LCP vs CW380, in my hands review

[wild cat mccane]

I picked up a new stainless LCP yesterday. Gen 2 with improved sights and trigger pull. I also have the Kahr CW380 with me. I think the Kel Tec P3At wins for concealment over all the 380's I have owned. It is simmer than all, noticeably so. However, the improved sights and trigger of the LCP make me think this is what I will keep.

I believe there are some things worth pointing out that I could not find in my researching the CW380 and the LCP.

The LCP and CW380 comparison pics WAY over state the difference in length. Barrels on the floor, the LCP grip only surpasses the CW380 by just past the LCP grip pin. The difference is WAY less dramatic if pictured from this angle as opposed to pictures showing from the start of the back to the front.

The CW380 is wider. The CW380 is listed as thinner on every single website I have seen. Not true. They are exactly the same with the CW380 slide release. Measuring with the slide release, the CW380 is much wider. In the holster, the slide release will not disappear. I have noticed in my Desantis Super Fly, the CW380 fills much thicker.

The CW380 is much blockier. The LCP might be a hair longer (almost literally), but it hides more comfortably. Kahr doesn't include the width with the slide release. Shame on Kahr.

The trigger on the Kahr in no way passes the LCP. The Kahr is LONG and as heavy. The new LCP trigger...not sure I love. It seems more than half of the original, but I am not feeling the break when it happens.

Sights always go to the Kahr, but I disagree. The trigger stacks at the end of the Kahr and pushes the pistol all over. The LCP is heavy and smooth to to click.

LCP barrel isn't stainless and the finish seems thin. Kahr wins here, though I hate the cheap bead blast treatment on kahr barrels.

In conclusion, for me and all my recent purchases:
P238 is nicest small 380, but too heavy and with too many thick controls for pocket,
P3AT is thinnest of pocket 380s. Trigger isn't great, feels the cheapest (is), but notably conceals better than all others.
TCP has best trigger and feel, but a bit too tall.
CW380 is too tall and too blocky. Slide release is too large and makes the CW380 the thickest in the pocket. Trigger is too darn long and stacks at end, throwing the shot. Great sights are moot thanks to this.
LCP takes the win. Almost as thin as the P3AT but with better sights and trigger.

 

[wnycollector]

I agree with the OP that the LCP is the pick of the litter amongst the new generation of pocket carry 380's. My all time favorite 380 is the Beretta 84 but alas thats for another thread.

I'm the happy owner of a new LCP custom. I traded in my first gen LCP (plus $100) to Cabelas once I felt the new improved trigger and saw the new sights on the Custom. To me it was a no brainer deal.

I have put 500+ rounds through it with only one hiccup on a Fiocchi XTP somewhere around round 50-60. I have run Hornady American Gunner XTP's, WWB flat nose, Magtech, Blazer and Herters fmj through it without issue. From 7 yards this gun tears the center out of 5" shoot-n-see target. I have shot this pistol from a rest at 3" clay birds @25 yards and it powders them with boring regularity!

I know the LCP was designed for close up and personal shooting, but I love having the ability to make COM hits out to 10 yards with this pistol offhand (and farther if rested).

 

[71velle]

How does the LCP compare to the bodyguard?

 

[fastbolt]

While I haven't tried one of the newly branded M&P Bodyguard .380's, I have tried one of the LAPD-SKU models (no thumb safety) on our range, and compared it to my LCP's (current stainless and previous blued versions).

The S&W Bodyguard .380 as a bit larger grip. That seems to make it feel better in some folks with larger hands.

The sights are better than the rudimentary ones on the previous LCP's, and perhaps even a bit more easily picked up than even the newest standard LCP (other than the one with the custom trigger).

The trigger is heavier and longer than both versions of the LCP I own. (Being a longtime J-frame snub shooter, I didn't see that as a particular "negative", but it's noticeable when comparing it to the LCP.)

Some folks like the DAO design of the Bodyguard and it's last-shot lockback feature. Neither have particular appeal to me.

I don't mind the single strike double action design of the LCP, and whether or not the slide locks back when empty is not critical to me for the role of the itty bitty LCP. (On the other hand, if the slide doesn't fully cycle, and ends up 'locked open', I know it's some sort of stoppage/malfunction, and not indicative of having exhausted the ammunition.)

The sights of the newest standard LCP are larager than the previous design, and the "notch" below the rear sight has been replaced with smoothly angled and machined sights rising from the rear profile of the slide. The angle seemed to catch/reflect bright light during bright afternoon shooting, but not so much when used on an outdoor night range (with overhead lights and shadows cast by overhead bracing beams). I put a couple of dabs of some bright nail polish front and back, which align in a "stacked" manner, and which dull the reflection of bright lighting. Works pretty well for me, letting me get faster sight alignment and decently paced rapid shot strings which cluster nicely out to 15 yds. (Approx fist-sized, and nicely tighter if I stop to engage in target-style slow fire, meaning 1-2 seconds per shot.)

The one thing I've noticed with both LCP's is that while all the assorted JHP and ball loads I've tried in them have fed/fired/extracted/ejected well, the heavier Rem Golden Sabre loads sometimes seem to produce ejection of empty cases either just over the top of my head, or onto my ball cap/forehead. Not always, but occasionally. Fortunately, the ejected .380 cases don't seem to be as forceful as those tossed by my 9's, .40's & .45's. Might be something about the recoil impulse and short slide travel of the itty bitty LCP slide. Dunno, but I've noticed it through 2-3 boxes of the GS ammo.

The W-W Ranger T-Series & STHP, and the Speer GDHP, don't seem to offer the same ejection inconsistencies (so far), in my LCP's. I still sometimes load the GS in one or the other of my LCP's as I still have a couple of remaining boxes of it. Reliable feeding and accurate. Just an occasional close 'flyby' or 'doink' with an empty case.

FWIW, I'd have bought a new Bodyguard instead of my first or second LCP, if the overall size had been similar and the Bodyguard didn't have a laser (new M&P branded model doesn't have the laser). I was just looking for reliable, simple and small. The LCP's did that.

 

[wnycollector]

Fastbolt thanks as always, for your normal complete and insightful post.

 

[fastbolt]

De nada.

Don't take it to be offered as anything necessarily definitive, though. Just some personal thoughts based upon experience with a limited number of samples.

Doesn't mean everyone else may necessarily agree, or have similar experiences, either.