Kahr P380

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Dudedog

Dudedog

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Just curious how anyone who has one likes it. Pricy for a small but one of 2 small .380s available in CA. (other is Sig P238) Ruger LC380CA is available but larger.
(Wow big selection here :banghead:)
 
Have one. It might be handy against a mugger with a rusty unreliable .22 pistol, but it's useless in a gun fight. Too small to handle well. It's better than the Ruger or te Sig though. Like hot ammo. Mine prefers Corbon Powerball.

Get a Glock 43, it's marginally better, but still a bit too small. But at least it's a mouse gun that may have decent performance. If it's CA compliant?
 
I purchased one based on people stating on the internet that it is smaller than the LCP/P3AT. It is not. It is also significantly wider and defiantly more blocky in the pocket.

I sold my and kept the LCP. The LCP is defiantly more comfortable in the pocket.
 
Considering price of the two IMO the P238 is the better pistol and from what I have read the 238 is also more reliable.
 
At one time I owned a P380. I liked the size and weight for concealed pocket carry. I had no difficulty shooting the gun accurately at close range. However, mine had feeding problems with several different types of ammo. I could not get comfortable carrying the gun with persistent feeding problems. So, rather than just leaving it in my gun safe, I traded it at my LGS. My suggestion, if you are set on a .380 look at the Glock 42. I purchased one of the first G42's my LGS received, and it too had feeding problems. Glock repaired the pistol, but the problems continued. Glock replaced the pistol, and the new one works perfectly. If you are willing to move up to a 9mm consider G43, Nano, PM9, Solo, PPS. I own each of these guns and they all work flawlessly.
 
They have less expensive, but just as good, 380's....one is CW380 and other is CT380 with slightly longer grip. I've had both and settled on the CT as it gave me more grip to hold on to. Both shot factory and my reloads without any issues. I carry the CT quite often, alternating with CW9 and P45. The main difference in the CW/CT versions over the P versions is the CW/CT barrels are standard rifling vs polygonal for the P versions.
 
Zerodefect said:
Have one. It might be handy against a mugger with a rusty unreliable .22 pistol, but it's useless in a gun fight. Too small to handle well. It's better than the Ruger or te Sig though. Like hot ammo. Mine prefers Corbon Powerball.

Get a Glock 43, it's marginally better, but still a bit too small. But at least it's a mouse gun that may have decent performance. If it's CA compliant?
Click to expand...

Seriously? Useless in a gun fight? I think not. I own one as well and much prefer it to the KelTec P3AT. I have shot a Ruger LCP and the Kahr has a much better trigger. Mine has over 500 rounds with no malfunctions. I have no experience with the budget models, but my .380 is a daily carry and I do not feel under gunned.

Zerodefect may have regular encounters with biker gangs or flash mobs, but for an old man in a rural area (that would be me), I am perfectly comfortable with my Kahr. If I travel, I do carry my Glock 19 in addition to the Kahr.
 
Love my CM9 and if I didn't already have a Colt Mustang and a SIG P238 I would consider getting a Kahr P380.
 
My girlfriend has one. I love the trigger, and can shoot it better than my LCP, but the LCP fits in my pocket better. It really is a nice gun, good sights, good trigger, pretty accurate, just expensive.
It did have a long break in period that almost drove me nuts. Absolutely wouldn't eat fiocchi, and gave lots of trouble with S&B. After 100 rounds of that tried winchester white box, marginally better. Switched to Blazer Brass and suddenly it would shoot 100 percent. Also does ok with PMC and remington UMC. Haven't tried the Fiocchi again to see if it works after break in but it has gone a couple hundred rounds without problems with a mix of the UMC and blazer.
The ammo sensitivity and feeding problems were a big disappointment, especially for the price. In the end though its my girlfriends favorite gun, and the ammo it likes is easy to find and economical to shoot.
 
Coyote3855 said:
Seriously? Useless in a gun fight? I think not. I own one as well and much prefer it to the KelTec P3AT. I have shot a Ruger LCP and the Kahr has a much better trigger. Mine has over 500 rounds with no malfunctions. I have no experience with the budget models, but my .380 is a daily carry and I do not feel under gunned.

Zerodefect may have regular encounters with biker gangs or flash mobs, but for an old man in a rural area (that would be me), I am perfectly comfortable with my Kahr. If I travel, I do carry my Glock 19 in addition to the Kahr.
Click to expand...

"Perfectly comfortable" against what?

Someone here with a G23/41/35?
Not me, no way. My Kahr p380 is a really nice knife, at best.
 
I also have the CW380 and after purchasing it, I immediately sold the LCP. Being locked breech, the CW380 shoots much softer, the trigger is immeasurably better and it actually has usable sights :)

It gets pocket carried all day, every day......
 
Gottahaveone said:
I also have the CW380 and after purchasing it, I immediately sold the LCP. Being locked breech, the CW380 shoots much softer, the trigger is immeasurably better and it actually has usable sights :)

It gets pocket carried all day, every day......
Click to expand...
I don't understand because the LCP is locked breech!
 
