HadEmAll
03-07-2011, 08:52 PM
Well, I will tell this in as much detail as I can. It might get long and boring for those who just want to see the baby and don't want to hear about the birth, but I'm hoping the details of the very few less than perfect incidents will mean something to the Kahr gurus. And they really aren't that serious.
For the people who don't want read it all, (and I don't blame you) the P380 went through 229 rounds with only minor hiccups at rounds 62, 67, and somewhere around 90. Rounds 91 - 229 all fed, fired, and extracted perfectly. Wonderful little pistol, and I highly recommend it.
I was standing at my target at about 0745. It was about 60 degrees F, and I wanted the pistol and ammo to be close to the temp they would be from riding in my pocket, so tucked it in the right front pocket and drank some more coffee. I had the range to myself this morning, and it was nice.
I had a bunch of S&B 92 grain FMJ, Winchester 95 grain FMJ, Aguila 90 grain JHP, Federal 90 grain HydraShok JHP (two types), and a few Speer 90 grain Gold Dot JHPs.
I decided to go for broke, and start out with the 16 Federal 90 grain HydraShoks that had been in the LCP when I sold (gave) it to my son. I had placed them in the three P380 magazines after cleaning them, and since the other 3 Kahrs I had experience with had been perfect out of the box, I just felt like it might be okay.
I fired 6, changed magazines, fired 5, changed magazines and fired 5 more. No problems. The slide locked back properly as each magazine was emptied, and all was good. I had placed 3 rounds high and left in the 8 ring, and the rest were in the 9 and 10 ring. I was only shooting at 3 yards, but found I was not going to have to adjust the rear sight, so was happy about that. The sights are definitely a step up from the LCP's. I found it mildly amusing that the trigger guard of the P380 smacked my trigger finger exactly where the PM40 did, but much less intensely. Kind of a tap instead of a thump. I still have a blood blister there from the PM40 a couple of weeks ago. The P380 is a very soft recoiling little 380.
Firing these 16 rounds, I noticed something that might have a bearing on the rest of the story.
The P380 only ejected the Federal 90 grain HydraShok cases about 3 feet to the right. In the LCP, with the factory springs and these same loads, they had been ejected about 20 feet. I had thought this was too much, and had ordered an extra power recoil spring set for the LCP from Wolff. This dropped the distance the LCP ejected the fired cases to around 10 feet.
My point is that the recoil springs on the P380 are definitely stouter than the springs in the LCP. And at this point, they seemed almost a little too stout.
I settled down to shooting the S&B 92 grain FMJ and Aquila 90 grain JHP three magazines at a time to "break her in". The S&B was definitely the weaker round, and was only getting thrown a couple of feet to the right. The Aguila was noticeably hotter, but was still only getting tossed about 3 feet.
Everything was still perfect. No malfunctions of any type. I was pretty elated. I was alternating using strong hand, both hands, and weak hand. It didn't seem to matter at all.
At about 60 rounds, I decided to take it apart and clean it up. Both the S&B and Aquila are pretty dirty loads.
After getting it back together, I decided to chronograph all the loads I had brought that day. I will publish those results in the Ammo sub-forum.
First up was 5 rounds of the Aguila 90 grain JHP. I fired the first round, and the slide locked back. I know I had not touched the slide stop. I had been firing 2-handed. I thumbed the slide forward, and completed that magazine full. 1st malfunction of any type I had had.
Next magazine of 5 was the S&B 92 grain FMJ. Same scenario. One round fired through the chrono, and the slide locked back. I dropped the slide, and completed that magazine. 2nd malfunction.
I thought about it a while, and decided that I should make no decisions and not worry about it until I had dutifully completed the 200 rounds.
I chronographed the other ammo types I had with me, 5 rounds at a time, shooting 2-handed with no further incidents.
After this, I loaded the mags with more of the Aguila JHP, and went back out to the berm. First magazine, about round 90, I had my first real malfunction, a stovepipe. The ejected case was caught in the ejection port, preventing the next round from chambering.
I took the pistol apart, examined it, found nothing, cleaned and reassembled it.
Now I starting going through magazines just looking to make it malfunction. Strong, weak, and two handed. I couldn't make it screw up.
All in all I fired 15 rounds of the Speer 90 grain JHP, 10 rounds of Federal HydraShok 90 grain JHP, 26 rounds of Federal Tactical HydraShok 90 grain JHP, 103 rounds of Aguila 90 grain JHP, 70 rounds of S&B 92 grain FMJ, and 5 rounds of Winchester 95 grain FMJ for a total of 229 rounds.
I had quit at 223 rounds, cleaned the pistol, loaded it and the mags with the Speer 90 grain Gold Dot JHP, and put it in the pocket. Last minute I whipped it out and did 3 double-taps at a rock on the berm. Just to put my mind at ease. Perfect function.
All in all, since it went from round 91 to round 229 with no problems, I'm going to write the 3 malfunctions inside the 1st 90 rounds off as growing pains. I can't help but feel the recoil spring rating is a little stout, and somehow related to all three hiccups.
I can see having this pistol a long time. I have nothing bad to say about the LCP I had, but I sure enjoy the P380 slide locking back when the magazine is empty, and the P380's superior sights and trigger.
I'll definitely be putting another couple of hundred rounds through it soon.
For the people who don't want read it all, (and I don't blame you) the P380 went through 229 rounds with only minor hiccups at rounds 62, 67, and somewhere around 90. Rounds 91 - 229 all fed, fired, and extracted perfectly. Wonderful little pistol, and I highly recommend it.
I was standing at my target at about 0745. It was about 60 degrees F, and I wanted the pistol and ammo to be close to the temp they would be from riding in my pocket, so tucked it in the right front pocket and drank some more coffee. I had the range to myself this morning, and it was nice.
I had a bunch of S&B 92 grain FMJ, Winchester 95 grain FMJ, Aguila 90 grain JHP, Federal 90 grain HydraShok JHP (two types), and a few Speer 90 grain Gold Dot JHPs.
I decided to go for broke, and start out with the 16 Federal 90 grain HydraShoks that had been in the LCP when I sold (gave) it to my son. I had placed them in the three P380 magazines after cleaning them, and since the other 3 Kahrs I had experience with had been perfect out of the box, I just felt like it might be okay.
I fired 6, changed magazines, fired 5, changed magazines and fired 5 more. No problems. The slide locked back properly as each magazine was emptied, and all was good. I had placed 3 rounds high and left in the 8 ring, and the rest were in the 9 and 10 ring. I was only shooting at 3 yards, but found I was not going to have to adjust the rear sight, so was happy about that. The sights are definitely a step up from the LCP's. I found it mildly amusing that the trigger guard of the P380 smacked my trigger finger exactly where the PM40 did, but much less intensely. Kind of a tap instead of a thump. I still have a blood blister there from the PM40 a couple of weeks ago. The P380 is a very soft recoiling little 380.
Firing these 16 rounds, I noticed something that might have a bearing on the rest of the story.
The P380 only ejected the Federal 90 grain HydraShok cases about 3 feet to the right. In the LCP, with the factory springs and these same loads, they had been ejected about 20 feet. I had thought this was too much, and had ordered an extra power recoil spring set for the LCP from Wolff. This dropped the distance the LCP ejected the fired cases to around 10 feet.
My point is that the recoil springs on the P380 are definitely stouter than the springs in the LCP. And at this point, they seemed almost a little too stout.
I settled down to shooting the S&B 92 grain FMJ and Aquila 90 grain JHP three magazines at a time to "break her in". The S&B was definitely the weaker round, and was only getting thrown a couple of feet to the right. The Aguila was noticeably hotter, but was still only getting tossed about 3 feet.
Everything was still perfect. No malfunctions of any type. I was pretty elated. I was alternating using strong hand, both hands, and weak hand. It didn't seem to matter at all.
At about 60 rounds, I decided to take it apart and clean it up. Both the S&B and Aquila are pretty dirty loads.
After getting it back together, I decided to chronograph all the loads I had brought that day. I will publish those results in the Ammo sub-forum.
First up was 5 rounds of the Aguila 90 grain JHP. I fired the first round, and the slide locked back. I know I had not touched the slide stop. I had been firing 2-handed. I thumbed the slide forward, and completed that magazine full. 1st malfunction of any type I had had.
Next magazine of 5 was the S&B 92 grain FMJ. Same scenario. One round fired through the chrono, and the slide locked back. I dropped the slide, and completed that magazine. 2nd malfunction.
I thought about it a while, and decided that I should make no decisions and not worry about it until I had dutifully completed the 200 rounds.
I chronographed the other ammo types I had with me, 5 rounds at a time, shooting 2-handed with no further incidents.
After this, I loaded the mags with more of the Aguila JHP, and went back out to the berm. First magazine, about round 90, I had my first real malfunction, a stovepipe. The ejected case was caught in the ejection port, preventing the next round from chambering.
I took the pistol apart, examined it, found nothing, cleaned and reassembled it.
Now I starting going through magazines just looking to make it malfunction. Strong, weak, and two handed. I couldn't make it screw up.
All in all I fired 15 rounds of the Speer 90 grain JHP, 10 rounds of Federal HydraShok 90 grain JHP, 26 rounds of Federal Tactical HydraShok 90 grain JHP, 103 rounds of Aguila 90 grain JHP, 70 rounds of S&B 92 grain FMJ, and 5 rounds of Winchester 95 grain FMJ for a total of 229 rounds.
I had quit at 223 rounds, cleaned the pistol, loaded it and the mags with the Speer 90 grain Gold Dot JHP, and put it in the pocket. Last minute I whipped it out and did 3 double-taps at a rock on the berm. Just to put my mind at ease. Perfect function.
All in all, since it went from round 91 to round 229 with no problems, I'm going to write the 3 malfunctions inside the 1st 90 rounds off as growing pains. I can't help but feel the recoil spring rating is a little stout, and somehow related to all three hiccups.
I can see having this pistol a long time. I have nothing bad to say about the LCP I had, but I sure enjoy the P380 slide locking back when the magazine is empty, and the P380's superior sights and trigger.
I'll definitely be putting another couple of hundred rounds through it soon.