P380 - any must have aftermarket parts?

[markg]

i have a new P380 that shoots great, and i want to keep it that way.

any aftermarket parts that i should install to make it as reliable as possible?

have seen a few that look good, but dont have any experience with them other than the Magguts magazine kits which i already installed.

The ones i have heard mentioned here in various posts:



Lakeline Ultimate Striker
Galloway Stainless Steel Striker Guide
Stainless Steel Guide Rod (by both Kahr and Lakeland)
Galloway spring kit (couldnt find this on their web page, discontinued? or bad data perhaps)


anyone have any thoughts on those 4 or any other accessory that might help the guns reliability? i have read a lot about broken strikers etc. and just want to do whatever i can to avoid anything happening when it isnt convenient...

thanks,

mark

[Bobshouse]

Only thing I have in mine besides the mag guts is Lakeline's Ultimate Striker. The striker upgrade is a must IMHO.

[geogecko]

I'd say the first on the list should be the Lakeline Striker. I also bought their SS guide rod (bought the longer one for my older style slide, because the shorter one was a hair shorter than I liked, and they exchanged it. I also installed the Magguts springs and followers and have had zero issues. Haven't heard about the Galloway parts, but may check them out. What is the striker guide?


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[geogecko]

Ah, I see now, that is nice, I always thought that was a cheap looking part when I've disassembled. Also thought several times I was going to break it getting the spring back in...


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[markg]

Lakeline Striker. I also bought their SS guide rod (bought the longer one for my older style slide, because the shorter one was a hair shorter than I liked, and they exchanged it.


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any reason you got the lakeland guide rod instead of the kahr one?

[geogecko]

I don't think Kahr had them when I got mine, which was about 2 years ago, if they did, I guess I didn't know about it.


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[markg]

Ordered the parts: Lakeline Ultimate Striker and stainless steel guide rod, and Galloway Stainless Steel Striker Guide. all are very high quality, and fit perfectly.
i had one stovepipe, but that could be because my hand was getting tired shooting all my mouse guns, and that was the first failure of any kind since new/over 400 rounds, so i'll reserve judgement on that issue until the next time i go to the range.
i got the lakeland steel guide rod instead of the kahr due to kahr's massive shipping fees.

[King Rat]

Why so many problems with the Kahr striker/firing pin? Could this need be from dry firing? The Pico has a problem as well IF you dry fire. Which their manual states to not do. I cannot imagine why the Kahr OEM part would be so susceptible to major problems. I always use snap caps in all my guns. Yes, some really may not need this and I am not looking for a internet debate on dry firing. Just wondering if this could be the cause? Thanks

[Ed M]

I replaced the striker in my CW380 with a Lakeline one as well. Mine didn't break - I just did it to ensure it wouldn't have the chance. Peace of mind kind of thing.

The problem area is the flat part where the pin is attached to the rest of the striker. The difference is obvious....


http://www.kahrtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=14820&stc=1

[King Rat]

Only thing I have in mine besides the mag guts is Lakeline's Ultimate Striker. The striker upgrade is a must IMHO.

Still trying to find out why this is a MUST. And what is going on with the OEM. I suspect dry firing, but is this just breaking at a certain point of the pin? Is it cracking? Has anyone called Kahr and are they saying yes, get the upgrade? Is this a chronic problem with all guns, or is this like a 5 or 10% breakage with owners. You hear so much on the internet. So many failures, break in problems. Ammo problems etc. For example I was expecting all kinds of problems with both my Khar and both Pico's but never had a problem yet. Almost 2000 rounds between the two Pico's without a failure of any kind and now with my new Kahr, 325 rds with no problems.
I always buy stainless steel guide rods for my gun, but they really are NOT a must. Just wear better over time and never need replacement. I always believe in changing out mag springs or buying new Mags, and changing out RECOIL springs is a MUST.
So, even If I use snap caps, I should expect a complete Failure if I do not get the Lakeland kit?

[Ed M]

Highly doubt you'll find the precise answer you're looking for, but it would be cool to know. Guess it all depends on if there's any flaws in the metal.

I think this is a MIM part due to the shabby appearance of that flat part that the pin sits on. Machining would give a look like the Lakeline unit.

Wanna let you know my Pico is doing great - very comfortable to shoot, and it's just, well......a Beretta. I still shoot my Kahr better, but the Pico blows away my Bodyguard for accuracy. I've got 100 rounds through it so far, and there isn't even a hint of wear at all. Cool little gun.

[King Rat]

Thanks Ed,I am really enjoying both of these fine guns. I did get the Night sights, and was thinking about just letting my gun smith put them on, He is more than fair with me on anything I do, and was thinking of ordering the striker and having him do the work. I am still bleeding from the Purchase of Two Pico's, the Khar, night sights for all, and more mags, lol.

[Bobshouse]

I don't dry fire mine either, and never have broken a firing pin, but every time you break it down, you have to pull the trigger on an empty chamber. You can see by the picture that Lakelines design is a lot more robust where the firing pin is joined to the actuator.

