Kahr CW380 WORSE after factory "repair" than when I sent it to them (furious)

[StrikeFire83]

So basically, I'm furious. I have documented my efforts to get this pistol working correctly. Read about them here:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=741969

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=765921

Short version: Gun was shipped with tooling errors, which caused the slide to lock open on full magazines. After they ignored my online request, I called them and they took it back, under warranty, paid shipping both ways and got it back to me quickly. So lubed it and took it to the range tonight. And then this happened:



And it happened again…


And then the good old premature slide lock-back problem happened…three times! And this happened with TWO different shooters…myself and a friend…both of us experienced handgunners with many THOUSANDS of rounds downrange between the two of us.

We fired 50 rounds of this ammo:


And if this wasn't maddening enough…I took an ancient AMT Backup 380..un-lubed, given to me by my grandpa over Christmas, taken out of the safe after 25 years. AND THE FREAKING THING RAN PERFECTLY with 50 rounds of the same ammo. It was heavy, the trigger kind of sucked, the sights are terrible, and it is a bit rough on the hand…But it WORKED.

I'm going to purchase several brands 380 ACP and give it one more shot, and if it can't get through a single box without these issues, I'm dumping it at a loss and moving on…never to buy a Kahr again.

 

[SeanSw]

That is a shame. I'd say you've done your due diligence as a kahr owner and should have your gun replaced in whole. You do still have a variety of ammo to account for but you can't be expected to run 200 round of expensive and hard to find .380 ammunition for every function check. You could easily double your initial investment just testing ammo.

It's nice to hear that Kahr tried to help. I think they must be saddled with an enormous amount of dysfunctional guns due to some type of manufacturing variance. I had a new cm9 that failed spectacularly despite a great trigger and good accuracy. In spite of its well made outward appearances it simply didn't work. The Kahr forum was full of excuses and the responses to my problem were irritating enough that I got rid of the gun before it could snowball into an issue like yours. It left a bad first impression and I also see no reason to waste my time and money on another.

If it's any consolation, my much cheaper Taurus tcp .380 has been stellar by comparison.

 

[Jlr2267]

I'm on my 2nd. First one was a massive POS that never worked, even after warranty work. The one I have now will only feed reliably with short OAL ammo (like anything loaded with XTP's). Still have not found a factory ball ammo that works well. It is 100% with hollow point SD ammo like Gold Dot, PDX, Corbon, etc. For that reason, I decided to keep it...

Good luck getting any satisfaction from Kahr.

 

[StrikeFire83]

SeanSw Thanks for the kind words. If this thing doesn't run perfectly with one of the other commonly available 380 fmj loads I can get here locally I'm going to dump it and pray that Glock releases that rumored single stack 9mm everybody has been blabbing about. Maybe I'll just skip .380 altogether.

 

[StrikeFire83]

Jlr2267, when it comes to guns…which to me are vital self defense tools that NEED to be impeccably reliable, companies get ONE chance to fix an issue. If they can't do that the gun gets dumped, problems disclosed…likely at a loss to myself.

If i can only practice with incredibly expensive JHPs, which from what I've read are marginal in the 380 caliber (the reason I've stuck to FMJ with this gun) that's a total deal-breaker for me.

Glad yours at least works to the extent that it meets your needs.

 

[Jlr2267]

If you want to carry ball ammo, you might look at the LCP...mine has been 100% with anything I've fed it (1000's by now)..I mean never a bobble of any sort. If you need a pocket 380 for carry, I can enthusiastically recommend the Ruger.

 

[silicosys4]

I'm dumping it at a loss and moving on…never to buy a Kahr again.

welcome to the club.

 

[Zerodefect]

Try Corbon Powerball. Yeah, I know it's expensive defensive ammo, just humor me.

Then try some Federal.

 

[ku4hx]

Glock 42 x 3. We're lovin' 'em.

 

[Shear_stress]

when it comes to guns…which to me are vital self defense tools that NEED to be impeccably reliable, companies get ONE chance to fix an issue.

I totally agree. Even though you've been burned (twice!) on this gun, I say get it reliable and get rid of it.

I had great luck with my K9, so I was jazzed about getting a P380 to replace my LCP. The P380 was terrible. Numerous light strikes and premature slide locks with multiple brands of factory ammo. When it came back from the factory (much more reliable than before, to Kahr's credit), I sent it down the road. Still have the LCP. Hell, I still have the K9.

 

[kokapelli]

Sure seems that the little Kahr 380 has a lot of problems and yet people keep buying them!

 

[HoosierQ]

I hear so many problems with Kahr I would never touch one. Kahr lovers can love away. I can't (and don't) hate what I don't have to deal with.

 

[kokapelli]

I have a PM9 that has been flawless and recently sold my K9 just because I got tired of it, but the P380 seems to be a problem pistol.

 

[tarosean]

If it were me.... Id pack it in a jar of tannerite and shoot the lil worthless thing.

 

[Fiv3r]

That does suck.

I'll echo the recommendation of the LCP. I've got well over 500 rounds through mine. I replaced the springs in it to feed a little better (maybe $12) and added a hybrid hand-all grip for shooting comfort. Great pistol.

