New to me P380 working now thanks to the forum sticky

[Redline87]

Hi all.
Bought a used P380 with 4 mags. Test fired it and would not cycle a single mag without FTF and slide would not return to battery. It was accurate and the trigger great! But a complete mess in terms of cycling.

Found this forum through Google search on FTF and extractor tuning and read through the sticky.
I chose to take .010” off the rear extractor pin’s overall length as an approach to see if this would work.

Testing before the fix, the extractor was not allowing the rim of Fiocchi to enter. Hornady and PMC could be forced in but way too much tension holding the rim in place. After sanding/stoning off .010” off the rear extractor pin, Hornady and PMC would slide in and have a slight jiggle without falling out. Fiocchi could be forced in but I decided to leave things be and just stick to ammo other than Fiocchi.

Returned to the range today and the P380 ran like a champ. Cycling Hornady defensive ammo, PMC and Federal fmj. Super happy with the result! Thank you forum contributors!

[Ken L]

Glad you were able to fix it! Fiocchi brass has thick rims which causes the issues. The good news is that if you fix it so it feeds Fiocchi reliably, everything else works great too!

[topgun1953]

Glad to hear of your success. Kahr figured it out too as the rear pin in my 'newer' P380 is a bit shorter than the one in my older P380 (which I had shortened).

[Redline87]

Thanks. What a great little pistol!
I started carrying it today. It’s the perfect size. I’ve carried an LCP, a J Frame, a P238, a G43, and more recently a P365… but this little P380 simply disappears and is so light. It shoots great for such a diminutive pistol and serves well to place shots on target for defensive shooting. I’m glad the pistol got sorted (thanks to the info on this forum) after my initial disappointment.

[getsome]

Welcome to the forum Redline87, glad you found us and that you were able to get your P380 working with a little bit of fine tuning……Fiocchi ammo has always caused feeding problems in the little Kahr .380 pistols but seems to work in other brands ok and is good ammo……..If you choose to carry .380 as your primary pistol then good, dependable high performance ammo is everything…..Take a look at Precision One .380 which is a pretty stout round and uses a 90 grain Hornady XTP hollow point bullet running at 925 fps and feeds extremely well in my Pico and is quite accurate……..Price is decent and they deliver to your door……..Again welcome to Kahrtalk!

[BirdsThaWord]

Always a good feeling to make one run with a little home smithing. Congrats on your new carry!

[King Rat]

Welcome to the forum Redline87, glad you found us and that you were able to get your P380 working with a little bit of fine tuning……Fiocchi ammo has always caused feeding problems in the little Kahr .380 pistols but seems to work in other brands ok and is good ammo……..If you choose to carry .380 as your primary pistol then good, dependable high performance ammo is everything…..Take a look at Precision One .380 which is a pretty stout round and uses a 90 grain Hornady XTB hollow point bullet running at 925 fps and feeds extremely well in my Pico and is quite accurate……..Price is decent and they deliver to your door……..Again welcome to Kahrtalk!

Ditto, first welcom to the forum Redline97 a totally agree with the PrecisionOne. Been shooting it for years and thankfully stocked up for years with it Actually PrecisionOne Plus P which came out a few years later after Shooting the Bull named it a top choice. Also shoot the Underwood and Lehigh.

[iWander]

So glad you've worked it out! Out of curiosity, what's your serial #s letter prefix (RA-RD)? From what I've seen and read, the earlier letters (RA & RB) generally have more issues than the later letters.

[Redline87]

Thanks for the welcomes!

It’s an RD serial number pistol.

[King Rat]

Congrats, You love this gun now, you will love iove it even more as you shoot it. There use to be many post about the Fiocchi ammo causing issues. Regardless, can things worked out. Spend quality time training and practice and you will be surprised what you can do with them. Still recommend the LCP 22. for training with small barrel guns to offset the cost. PrecisionOne is great 380. Freedom use to sell a XTP round for a lot less money. TargetSports presently has some very fair prices on 380 ammo. Now get ya a CM9.

Happy Shooting