I had a defective magazine catch on a second new P380. The bearing surface of the catch was weak and rolled over a bit allowing the mags to fall out. A picture of the catch in an email to Kahr Customer Service got me a new catch quickly and solved that problem.
It's easy to swap out.
From the stick by Greg on CW45 and other fixes:
Disclaimer: I imagine there are quite a few (most?) CW45s out there that do not have this issue. I further believe that the modified latch and a new/stronger latch spring would fix/prevent the issue. Regardless of this (and for my own peace of mind) I'm going to run the modified magazines in my gun.
*Latch spring installation:
The spring is a press fit into the polymer, the magazine latch/catch (when installed) prevents it from working out of place.
To remove the latch, use some type of tool (I made one from a coat hanger) to push the latch spring over and out of its slot in the latch. (Alternately: push the latch in and hold the spring over while pulling the latch back; lift/pry/ the end of the spring out when the latch clears it).
With the spring end out, the latch can be pushed out of the frame.
To remove the spring: just pull it straight up until it comes free.
Compare the new spring with the old, some new ones have been reported oversize and may need fitting.
Looking down into the mag well, you will see a wedge shaped cavity in the front strap (just below the magazine catch). There is a hole into the polymer at the bottom (small end) of the wedge. Hold the spring with needle nose pliers or a hemostat, then insert the spring into that hole; use enough pressure to get it started. Release the spring, it should lay pretty flat and parallel to the front strap; put a pin punch on the visible end of the spring and push it completely into place. Look through the magazine catch round hole, the spring end should be about quarter height up in the hole (see photo below).
To install the catch, start the catch slightly, pry and hold the spring away from the front strap, push the latch into position, release the spring and slide the end of it into the cutout in the magazine catch/latch body.
Done.
Harbor Freight makes a cheap set of orange-handled picks for a couple of bucks on sale or free sometimes that works great for the mag catch spring.
Wynn
USAF Retired '88, NRA Life Member. Wife USAF Retired '96
Avatar: Wynn re-enlists his wife Desiree, circa 1988 Loring AFB, ME. 42nd BMW, Heavy (SAC) B-52G's
Frédéric Bastiat’s essay, The Law: http://mises.org/books/thelaw.pdf
Thomas Jefferson said
“A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.”
and
"Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading".