CW380 ftrtb issues.... not the only one it seems

[windsearcher]

Hey all -

Been a while since I have visited here...... lurked occasionally, but been pretty busy and away from the computer. (Unfortunately, also away from the range).

Anyway.... picked up a CW380 a while ago for those "non-permissive-environments."

Love that it is such a nice, small, easy to shoot 380. Easy to conceal in a pocket. (although after browsing some other threads here, I think I may look for a nice lightweight iwb for it).

Anyway..... have had some ongoing fail to return to battery problems. Looks like it can be a recurring problem. One thing I didn't realize after spending more time on the forum here is that I may not have lubed the tiny Kahr enough. My CW40 doesn't have the issue and that one isn't lubed as much as much as suggested either, so hadn't really tried that fix yet.

Round count is probably somewhere between 200 - 300. It could be a batch of factory reman ammo that is causing it, but not all the time, and I know for certain that some factory new was causing the problem as well. PMC, PPU, and all defensive rounds used seem to not cause any problems at all. Very surprisingly, even the steel cased stuff I shot DID NOT cause the ftrtb problems.

My next step, when can ever get to the bench to tweak things will be a heavier lube on the CW380, and then at the range verify the rounds being loaded/fired and which ones may cause the failure.

Am I carrying the 380 for personal defense? Yes....... two reasons, 1) When I need to rely on that, the environment is already inherently "safer" with more security around (as well as a non-permissive-environment) and 2) no failures with the self defense ammo that has been tested.

REALLY hope that I never need to use it to find out!!

[kwh]

Be sure to check out the sticky on lube. My range is close by so I tend to shoot more often, but shoot less than 50 rounds/visit. Lube after every practice. Once broken-in, my CW380 also was 100% on ammo it liked, but not with all ammo. I am doing same as you, using ammo that functions 100%, practice and carry.

[BEARDOG]

Hi windsearcher. I think you are on the right track with adding more lube on your CW380. I recommend you use a good quality grease and apply a good coating on the recoil rod and springs, as well as the rails and barrel link/pin, also put a drop of oil on the barrel and hood. If you are comfortable doing it polishing inside the chamber, the feed ramp, and extractor and breechface may help too. My CW380 runs 100% and has replaced my LCP. Good luck with yours!

[timboy]

Search for the thread about known good .380 ammo for the cw380,find some and shoot it,if it continues to act up(my guess is it will) I reccomend calling Kahrs customer service for a shipping label to have them fix it.

[twowheels]

Mine seems to run pretty well with full power factory loads but unfortunately it doesn't like my reloads of which I've just loaded about 1400 rounds. My micro desert eagle and my sig 232 eat my reloads all day. The kahr is tweaky. I'll run it in some more or maybe pass it on to someone who may appreciate it morre than me.

[Pointblank]

This is good to know. Is the CW380 ok with a steady diet of +P loads?

[twowheels]

I wouldn't run +P in it regularly, just good full power factiry ammo.

[twowheels]

I wouldn't run +P in it regularly, just good full power factory ammo.

[Pointblank]

The Kahr website says their pistols are rated for +P so I was wondering if this applied to the .380s.

[DavidR]

The 380 is rated for +p even though there is no standard for 380 +p.


Dave

[Pointblank]

The 380 is rated for +p even though there is no standard for 380 +p.


Dave

That's what I thought. Thanks Dave.

[TheLastDaze]

Mine seems to run pretty well with full power factory loads but unfortunately it doesn't like my reloads of which I've just loaded about 1400 rounds. My micro desert eagle and my sig 232 eat my reloads all day. The kahr is tweaky. I'll run it in some more or maybe pass it on to someone who may appreciate it morre than me.

try sorting your brass, mine does the same thing it will fail with a mixed handful of ammo (handloads) I've since sorted out, Federal, PMC and Winchester range brass and use it exclusively through my cw, it runs well like this otherwise If I just stick my hand in the container and start loading mags with various stamped brass it will fail 50% of the time

[Pointblank]

I got this email from Kahr today:

From:		Matt.McKeon@kahr.com
To:		******@******.***
Received-On:		Today 8:31 AM
Subject:		Re: Fw:

Hello,Yes, all our firearms are rated for +P ammunition including the P380 andCW380.Thanks,Kahr Arms/Auto Ordnance130 Goddard Memorial DriveWorcester, MA 01603E-mail Address: service@kahr.comPhone; (508)795-3919Fax; (508)795-7046

[Trenton Forge]

I had a problem with the CW380 ftrtb with Geco ammo, found that the Geco cases were larger in diameter than the other brands of fmj tried. Check out the full review in New member Area "CW380 First Impressions"

[Esco]

mine did that at first, but Polishing some areas fixed it.

polish the inside of the rail groove of the slide with a dremmel and a thin fine grit rubber jewelers buffing wheel (that helps tremendously)
a good way to find the hot spots is to just slide a q-tip down the rail and you will find the burs when they snagg cotton, touch them up with a needle file and buff them down.
( there are several of places)

and to me the dual overlapping spring system seems to put a little pressure on the guide rod causing a bit of binding at times, so a thicker lubricant that stays put helps allot there.
I use the millitech grease in mine. ( if you get some millitech get the grease gun tube and save a ton of money)

also polishing the inside of the striker channel and striker helps. I chucked a 9mm cotton bore brush in my dremel and stuck it in there with some fine grit polish. the striker glides smooth as silk now. ( clean it out really well afterwards and don't forget to clean out the extractor spring channel.)

(this requires experience) but they feed much, MUCH better if you hone and polish the breach face, allot of rough machining marks were in mine.

so far I have polished every contact point in my CW380 and now it is extremely smooth and eats everything that doesn't have a bulged casing.
and when i press it out of battery an eighth of an inch it doesn't just stay there like it used to.

in my opinion they skipped allot of the fine finishing and fitting steps with these little buggers to keep the cost down, but with a little touch up work they are flawless.