my new P380 (Kahr) disappointments

I will be keeping tabs on this thead; I am considering a Kahr.

Good customer service and a company that backs their products is paramount to me; must be why I own so many S&Ws.

I don't see any peening. Some better pics please.

What bullets are you shooting? Sometimes with fuller profile bullets, they can hit the slide lock. Can you see any bullet material rubbed off on the slide lock?

Also make sure you're not actuating it with your fingers while shooting.

As far as the slide locking open, it could be the way you are holding the pistol. I have done this with my 1911 Kimber. If you haven't tried yet, try shooting it using only your strong arm (one handed) and see if it still does it. I too will be watching this thread. Good luck, LM.

Kahrs are funny, finnicky guns I have found. They remind me of puppies with short attention span.

I like Kahrs and have had good experiences with all of them. I have found there are quite a few threads here relating to how they are substandard and have made a few assumptions and theories on this.

First, Kahrs are prone to limp wristing. Myth or not for better or worse limp wristing happens and it makes Kahrs jam. I have noticed not many women shoot them and a few have had complaints on them and this lends a little evidence to my theory.

Next, Kahrs are picky eaters. You have to experiement with ammo. This is the bane of most new Kahr owners because of ammo expense. All I can tell you is to either experiement with ammo or dont buy a Kahr.

Next, read the manual that came with the gun. Kahrs are picky about how they are loaded and field stripped. If you follow the manual you most likely will not have any problems in these areas.

Next they have an undeserved bad reputation on the internet. For good or bad, the limitless "knowledge" of the internet has spoken.

I believe your problem is caused by one of the "reasons" above and could benefit from a little more attention to detail. OTOH every gun has problems that cannot be fixed by different ammo or reading the manual and may need to be sent in for some work.

it sounds like a magazine problem to me. call Kahr and see what they have to say. I have 2 kahrs and they are great pistols.

I cant really see peening in the pic,but that doesn't mean i don't believe you.
Id load the mags i had to capacity and let them sit,and load and unload the mags as many times as you care to stand.
I think the new strong mag spring is causing the slide lock issue.
During this time after a few hundered more rounds re-evaluate the peening and send back to Kahr if it see damage starting or getting worse.

Those things are $599 where i live so i know id be darned sure i was happy with that gun and not settle for half a%$#ed quality.

In my experience, the polymer Kahrs are the most finicky. The steel ones run like champs.

I had a problem with my MK9 locking back. my dealer sent it to kahr and they said they just replaced the slide release/lock and when I got it back It worked just fine. In fact, I bought another one because I planned on giving that one to my SO. She didn't shoot it well so I sold it.

Oh and all of that was at no cost to me!

I don't know about the peening, but it shouldn't cost you a thing to get it all fixed up.

FUN YET

PM sent..

only

two things can cause the slide to lock open prematurally on khars.

#`1 The shooter is accidently hitting the slide stop lever with his thumb pushing it upward.

#2 The bullets fromt he magazine are hitting on the inside of the slide lock lever causing it to push upward and again prematurally engaging the slide stop.

this is very easy to check even. take the sldie off, load the magazine and then insert it and watch that slide stop lever, if it goes up and you willbe able to see the bullet actually on theinsdie of the grip/frame opening hitting and pushing up the slide stop lever.

Call kahr and explain, they wills end you a new slide stop lever asap. My p380 will not handle well the 102 grain golden sagbre round due to the bullet size and it wanting to hit the inside of the slidelock lever. I just went to another good defense round and have never had one issue. Great gun IMO. but **** happens to.

Get a Bersa.

I had the same slide lock problem with one of the mags with my Witness Match. One mag worked fine and the other would lock back on the next to last bullet. I took some measurements and found that the feed lips were farther apart on the offending mag. I bent then in a tiny bit so the opening was the same as on the good mag. Problem solved. Both mags work fine now.

Don't know anything about peening.

5 things that helped me "break in" my P380:

1) Try loading only 4 or 5 rounds in the magazines until they loosen up a little.

2) Use the slide lock lever to chamber the first round

3) Relube that little sucker about every 36 rounds.

4) Eliminate limp wristing.

5) 1350 rounds of overpriced .380 ammo!

