Kahr P380 owners? Opinions wanted.

[TGO David]

I recently acquired a Kahr PM9 for pocket carry and love it. Great gun, does exactly what I wanted it to do. My wife is now interested in an alternative for her J-Frame revolver and has started considering the Kahr P380 as well as the Ruger LCP. I've read plenty of reviews of the LCP to know what to expect with it... but I've really not read many reviews of the P380.

So these questions are for those of you here who own or have owned the Kahr P380:

• Likes or dislikes?
  

• Problems? Reliability?
  

Thanks.

[KahrMan]

That is one of the few Kahrs I have not owned. I am interested in hearing some reviews as well.

[Erik88]

where is lowbud?

[Guest 10mm4me]

There is a good review of it on Hickok45's channel on youtube.

[Tncobra]

Slightly off topic,

A friend was telling me about a shipping off a Keltec 380 with a broke frame

I have never tore into one. The area explained to me that broke was where the main spring hooks to the frame? Maybe a loop type area. Like I said I am not familiar with Keltec or any other .380 for that matter.

The Smith bodyguard .380 seems the way to go price wise if you want a laser. Other wise the few people I know with LCP's say they love them.

Cheers,

Edited December 2, 2010 by Tncobra

[VolunteerGuns]

Mine is all in all a great little gun. Had some feed issues new out of the box but Kahr had EXCELLENT customer svc and cleared up that problem FAST. It feeds my Golden Sabres everytime, and is right on the mark. Easy to handle and excellent to conceal. Would buy it all over again.

Oh and the wife loves it too!

[Oh Shoot]

Slightly off topic,

...

Like only 180º. As is this, sorry.

- OS

[xRUSTYx]

love my PM9 ... and if I was looking for something even smaller, the P380 would be it.

I'm just not a fan of the .380 round or the price of a .380 round. If .380 ammo was as cheap and readily available as 9mm, I would have stayed with it. Instead, I moved everything over to 9mm.

If I were in your shoes, I'd get her a PM9. Interchangeable mags, same round, and you already know the ins & outs of yours.

[lowbud]

where is lowbud?

Lowbud took a much needed vacation....

To me.. The all the keltec's feel like a POS in my hands. The LCP has a smoother surface and fewer rough plastic edges. Still feels like a POS.

I have the all black P380. The only issue I had with it was firing reloads from the range. It's been 100% reliable on every factory load I fed it.

As for comparing it to the others... Well.. You can't.

The only way to describe it is it's a joy to shoot (for a pocket pistol) All the others hurt my hand. The only other ..380 I liked in this size was the DiamondBack DB380 and that gun had serious issues.

Pro's: Looks, Feel, Size, Weight, Reliable, Accurate.

Cons: Price

If price isn't an issue, get the Kahr. otherwise get the LCP.

Also to those knocking the 380.. When you want small and light.. the PM9 or PM40 just isn't light or small enough. The PM40 is my primary carry but there are times when it's just not small enough. So when this happens I reach for the P380. it's so small and light.. I forget I'm carrying it..

Edited December 20, 2010 by lowbud
update

[Guest geomac]

I just purchased the Kahr P380....will shoot it next week and leave a post then.

[Guest BenderBendingRodriguez]

I rented one for a little one on one time at the range. It was quite enjoyable, though I'm not sure if I would give up a J frame for one. Sure it's smaller, but you lose the ability to shoot from a pocket, etc. I may pick one up (or, more likely, a PM9 or similar) to keep the same general feel of my CW, but even then the J frame is really tempting to me.

[JPS]

I have one and love it. I've never been one to pocket carry, but this is one pistol that I can comfortably keep in a pocket or wallet holster and carry when nothing else is small enough. I ordered a wallet holster from e-bay (look for the ones with the well-endowed woman holding the holster - great marketing!) that is an interesting idea and seems to work well - I carry it in my back pocket opposite my 'real' wallet, and forget its there most of the time. I also use a Clipdraw without a holster in my front pocket with jeans/t-shirt, or a homemade OWB if I can cover it up.

It shoots comfortably enough that my 11 year old likes to shoot with it, and is amazingly accurate for such a small weapon. Typical smooth Kahr trigger, and it's fired everything that I've put through it without problems EXCEPT some steel-cased cheap stuff that I picked up at WalMart - didn't like that at all.

Bottom line - as far as I'm concerned its a great back-up or gun to carry when you really need something small.

