I picked up a brand new CW380 this weekend. I cleaned and lubed it and was able to fire it today. However, the experience was disappointing.  I fired 100 rounds of Fiocchi 95grn FMJ ammo. I had numerous failures to go into battery, even using the slide release.  I have to push the slide into battery in those cases. I also had three stovepipes. Additionally, I only had one slide lock back on empty.   The most disappointing however were the sights. At 10 yards I kept hitting about 8" low.  Ok, so I admit some of this could be me. However I consciously maintained what I thought was a center hold. One of the range officers saw what was going on. She fired a magazine through it and experienced the same thing. She raised the front sight well up to get center hits. On her recommendation/observation, I raised the front of the gun (not the front sight) so it was level with the top of the rear sights. Only then did I see center hits.  While it could be me, the fact that she experienced the same thing has me wondering if anyone else has this issue.  On top of the reliability so far, the low hits are making me rethink the CW380. Do I need to send it in? Keep running more through it to hit the magic 200? Has anyone else had issues using Fiocchi?  Do I need to replace the sight, and what is the correct sight picture?

I have experienced this level of frustration and reliability with any of my other handguns. Does it get better?

It's just me, but I like the front sight level with the top of the rear notch.  Its always the same sight picture with no chance of any variation of elevation.  We are talking about just a tiny bit of variation in sight picture making a huge difference in point of impact.

Did you rack the gun a few hundred times before shooting and leave it locked back overnight? The recoil springs tend to be very stiff and can cause issues like you are describing. If not I'd try that and take it out again before sending it back. On my CM9 it would shoot low due to the trigger break causing me to push the front down due the difference in trigger feel. After shooting a while I got the hang of it and groups improved greatly.

This is generally what I recommend with a new Kahr. My experience doing so has yielded excellent results.

AFA the sights, I'm not sure what to think. I have very little experience handing the 380 Kahrs, only recently checking out a friend's P380. I was surprised by how low the sights were.

I recommend trying to shoot the gun from a rest and seeing what the results are. What I found when I first got into Kahrs was that it took some time to really get used to the trigger. But once I did it was like a switch had been flipped and I was able to shoot with much better accuracy.

Thanks. I appreciate the feedback. I will try that. I still don't know what to make of the sight picture. I imagine it should look like a head on a torso. And even across the top. What I ended up with was in no way like that. May be that I unconsciously pushed nose down on my trigger squeeze. However she had the same result as well. Since she produced a very tight group, and therefore seemed to have good technique, I'm going with the gun having a possible QC flaw.

I'm going to order me a CW380 this weekend, I've heard good things about them.  Yes there are the occasional threads where people are having issues, but I would be that most of it is either ammo related or shooter induced problems.  The Kahrs are usually sprung very tight from the factory, so hand rack the slide a LOT (like 1,000 times or more, rack it quick too not slow) and dry fire it too so you get used to the trigger and that your sights don't budge when the trigger breaks, keep it well lubed too.  Also use a very firm grip on them, I've had a number of Kahrs and still have my CM40 but it requires a strong grip or else malfunctions will occur.



If, after all of that, you still have issues make sure the follower in the magazine isn't sticking and try other kinds of ammo.  That you had push the gun into battery makes me think the ammo you're using might be a big culprit here.  I don't know about the CW380 (yet), but my CM40 has a very short throat on it and some loads that will feed in a Glock, won't feed in the Kahr (mainly handloads, most factory stuff is fine).

OP, I had EXACTLY the same problem with a half a box of Fiocchi  95 gr ball, exactly the same experience! I took the other box back to the shop and traded it in on some Remington ball, and I'm sure, like other Rem ball ammo that I have already ran through it, it will be fine. I am almost glad to know that this must be an ammo issue. Other stuff ran fine, Federal, CorBon, Win PDX, Mag Tech and Remington (it also did NOT like old Win Silver Tips!). I took it, my LCP and my wife's KelTec to the range yesterday and was planning on having her see if she wanted to upgrade from her KelTec to my (old) LCP... uhh, NO, it now appears that we are selling both and getting a second CW380...

I've got about 250-300 rounds through my cw380 with no FTF, FTE issues using Remington and PPU ammo. Every once and a while it doesn't lock back after the last round, but I attribute that to not being broken in, as the springs are extremely stiff.

No major issues with accuracy. I make the FSP even with the rear notches.

I took my brand new CW380 out to the range for the first time today with the same 95gr Fiocchi ammo along with four other various types. This ammo would not load into the chamber unless I smacked the back of the slide and forced it in. Then it would not eject the spent case.. That ammo is crap! My CW380 ate everything else without issue which included Winchester White Box hollow points, Buffalo Bore +p hollow points,  Winchester Train/Defend hollow points and PMC FMJ's.

Oh ya I forgot to add I shot a handful of Fiocchi XTP hollow points through it as well without issue.

I have a P380 and my pistol hates Fiocchi and Tula Brassmax. I have discovered the brass is made differently than the blazer brass, Corbon, and couple of other high end self defense ammo I have.

I have no experience with Brassmax in .380, but the Fiocchi .380 I bought was crap. The 95gr. FMJs wouldn't chamber in my P380 without forcing the slide forward. I had no problem chambering Hydra-shoks or Winchester flat-nose FMJs. I bought a .380 case gauge to check the Fiocchi rounds out. All the rounds I tried (a random sample of 20 out of 250 I have on hand) would not fit into the case gauge. The other .380 loads fit just fine. Looks to me like the Fiocchi is out of spec.

 
 
 

 

I wonder why there is just a problem with the Fiocchi 95 gr FMJ's. With mine you could clearly see a bulge in the case right around where the bullet ended. I ended up selling the 150 rounds of it I had online. I did not have a problem with the Fiocchi Extremas (XTP).  I'll keep the 95 gr FMJ's on the do NOT buy list.

I went back out  yesterday. This time I used UMC/Remington 95grn.   I fired 100rnds. I had no failures to eject. However the slide locked back only once. I did have four failures to go into battery.  I am still hitting consistently about 8" low and 4" to the left of target center at 10 yds.  I adjusted my sight picture so the dot was at the right most portion of the white bar.  Shots were  centered but still low.   I tried to conscientiously and consitenlty slowly press the trigger. And had the same results.

Reliability is somewhat better, but I am not happy with where it hits or how I am shooting it.  For me, it's just not ready for carry. I read the great review on TTAG. He had similar reliability issues with the Fiocchi ammo. However, his gun was shooting where the sights were regulated.

Still frustrated. I broke my Sig 1911 out to make sure I could still hit something.

For now, my 340pd remains my daily warm weather carry gun.

Sounds like you may need to send it back to get reworked. As far as customer service goes, they are pretty good. I have a cw380 that is flawless and the POA is dead on. I can dance cans out to 30 yards. No battery issues, no lock back issues. Good luck.

That's unfortunate, OP. My CW380 has been pretty accurate so far. I enter the front sight in between the rear sight notch and make sure the top of the front sight is even with the top of the rear sight. The sights are small, yes, but it shoots to point of aim. I could be more accurate, and I am still getting accustomed to it; but the gun does its job.

I would send it in to Kahr to take a look at.

I recently bought a CW380

All I was able to get was WWB flat nose. My gun chokes constantly.
I must have racked the gun over 1000 times before the first range trip. It was extremely dirty out of the box so I cleaned and lubed before taking it for its first range trip. I've had it out three times 100 rounds per trip and finally got through the magical 200+ round 'break in'.
I'm still having lots of FTF issues with an occasional stove pipe.
I also notice the slide doesn't fully to return to battery. I can pull back on the slide a little and release and the slide will remain out of battery. The spring must be defective. When I remove the spring from the rod its bent in an S pattern.

I called Kahr to see what they would do. They said to send it in and they would take a look at it but I was also promptly directed to the warranty terms of the customer being responsible for the cost of shipping. I attempted to reason with them but got nowhere. The cost of .380 to test after service plus what it would cost me to ship it puts this gun over what I'm willing to put into it anymore. I'll never buy another Kahr after dealing with their customer "service". The gun is 13 days old and they wont cover shipping on a clearly defective pistol

I can report that my pistol shoots POA without issue and is surprisingly one of my more accurate pistols.

That is really disappointing to hear. It really makes me have second thoughts about buying my CW380 and my CM9.

mine worked great except for the fiocchi ammo.. very nice gun for $240 from palmetto

Damn. ...and I thought I was getting a deal at $360 shipped from grabagun.

 
I would be raising holy hell with that. No way should a customer be responsible for shipping a gun that's defective right out of the gate. I'd keep bugging them.

I feel the same way but IMO I shouldn't have to bug them. They should simply take care of their customer without being pushed into it.

I'm not impressed with the quality of this pistol. When I was doing research I saw people saying these things were built like a Swiss watch and were better built than other pistols. Imagine my surprise when I got the pistol, opened it up and saw how filthy it was inside. Then I inspected the rough unfinished machine work inside. I'm not impressed with this thing at all. My Glock is much better finished.

To be fair, the CM and CW series are Kahr's "value" series. It seems a lot of the problems people have are with these lines. I agree about shipping the pistol back in your dime being bullshit, though. They should be sending you a pre-paid label for that. I recall a member here making a video about his CM9 experience and needing to send it back to the factory. He got a pre-paid label, he said. I'm not sure what's up with that. He had a two-part YouTube video review of it. After he got it back, it was solid. Hopefully, it's an issue that when escalated to a supervisor results in them sending out a pre-paid label. You should back up your product especially if it's a firearm.

Do you have a link to the video? I would be interested in seeing it.

My research pointed to the higher end Kahrs also having many problems.

I wish someone had posted the pictures I just posted before I bought mine. Had I known the ridiculous machining quality I would have passed.
If anyone has a P380 it would be interesting to compare pics of any differences inside the slide.

His testimony about their customer service begins around 5:30 in. He's a member here.

I've watched that.
I don't know how Kahr determines who gets taken care of and who doesn't but it definitely seems to be inconsistent.

This video shows almost exactly what my conversation wth Kahr customer service was like.
It involves the same guy I spoke to and I was offered the spring just like this guy.
I guess I didn't press him as much and therefore didn't get the customer service I deserved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmbog3QJUzk

I have a cw380, when I first bought it would fail to go into battery. I sent it back to kahr, and as I suspected the chamber was tight. They replaced the barrel, sent it back to me and I haven't had another problem since.

New guns are test fired, but I can't imagine "filthy" would be the result. My new ones have shown they have been fired, but nothing filthy. I wonder if it was really new?

I have a PM9 and P380 and both look better on the inside than yours (machining/tool marks). I paid more to the point that I have looked into selling the P380 w/n.s. and the economy models have really undercut that effort. Sorry you are having trouble with customer service. The couple of times I have used C.S. they were ok for me.

Mike

Look for the pre shoot prep thread on kahrtalk and follow the instructions. I prepped my p380 this way along with polishing the breech face and a light internal polish on the inner slide rails and I can hand cycle live rounds through the gun without flaw. Hundreds of rounds down the tube and no issues whatsoever with a wide variety of rounds.