After 1000 rounds I was continuing to have problems with FTF. About 6 every 100 rounds. I was very frustrated and ready to send the gun back to Kahr. I asked the retailer for help. The Range Master inspected the pistol and advised #3. Range Master watched me shoot about 150 rounds with 3 slide lock backs. Advised #4 (but graciously refrained from calling me "Alice").
Problems solved. Flawless since then (250 rounds)-except for 3 failures to fire- see below

I have successfully fired the following in FMJ: Blazer, Mag Tech, Prvi Partizan
and WWB. Fiocchi feeds fine but I have had 3 failures to fire (out of 70).
I think this ammo has nickel primers.

I have successfully fired (and like)the following HP ammo: Speer Gold Dots and Double Tap.

I have read about other owners having trouble with Hydra - Shock.

There is more helpful info on this site, P380Forum.com, Glock Talk and others.
I think jocko knows the workings of this little pistol inside and out. Read his posts.

Best of luck

I used to own a Kahr P9 Covert. I second what previous posters said in regards to limp wristing. Make sure to use a firm grip. Also, the Kahr seem to like to be well lubed. I kept mine meticulously clean and well lubed with CLP. The P9 seemed to like JHPs over FMJ bullets as well.

Kahr P380

I have about 800 rounds through my P380 and it works flawlessly. When I first purchased the gun, I had a problem with magazines cracking . Kahr replaced the mags and the gun has been great after the initial break in period. I also have a PM9 that is my constant companion in my right front pocket. Listen to jocko when it comes to Kahr products he is very knowledgable and his advice is solid.

i have a 380 and it did the same thing at least 2 to 3 times on every magazine i loaded. i found the slide lock was hitting the bullets every time. a little file took care of that problem real quick. i also had a problem with the bullets getting jammed in the chamber at a 45 deg. angle when the slide was trying to load the bullet. i also filed back about 1/8 inch on the mag. arms that hold the bullets in the mag. it was to tight on that little gun. now i have at least 300 rounds on the gun with no failures. now it is PERFECT! i love it!!

Mine works great but I bought the 9 MM. You cant find the .380 here yet and the 9MM was a better round. Size difference between the two was negligible.......I am glad I bought the PM9. They take a lot of lube at first.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=476934

You would think they would be a quality gun based on the price. Guess I was wrong. Next time get a Sig p232.

PM9

that is my constant companion in my right front pocket.

Click to expand...

Mine too!

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=477491

Kahrs are funny, finnicky guns I have found. They remind me of puppies with short attention span.

I like Kahrs and have had good experiences with all of them. I have found there are quite a few threads here relating to how they are substandard and have made a few assumptions and theories on this.

First, Kahrs are prone to limp wristing. Myth or not for better or worse limp wristing happens and it makes Kahrs jam. I have noticed not many women shoot them and a few have had complaints on them and this lends a little evidence to my theory.

Next, Kahrs are picky eaters. You have to experiement with ammo. This is the bane of most new Kahr owners because of ammo expense. All I can tell you is to either experiement with ammo or dont buy a Kahr.

Next, read the manual that came with the gun. Kahrs are picky about how they are loaded and field stripped. If you follow the manual you most likely will not have any problems in these areas.

Next they have an undeserved bad reputation on the internet. For good or bad, the limitless "knowledge" of the internet

Click to expand...

Kahr's have a much deserved bad reputation on the internet for the very reasons you just enumerated. I personally am not interested in any gun that needs to be babied, coaxed and cajoled before they function correctly...but that's just me.

certainly kahrs are not ammo sensitive. That is absolutley false, as far as limp wristing, that is shooter error, don't blame the gun for that. Glocks are notorious for limping, been proven. still if you know how to shoot it is a no brainer. IMO kahrs due to their low bore axis being almost direclty behind your grip, they are not a limping prone gun.
Have to toally disagree wiht earlthe goat2. He has his opinion and I have mine. based on owning 3 kahrs a k9 with 4500 rounds and a PM9 with 25,000+ rounds and a P380 and none have given me any issues. My PM9 has never missed a beat.

sometimes products get a bad rap due to the commentator not knowing what the hell he is talking about also..Just my 2 cents

I'm glad I went with the LCP.

my PM9 has been flawless