New Member and P380 Owner

[SGT5711]

Hello everyone,

New member from Kansas here. I am a former Marine and have been in law enforcement for the past 14 years. I am also a big supporter of the 2nd amendment and concealed carry.

After doing a lot of research, I just purchased a P380. I formerly owned a Ruger LCP, but it obviously left a lot to be desired. I was torn between a PM9 and the P380, but I eventually chose the P380 because it will be easier to conceal under any circumstance. Thanks to all the good info I found here, I was confident the P380 would still suit my other needs.

After purchase, I thoroughly cleaned and lubed. Today, I took it to the range for break-in. I was a little worried because my first 2 rounds were light strike FTF's. I had an additional FTF, in the first 50 rounds, but that was all in a little over 200 rounds, with a combination of 4 different ammos.

Needless to say I was impressed. I found the P380 to be well balanced, even better than the PM9, and had an excellent trigger pull once I got used to it. I was also amazed at the low recoil and accuracy. I have fired .22's which had much more kick. After the 2nd cleaning today, I did find an area on the barrel, opposite of the feed ramp, which appears to be chipped slightly and somewhat burred. Trying to decide if I should file it down or leave it be. I don't think it will cause any problems. I might post some pictures later to see if anyone can offer some advice.

I'll be gone for a few days because it is time for my annual winter trout fishing trip, but I look forward to cussing and discussing issues on this forum in the future.

Happy shooting!

[wyntrout]

Welcome to the forum and good luck with the fishes, SGT5711.

The P380 is the first polymer Kahr that I bought. I wanted night sights and had to wait 11 months to get it... paid in advance for the order. I could have had one much sooner if I had bought one without NS and had them installed! Before that one arrived, I found a LNIB PM9 DLC with NS at a gun show and less than 2 months later got the new PM45 DLC with NS off Gun Broker. I've picked up a few more along the way and even another P380 for my wife.
None of mine have been totally without problems and most went back to Kahr at least once, but all work fine now. I like that the manual of arms for all is the same and even the tiny P380's are the same... having all of the features of the full-sized ones. I love the trigger and lack of non-essential stuff like magazine disconnects and safeties.:D
I guess that you've broken your in, but there's still some good info if you haven't taken advantage of the take down video and the lubrication guide in the New Member Welcome sub-forum and Kahr Tech section.
From time to time there have been problems with the nickel plating on the stainless barrels like yours. Kahr has replaced them in the past and we are seeing some now without the polished feed ramp. My first P380 and most of my Kahrs have polished barrels, but the last one and the ported 9mm barrel I bought were a dull "lead" finish. I mentioned that to Kahr when the newer one went back for a bad extractor. It came back with the same dull finish... oh, well. It shoots.
I've been shooting just about everything in mine and prefer the +P Buffalo Bore 90-gr Gold Dots for defensive carry. The newer ones use Gold Dot bullets, but I just bought 100 rounds at Outpost Armory from a large stock at Thanksgiving, and found that they weren't the Gold Dots... but still bonded bullets, I believe.

I just got 5 boxes of 50... 250 rounds... in from Underwood... +P 90-grain Gold Dots and will test that and see how it shoots. In almost 3 years I've shot about 200 rounds of the BB and like its power. See the picture of my avatar. It's like shooting +P 9mm and the muzzle energy is better than the Short Barrel Speer +P .38 S&W out of a snubbie. The Underwood is much cheaper than BB... costing about $27 a box of 50. I paid $20 a box of 20 on sale for the ones I got from the Outpost Armory + Tennessee tax of 10%... cheaper than any place else I had seen online. That's a nice gun store and stop with cheap gas across the street.:)

Here's a test by one of our members and blogger: Ljutic/Bruce. My boxes say 1,200 FPS and the ones used in this test say 1,175 fps.

http://mousegunaddict.blogspot.com/2013/01/underwood-ammo-380-auto-p-gdhp-clear.html

Again, welcome to the forum!

Wynn:)

[Flincher]

Welcome from North Dakota, and another totally satisfied and impressed P380 owner. This is my first Kahr, and certainly won't be my last ( CM9 is next ). I followed the Kahr break in recommendations, info. from this forum including the lube diagram. After nearly 380 rounds, the little bugger has run like a fine watch since day one.

[josp]

Welcome from a fellow LE Kahr user. P380 is ALWAYS on the ankle, and a P45 on the hip (plainclothes detective).
Absolutely love the P380 and feel as confident with it as the bigger guns I have.
Seen enough shootings to know it will do the job if you place the shot.
Be safe

[Geobob]

Hello, SGT5711, and welcome from Missouri - and a fellow Naval Service veteran - to a really great forum. Good people and info here!

Best wishes for a safe, prosperous New Year to you and yours. SEMPER FI !

[XD40SC]

Welcome and thank you for your service. When you return with a full stringer,;) let us know what ammo your P380 likes/doesn't like. I have one and while still working through some issues with it, I'm confident I can get it working smoothly as many here have reported.

[stickbow9]

Semper Fi and welcome from Monroe, Washington. I purchased a TCP738 from Taurus before I knew about the P380. Cost was an issue, but that P380 sure looks nice. If it shoots anywhere as awesome as my CM9, I might need to trade up.

[JFootin]

I read enough about the 738 TCP to know it is a quality gun with a good, light trigger and slide hold open on last round. It also has a lifetime warranty. At less than $200, I am very satisfied with my choice for a 380 BUG. I could not justify the price diff for a P380. The new CW380 will be tempting, but I am pretty well satisfied with my TCP.