HateP380
03-26-2016, 08:21 PM
New member, main firearm is a Glock 23, reliable and trouble-free, had it for a decade at least, plus owned a few other pistols and long guns.
Recently decided to try a Kahr, had read some reviews about the Kahr P380. Plainly I didn't dig nearly deep enough. Created an account specifically to warn regular folk like myself about my experiences with a new Kahr P380.
This is the worst firearm I have purchased, ever. Out of the box, malfunctioned. Multiple failure to feeds right away, no matter whether snapping back the slide or using the slide release, and this was with Federal FMJ .380 as well as other brands, including both round and flat nose– in fact it seemed to me flat nose performed worse. These were Kahr magazines that came in the case, nothing aftermarket. Within two minutes of the purchase I lost faith in the reliability of this gun: how could a new firearm operate so poorly out-of-the-box? How did it even get off the factory floor?
Break-in period? Spare me. Took it to the range: failure after failure after failure. Multiple ammunition types, failures. Multiple failure feeds, both nose-up and nose-down. Get off a shot, and a fair percentage of the time, the P380 simply will not feed the next round, as the lip of the round is anywhere except in the barrel.
And then it got worse. Started having extractor problems, including on live rounds. This was extremely disconcerting, having a live round chambered, pulling back the slide – and the live round remains chambered. Pull the slide again, live round still chambered. This too happened several times. This is unsafe. This is dangerous.
But after shooting it a bit more, I had something I have never experienced in a semi before: magazine drop. Because I had never experienced this failure mode before, at first I had no idea what was going on. Fired, round extracted, slide came back and then forward, pulled the trigger -- and nothing happened. I had the round count in my head, and I just knew there were a few left in the mag. What the hell is going on? I was already very wary about the gun, kept it downrange, pulled the slide, no round chambered. What the hell? Rack it again, and there it is: the mag simply slid partway out of the gun, rounds in the mag. No, I did not accidentally hit the release. Yes, the mag had been sufficiently pressed in with enough force to engage. The damn thing simply slipped out while firing and fully dislodged while using the slide.
I am not stupid. I have been shooting since I was fifteen years old, starting with air rifles, to shotguns, to .22s, then revolvers, and then finally semi-autos. I am not a gun expert, and I understand most of you have far more knowledge and experience than I ever will. I am just your ordinary firearm owner who owns a couple guns and some ammo, and can strip a pistol and properly clean and oil my revolver and my semi.
This Kahr P380 should never have left the factory, it is so obviously unsafe. I hate this gun. I have zero faith in this firearm. In fact, I am willing to admit I am genuinely afraid of this gun, particularly the failures to extract a live round, and magazine slippage. I will not let anyone near it; I am wrestling with whether I sell it, lest this unsafe firearm fall into the hands of someone who's not as careful. One careless slide clear by me or a friend in low light (very small chamber and a small round), and you have the easy makings of a tragedy. Same is true if you lose the live round count and/or don't realize the mag has slipped, and are unaware you still have live rounds in a mag that you mistakenly think is empty because you pulled the trigger and there's no bang. I know, I know -- this is beyond stupid thinking, always act as though it's chambered with a live round. Of course I do this. Nevertheless, these failure modes are dangerous, and it simply shouldn't happen with a brand new gun.
Finally, for those of you who doubt what I am saying, I snapped a few photos on macro setting using my old Olympus camera. I took these immediately before registering and posting. This is my P380, today, right now, simply trying to chamber a fmj .380 round using the slide. Multiple failures. The round looks like a jackknifed tractor-trailer in there, and this happens regularly, factory magazine after magazine, across multiple ammo types. These are my photos, not something I downloaded off the net.
I took the time to register, write, and post photos to warn you: do not trust your life to this gun. Do not let your friends fire this gun unless your P380 is operating flawlessly and you trust it implicitly. At the range, a careless moment after one of the many failures I had with the P380 could lead to real tragedy. I do not trust this gun. It genuinely frightens me. And I would recommend to my friends they never, ever purchase this gun.
