CT 380 - first range outing = total fail... redeemable?

[kahrbrian]

Bought a used PM9 - excellent from day one. Bought a new ST9 - good from day one. Bought a new P9 Old Stock - runs Wolf like a champ. Eyed up an LGS CT 380 - VERY nice trigger and felt right. Went by the funshow and bought Rem UMC because I read reviews for this gun, and UMC seemed the best bet. I fired about 200 rounds on this first trip. Did not get through a single mag without having a failure to feed. The rounds don't go the whole way in. I had to feed MOST rounds by tapping or banging them into the chamber. All fired and ejected, but didn't feed. Toward the end I managed to get 4 launched out of the tube in a row without a FTF. I fully expected this to get batter and stop after 5 mags full. (OBTW, the ejector is lose when disassembled, but this should have nothing to do with feeding). Ejects nicely - just won't feed. Believe me it is HUGE fail for the gun to need banging on to feed 3-4 rounds out of a mag. It NEVER took the first round even using the slide stop. Ugh.

I LOVE the trigger on this gun and LOVE the way it shoots - soft and accurate. I will try another outing before I send it back to Kahr, but don't have much hope. Thoughts?

[gb6491]

How any magazines do you have for it?
If more than one, did it happen with all of them?
If only one magazine, I'd check to see if the follower and spring are oriented properly to each other (shown below)
https://i.postimg.cc/hG1T4y5y/proper.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
Regards,
Greg

[DavidR]

I would also try some other ammo.

Was it new or used?

[kahrbrian]

All the same with both mags. The problem is NOT nose diving. They go into the chamber but cannot make it the whole way - I had to RAP the rear of the slide on the wooden bench every 2 rounds.

[DavidR]

Weak recoil spring? How easy is it to rack the slide?

[kahrbrian]

Slide is a bear to rack. A real bear. Maybe the chamber is way out of spec. Used UMC HP and ball.

Rounds seem to fit in the chamber but the chamber wall seems a tad rough compared to say
my canik c 100. Maybe I’ll polish the chamber a bit.

[kwh]

+1 send it back. Be sure to tell them you are a multiple Kahr owner.

[kahrbrian]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwrBbUQze2k

This is what mine does but with two types of UMC - which again is supposedly gtg in these guns. His fix is interesting.

[topgun1953]

See if your extractor already has a radius on the bottom. I thought Kahr was doing that routinely now. Several members here have reduced the extractor tension in their P380 and CW380s. I reduced the tension on my P380 several years ago now by filing the back extractor pin down a small amount which in turn reduced the spring pressure on the extractor. A cheap part to replace with you go too far. Good luck.. Kahr will certainly fix you up if you send it in.

[kahrbrian]

There is not much of a radius, but maybe the whole deal is out of spec. (My P9 doesn't have the radius but feeds like gangbusters). I'll likely just call them tomorrow. Thanks.

[skiflydive]

See if your extractor already has a radius on the bottom. I thought Kahr was doing that routinely now. Several members here have reduced the extractor tension in their P380 and CW380s. I reduced the tension on my P380 several years ago now by filing the back extractor pin down a small amount which in turn reduced the spring pressure on the extractor. A cheap part to replace with you go too far. Good luck.. Kahr will certainly fix you up if you send it in.

+++ on this. A no expense, reasonable thing to try before sending it back. My CW380 took shortening the rear pin by .025" in increments. If you search around there's another way to do it measuring the extractor tension but I had already done mine just by shortening the pin.

[kahrbrian]

Some hope. I just tuned the extractor, polished it, the chamber face, the inside of the barrel hood and the ramp behind the bolt face. I polished the feed ramp earlier. In my adventure I noted that UNDER the extractor and on the face of the bolt/slide, there were some wicked machine marks. I took special care to sand the whole face down, especially this area, with 600-1500-2000 paper on a file. I also took a little metal off of the extractor plunger to make it easier and polished this interface.

Just tried to load a live (allI have) round of the UMC ball (which was a no go at the range) and it sucked into the chamber like a champ.Of course it ain't over yet till live fire, but this is promising. I really want to make this gun run, because the trigger it THAT good.

I also think that IF people knew how to do these things, more folks would keep their troubled Kahrs. No way Kahr is going to spend this much attention to detail - and no manufacture can afford to.

Some of these value line guns are a bit crude, but now I know more about tuning a Kahr!

I am thinking of ordering a machined extractor also.

[kahrbrian]

Finally got it to the range. 100%. Ball, HP, even golden sabers with no problem. Beginning to think all Kahr problems or most can be solved with some polishing. Gun shoots great.

[DavidR]

Great news.

[Armybrat]

Yes, that’s good to hear.
I just wish my CT380 slide was easier ti rack.

[gb6491]

Finally got it to the range. 100%. Ball, HP, even golden sabers with no problem. Beginning to think all Kahr problems or most can be solved with some polishing. Gun shoots great.
Great news and a "well done!!" :yo:

[yqtszhj]

Slide is a bear to rack. A real bear. Maybe the chamber is way out of spec. Used UMC HP and ball.

Rounds seem to fit in the chamber but the chamber wall seems a tad rough compared to say
my canik c 100. Maybe I’ll polish the chamber a bit.

Sorry to hear your results. But to make you feel better but its off topic your Canik C100 is a nice gun. I have one myself.

[5.56x24]

I'm late to this party, but as a P380 owner I could have saved you the investigation. Just skip to the end - your extractor tension is too high. Remove the slide cover plate, pull out the offending spring and clip a coil, then test for free-feeding. Clip another half-coil if needed. The gun will transform in your hands.
Something to know about Kahr's guns. The parts themselves are well-designed and dimensionally correct. They don't need any polishing or grinding or removal of material. Every Kahr problem I've round has been directly related to springs....usually too stiff, and in the case of the P380, so long that when compressed into the slide tunnel, "freezes" the extractor which is why it will only chamber when you FORCE it into battery, save for the occasional rim that's able to fit between the inside face of the extractor and the opposite slide wall.

[kahrbrian]

I'm late to this party, but as a P380 owner I could have saved you the investigation. Just skip to the end - your extractor tension is too high. Remove the slide cover plate, pull out the offending spring and clip a coil, then test for free-feeding. Clip another half-coil if needed. The gun will transform in your hands.
Something to know about Kahr's guns. The parts themselves are well-designed and dimensionally correct. They don't need any polishing or grinding or removal of material. Every Kahr problem I've round has been directly related to springs....usually too stiff, and in the case of the P380, so long that when compressed into the slide tunnel, "freezes" the extractor which is why it will only chamber when you FORCE it into battery, save for the occasional rim that's able to fit between the inside face of the extractor and the opposite slide wall.

If you read my most I did SHORTEN the extractor plunger a tad. But if you saw the chamber face, you would have polished it too. There are also videos on the shaping of the extractor and they make sense. A sharp edged extractor, with a too strong ext. spring set, and machine marks where the round has to slip onto make for feeding problems. But, I see your point.

[BirdsThaWord]

Well done KahrBrian!