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Thread: My Kahr P380 - Unreliable for Personal Defense

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Southern California
    Posts
    75

    Default My Kahr P380 - Unreliable for Personal Defense

    Any unbiased person who reads the posts on kahrtalk will observe the high incidence of the small 9mm and 380 Kahrs failing to fire unacceptably often.
    All kinds of reasons are given, and painstaking methods to try and keep the guns behaving are prescribed - it's like looking after a rare orchid. - its a damn gun that should work first time, every time - like a Glock does.

    Then we see owners express joy when Kahr returns their failed firearms quickly, postage free. - It should NEVER have had to go back for repairs in the first place!!
    It is a new, expensive firearm, made in the USA !!!

    I was initially so excited about the Kahr P380 - its pocket size, trigger feel, external appearance of quality.
    Until the time came to use it for its purpose.
    I had problems from day one with this gun's non-performance.
    I did all the advised pre-range prep before my first range trip.
    At the range. it took an unholy 2 hours to get only a 100 rounds to fire - after stopping countless times due to the dreaded "click" and no "bang", among other issues.
    The Range Master came by to help soon after the problems first began, and said, "Ah, it's that #!!# M----- gun (apparently referring to the owner and CEO of Kahr). he struggled with it, trying 3 different major manufacturers' round-nosed ammo (beside the PMC and HPR I was using)


    Finally, after two plus hours of frustration, I took out my trusted Glock 17, and put 30 rounds dead on target before leaving the range - just to get the bad P380 taste out of my system.

    I went back a couple of days later (yes, I cleaned & lubed the thing first, per this forum's Lube Chart)
    This time it was almost all clicks. Another Range master came up and played around with it - no luck.

    Took my new P380 back to the dealer. He played around with it for a day and I got a call the next day.
    "The striker is marking the base of the shell, but not enough to ignite the primer every time" – Intermittent failure – 6 or 7 failures out of ten – this is more of a self-destruct gun rather than self defense.
    The dealer also had several FTL and failure of the slide to lock back (on the rare occasions when the gun actually fired the last round in the magazine!!)


    Also while at the dealership, we noticed that the polymer frame had bits of polymer hanging off it when the slide was removed.

    The dealer sent it back to Kahr for repairs.
    .
    Anyway, I then ordered a Glock 42 and will be picking it up this month.
    What an utterly frustrating experience.


    No "self defense" weapon, especially a daily concealed carry, should be this unreliable - how can you trust it??
    Even if it works for a while after the numerous repairs, will it decide to have another tantrum just at the moment that perp is about to attack you?
    A CCW should not need this much fussing over - which most posters on this site seem to have to do – and some say it requires a clean and lube every 100 rounds !!
    My brother's Glock 42 and Springfield XDS (9mm) have been 100% reliable from day one with round nosed ammo from major manufacturers.


    Ah well, you live and learn – update in next post.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    N.E. Ohio
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    12,415

    Default

    Ya know, I once bought a new car. It was expensive and was made in the USA. Within the first two thousand miles the power steering pump failed and it had to go back to the dealership for a new pump. I guess what I'm trying to say is that nothing made by man is perfect. Some things fail. There are far more P380s that work just fine right out of the box than don't, but you don't hear from their owners, because they have nothing to complain about. And then there are those people who just like to b!tch. Into which category do you fall?
    Never trust anyone who doesn't trust you to own a gun.

    Life Member - NRA
    Colt Gold Cup 70 series
    Colt Woodsman
    Ruger Mark III .22-45
    Kahr CM9
    Kahr P380

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Southern California
    Posts
    75

    Default

    Part 2

    Since I purchased my P380 from a dealer (paid full whack for a CA compliant model which costs more than the standard P380), he took care of the return to Kahr.
    Gun came back from Kahr this week, with the following Tech Service Worksheet Info:

    “Reworked Extractor & extractor port”
    “New extractor rear pin and recoil springs – lubed and test fired, OK”

    I was very excited and took it to the range……
    …. click, click, click.
    Removed remaining ammo (PMC Bronze) from magazine. Took some new ammo out of the box and loaded both mags. Said the Lord’s prayer and threw in a Hail Mary for good measure.
    Click,… then a bang!! Ah, the Lord be praised I thought. Two more bangs then the clicks, some bangs, FTL, etc began again.

    Anyway, to cut a long story short, I made myself stay there and kept trying. I got the range master to take a look. Fred is ex-LE (25) years and has used larger Kahrs, but stakes his life on his 9mm Glock and .45 Colt, with a Sig 238 as backup. He didn’t have much luck with my factory-repaired, brand new P380 (just purchased last month). I persevered, ejecting stuck rounds, pulling back that stiff slide, etc. until I had finished 2 boxes of ammo (100 rounds). IN all it took 1 hour and 15 minutes. Not an enjoyable time.

    The range master came up to me and commiserated, asking me if I really liked the gun or if I’d be open to something else for a CCW.

    I took my P380 back to the dealer today. (He also is a great competitive handgun shooter).
    He questioned me unbelievingly for about 5 minutes.
    Then he went into a back room where they test fire guns.
    A few minutes later he returned looking sheepish. In that short time, he’d experienced FTF and the dreaded clicks.
    He’s sending it back to Kahr and has offered to do some sort of “exchange” for a different gun.

    Unreliable? – YES.
    Self defense in an emergency? - NO

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    NE Ohio
    Posts
    5,735

    Default

    Muggsy...that would be "B" .
    ​O|||||||O

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
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    Can't blame you for being unhappy and getting rid of it. I feel extremely fortunate that my P380 and CW380, that now belongs to my son, have been flawless in function and reliability. In my case, the score would be reversed...

    Unreliable? - No
    Self defense in an emergency? - Yes

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    South Florida
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    Default

    I feel your frustration. I have 2 Kahrs and each had/has problems!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
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    Southern California
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    Default

    Thanks Mser and Firemedic,

    It's nice to have people who don't go all defensive on their Kahrs - even those who have had problems with theirs.

    For a CCW the problems experienced by many on this forum and more on other websites, are completely unacceptable for a gun at this price and that's made here.
    A cheap foreign knock-off at half the price MAY be excused, but not the P380.

    Once again, all the best to those who now trust their Kahrs to defend them or their loved ones when they need to.

    I'm waiting to hear what Kahr tells my dealer - oh how I'd love to have them confirm that I made the right decision in buying the P380 instead of
    the Glock 42 or the Sig P238.

    More in a week or so.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Gwinnett County, Georgia
    Posts
    3,475

    Default

    Maybe you read my recent report on my new CM45. If not, I'll summarize. 180 rounds fired both FMJ and HP - no issues even when limp wristing and firing sidewise. An exception you might say? Well, if so, my CW9, CW40, two CW45's, PM45, PM9, and MK40 are/were also exceptions. As Muggsy said, anything built by man can fail. I could tell you horror stories about a 630 BMW that the factory had to buy back, or a Bertone X19 that wouldn't start, or a Camaro Z28 that ate rear ends, but I won't. I've also had a few problem guns over 45+ years, including Colts, Tauruses, Keltecs, and Brownings. However, I've never had an issue with a SIG, HK, S&W, Springfield 1911, or a KAHR! If you like Glocks, fine, buy one. Personally, I'm staying with the guns that work for me.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Posts
    1,509

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    Quote Originally Posted by O'Dell View Post
    Personally, I'm staying with the guns that work for me.
    And he is doing the same.
    NRA Life Member

    "Owning a handgun doesn't make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician." -Col Jeff Cooper

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    130

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by kenm View Post
    Thanks Mser and Firemedic,

    It's nice to have people who don't go all defensive on their Kahrs - even those who have had problems with theirs.

    For a CCW the problems experienced by many on this forum and more on other websites, are completely unacceptable for a gun at this price and that's made here.
    A cheap foreign knock-off at half the price MAY be excused, but not the P380.

    Once again, all the best to those who now trust their Kahrs to defend them or their loved ones when they need to.

    I'm waiting to hear what Kahr tells my dealer - oh how I'd love to have them confirm that I made the right decision in buying the P380 instead of
    the Glock 42 or the Sig P238.

    More in a week or so.

    the glock 42 is a nice gun, almost as big as my PMJ9, so why buy a 380 i that size. The sig. is a nice 380, again a single action gun, not what I would want in my pocket. Both great guns. but the 380 ikahr when right is uneateable, Period., end of story, size in this case means alot for such a small caliber. When they start tog et as bigt as a kahr PM9, then it is time to ditch thge 380 and buy the 9mm. Just sayin. I lke the feel of the glock 42, but again it wold be a fun gun for me to own and certainly not a gun that I would carry...
    . My PM9 has over 40,000+ rounds through it, and runs much better than an illegal trying to get across our border


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    MAY GOD BLESS MUGGSY

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