1500 rounds and first problem since breakin.

Last time at the range my CW380 failed to lock open on final round a few times. I checked and the stop was not being pushed all the way into the slot. The mag spring is now only about an inch longer than the mag. I bent the front of the top loop of the spring up and it cured the problem. I have two mags and they both stay loaded all of the time with carry ammo, about 21 months of sitting. Since I use both at the range they have no more than 150 cycles on them. Seems to me like it is awfully soon for them to fail. Piss poor performance in my opinion. Magguts on order. People here seem to think a lot of them so hopefully their springs will last longer. The extra rounds will be good to.

I also feel like the mag springs kahr uses suck...I have the magguts in my cw380, and it’s way better than oem...I just wish they made the kit for the cm9

All three OEM mags I had were unable to lock the slide open after being left fully loaded for a few weeks. MagGuts kits cured that along with a few other ills.

Friends don't let friends run OEM springs and followers in Kahr .380 mags.

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Originally Posted by dsk

Friends don't let friends run OEM springs and followers in Kahr .380 mags.

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^^^ this! :D

Salty

I think I went over the 1000 round mark this weekend and it seems like the mag follower barely activates the slide stop anymore.

I ordered magguts for both my mags last night.

Wow, my P380 an RAxxxx purchased in 2010 has close to 5,000 through it with 6 mags that have the original OEM springs. It runs problem free. Four mags are the original design and two are the newer style.

Wonder if there was a bad batch of springs out there for awhile? I don't know anything about the 380's but DJK's experience would seem to be the norm or it has been until now.
It's my understanding that all Kahr springs are Wolff so they should be good. I don't know if an outside company produces the magazines. Maybe they tried to cut corners and used a different spring?

I've never owned any gun that was temperamental about recoil springs. Except for my old High Power I've never needed to replace one. I have on a couple just for insurance but they never balked or misbehaved.

I can't explain why my pistol has gone through springs like it has. The MagGuts springs are still holding up fine after several years, but like I said the OEM mag springs lasted only a few weeks. And then the recoil springs keep crapping out so soon... I also replaced the striker spring once which wasn't too bad but I was trying to troubleshoot light primer strikes. That was a year ago and the replacement spring is now noticeably weaker. I had bought two replacements, and my fresh unused one is a lot longer and stronger than the first. As soon as I install it the slide moves back when pulling the trigger, meaning I need to replace the recoil springs yet again! I don't know if it's due to the way I shoot this pistol (I regularly do quick double-taps) or what.

FWIW, I always heard that cycles are what weakens springs; my CM9 has 6500/7000 cycles during its' practice / competition life time, so far on the original factory recoil & 6/7 rd.mag springs, and still preforms robustly. perhaps the springs for the .380s are under powered from the factory and Kahr needs to increase the spring rates during manufacture.

just say'n, based on my CM9 experience.

NRA LIFER
IDPA BELEIVER

Dust, as an experiment, one could cut a 9mm spring and give it try in a 380 mag. It slides in just fine. Modify the end to seat under the follower. Cut the coils to fit in the mag so it will cycle then trim one coil at a time. Hell maybe I'll try it!

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Originally Posted by bugs

FWIW, I always heard that cycles are what weakens springs; my CM9 has 6500/7000 cycles during its' practice / competition life time, so far on the original factory recoil & 6/7 rd.mag springs, and still preforms robustly. perhaps the springs for the .380s are under powered from the factory and Kahr needs to increase the spring rates during manufacture.

just say'n, based on my CM9 experience.

NRA LIFER
IDPA BELEIVER

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I too have a decent round count through my CM9 with no indication that the mag springs or the recoil spring are getting weak.

The cw380 mag springs, on the other hand, have weakened and lost their rebound much quicker.

Owning and shooting many different semi auto pistols, for many thousands of rounds, the only one that I have ever had to change mag springs on was a Bersa Thunder 380. Hope that stays true with my CM9.

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Originally Posted by DJK11

Dust, as an experiment, one could cut a 9mm spring and give it try in a 380 mag. It slides in just fine. Modify the end to seat under the follower. Cut the coils to fit in the mag so it will cycle then trim one coil at a time. Hell maybe I'll try it!

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I just tried it with a spring from a cm9 mag. It fits in the mag body but doesn't seat properly in the follower. I was Abe to put the base on. 5 rounds fit.

Definitely stiffer, but it also seemed to have a lot of friction. It felt sluggish on rebound. I think the coils we're dragging against the inside.

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Originally Posted by dustnchips

Last time at the range my CW380 failed to lock open on final round a few times. I checked and the stop was not being pushed all the way into the slot. The mag spring is now only about an inch longer than the mag.

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You're not the only one with this problem. The cause is obvious, and the solution simple.

The original spring for the six round magazine is marginal, at best, and just can't reliably move the slide stop. The spring for the seven round magazine has two more coils, and it fits perfectly into the six round magazine. It gives a little extra oomph to push the slide stop all the way up into the notch of the slide.

A good magazine should last decades with regular use, and a spring that fails in the space of a few months -- or years -- wasn't good enough to begin with.

If you're having a problem, give Kahr technical support a call, and ask them to send you out the upgraded spring.

Interesting, but I was looking at Kahr recoil springs on Midway's website and I saw this user review who only gave the Kahr springs 1 star out of 5:

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I have owned 8 Kahr pistols in 9, 40, and 45. These are great pistols to shoot but the 40 and 45s dont work. And good luck if you have to send it back to Kahr.The main thing wrong with these guns, after 3 years of study, is the Kahr springs are junk. I set my P45 back 3 times and my friend sent his back 5 times. They will work for a short while until the springs take a set, then wont work. You can take these springs and bend them into kinks with your bare hands. The new one wil be 2 inches longer than to old one, but if you take the new one and compress it fully over a phillips head screwdriver locked in a vise for 20 minutes, it will be 1.5 inches shorter. Colt or Ruger springs will not do this. Good quality springs wont do this. My Lt gave me a spring from a Glock 22 and we cut off 2 coils and it works 100%

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https://www.midwayusa.com/product/99...r-cw45-k40-p45

Funny thing, I've never had any issues of this nature with any of my 3 Kahrs or the half dozen that officers are carrying around here.

Far as I know Wolff makes all the springs and generally they don't get any better than that.

I keep seeing everyone say that Wolff makes their springs, but is that really true or is it merely a dated assumption? Kahr may have used Wolff for a supplier in the early days, but they may have switched vendors since then.

Of my dozen or so Kahr mags, thousands of rounds and leaving some fully loaded for years, I've never had mag problems. A few years ago I phoned Wollf Spring and spoke to a guy about pm45 springs. He said " I've never seen a pm45 and Kahr is a pita to work with because they are constantly changing the specs on the pieces we supply them."

It's odd that my 380 and 9 mm use different springs based on capacity but my 5,6 and 7 rnd 45 mags use the same springs.

I think everyone can agree that Kahr springs are hit and miss as to quality. I hope my maggots arrive Monday. I to wish they would make them for the PM9.

There is a place on Magguts website where you can request kits for pistols they don't make yet. I've done it previously. Maybe if all of us here would do it, it might make a difference.