After a trip back to Kahr for some TLC to remedy a sticky slide and some light strikes, I finally got my CW380 back to the range today to check out the performance.
I started with a few uneventful magazines of Blazer FMJ round ammo, enough to remind me of how great this pistol is when it works…smooth, light trigger, good sights, nice feel in the hand, minimal recoil. When I moved on to SD ammo, though, things got interesting again.
First up was the Underwood XTP, which, once again, my pistol DOES NOT LIKE. I disregarded that result, as it's a type of ammo I will simply avoid in the future. Next up was Hornady Critical Defense, which for the most part was smooth sailing. "For the most part" does not mean 100%, unfortunately. On a few occasions, I had a weird failure to cycle…the striker failed to ignite the cartridge, but a small "wiggle" of the slide got the striker to reset and the round to fully seat, at which point the cartridge would fire. I'm almost certain that the issue is a failure to completely feed, wherein the round rides up but does not fully seat. Then again, I could be wrong. In retrospect, I should have ejected the round to see if there was a primer strike…I'll do that next week when I get it back to the range.
I ended the range visit by shooting Hornady XTP (because I'd run out of Critical Defense) and some more Blazer. The last 20 or so rounds were fine, so I'm hoping that we've gotten past the rough spots.
So, for a total of 80 or so rounds, I had 3-4 fails (discounting the Underwood, which is a lost cause). Not bad, but still not reliable enough for EDC.
After talking to a friend at my LGS, I had a crazy impulse come over me, and I purchased a new Glock 42 in Flat Dark Earth. It is far larger than the Kahr, so it's not intended as a replacement. It will, however, give me a good comparison shooter when I take the CW380 out again next week. I'll be stocking up on more Hornady XTP and Critical Defense, and may throw in some Sig V Crown and Hydra Shoks for variety's sake. This is make-or-break time for the Kahr, now. It will either end up on my hip, back to Kahr for another tweak, or at my LGS on consignment.
p.s. I took my Pico along this time for comparison. It's trigger is not as nice as the Kahr's, although it has improved, and it is a bit tougher to shoot with its high bore axis and skinny grip (it wants to wiggle around a bit). But, dang, that pistol is like Old Faithful. Any ammo I throw at it, FMJ or HP, mild or hot, and it cycles it like a champ. Amazing.