That said, I have switched to the M&P Bodyguard in the last few months. I've got maybe 200 rounds through it, but it FEELS more like a real gun with real sights and I'm more accurate out to 10 yards with it. The main reason I didn't go with the S&W Bodyguard with the laser is that I don't like relying on things that could fail at the worst times. The M&P is a solid, reliable, and robust little shooter. Plus, it'll feed any jhp and even cheap Tula steel cased ammo all day long.

 

[Fishbed77]

Can't speak to the CW380, but my CM9 has worked flawlessly from day one.

 

[wally]

but my CM9 has worked flawlessly from day one.

My CW9 was great until it wasn't -- front frame rail broke and they demanded I pay to send it back (about 2.5 years into their stated 3 year warranty) and ignored further Emails.

I'm using S&W Shield now, they have grate customer support. I spend too much in time and practice ammo to carry a gun the manufacturer won't stand behind. S&W has taken care of my M22A, that is approaching 10 years old, without hassles when the sight rail cracked after some odd 60,000 rounds.

 

[rhinoh]

Can't speak to the CW380, but my CM9 has worked flawlessly from day one.

Same here- and I have 2 of them.
But from all I've read if I wanted another .380 I would not buy the Kahr unless it had a money back guarantee. I already have 4 other .380's and long ago gave up carrying any of them anyway, not due to issues though.

 

[skt239]

I carried an all steel MK9 for years before I switched back to J-frames. My MK9 was so reliable and well made, when I decided to go back to autos I went with a CW9. I had nothing but issues with CW9, not matter what type of ammo I used. I sent it back to Kahr and they made some repairs but I still had lots of issues. One of my biggest problems was the poly Kahr was the slide release caveat (using the slide release made no difference in reliability). As a lefty, I need to be able to sling shot to load the gun with any kind of quickness and as a self defense gun, the quickness was important. I ended up selling or trading it but really wish it had worked out.

 

[Hometeached1]

Bummer. I don't see why Kahr doesn't just drop the CW380, their having so much trouble with them.

Seems weird since their non budget guns work great from what I've read.

 

[WestKentucky]

Make sure your not limp wristing it...as in hold it very firmly and make the energy work the gun rather than be eaten up in gun motion. That helps tremendously for some, helps others zilch. Good luck.

 

[likesguns]

Please go to kahrtalk and share your experience,someone may have some good advise but there are allot of fan boys over there that need a reality check about the quality control on these cw380's.

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

Sure seems that the little Kahr 380 has a lot of problems and yet people keep buying them!

Yeah, I don't get it either. But to be fair some of the folks I know who own them aren't all that concerned that they can't get thru an entire magazine without a failure. The guns are inexpensive and feel pretty dang good in the hand as the ergos are pretty decent.

I'm not sure if the reliability is terrible or just spotty and some folks feel that some failures in an auto pistol are to be expected. I know a couple of newbies in our circle who were really surprised to see folks shoot 100, 200, or more rounds thru a G42, Beretta Pico, G26 and Beretta Px4 and never experience a failure. Some of these folks think "cheap" is important but shooting 10 rounds in a row without a failure is as good as can be expected. I think there may be some Kahr .380's that run "OK" for many people who don't know any better. A lot of the gun buying public shoot 50 - 100 rounds a year.

VooDoo

 

[jrdolall]

I am not defending the Kahr although I have one and it runs fine. I have had several firearms, pistol and rifle, that had trouble with the Monarch ammo from Academy. I had a break action 243 that had misfires with that ammo ONLY and a Marlin 30-30 that locked up twice using Monarch and the spent case would not eject. I have probably 1k rounds through that Marlin and the Monarch is the only ammo that ever gave me any problems. Not so many through the 243 but at least 100 with various ammo. I had an issue with a 9mm last year and haven't bought any more Monarch. I think I still have most of a box of 9mm and the 243 but I have never tried it in any of my 380's.
Last week we were shooting and a friend had a Beretta 9mm, don't recall the model but it was a full sized gun, that absolutely would NOT run Federal bulk 115 grain FMJ. I mean it was a single shot. Meanwhile we ran 200 rounds of the ammo through a CZ, High Point 995 and a couple of other 9's. The Beretta had no issue at all with two other types of ammo we tried in it.
I would try a couple of other "cheap" ammo types and if it still won't run reliably then make a move. A SD gun that isn't reliable is close to useless unless you want a safe queen.

 

[Shear_stress]

I'm not sure if the reliability is terrible or just spotty and some folks feel that some failures in an auto pistol are to be expected. I know a couple of newbies in our circle who were really surprised to see folks shoot 100, 200, or more rounds thru a G42, Beretta Pico, G26 and Beretta Px4 and never experience a failure. Some of these folks think "cheap" is important but shooting 10 rounds in a row without a failure is as good as can be expected. I think there may be some Kahr .380's that run "OK" for many people who don't know any better. A lot of the gun buying public shoot 50 - 100 rounds a year.

I bought my P380 (not the CW380) years back based on the good experience I'd had with previous Kahr products. At the time the P380 had a decent reputation and it certainly wasn't a cheap pistol.