Kahr P380, How Reliable??

09crue · 06-19-2010, 09:13

hello everyone, i'm interested in buying a new Kahr P380,i also own a Kahr CW9 that i've been very happy with..i've been finding some unimpressive reviews on the P380 lately (most have been good though)..lots of jamming,FTF,FTE,slide problems..i really like the P380 and don't have any problem paying the $599.99 price tag IF it's going to be a dependable,reliable handgun. also, when i expressed my interest in the Kahr P380 at my local gun shop,the guy behind the counter tried to steer me away from the P380 for the same reasons..he suggested the Ruger LCP or the Kel Tec P3AT for pocket guns..his reason was they're half the price and "more" reliable.. any input from owners of the Kahr P380?...thanks

brewer90 · 06-20-2010, 06:12

I'm a new P380 owner and still in the break in period but my pistol has been running well. The slide locked open after the first round but I had no feeding or ejecting problems for the 111 rounds after that. The only problem I'm having is that the slide isn't locking back on the empty mag. I think I'm probably riding the release lever though. I'm very happy with mine.

Lew-G17 · 06-27-2010, 09:11

Over 100 rounds and no problems. I guess I have been lucky though, I have never had a problem with any of my Kahr pistols. I have owned 4 of them.

Samned2003 · 07-04-2010, 11:47

I have out over 200 rounds thru my P380. I had a couple of failure to feed issues in the first magazine, but after that no problems at all. Very reliable and very accurate pistol. I like it so well I sold off my other .380 pistols.
Best .380 on the market in my opinion.

Samned2003

rmw66 · 07-04-2010, 20:43

couple of problems during break in , since then it has been 100% . I have a P45,PM9 and now the P380 and love them all

b1012sharp · 07-05-2010, 16:35

Several hundred rounds through my P380...after getting my thumb out of the way, no problems what-so-ever. I think the gun is as reliable as the person behind the trigger (and as accurate).

NMGlocker · 07-10-2010, 08:50

Mine has been about 90% reliable even after a frame replacement under warranty (trigger wouldn't reset).
It's unreliable enough that I don't even carry it as a BUG anymore.

Skycop1 · 01-26-2011, 07:28

I have 450 rounds through mine and am still having fail to feed issues. It also shoots very low left. I sent it in to the factory 1 month ago and I am still waiting for it to be evaluated. I'm not impressed.

Linux3 · 01-26-2011, 09:48

I sold a LCP that I was lucky to hit the floor with and bought a P380.
The day I got it I lubed it up nice, remember most guns and Kahrs for sure like to be a little juicy when new.
I then took the P380 to a IDPA'ish local once a week match and did just fine.
I 'survived' and had no problems. 400 round to date with no problems and I like it more and more. I like the real sights.

Remember:
1) Kahrs like to be well lubed and cleaned often.
2) 200 round break in. I didn't need it but??
3) Load the first round from slide lock. It takes a well broken in Kahr and some learning to slingshot them.

Kahr P380
Kahr PM9
Kahr TP9
S&W M&P 9MM Pro
S&W Model 64
Sig P226 USPSA
Ruger 22/45 Mk III
Plus long guns. lol

gatorboy · 01-26-2011, 11:09

Mine has been great. Totally reliable, no recoil to speak of and best of all it's super accurate as all my Kahrs are. I did'nt expect this little one to be as accurate as it is. The very best polymer 380 there is in any price range. IMO steel 380's defeat the purpose. I'd much rather step up to 9mm if I were ro carry a larger, heavier pistol. Get one.

Wessinger03R6 · 01-27-2011, 13:37

Many people assume that they are touching the slide stop, but in fact some of the 380's just have bugs. I had the issue of the slide locking back before the magazines were even empty on the first 400rounds. I thought it was me, until I shot left handed too and had the same issue. I ground down the protrusion on the slide stop, and it didn't lock up prematurely anymore. However, the slide of course wouldn't lock open on the last round anymore. So I sent it to Kahr and they worked some magic on it. Ran 4 mags of random ammo through it last night and now she works like she should.

All I'm saying is.... buy the Kahr 380, but be prepared to send it back to get it right. There was probably millions of them sold with NO issues, however a couple of us that did have issues probably tend to be more vocal about it, so it probably seems like they are all lemons. I love both my Kahr's now.

IvanW · 01-27-2011, 17:58

I bought a P380 last Sept. and after about 500 rounds and increasing issues, I returned it to Kahr. They replaced a number of parts and did some feedramp polishing. Since it's return I have several hundred more rounds through it with the only couple problems caused by operator error. It is a great gun and is wonderful in-hand, but as others have said, they can be touchy.
If you do get one (go ahead - you know you want to) get the lube diagram and follow it carefully.
Also, I believe I recall a few people having created issues with the way they put the slide stop back when reassembling the pistol (check the manual).
Lastly, if you do have issues with the P380 you get, LET KAHR FIX IT! Some of the rants I read when I was doing my research were from guys who had some problems with their P380s and tried to fix it themselves before turning to Kahr CS. Some found Kahr CS would say they had voided their warrenty by working on the gun themselves (depending on what had been done). This was never an issue for me, as I am not mechanically inclined, but some people did seem to create more problems for themselves.