My P380 has been an excellent carry pistol. Has well over 500 hundred rounds of factory and reloads thru it and functions perfectly. Less perceived recoil and easier to keep on target than either the LCP or P3AT I've owned in the past. Sees the most use during the summer months and often rides backup to the the other Kahr I may be carrying at any particular time (PM9, P9, TP45). Little pistol is the best of the pocket 380's I've carried.
 
Problem is I am in California... No LCP, No CW380, no Glock 43, no :cuss::cuss::cuss:
For those who live in free states and want to see how small our list is
http://certguns.doj.ca.gov/
Laugh if you live someplace else, cry if you are in California.

I would go with the Glock 43 or the CW380 if they were on the list.
Possibly the little Taraus 738.

Beretta Tomcat in .32 makes the list but I consider .380 as small as I would want to go caliber wise. Of course a .32 would be much better than nothing.

arrrgggg California

I have an XD subcompact in 9mm. I was looking for something smaller for when I want something smaller. Only choices are the Kahr P380, the Sig 238, and the Ruger LCA with is bigger than the first 2 and really not that much smaller than my XD sub compact.

I have heard about some feeding issues with HPs in the Kahr and that is cause for concern. The range of "good" .380 loads with HPs that have decent penetration and expansion is not that long.

Thanks everyone for your feedback.
 
Issues with mine

I got a P380 three months ago from Buds and the darned thing was a jam-o-matic like I have never seen--FTF/FTE/etc. I stuck through the break-in and even after 250 rounds the gun was better but not at all reliable. So, I detailed cleaned the gun, ran it through my ultrasonic cleaner until it was sparkling, oiled it appropriately and took it back out. After 175 more rounds, it was better still, but also jamming once out of every 4-5 magazines. I tracked the mags, and it was having issues with all.

I contacted Kahr and they quickly offered to work on it, and they picked up Fed Ex shipping cost. I sent it in last week, so I am sure it will not be back for a week or two.

What's most frustrating about this is that my only other Kahr, a CM9, runs like a top from round 1. Never jammed, never hiccuped once on anything. I bought the P380 because I was so impressed with the CM9, even went to the extra expense of the Premium model 380.

Disappointing, but I am not throwing in the towel yet. If it jams when it comes back, I will trade it out for either a Ruger LCP Custom or a Sig P238.
 
My bro bought a P380 and it was absolutely jamomatic. Kahr people kept telling him to run more ammo through it, but it wasn't possible given the level of malfunction. They reluctantly took it back for repair....sent it back and the malfuntions continued. He sent it back again and they finally replaced it. It's sort of reliable now at least.
 
Hhmm, I have seen some more reviews that say the pistol has issues with jamming and is ammunition sensitive. Sigh, I will have to think about the Sig P238 but is Single action with a small safety lever.

Not confidence inspiring to hear about jamming issues and also hear Kahr ho hums the problem.

Those being my only 2 choices here in CA may just shelf the plan for a small .380.
 
Is the P238 league in California? It is a fine micro pistol that is much milined because it is made by Taurus but IMO is one of the best micro 380 pistols after the P238 and G42.
 
I have a p380. After shooting it a lot, say 800 rounds, I say I like it. It is reliable, easy to handle, super small, mild recoil, and very accurate. It has legit sights on it and an excellent long "revolver style" trigger.

At first I had jams, and was pretty unhappy, but like they say, it just needed time to loosen up a bit.

No issues now. I changed my recoil spring at 1000 rounds just to be safe.

I dare say i can shoot it just as well as most larger pistols. Definitely not a belly gun for me.
 
I just bought a DB9 and DB380. The DB9 is fine so far but the DB380 has an issue. The problem seems to be that the recoil spring is too stiff for the ammo I have. I did not think I was limp wristing it but that could be it too. From what I read that the .380's have break in and ammo issues in the pocket guns. The recoil spring has to be pretty strong and short. When the gun it new it takes stout ammo for it to recoil properly and until broken in ammo other than round nose may not load properly either. Mostly you have to shoot it to break it in on some brands. Unless you get lucky or have the ammo it likes. I am going to look for something more stout than Blazer Brass 380.
 
Coyote3855 said:
Seriously? Useless in a gun fight? I think not. I own one as well and much prefer it to the KelTec P3AT. I have shot a Ruger LCP and the Kahr has a much better trigger. Mine has over 500 rounds with no malfunctions. I have no experience with the budget models, but my .380 is a daily carry and I do not feel under gunned.

Zerodefect may have regular encounters with biker gangs or flash mobs, but for an old man in a rural area (that would be me), I am perfectly comfortable with my Kahr. If I travel, I do carry my Glock 19 in addition to the Kahr.
Click to expand...
I agree with this. I have one and carry it frequently without fear of being undergunned. I bought it because it's striker fired so I don't have to remember to flip the safety off if I ever have to pull it out of my pocket. And because it's extremely well made and has one of the smoothest triggers I've ever used albeit a long trigger pull. As soon as I could take it to the range I put the factory recommended 200 rounds through it to break it in and haven't had any issues yet. And, in the Uncle George pocket holsterhttp://www.unclegeorgeswalletholsters.com/Pages/UncleGeorgesWalletHolsters.aspx, it looks like a cell phone in my jeans pocket.
 
The people who I know who have a Taurus TCP like it and say Taurus got it right with that pistol.

They go on sale sometimes for $170.00
 
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