Thank you kindly.
http://i.imgur.com/HQoYLcw.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/W1aKmpm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/HoQK1AD.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/DxuWUmg.jpg
Recently decided to try a Kahr, had read some reviews about the Kahr P380. Plainly I didn't dig nearly deep enough. Created an account specifically to warn regular folk like myself about my experiences with a new Kahr P380.
This is the worst firearm I have purchased, ever. Out of the box, malfunctioned. Multiple failure to feeds right away, no matter whether snapping back the slide or using the slide release, and this was with Federal FMJ .380 as well as other brands, including both round and flat nose– in fact it seemed to me flat nose performed worse. These were Kahr magazines that came in the case, nothing aftermarket. Within two minutes of the purchase I lost faith in the reliability of this gun: how could a new firearm operate so poorly out-of-the-box? How did it even get off the factory floor?
Break-in period? Spare me. Took it to the range: failure after failure after failure. Multiple ammunition types, failures. Multiple failure feeds, both nose-up and nose-down. Get off a shot, and a fair percentage of the time, the P380 simply will not feed the next round, as the lip of the round is anywhere except in the barrel.
And then it got worse. Started having extractor problems, including on live rounds. This was extremely disconcerting, having a live round chambered, pulling back the slide – and the live round remains chambered. Pull the slide again, live round still chambered. This too happened several times. This is unsafe. This is dangerous.
But after shooting it a bit more, I had something I have never experienced in a semi before: magazine drop. Because I had never experienced this failure mode before, at first I had no idea what was going on. Fired, round extracted, slide came back and then forward, pulled the trigger -- and nothing happened. I had the round count in my head, and I just knew there were a few left in the mag. What the hell is going on? I was already very wary about the gun, kept it downrange, pulled the slide, no round chambered. What the hell? Rack it again, and there it is: the mag simply slid partway out of the gun, rounds in the mag. No, I did not accidentally hit the release. Yes, the mag had been sufficiently pressed in with enough force to engage. The damn thing simply slipped out while firing and fully dislodged while using the slide.
I am not stupid. I have been shooting since I was fifteen years old, starting with air rifles, to shotguns, to .22s, then revolvers, and then finally semi-autos. I am not a gun expert, and I understand most of you have far more knowledge and experience than I ever will. I am just your ordinary firearm owner who owns a couple guns and some ammo, and can strip a pistol and properly clean and oil my revolver and my semi.
This Kahr P380 should never have left the factory, it is so obviously unsafe. I hate this gun. I have zero faith in this firearm. In fact, I am willing to admit I am genuinely afraid of this gun, particularly the failures to extract a live round, and magazine slippage. I will not let anyone near it; I am wrestling with whether I sell it, lest this unsafe firearm fall into the hands of someone who's not as careful. One careless slide clear by me or a friend in low light (very small chamber and a small round), and you have the easy makings of a tragedy. Same is true if you lose the live round count and/or don't realize the mag has slipped, and are unaware you still have live rounds in a mag that you mistakenly think is empty because you pulled the trigger and there's no bang. I know, I know -- this is beyond stupid thinking, always act as though it's chambered with a live round. Of course I do this. Nevertheless, these failure modes are dangerous, and it simply shouldn't happen with a brand new gun.
Finally, for those of you who doubt what I am saying, I snapped a few photos on macro setting using my old Olympus camera. I took these immediately before registering and posting. This is my P380, today, right now, simply trying to chamber a fmj .380 round using the slide. Multiple failures. The round looks like a jackknifed tractor-trailer in there, and this happens regularly, factory magazine after magazine, across multiple ammo types. These are my photos, not something I downloaded off the net.
I took the time to register, write, and post photos to warn you: do not trust your life to this gun. Do not let your friends fire this gun unless your P380 is operating flawlessly and you trust it implicitly. At the range, a careless moment after one of the many failures I had with the P380 could lead to real tragedy. I do not trust this gun. It genuinely frightens me. And I would recommend to my friends they never, ever purchase this gun.
Thank you kindly.
http://i.imgur.com/HQoYLcw.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/W1aKmpm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/HoQK1AD.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/DxuWUmg.jpg