[topgun1953]

Last I checked Kahr will not admit to having a problem with the striker. I had a broken one in a CW380 before I traded it and then 4-5 in my P380 before Lakeline came out with theirs. I'm guessing that about in the 400-700 range it would break. I used to dry fire it a lot..with snap,caps. In their quest to solve the problem, they replaced the slide twice. I would suggest to all that if you do break your striker, get a shipping label and send it in on Kahrs dime. After awhile they may sit up and take notice.

[SlowBurn]

Highly doubt you'll find the precise answer you're looking for, but it would be cool to know. Guess it all depends on if there's any flaws in the metal.

I think this is a MIM part due to the shabby appearance of that flat part that the pin sits on. Machining would give a look like the Lakeline unit.

Wanna let you know my Pico is doing great - very comfortable to shoot, and it's just, well......a Beretta. I still shoot my Kahr better, but the Pico blows away my Bodyguard for accuracy. I've got 100 rounds through it so far, and there isn't even a hint of wear at all. Cool little gun.

Just goes to show everyone's experience is different. I've had my Pico in twice already for a problem with the trigger failing to reset. Then it just happened again today. By contrast I've had almost no issues with my P380 or CW 380 despite having shot them both maybe 10 times as much is the pico. And, The Kahrs shoot better for me by quite a lot.

[King Rat]

Personally I think there is a 5% rule with any firearms manufacturer. They all are going to turn out a few duds. It is just the law of nature and physics. I shoot both the Pico and the Khar. Now as I mentioned over 2000 rounds between the two Pico's and love the way it shoots, the feel, the balance, the trigger and NOT one hiccup. I really like the Kahr very much at this point, a different feel, but a very nice feel well balanced as well. but it will be a while before I can even say which gun shoots better for me. I want to get many more rounds fired through it first. Of course any gun you shoot will be a personal or individual choice. LOL, both are head over heels better than the LCP's. I feel very lucky to have two nice pocket gun shooters. I know there will Plus and minus's on both. When the Kahr gets up there in the number of count that the Pico is now, I will most likely do a review comparison. Right now, just having fun shooting both. (And Lol, do not miss that High Five Slap of the LCP one bit)

[King Rat]

Guessing at the point I will just go ahead and order Striker/firine pin. Looks like a simple change on the video. (lol, that is why I will let my Smith do it). Received my Trijicon night sights and most likely will let him install both. I have seen a Youtube video of installing the front sight, but not the back sight. Does anyone know what size screw they use for their sights? Looks like it could get lost just by breathing to hard.

Ok, I found the striker spring guide at gallaway. Not sure I need this. Is this another weak point on Kahrs?

[King Rat]

OK, I bought the wrong part, a stainless steel guide rod. Called customer service, they answered right away and a shipping label sent within 5 minutes. Thank you Khar.

[dsk]

I have never heard of guide rod failure with Kahrs. I do wish that Kahr would come up with a captive recoil spring system though, as the existing one is an absolute bear to reassemble if you have brand new replacement springs. I've replaced the recoil springs on my P380 at least three times so far, and each time it took me about a half an hour of huffing and cussing just to get it reassembled.

The OEM striker is another flawed design, for not only is it breakage-prone but the foot of the striker bumps into the top round in the magazine causing failures to fully chamber. The Lakeline unit solves both of these issues.

[King Rat]

I see that the guide rod is some form of metal of alloy steel etc. I do not see why it should not hold up. Not like polymer guides in some other guns. Interesting to hear your comment about the striker. Guess that makes sense to here. How about the striker spring guide, is that a Plastic or metal?

[Cokeman]

The OEM striker is another flawed design, for not only is it breakage-prone but the foot of the striker bumps into the top round in the magazine causing failures to fully chamber. The Lakeline unit solves both of these issues.
Can you explain in more detail?

[dsk]

I see that the guide rod is some form of metal of alloy steel etc. I do not see why it should not hold up. Not like polymer guides in some other guns. Interesting to hear your comment about the striker. Guess that makes sense to here. How about the striker spring guide, is that a Plastic or metal?

There is no striker spring guide in a Kahr .380. The striker rides directly inside the channel in the slide.


Can you explain in more detail?

Lakeine's website explains it best. The foot of the OEM striker will lightly bump the top round in the magazine when the gun is fired, pushing it forward slightly. This cushions the striker's impact and can contribute to light strikes, plus pushing the top round forward which can exacerbate feeding issues on the next shot. The Lakeline striker, besides having a thicker head that is less prone to breakage also has slightly redesigned geometry at the foot so that it doesn't contact the top round as much, lessening the issue.

[RustyIron]

While I'm awaiting the arrival of my P380, I've ordered the Lakeline product. It will be installed before the gun is fired for the first time.

[topgun1953]

Dsk...I think you misunderstood king rats question about the striker spring guide. I think he's referring to the plastic piece upon which the striker spring is placed....and which goes 'flying' if you're not careful.😀 Anyway king rat, it's plastic.

