P380 Extractor Chain, Old vs New

[King Rat]

First, thanks for the link. That’s a great price, I’m passing that on to fellow shooters. I haven’t purchased factory ammo in many years so haven’t ran Armscor but heard favorable reviews.

My P380 has more than 5k through it. With less than 1k it had more than it’s share of problems. On the third barrel, third striker ( now a Lakeline ), second cocking cam and trigger bar. Fourth extractor. Can’t say how many recoil spring combinations I have in a Ziplock. The broken extractors is the most concerning. And yes I’ve reduced the tension. Kahr claims steel case is the cause, but I’m not using steel.

Just curious, how often to you change out recoil springs? Three barrels? What is going on with that? Does the Kahr CW barrel have the same issues? How was the lifetime warranty service with Kahr. So Kahr tried to blame the broken extractors on steel case ammo. I went through a lot of LCP's for a long time and during the ammo shortage ran steel case ammo through them like crazy. I would get a lot of cracked frames, split rails, broken take down pins etc with or without steel case ammo, but never once in thousands of rounds had a broken extractor. Did Kahr replace the barrels? For all my firearms, I keep a supply of spare parts. Already have the spares you mentioned for the CW, but if a barrel wears out that fast, then this could be my last Kahr at least the P series. If so, I will stick with the Beretta Pico, which truly is built tough. I enjoy shooting the Kahr, nice smooth shooting pistol in all respects, but obviously will not use the New P380 for much other than carry, and shoot the CW as a range gun and try and keep a good maintenance schedule. I am a big believer in changing out recoil springs on small Pocket guns early, so that is not a issue for me.

I will say one thing for Ruger, they would replace my LCP;s, which they did a number of times. I will be very interested to see how long my CW380 will last and as Kahr only has a three year warranty will not buy another one if it falls apart and cannot even make it to 3,000 rds without some kind of failure. (other than recoil springs). Hope my CM9's hold up, as I love that gun as well.
Thanks for the info. Will keep all this in mind.

[DJK11]

The p380 was my first Kahr, a month or two later a pm9, then the first pm45.
Plating and rust issues with the barrels. Rusty hood then pitted/rusty feed ramp. The current barrel has a very dull finish. Not a concern. It’s just a pistol.
Trigger bar reset lug wore out as did one lug of the cocking cam. Strikers broke in the usual spot. Who knows why the extractors brake. I assume from out of spec brass and shape of the extractor claw. The reduced tension extractor doesn’t throw shells nearly as far a distance.
Last few years I don’t shoot it very much. Kahr has always replaced parts at no charge and has looked at it a couple of time at no charge. The customer service is fantastic, never had a problem.
While it had problems, it handles great for its size and I do carry it on occasion. Would I purchase another? No and that’s not because of the pistol but the caliber. With a micro 9 I don’t need a 380.

[wally1]

I'm well aware of the recommended break in and not complaining.

I have an uneducated question about leaving the slide locked back for a period of time. It seems to me that this is to give the spring a chance to "settle" or "relax" to it's normal tension.

I have read that springs don't really change much when in a static position and it is the back and forth action that "breaks them in".

On another note, I would think that a close tolerance mechanism would benefit from a stiffer spring during break in and the parts would break in together.

[King Rat]

I'm well aware of the recommended break in and not complaining.

I have an uneducated question about leaving the slide locked back for a period of time. It seems to me that this is to give the spring a chance to "settle" or "relax" to it's normal tension.

I have read that springs don't really change much when in a static position and it is the back and forth action that "breaks them in".

On another note, I would think that a close tolerance mechanism would benefit from a stiffer spring during break in and the parts would break in together.

Have spent many years shooting High End and Custom Spring Powered Rifles. Learned quit a bit about them. There are some top quality Air rilfes (English/German etc) that will come with high quality springs, but yet many shooters will automatically get a after market custom spring. Many discussion on Springs on Air Rifle forums and many test etc. A Spring has to take a "SET". Many test done where a rifle was cocked and then tested for over a year and the power measured etc. One Notorious Spring maker that sells high quality springs, will tell the customer to take a particual spring and do a "SET". Or he will tell them they have been Preset before hand.

By the way, last week I brought out a old LCP that I had put away as sort of a Truck gun so to speak. My gosh, that OEM spring had lost all of it's life. I mean this spring barely had enough power to push up the last round. I just received a Wolf spring to replace it, and other mags.
Regardless, if a person does not believe this, that is fine with me. But I will say this, I have done this for years with all my guns, and magazines and they are run fine.

[King Rat]

Just now saw this on the Wilson Combat sight. (breaking in a new gun)

Your new pistol is tightly fitted to very close tolerances to achieve maximum accuracy.

Even though a Wilson Combat pistol has been thoroughly tested by a professional test shooter with almost 100 rounds of our custom loaded ammunition, it will still require a thorough break-in to achieve reliable function across a broad spectrum of shooters and ammunition.
Load and unload your new magazines several times and keep them loaded for several days in advance of your first range day to allow the stiff springs to take an initial set. This will make them easier to load and reduce pressure on the bottom of the slide that could cause a malfunction.


Maintaining Magazines

Make sure your magazines are clean and the springs have taken a set. Our ETM 9mm magazines are the most reliable 1911 9mm magazines on the market, but when new, the springs are very strong to ensure proper round position and last round lock back. It’s a good idea to load your new magazines prior to heading to the range and let the springs take their initial set.




When to Clean