Kahr p380 reliability

[DoctorLove]

Anyone have a recent example? How?s the reliability? I?m considering one but am hesitant considering the very mixed reviews online


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[LEAD LAUNCHER]

I have one. It's my tiniest currently owned pistol. Bought it to put on my Ventura CCW(the Crown in Ventura County allows us 5 pistols on our CCW)for when I'm not carrying a gun-lol. I call it the mailbox gun...for walking to the mailbox........or to carry as a backup to at least a 9mm. Bought it pretty recently.

TL/DR version is...the 380 models from Kahr can be finicky. I'd still buy one but thoroughly vet it if you are going to carry.

Never been a Kahr guy, but a couple years ago picked up a PM9, all black with the factory night sights. Mainly for pocket carry.

The trigger took some getting used too(better to think of it as a double action revolver pull that's smooth, long and light than a regular auto pistol)but it shoots very much like a full size pistol.
Thought it would kick. Nope. Plenty accurate. Not even any break in jams-whatsoever. Never malfed ever out of the box.
Love it, but then now there is the tiniest version of the P365 that exists, so it's almost obsolete.

Of course its still a bit thinner and fully loaded obviously lighter.

Picked up their exact same pistol(black/night sites), in their full size(P9)to use for training smaller handed shooters, especially women. Same experience.
Pistol shoots great-no malfs ever. Love it. And I'm a double stack guy.

Picked up the p380(on roster like the others but sadly this on roster, unlike the others, has the Chamber loaded indicator and mag disconnect trash parts in it-both of which I will eventually delete)knowing that, according to internet results on the net, these are clearly more finicky than the 9mm models.


I've put several hundred 380 factory ball through it and early on(and for some time honestly) it had some feed ramp jams going in(nudge slide closed from rear of slide to close)that seemed to be caused by a really close fit of the gun.

Those jams have gone away, but there is one other type of malf that has cropped up often and it still does pretty regularly.

Slide locking back in mid mag shooting. Push slide lock/stop down every time and gun keeps shooting.

Tried lefty shooting, thumbs/fingers locked down-it's not me. Also no I'm not limp wristing.

I notice it seems to never happen the first few mags, but later...almost like when it's getting a bit dirty?

I like the pistol enough that I'm going to start running my hollowpoint of choice for defensive carry through it to ensure reliably feeding.

I'll probably bring a clean/lubed pistol to the range and maybe shoot a max of 50-100 through it each range trip for a few trips until I trust it fully.

If it still locks back prematurely(ogive of bullet comes REALLY close to inside of slide stop) I may try a little clearancing of the stop. Years ago I literally removed the part of a slide stop on one of my 1911 because of this issue-I'd rather not do that.

But I would take that over having to thumb the slide stop or slingshot mid string during a defensive shooting.

But check out the PM9. Yes it's bigger. But if you can make it work, it's a better choice for sure.

[Experimentalist]

I've had experience similar to LeadLauncher. With one notable exception.

On mine I once had the chamber loaded indicator grab the rim of the cartridge as an extractor might. Given that the true extractor had also hold of the rim, I wound up with a stubborn jam.

I had to drop the magazine and tinker for a moment to get the jam cleared.

So... The loaded chamber indicator is now in a baggie along with the spring and pin in case I ever decide to sell it.

[mk2dave]

A friend of mine has one, and he had a couple of malfunctions that seems to be from limp wristing. Once he stopped trying to finesse the thing and got a little firmer, the malfunctions stopped. It also seemed to be particular about ammo.

Teething issues aside, he loves having the smallest pocket rocket around. I decided to spoil myself with a Bersa 380. Full disclosure, I have a P45 and a PM40.

[k1dude]

My wife has one that's been back to the factory 3 times and still can't get through a single mag without multiple malfunctions of every type. Instead of sending it back a 4th time it just rots in the back of the safe. It probably has about 650 painfully aggravating rounds through it and it still doesn't work.

[tomrkba]

Avoid.

[JohnCCW]

I had tons of failure to feed with weak magazine springs. I bought all brand new factory springs and the old ones were visually shorter by 1/8 - 1/4 inch. I don't remember exactly.
I now rotate 2 carry mags every other day (4 mags total), let them rest w/o any rounds in them. Plan to buy new springs yearly.
Also found large cavity hollowpoints are unreliable. I'm using Fiocchi HP's that have a smaller meplat. FMJ is a viable option in 380.

[DoctorLove]

Not looking good so far. Thank you for the responses. And thanks LEAD LAUNCHER for taking the time to write out such a detailed response. I appreciate you all


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Title1guy]

More info on this forum:

http://www.kahrtalk.com/tags.php?tag=p380

[JustaBlokeAnywhere]

I have the PM40 and it's been more reliable than my Glock 27. It's one of my CCW carry piece.

[Pistol_Ned]

Mine was pretty finicky to get set up right. There is a break in period with them. Says so right in the manual. It shoots well for how small it is. I bought it for concealed carry and while I easily qualified with it for the permit, I probably won't ever carry it. It's easy to shoot it at the range under controlled circumstances, but forget it under duress. I'll jam it because I didn't hold it correctly. I'm not taking the chance with a carry gun. Big hands+tiny gun=no good for me. Your mileage may vary as they say.

[mygeaux]

I have one from 10 or so years ago, has LCI/CLI/whatever and mag disco. I don't recall any failures, probably have 700+ rounds through it, mostly your basic, cheap range FMJ, WWB, Speer, whatever was cheapest. Function tested with smaller amounts of SD ammo (Corbon, Hornady, and Buffalo Bore solids) without issue.

The slide is stiff to pull back but that is typical for this type of SA. I would prefer no LCI or mag disco but it has been reliable for me. I find it gets little use since I own a PM9 which is not much larger but superior in most metrics.

[Raiderh20boy]

I know this is a post about a certain brand but have you checked out the SIG P238 ? Wife and I both have them listed on our CCWs’ since 2017. Shoot between 50 -100 rounds every other week and have NEVER has any issues.

[RustyIron]

How?s the reliability? I?m considering one but am hesitant considering the very mixed reviews online

Mine is close to 10 years old. It's reliable, except for Fiocchi ammo. I thought it was a tight extractor problem, so I adjusted accordingly. I haven't, however, purchased any Fiocchi since.

I've installed Magguts magazine parts to increase the capacity. It's still reliable, but it's easier to load, believe it or not.

I'm not a fan of the self-tapping screws that go into plastic. Nor do I care for the "distorted" look around the dust cover area.

The big problem was the magazine release. It sits REALLY high, and several times it released the magazine while the gun was holstered. I filed it down so it's not as tall, then refinished it. It's been flawless since.

Even though I'm not a big fan of the P380 and don't consider it as elegant as some of my nicer guns, I sometimes carry it because it's super small and it's reliable.

[Mike350GT]

i'm not a Kahr fan. I find that the trigger is too "squishy". Opted for the Sig P238 instead.