Return of the CT380

[DavidR]

A couple of years ago I lent my CT380 to my son and daughter in law to see if she might like it for carry. Neither of them ended up carrying it so I recently got it back from them and took it to the range last week.

Man! I forgot how nice this gun is. Smooth shooter with much less recoil than my LCP Max. I shot it much better than my Max.

Gave it a thorough cleaning and been carrying it at 1:00 in a Vedder Light Tuck.

[Bawanna]

Looks nice and clean now.

[DavidR]

Looks nice and clean now.

I tend to run my guns a bit on the wet side and while I’ve never lubed the striker channel it was wet with dirty oil. I think it was probably CLP getting in through the hole in the breech face when I’m cleaning the breech face and extractor. I plan to be more careful with future cleanings.

[Ralph III]

....Man! I forgot how nice this gun is. Smooth shooter with much less recoil than my LCP Max. I shot it much better than my Max....

Hey David,
I'm looking to get my wife a ccw weapon and this is exactly the details I have been looking for! My wife is recoil sensitive and she prefers something small. The Ruger LCP Max seemed to be the perfect fit with the exception of possible recoil. So I had decided to get her the Ruger LCP II .22 instead for the time being. I would then move her up to the LCP Max .380 later.

I had considered the Kahr CT380 for her as well. However, the Ruger LCP Max with the 12rd magazine would be slightly heavier than the CT380 and that should have correlated with slightly less recoil.

1. So you feel the CT380 actually has less recoil? How much of a difference is it and how can this be?
2. Do you have any idea what the recoil of the CT380 would be compared to my S9? My S9 has a little to much recoil for my wife and that is what I have been trying to gauge things by. So taking into consideration the smaller size and weight of the CT380 I assumed it would have about the same amount of recoil as my S9?

Anyhow, is the CT380 really all that great shooting with a manageable recoil? If so, I'll get that for her instead which I'd prefer to do anyhow.

Ralph

[DavidR]

Hi Ralph -

I should have used the term “felt recoil”. The actual recoil impulse could be less with the Max but it feels like more to me. I attribute it to maybe 3 reasons:

1. I get a better grip on the CT even when using the 12 round mag in the Max. I get a full 3 finger grip on the CT while the Max is more like two and a half. I have a thin Tuff1 grip sleeve on the CT and a Talon Grip on the Max.

2. The stock recoil spring in the Max is weak (9 lbs) so that absorbs less of the recoil. I changed the Max recoil spring to a 13 lb spring and that helped a bit but I still feel less recoil with the CT.

3. The polymer grip frame on the CT is thicker than the Max, possibly absorbing more recoil.

[BirdsThaWord]

Possibly the barrel sitting relatively lower in the Kahr vs the Max may be another reason.

[Ralph III]

Thanks David and BirdsThaWord!

So does the Kahr indeed have a lower bore axis than the Ruger LCP Max because that would be a definite advantage with felt recoil. Another factor could be with the slightly longer barrel and possibly longer recoil spring as well. The pressures are distributed over a greater length and time, so this would also help with felt recoil.

David if you can elaborate on this a little that would be appreciated or how it may compare to my S9.

God Bless,
Ralph

[BirdsThaWord]

Certainly!
In this article (American Rifleman magazine), Kahr’s lower bore axis is mentioned a few times, as well as the effect it has on felt recoil and “muzzle flip”.
https://www.kahr.com/PDF/AR-0218.pdf
But, being that David has both guns you are considering, I think he would be able to better tell you anything when comparing between the two.

[dao]

The biggest obstacle to a Kahr for use by most women, and some men, is the difficulty in racking the slide. Kahrs with only a few exceptions require a fair amount of strength in order to cycle the gun manually. My wife shoots my PM9 very well, and does not mind the recoil at all. She's a small woman too though she works hard all day long. But she just cannot manipulate the slide so that's the deal killer for her. And given that they are not second strike capable this is an important factor in choice for a self-defense weapon. Afterall they are not big or heavy enough to wield as a club shoot there be a misfire that results in them being inoperable as a gun.

[Bawanna]

^^^^This right here. That tough to rack slide is a deal breaker for most women and many men as well.
I recently helped an old neighbor with his Taurus G2? It's slightly larger but the slide was easy to rack, still too much for my wife, I just don't think she tries hard enough as she's a hard worker and strong too.
I'm not a Taurus fan but this one and the newer G3's and 4's kind of impressed me. They have second strike capability.
I did not shoot it but he has Parkinsons? something where he's rather weak and shakes pretty bad. He said it was very comfortable to shoot.
The 22 is a smart option at least for a start. And never down play the good ole reliable revolver. My wife carries a Smith 638. Only 5 shots but she's not known for looking for a gun fight