Another CW380 heads back to the mothership. (update in op)

[mini14jac]

I've had my new, factory night sight CW380 a couple of months now.
I love the trigger, the build of the gun, and the front night sight is great.

I took it to range with 6 or 8 different types of ammo.
Numerous FTF during the first 200 rounds.
Several times the slide locked open with rounds in the mag.
(I'm not hitting the slide stop, as my thumb is not close at all.)
Won't chamber Fiocchi fmj or sjhp at all.
The gun did seem to start running better after the 200 round break in.

In my researching this gun, somehow I missed the fact that most of them won't cycle Fiocchi. :mad:
It figures, since I have probably 400 rounds of that.
After 300 rounds I actually tried the extractor mod from the tacked thread.
Maybe I was too conservative in my filing, but it still won't chamber Fiocchi and I'm still getting occasional jams.

Around 400 rounds at this point, but not 100% reliable.
From checking my notes I noticed I hadn't had one failure with Blazer Brass FMJ.
On a recent trip to an indoor range, I had my CW380 with me so I purchased some Blazer.
Out of the box of 50: 2 FTF and the slide locked back on rounds in the mag once. :-0

I got Kahr to send me a shipping label.
The gun shipped today.
I really want to like this gun. I have a Ruger LCP that has been flawless for almost 1600 rounds but I wanted something that gave me a little more "pride of ownership".
Hopefully, the CW380 will be that gun.

UPDATE: I shipped the gun on a Thursday, got it back seven days later. Pretty impressed with that kind of speed.
The invoice says they adjusted the extractor, adjusted the slide stop and fired 6 mags of ammo, including 2 mags of Fiocchi fmj.
Hope to get it to the range tomorrow, but it will at least chamber Fiocchi rounds now.

FINAL UPDATE:
Finally made it to the range.
The short version: not really any different than when I sent it in.

Still won't feed Fiocchi.

Got frustrated after trying 3 different brands of fmj.
It still runs great with Hornady Critical Defense.
I really wanted this to be my go-to pocket gun.
The trigger is great, and it's so freakin' accurate!

I would not recommend this gun. :mad:

[boscobarbell]

FWIW.....

I owned two CW380 that were more trouble than they were worth. Call me a sucker, but I knew the potential of the weapon, and just refused to give up. So I grabbed a P380, and it has been far, far better. BUT, it is still ammo-picky. I'm at the point where I have at least 3 very good SD ammos that it will reliably (100%) feed and fire, and that is good enough for me. I won't force feed it anything else, and I've learned to live within those limitations. Is it a perfect situation? Probably not. But for a gun that is so good in so many ways, it will suffice.

[DavidR]

My story is similar to Bosco’s.

Owned a CW380 some years ago that was never reliable, even after a trip back to Kahr. Eventually I traded it in and took a beating.

Decided to give it another try and last year bought a CT380. I’ve had 710 flawless rounds with at least 1/2 dozen different brands of ammo. Cycles Lehigh Xtreme Defense perfectly. Have not tried Fiocchi.

I hope you get yours working well.

[BubbleHead]

I've pondered getting a P380 just to see how it compares to my CW380. After one trip to Kahr it's greatly improved, but I just can't shake that "what if".

[mini14jac]

This is at least my fourth Kahr.
Ive had a PM9, a CM9, and a CW9 that I cut down to take PM mags.
I guess I was bound to get a lemon eventually as I'm not sure I had to even break in any of those.

It would be great if the CW380 had been gtg out of the box, and I hope it comes back purring like a kitten.
If not....
Oh well, lesson learned, time to move on.

[Mach O Melvin]

SAD SAD SAD!
This much disappointment for a gun that cost as much as a Kahr? I am on my 2nd Kahr a PM40, my 1st one was a CM9. I am hoping to find a remedy for my ftf, failure to chamber the 1st round with the extended mags. I may be sending my gun back to the "mothership" soon?

[Bawanna]

Only with the extended magazines and are you using the slide lock or sling shotting?

[Mach O Melvin]

Only with the extended magazines and are you using the slide lock or sling shotting?

I had issues with ALL 4 of my mags, 2 were extended & 2 were the shorter ones, both slide lock & sling shotting. The slide spring appears to me to be too strong. Very difficult pulling back to chamber the 1st round. Then after the 2nd or 3rd round, it would jam up again. I had left the slide locked back for a a month or so. I will try to disassemble it tomorrow & clean & lube it. I do hope things get better. Not much activity on the PM40 thread, then I seen others having similar issues with the 380. I had similar issues with a CM9 about 7 or 8 years ago, before I let it go.

[RH45]

I knew, before I bought my CW380 that some had issues with Fiocchi.
The only reason I had any Fiocchi was because I got some in a package deal.
During my 200 round break in, the only issues was with Fiocchi.
When I cleaned it, I checked extractor tension, as is my habit with every pistol I clean. I determined that the extractor tension was WAY to tight, and how it managed to feed any Fiocchi is beyond me, because I couldn't get any to slide up, under the extractor. I sent Kahr an email explaining what I found, and it wasn't gone a week, and came back with perfect extractor tension, and clearance. For some reason, they also replaced the recoil spring. I wouldn't have thought it would have been weak after only about 200 rounds.
I guess I got lucky, and whoever worked on my gun knew what he (or she) was doing.

[RH45]

Well, crap.
After my Cw380 came back, I ran maybe 100 rounds of assorted ammo through it without any issue, so I considered it good to carry.
I put a green, Armalaser on it, dialed it in at 25 yards and was using it as my primary, little carry gun.
Then, one day, last month, I was at the range and decided I should shoot it a little, and to my surprise, when I shot it, the slide didn't go forward, but, if I pulled the slide back and let it go it would fire the next round, and stay back again, but, when it got down to the last couple of rounds, in the magazine, it cycled fine.
I took it home, and field stripped it. The frame rails looked pretty beat up, to me, for only having MAYBE 500 rounds through it, but, with just the slide, without the barrel and recoil spring, it felt fine going back and forth. I thought that maybe the way the Armalaser attaches it was pulling something out of whack, eventhough I'd previously ran a Crimson Trace Lasergard without any issues, so I took the laser off and tried it again, and it still acted up.
I emailed Kahr, and sent it in. When it came back, the note said they fitted the slide stop/release, and replace a spring in one of the magazines I'd sent in.
I took it to the range, and now it's better, but, still acts up with Winchester white box, or anything with a flat nose.
When it warms up, a little more, I'll take it back out, and shoot the snot out of it. Maybe I just have to breake it back in??