I joined the broken striker club

[gun papa]

I know there is a thread on broken strikers here, but I feel the need to add a new thread. My CW 380, RH serial numbers. I would guess has about 700 rds through it. I have never dry fired the gun unless a snap cap was in place. I must have snap cap dry fired this gun about 1000 times. I fired a box of PPU yesterday. I had one round not go off and it had a light primer strike. The round went off when I rechambered the gun. Figured hard primers.

I came home and gave the gun a total strip and cleaning, ala, took the slide apart and cleaned, checked everything. I gave extra attention to the striker. I checked it, tugged on it. Looked fine. Not a lot of meat there, but otherwise looked good. Put the super clean gun back together and all was well.

I put the Azoom snap cap back in, and dry fired while watching TV. Fine for about 15 pulls of the trigger, then the gun made an odd sound. No snap, but a "Pphff". Reset, and again, "Pphff". I stripped the slide and I have a broken striker.

It seems like the striker could easily redesigned with a little more strength in the area of breakage. I have sent an email to jay.dandrea@kahr.com about it. Is that the right email? I would like this fixed. I love the gun.

[gun papa]

Update: I contacted Kahr's Service Dept by phone 508-795-3919. They are processing the warranty part order, and will ship me the striker to get me up and running. That works. I love this little gun.

[topgun1953]

I love my P380! Sorry you had to deal with the problem. I think they've seen enough of them now that they don't quibble about replacing them. I have several hundred rounds through mine since striker replacement last May and close to a gazillion dry fires with snap caps! Just ordered new springs and extractor yesterday. Almost ordered a backup striker but figured if it breaks, they'll cover it.

[gun papa]

This is the best close up attempt I could muster.

[gun papa]

I too love my gun. I cannot see anything that can replace it. It has been a great gun. I plan on shooting the Hell out of it some more.

[gun papa]

It appears to me that they could beef up this area of breakage. Thicken it up a bit just under the spring stop, without any issues in design. If Kahr doesn't do it, there is room in the market for an aftermarket striker. That would solve all of my issues with the gun entirely.

[RRP]

So, the 50,000 dollar question is has Kahr made design improvements to the part, or will the replacement striker be the same as the one that broke? Please compare and let us know.

If the striker has not been improved, how confident will you be carrying this pistol, knowing the striker is the weak link and is likely to fail again?

[timboy]

Man,I am not liking all of these broken strikers popping up,I hope they make a change in the materials or design!
This is an unacceptable failure in a self defense handgun,what if it breaks when you need it most!
How do they appear to be made,are the cast,mim,or??

[gun papa]

I do not know the make up, but I assume the striker is a MIM part. Shouldn't be. I have heard no updates in design or production. I think that Kahr could easily fix this issue. As of now, I only carry the gun where it would generally be difficult to carry something else. That is the niche that the gun fills. Up to now the gun has performed pretty well for me.

As you can see, there is not a lot of material at a critical point in a critical part.

I am going to write a letter to Kahr about this issue, with hopes that this problem of breakage is resolved.

[z8894]

I really like my CW380. It meets my carry requirements. It's very accurate for it's size. My striker broke just like yours. Seems a little more metal in the area could prevent the problem. At least the fix is cheap and easy but it could fail again at a very inappropriate time. I too hope the problem will be addressed.

[gun papa]

We need to do a writing campaign of all of us with this issue and maybe Kahr will take notice.

[Armybrat]

Well crap - I've dry fired (without a snapcap) my new CT380 a couple dozen times since getting it last month. Guess that's gonna stop right now. Haven't even taken it to the range yet.

[aferguson27]

With over 300 round in my cw380 with the serial starting with RH makes me think twice on trusting it and staying with my cm9.

[gun papa]

Well crap - I've dry fired (without a snapcap) my new CT380 a couple dozen times since getting it last month. Guess that's gonna stop right now. Haven't even taken it to the range yet.

When my Wife got her P380, I dry fired the Hell out of it bareback, with no snap cap. Hundreds of times. It also has about 700 rds through it. No broken striker so far.

[topgun1953]

The second time my striker broke on my p380, Kahr also replaced the slide. Makes me wonder if something was faulty about the channel.