[dsk]

Whoops, I had in my mind the type of setup used in the Taurus PT-111, which is plastic and for which Lakeline sells a steel replacement. Yes the striker spring guide rod in a Kahr is plastic, and yes it is easily lost when you disassemble the slide. It is also easily chewed up when you're cussing and fussing as you try to use a screwdriver to retract it during disassembly. I ended up drilling a tiny hole in the back of the slide cover so that I can use a 1/16" punch to retract the guide rod, making disassembly a lot easier. While I'd prefer it be made of metal the plastic unit seems to hold up fine as long as you don't damage it yourself like I had mentioned.

[Ken43]

I called Kahr. They said there is no problem with their strikers and there is no need to replace them with an aftermarket.

[skiflydive]

I called Kahr. They said there is no problem with their strikers and there is no need to replace them with an aftermarket.

Did you expect them to say otherwise?

[Ken43]

How many strikers have actually broken or gone bad?? Are these documented or is it just rumor on the internet??? When I was working I was the armorer for my Dept. We went to the Glock mod. 22. Right away I was reading numerous posts on Glock forums about Glock pistols malfunctioning and different parts breaking. In the eleven years I was the armorer I found one part in a Glock that was broken. It was the trigger spring and the reason it broke was because someone had put it in wrong. Even with the broken trigger spring the gun was functioning perfectly. So I do not take info. over the internet as being totally truthful. It may be correct and it may not. If I have a problem with my striker, I will put it on this forum immediately.

[Bawanna]

We've heard of a few on the 380's. Don't recall any on the others.

The 380's while still apparently not quite there 100% are very much improved from the early days when they were very problematic.

We not hear of them running just fine right out of the box much more often than before.

[topgun1953]

How many strikers have actually broken or gone bad?? Are these documented or is it just rumor on the internet???.

i'm just one person but the striker on my cw380 broke once before I sold it. The striker on my P380 broke at least FOUR times before Lakeline developed their's.

[skiflydive]

My P380 broke one. I posted when it happened.

[XFlyboy]

I'll chime in as well. My P380 striker broke the second time I went to the range with less than 200 total rounds fired. Of course, I had probably dry fired hundreds of times in those first few months of ownership. I suspected that dry firing was the cause of the problem but Kahr service insisted that there is no problem with dry firing the P380 as it says in the manual. They insisted the striker was defective and sent me a new one at my request (rather then having to send the gun back to Kahr for several weeks). Now I always use a snap cap when dry firing.

[RustyIron]

How about magazine springs? After about a month after I got the gun, one of mt six-round magazines wasn't reliably pushing the slide stop up. Kahr sent out a new spring, and it turned out to have two extra coils. It's the same spring as is used in the seven-round magazine. After that, Kahr sent me out another long spring for my other six-round magazine. I don't know if newer magazines come with the longer springs. They should.

[dustnchips]

Magguts, they cost a bit but members have had nothing but good to say about them

[dsk]

P380/CW380 must-haves:

*Lakeline striker
*MagGuts spring and follower kits
*Lakeline guide rod

[JethrosDad]

Ended up selling my Makarov PM the other day as it was becoming a time and money sink. Bought a P380 on gunprodeals for $350. With selling my Makarov made it quite reasonable. It should be delivered to my FFL Friday.

I went ahead and ordered the Lakeline Striker from Alfonse as I was so impressed with his guide rod I got for my CW9, plus I just like having the piece of mind of knowing the striker will never break. Plan on giving the factory magazines a chance as I've never had any problems with my other Kahr magazines before ordering the MagGuts.

Expect some pictures of the new p380 and striker once they come in then a full range report to follow. ;)

[markg]

How about magazine springs? After about a month after I got the gun, one of mt six-round magazines wasn't reliably pushing the slide stop up. Kahr sent out a new spring, and it turned out to have two extra coils. It's the same spring as is used in the seven-round magazine. After that, Kahr sent me out another long spring for my other six-round magazine. I don't know if newer magazines come with the longer springs. They should.

use the magguts ones. they also increase capacity by one round, which is the main reason i swapped them.

[rigemortis]

I cut out some duct tape to aid with the difficult recoil spring. As it is hard to pull the slide back. If the tape adhesive holds well I might source a grey color. The addition of grip tape make the slide much more effortless to use. It takes the required strength away from the hand and let's you use the strength of you arm. I'll have to holster it in and out a bunch to see how it holds up.

Also I cut out a spot so it wouldn't wear my thumb when using the slide release.

http://s44.photobucket.com/user/Rigemortis/media/IMG_20171111_192301_zpscfzmdupy.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1

http://s44.photobucket.com/user/Rigemortis/media/IMG_20171111_192317_zpsonxygpbv.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

http://s44.photobucket.com/user/Rigemortis/media/IMG_20171111_192254_zpsjnqsewtn.jpg.html?sort=3&o=2

[dsk]

I wish Kahrs had "snake scale" style cocking grooves similar to Smith & Wesson. Those are really aggressive and make it easy to retract the slide even if your hands are wet.