[Fourtyfive]

I bought one at a gun show a few weeks ago but have not shot it yet , it is a little lighter than my P238.

[Guest MrCleaner30]

I have both the PM9 for me and the P380 for my wife. The P380 is easier to shoot for my wife than the PM9. It's alittle too snappy for her on recoil. I bought her an LCP but it didn't last long before we got rid of it. Mainly b/c she couldn't shoot it very long before the palm of her hand would get really sore.

Edited March 15, 2011 by MrCleaner30

[Guest tonopah]

I purchased the gun 2 weeks ago, and have fired the necessary 200 rounds. I had about 5 FTF"s with Winchester white box ammo, and the gun would not feed Winchester silver tip ammo. If I loaded the last 2 rounds in the 6 round clip with the Silver Tips, they would chamber and fire. Winchester X and silver tip ammo, sometimes would jam in the clip; if you looked in the gun, the rounds were horizontal. The gun is embarrassing, having paid 560.00 for an unreliable weapon, there is no excuse for releasing a product like this to the public. I still cant believe, I paid 560.00 for a gun that, that is unreliable out of the box. I will go back to my trusty Mustang; no break in needed.

[TGO David]

I purchased the gun 2 weeks ago, and have fired the necessary 200 rounds. I had about 5 FTF"s with Winchester white box ammo, and the gun would not feed Winchester silver tip ammo. If I loaded the last 2 rounds in the 6 round clip with the Silver Tips, they would chamber and fire. Winchester X and silver tip ammo, sometimes would jam in the clip; if you looked in the gun, the rounds were horizontal. The gun is embarrassing, having paid 560.00 for an unreliable weapon, there is no excuse for releasing a product like this to the public. I still cant believe, I paid 560.00 for a gun that, that is unreliable out of the box. I will go back to my trusty Mustang; no break in needed.

It's not uncommon for a particular make/model handgun to refuse to feed certain types of ammo. The point of the break in period is not just to "break in" the handgun but also to figure out what ammo your gun feeds reliably. You seem to be over-reacting.

[G27]

Not to hijack the thread, but has anyone compared the Kahr P380 with the Sig P238?

I'm looking to get out of the P3AT, those are the two I'm wondering about...

[Guest MrCleaner30]

Depends on what you want...double or single action? polymer or alloy/steel frame? The only thing in common they share is the cartridge they shoot. Both are top choices.

Not to hijack the thread, but has anyone compared the Kahr P380 with the Sig P238?

I'm looking to get out of the P3AT, those are the two I'm wondering about...

[Guest BenderBendingRodriguez]

It's not uncommon for a particular make/model handgun to refuse to feed certain types of ammo. The point of the break in period is not just to "break in" the handgun but also to figure out what ammo your gun feeds reliably. You seem to be over-reacting.

This is especially true of guns with tight tolerances (which also tend to be the ones which require a break in period...). Think decently made 1911s. That's exactly why it's recommended that you run a bit of whatever you intend your carry load to be through a gun to make sure it feeds reliably.

Sounds to me like the little Kahr does fine except with the Silver Tips. The solution is pretty easy. Don't feed Silver Tips to the Kahr.

[Erik88]

Not to hijack the thread, but has anyone compared the Kahr P380 with the Sig P238?

I'm looking to get out of the P3AT, those are the two I'm wondering about...

I haven't shot the Kahr but I had a p238. One of the funniest little guns I've ever shot and very very accurate for it's size. If it had been reliable I would still have it. I miss it though.

[Guest tonopah]

I hear a lot of excuses for Kahr arms. I found one of the problems with the gun; the bullets hit the slide stop, this seems to be a standard quality and control issue with these guns. Called the factory today, and they are sending a new slide stop in the mail, if that dosent work, they are sending me some springs. I dont care what anyone says, you do not have to shoot hundreds of rounds through a gun, to make it reliable. When you purchase a quality gun, that has been function tested, you should not have to start replacing items such as the slide stop, and recoil springs. Also, what is with all the polishing I hear people are doing to this gun, some are making the barrel look like a mirror, buffing the slide rails, just to make this gun function......My God, for what you pay for this gun, it sounds like it should come with a Dremmel tool, and a lifetime supply of buffer pads and metal polish.

Edited June 3, 2011 by tonopah

[TGO David]

So... why did you buy one of them if you'd heard all of these bad things?

[Guest BenderBendingRodriguez]

And FWIW, I have had no problems with my CW9 (during the break in period or otherwise), and it has fed every sort of ammo I have tried to run through it.