East River Guide · 12-23-2011, 13:02

One more POV- Had a ton of failures to feed or return to battery over the first 300 rounds or so but no problems in the next 100 rounds so maybe it really was just a break in process. Going to keep putting a box through it on each visit.

NMGlocker · 12-23-2011, 15:16

My P380 has had 2 frame replacements, a slide replacement, two barrel replacements and multiple internal parts replaced under warranty.
I found someone to buy it from me as soon as Fed-Ex drops it off from its latest trip back to Kahr.
I hope they have better luck with it than I did.
On a related note my LCP has been flawless.

East River Guide · 12-23-2011, 19:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by NMGlocker

On a related note my LCP has been flawless.

Flawless is an interesting word choice. I had an LCP I traded for the Kahr. While a mechanically perfect LCP is better than a malfunctioning P380, the design (e.g. trigger, sights) of the LCP is flawed.

I'd say:

Working p380 > working LCP > malfunctioning P380

gatorboy · 12-23-2011, 20:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by NMGlocker

Mine has been about 90% reliable even after a frame replacement under warranty (trigger wouldn't reset).
It's unreliable enough that I don't even carry it as a BUG anymore.

Yup, bout' the same for mine. Worst Kahr of six I own (well bout' the same as my P40). I have a PM9 that is 100%. Bigger, heavier, better. I never did trust 380. 9mm works and I can shoot 90-158 gr. unlike 90-100 with 380.

Irelander · 08-09-2012, 07:06

I've had several FTRB issues with my P380. I just found out that Kahr issued a new stronger recoil spring late last year. I contacted Kahr and they are sending me a new recoil spring for free. Hopefully that helps.

Vigilant · 08-17-2012, 19:57

Y'awl are not doing a very good job of convincing me to buy a P380!

Cokeman · 08-17-2012, 23:52

2012 has been a better year for the P380. Go to Kahrtalk and read the threads there.

Adamz04 · 08-19-2012, 06:00

I have a p380 and it's one of my favorites. I've got around 400 rds through it without a hitch. I haven't tried to many kinds of ammo, but the ones I did ran perfect. I carry Corbon dpx and shoot blazer at the range. I've recently acquired some 90gr + p gold dots for it but have yet to shoot any to test reliability with those. If those function good I will probably carry those with fmj in my back up mag.

Cokeman · 08-19-2012, 11:43

I took these two out yesterday. My son shot the Henry and I shot the Kahr. It was a fun trip. We found lots of broken bottles and shot the bigger pieces of glass and the bottle necks.

StarVigor · 08-20-2012, 21:47

Mine's been back to the factory twice. Last time for a new barrel and recoil spring. Before that for extractor, ejector,...

Seriously considering invoking CA's lemon law. if this last repair doesn't permanently fix the high rate (>20%) of failure.

matt_lowry123 · 08-21-2012, 09:35

Mine is number 981. I bought one the first year they came out. It wouldn't feed ammo, so I sent it in. They polished the feed ramp and sent it back. It pretty much still sucked, so I was looking on the Internet about a year ago and saw there's a new recoil spring. I have a cw9 and I thought they sent me the wrong spring at first. I put it on and it's problem free!!! The old spring was a welfare case compared to the new one!!

mitchg233 · 08-23-2012, 10:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt_lowry123

Mine is number 981. I bought one the first year they came out. It wouldn't feed ammo, so I sent it in. They polished the feed ramp and sent it back. It pretty much still sucked, so I was looking on the Internet about a year ago and saw there's a new recoil spring. I have a cw9 and I thought they sent me the wrong spring at first. I put it on and it's problem free!!! The old spring was a welfare case compared to the new one!!

How do they let this out the door?

matt_lowry123 · 08-23-2012, 20:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitchg233

How do they let this out the door?

I remember calling kahr and asking them how many rounds they used to test fire the gun (the one I sent in). I want to say they used 5 rounds. I remember telling them, I'd buy them a box of ammo and they could shoot it, if it'd help solve the problem. I guess after a boat load of complaints by other customers, they solved the problem. I like they're customer service, but it sucked to have to pay for shipping.

Off topix, but kahr related. My PM45 went back twice before it would run right. First it wouldn't feed ammo, so they polished the feed ramp. I had to send back the mags that came with it, because the followers were messed up. I got it back and the trigger wouldn't reset. I asked if they'd just send me new parts, but they insisted that I had to send the gun in. They installed new parts and now it's a champ.

My cw9 has never messed up!!

I think it's either home runs or worm burners with kahr.