Should I buy a Kahr .380?

[turtlehead]

I want your opinion if it's only a yay or nay.

I have the start of a small collection of .380 pistols. P238, Cheetah 85FS and most recently an LCP2. I carry the Sig but the rest are mostly just for fun.

Have been thinking about either the P380 or the CT380. They have a bad reputation online for reliability. Wanted to see what TFL has to say about this.

Happy to hear other suggestions as well. Remember, this is just for collecting and range shooting. Nothing serious.

[JMag1]

Lots of Kahr hate out there; lots of lack of attention to pistol prep before first use, and lack of following the manufacturer's instructions. That said, my CW-380 is reliable, and surprisingly pleasant to shoot/accurate at the range, especially for its size.


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[Ibmikey]

My friend sent his back twice hoping to get a functioning pistol, the second time Kahr replaced the pistol he sold it shortly thereafter. I have about thirty or more .380 pistols and after looking at your collection i would suggest a Mustang or Kimber Micro both about the same pistol and you can use your P 238 mags in them.

[DPris]

Just finished working with the new carbon fiber version, zero malfunctions & it was decently accurate with four different .380 loads.
Denis

[Siggy63]

I have a sig p238hd, lcp2, kel tec p3at, and Kahr p380. All have been 100 percent reliable. I carry the Kahr when a small pocket gun is all I can carry. I don't understand the amount of Kahr haters. I own six Kahrs in all four calibers and have had not one problem with any of them. Many many rounds through all of them. Buy with confidence.

[wild cat mccane]

Mine was a dud. It was also less concealable to my LCP.

[OhioGuy]

I looked at a Kahr P380 for a while. One was a range rental, the other was a used gun being sold by someone at my range. Neither had (per their statements) more than a few hundred rounds through it. The rental constantly seemed to jam up when feeding the ammo, which was just ordinary Federal range ammo. The used one kept having light primer strikes--I recall 7 times on a box of 50. Which was a shame because the trigger was smooth and I was surprisingly accurate with it.

I searched forums and found a very high number of people who'd had to send theirs back to Kahr for service. That dissuaded me. I bought an S&W Bodyguard instead. I ended up selling that recently because I realized that the pocket guns were just too small for my use. I ended up settling on a single stack 9 as a routine carry gun because I could conceal it in anything, even tucking a shirt around it. I never did become comfortable with carrying anything in my pocket.

Of the various .380s I tried, the one I actually thought had the best trigger overall was actually the Taurus. I can't recall the model number now, but it's their cheap .380 (you can find these for like $150 and they have fairly good reputations). It's supposed to be replaced with their Spectrum line, if that ever becomes real.

[franco45]

Lots of Kahr hate out there; lots of lack of attention to pistol prep before first use, and lack of following the manufacturer's instructions.

No Kahr hate here. I have owned several and still own three. And yes I prep them as prescribed on the Kahrtalk forum and follow all manufacturer's instructions. Having said that, the 380 acp Kahrs that I've owned have been extremely finicky. They also don't fit my hand well. I've settled on the Beretta Pico and Remington RM380 as my 380 carry guns.

[Mosin44az]

After wasting hundreds of dollars on thousands of rounds of different defense loads, TRYING to find one I could count on, and even after a trip back to Kahr, I gave up on my P380. So I voted NAY.

I wanted it to work, it's nice otherwise, in terms of accuracy, trigger, recoil, appearance. Kahr just builds their guns with too little margin for error, so they have reliability problems. Not a great design philosophy for a defensive hand gun.

I see those saying "you didn't prep right, follow the instructions by Kahr, follow the tips on the Kahr forum" etc. But I tried to, and I note that any handgun that has all these extra instructions with it to make it run, to me that's a handgun that has a poor design.

My P380 was by far the worst of the 4 Kahrs I have owned. My 9mms (K9 Elite, PM9, CM9) were better, but still too finicky to rely on. Not buying any more of this brand. I need my guns to work, without too much thinking about it.

I see the Pico getting rave reviews on this site. Very weird looking, but supposedly runs like a top and comfortable. Although bigger, the Glock 42 is still pocketable, and shoots really well, and presumably Glock has finally fixed all the teething problems discovered by early purchasers like me.

I have tried a lot of the pocket guns, and the only ones I have kept are my LCPs. The SIGs shot nice, and were pretty, but still finicky. I would, in your shoes, carry the LCP and shoot the SIG for fun.

[JJE]

I've never owned a Kahr, although I've seriously considered a K9. However, I do own, shoot and carry a Glock 42 380. Just based on the size difference, I will say no to the Kahr:



My hands are between a small and a medium and the G42 is the smallest-sized gun I can get a proper two-handed grip on, and it's a tight fit. So I will guess that a gun as small as the P380 would be no fun at the range. Secondly, there isn't really anything about the Kahr that seems "collectible" to me - it isn't unusual in terms of availability or design and it isn't pretty.

Sounds like you need a SIG P230 or P232.

[jdc1244]

Lots of Kahr hate out there; lots of lack of attention to pistol prep before first use, and lack of following the manufacturer's instructions.

