45 acp and only use one powder Universal Clays and it works good in all of them and I can get it at a decent price....There may be better choices but it works for me and I like the "KISS" method, keep it simple stupid and this way I don't have to worry about using the wrong powder by accident.....I would buy plated bullets and start using them at first since they are fairly inexpensive and easy to load....Good luck and keep on shooting your pistol, the more you shoot it the better it gets and you will learn to love it

I have all Lee presses: Classic Turret, Load Master, and their shotgun press. I have all the Lee dies, except I need the 9mm Makarov die for use only with the Lee Bulge Buster Kit. I've not loaded recently, but my dad always used Red Dot for shotgun, and I thought a faster burning powder would work best in the CW380's short barrel. A few years ago, I got 8lb of Red Dot. I have load data for Red Dot for both .380 and 9mm, then someone suggested to watch the Red Dot in these small pistol rounds -- because of its larger, flattened doughnut-shaped grains.

One other item I'll be getting is a Case Gauge for .380 and 9mm.

I can't find "Universal Clays" on my burn rate chart, did you mean "Hodgeton CLAYS" or "Hodgeton Universal"?

[Tilos]

I have all Lee presses: Classic Turret, Load Master, and their shotgun press. I have all the Lee dies, except I need the 9mm Makarov die for use only with the Lee Bulge Buster Kit. I've not loaded recently, but my dad always used Red Dot for shotgun, and I thought a faster burning powder would work best in the CW380's short barrel. A few years ago, I got 8lb of Red Dot. I have load data for Red Dot for both .380 and 9mm, then someone suggested to watch the Red Dot in these small pistol rounds -- because of its larger, flattened doughnut-shaped grains.

One other item I'll be getting is a Case Gauge for .380 and 9mm.

I can't find "Universal Clays" on my burn rate chart, did you mean "Hodgeton CLAYS" or "Hodgeton Universal"?

Wow awesome thread drift right there...by the OP

FYI: the barrel IS a case gauge

[dctwn35s8]

I took my new CT380 to the range today and successfully went through ammo from Winchester, Magtech, Aguila and Hornady Critical Defense. There were no issues until I tried Perfecta. I was unable to chamber any Perfecta rounds from the magazine. I measured the Magtech and Perfecta with my calipers and found the Magtech to be .0003 longer than the Perfecta and both measured exactly the same diameter. I found the only difference between the two cartridges to be the angle between the ejector groove and the case body was more abrupt on the Perfecta. I checked this angle on the other ammo and they all resembled the Magtech. I have read about the touted tight tolerances of the Kahr firearms so maybe this is not just hype.

[skiflydive]

I took my new CT380 to the range today and successfully went through ammo from Winchester, Magtech, Aguila and Hornady Critical Defense. There were no issues until I tried Perfecta. I was unable to chamber any Perfecta rounds from the magazine. I measured the Magtech and Perfecta with my calipers and found the Magtech to be .0003 longer than the Perfecta and both measured exactly the same diameter. I found the only difference between the two cartridges to be the angle between the ejector groove and the case body was more abrupt on the Perfecta. I checked this angle on the other ammo and they all resembled the Magtech. I have read about the touted tight tolerances of the Kahr firearms so maybe this is not just hype.

So. Not to split hairs or anything but .0003" is about 120 millionths of an inch. Not gonna make any difference even with Kahr's tight tolerances. If you meant .003, or 3 thousandths of an inch that's still only about 30% of the diameter of the average human hair. I doubt that's making any difference either. Your guess about the extractor groove might be more on the money. I have a Bersa Thunder 22 (I nicknamed it the jamb-o-matic) that was very finicky about it's extractor and I found it had a bunch of crap stuck in the extractor hook. There are other posts on this board about relieving the extractor/extractor pin for the same reason.

[tkarl]

I took my new CT380 to the range today and successfully went through ammo from Winchester, Magtech, Aguila and Hornady Critical Defense. There were no issues until I tried Perfecta. I was unable to chamber any Perfecta rounds from the magazine. I measured the Magtech and Perfecta with my calipers and found the Magtech to be .0003 longer than the Perfecta and both measured exactly the same diameter. I found the only difference between the two cartridges to be the angle between the ejector groove and the case body was more abrupt on the Perfecta. I checked this angle on the other ammo and they all resembled the Magtech. I have read about the touted tight tolerances of the Kahr firearms so maybe this is not just hype.
Wow, my Perfecta .380 ammo was way different -- visibly. It had a noticeable bulge at the seat of the bullet, and it had a row of dots -- very small depressions in the brass -- at this same bullet seat point. No other ammo I have ever seen has a ring of small depressions in the brass midway up the brass case. As previously stated, as soon as I exchanged that ammo for another brand, chambering was possible.

[gun papa]

Has anyone slipped a Perfecta round into a case gauge?

[berettabone]

Want to keep using cheap, garbage ammo???????????? Then what do you expect????????? If you have to keep buying s#1t ammo, maybe you should own a slingshot...............no one said shooting was a cheap hobby:der:

[Alfonse]

Want to keep using cheap, garbage ammo???????????? Then what do you expect????????? If you have to keep buying s#1t ammo, maybe you should own a slingshot...............no one said shooting was a cheap hobby:der:

I've used the 9mm and it worked just great in my Kahr and other pistols. I bought a box of .380 and confirmed it didn't work in my Kahr, but there are lots of other options within a buck or so per box. It is brass cased. For practice ammo, I buy the least expensive ammo that shoots reliably. That can be WWB, PMC, Federal, etc. And, that can be Perfecta, just not .380.

[tkarl]

Has anyone slipped a Perfecta round into a case gauge?
That is excellent advice; but I didn't have a case gauge. I'll be ordering one.

[RolandD]

I've seen the warning against flat nose .380 in the Kahrs before. Is that just the CW380 or have others had problems with flat nose in the CT380. Our CT380 fires flat nose with no problems, and will be our target ammo since I can get it locally for $15.70/50rnds.

Do you think Walmart would freak out is I took the barrel in to do a plunk test before buying ammo?

[dsk]

Micro-pistols like the Kahr .380s cannot be expected to devour every single bullet shape as if they were a full-sized 9mm Beretta or SIG. They are going to be ammo-sensitive; there's just no way around it in such a small pistol that has been made to the absolute minimum dimensions. Stick with rounded or conical bullet shapes and for the most part you should be fine. Avoid blunt-nosed FMJ or wide-nosed JHP ammo, which isn't meant for these guns.

[muggsy]

First of all you didn't assemble the gun correctly if the guide rod sticks out when the slide is in battery. You'll find disassembly and reassembly instructions in the owners manual that you have neglected to read. There is also a video on field stripping and reassembly of the gun from Kahr Arms. Use good American made ball ammo for the break in and you shouldn't have any problems with the gun failing to return to battery. Don't use flat nosed ammo from Winchester.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2cZgVg_SwA

[DevinBreeding]

My CW380 hates fiocchi and perfecta (same ammo from what I've researched). Tulammo is also a no go. Everything else works great. Winchester flat nose is what I shoot mainly due to price and I've never had an issue with my CW380. I'm more of a fan of federal from a quality standpoint but the 100 packs of Winchester at WalMart are $32 and the 50 federal are $20. One thing I did to help break it in before shooting was cycle the slide 200 times empty. Seemed to help smooth out any polymer burrs and help the slide drop into battery more naturally. It gets tiring but cycle it hard for those 200. As others have said, flat part of recoil spring should be against the guide rod and face the pointy parts of the spring towards the barrel.

Ammo tried so far that works

winchester white box at Walmart
federal fmj
blazer fmj
american eagle fmj
hornady American gunner XTP
hornady custom XTP
federal hydrashok
underwood xtreme defender +p best cycling out of all. I can rack a round in easing it in as gentle as I want.

Mine runs perfect after break in and only had 3 or so issues during. If you're interested to know, I use mobile1 European formula 0w40 for lubrication. Tiny amounts on the rails and barrel and you're set.

[tkarl]

First of all you didn't assemble the gun correctly if the guide rod sticks out when the slide is in battery. You'll find disassembly and reassembly instructions in the owners manual that you have neglected to read. There is also a video on field stripping and reassembly of the gun from Kahr Arms. Use good American made ball ammo for the break in and you shouldn't have any problems with the gun failing to return to battery. Don't use flat nosed ammo from Winchester.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2cZgVg_SwA
Thanks for the reminder. I'm over that now -- it only happened the one time. I think one time when diassembling the CW380 the pin popped completely out, and everything fell on the floor -- and I lost the How It Came Apart picture. All better now.

[dustnchips]

I read in another post on here that the problem with the Fiocchi ammo is the extractor rim thickness. Someone on here has the cure. I believe it was shortening a pin behind the extractor claw by .013 inches. If you want to shoot the Fiocchi there is a cure. If you are going to reload just pay the higher price for the brass and be done with it.