Nonsense.

My CT 380 continues to be unreliable well after the 200 round ‘break in,’ with various brands and types of ammo.

Quality is clearly inconsistent – buying a pistol shouldn’t be a gamble.

[turtlehead]

Well, this is going how I thought it might. The P380 is one of those guns I really wanted to like since it came out. Just so many bad reviews from the beginning. Same with the DB380.

That still doesn't mean I won't get a Kahr. Bud's has the CT380 for $227. Cheaper than the CW380 at $277 and a bit larger gun.

I really want to like the Glock 42 also as it's the only good looking Glock ever made. But every time I pick one up that weird hump on the backstrap bothers the heck out of me. It just makes no sense to have it there. It doesn't point naturally.

When I say collecting, it's not for investment purposes. Just for the fun of having and teaching new shooters. Plus I reload .380 and it's very cheap for me to shoot.

I appreciate all the input. If I do get a Kahr, I will post about it and give everyone the chance to make fun of me.

[DPris]

Guess the one here's an anomaly, functioned perfectly right out of the box.
Third Kahr I've worked with over the years, never had a problem with 'em.

Were I not already well-fixed for tiny .380s, I'd keep it.
Extremely concealable & that carbon fiber finish is tacky enough to hold still during firing.
Actually quite like the thing.
Denis

[turtlehead]

CT380 for $227.83 out the door from the local Tombstone Tactical.

I'm tempted...

[DFM914]

Why not a Shield in 9mm? Roughly the same size, better ballistics and very reliable and accurate.

[SDF880]

I have 2 CT-380s with around 300 rounds thru each. One has zero problems the other had back to back FTE just past 50 round mark but no other issues. I'm quite happy with them and Kahr as CM-40 is my EDC.

[turtlehead]

I've had two Shields. My defensive needs are covered. These are just fun toys. I like the little .380 round and like I said it's cheap to reload.

So I took that money that was burning a hole in my pocket and bought a pistol scope that I know I'll be happy with. Crisis averted. For now...

[batmann]

I had. Kahr .380 ACP, but not for long. I failed to function even with good factory ammo. I did the 200 round break in, still had problems.
The last time I took it out it failed to even go bang.
As much as I hated to, I sent it to Kahr to be repaired. They fixed the stricker issue, but it continued to have problems. I carry everyday and I will not not have a pistol, of any make, that is unreliable. I traded it for a Ruger LCP Custom. The LCP has been very reliable, but man is it hard to shoot.

[SA1911]

If it's for self-defense, cost should not be a factor. Go with a P239 .40

[Bilbo463]

Two thumbs DOWN on the Kahr P380. Mine never ran.........I really don't want to talk about it.....it wasn't a happy experience.

[turtlehead]

OK. I won't be buying one.

Thanks for the reality check.

[Carl the Floor Walker]

I own a Kahr, and have tried so hard to like the gun. There is a lot to like. Nice build quality, stainless steel, steel inserts on the Polymer frame at the stress points, a very mild shooter. Mine is very finicky on ammo. It does not like hollow point ammo, and does not like a longer OAL. For instance it will shoot Fiocchi Extremea with a short OAL, but will not shoot their standard range ammo which is longer.
When it shoots, it shoots fine, but too many times It will not go into full battery.
Mine is down now as it would not cycle and I have it apart for a good cleaning esp the striker channel, but believe it will have to go back to the factory.There are other issues which I will not get into, however if I had it over to do again, I do not think I would purchase again. I will wait and see how things go in the near future.
I am obviously a Pico fan, and that is a gun you might consider. With gun Prices down in the current market, I see where Bud's has the gun on sale for $195 and Beretta has a $75.00 rebate. I will most likely pickup a third one at that price. I believe the gun to be worth every Penny of $300 plus. JMO.

Here is a pic of the reinforced steel inserts on the Polymer frame. I wish Ruger would do this on their LCP especially considering it is a aluminum based gun.

[Hal]

I voted - other - -since it's a fun gun..

Everybody wants a Bond, James Bond PPK.
Yeah, 007 packed a PPK in .32 acp, but, what the heck, a PPK or PPK/s in .380 acp is just as good when you want to play spy.


Get a used one - they can be had for around $500 used in like new condition if you search long an hard enough.

Give it a try & if you find that, like me with mine, it rips the back of your hand open with the slide......you can always turn around and sell it for what you paid.

[Armybrat]

I vote yes - but would get the CT380 as it is easier to handle than the tiny CW380. Mine eats everything I load it with, except WWB. It doesn't like it at all.
Fine little gun.

[TruthTellers]

If you want a .380 to add to the .380 collection, a Kahr is not a good choice, the P/CW 380's are carry guns.

If you want something that's unique, take a look at the Bersa Thunder Plus, it's a .380 with 15 rd capacity. Pretty sure it is the only doublestack .380 currently made that is imported into the USA.

Then there's also those Grendel .380's made by the guy that founded Kel Tec. Pretty much useless in a gunfight, but for a collection... yeah, I almost made a bid on one.