p380 does not go back into battery

[hbschwartz]

i have a new p380. before using the gun, i racked the slide 500 times, cleaned, and oiled the gun. i have used the same procedure with my pm9 and pm45. with different types of ammunition and different shooters, after 2-3 rounds, the gun does not go back into battery. i can strike the back of the slide, and push the slide into battery, and the gun fires fine. the gun has about 300 rounds of different types of ammunition through the firearm. the gun feels very difficult to pull the slide back on an empty gun, more so than my other kahrs. any ideas?

[Alfonse]

I have big hands. Even though I have lots of other Kahrs, when I first started firing my CW380 I had the same thing. The thing is so small, the way I was gripping it was not sufficient. By concentrating on having a firm grip with the two fingers that are on the thing, it went back into battery each time. In fact, it hardly moves at all when I grip it right. Now that it has a few hundred rounds through it, I don't have to think about it, so the gun probably became less particular as well.

[hbschwartz]

I have big hands. Even though I have lots of other Kahrs, when I first started firing my CW380 I had the same thing. The thing is so small, the way I was gripping it was not sufficient. By concentrating on having a firm grip with the two fingers that are on the thing, it went back into battery each time. In fact, it hardly moves at all when I grip it right. Now that it has a few hundred rounds through it, I don't have to think about it, so the gun probably became less particular as well.

Do you shoot one hand only? I am not sure how to grip the pistol you say. Could you send a picture to hbschwartz@gmail.com? Thanks

[hbschwartz]

Also when I rack the slide it appears to be very difficult almost like something is sticking

[hbschwartz]

i just shot the p380 one handed. it still did not go into battery.

[Alfonse]

Do you shoot one hand only? I am not sure how to grip the pistol you say. Could you send a picture to hbschwartz@gmail.com? Thanks

I use both hands. However, only two fingers are wrapped directly around the grip of the gun. My other hand is wrapped around all of that.

[jpshaw]

Check for wear marks on the chamber block. The .380 Kahr is a locked breach as the other calibers. They fit tight and on some of the older ones they were too tight. Sometimes the slide was dragging on the chamber block as it disconnected from it. It would be evident from drag marks on the chamber block itself. It that is the case you just have to polish the chamber block down a tad but only if you are seeing wear marks on it. I used a dremel and Flitz on mine but I was also experiencing case forward jams (like a smokestack jam but the case is caught long ways holding open the chamber. See if the difficulty is equal all along the slide coming back or more so when the block is releasing.

[Bobshouse]

Had the same problem here, I had placed to much oil in/on #7 of the lubrication diagram. I think the resulting excess of oil was acting like a hydraulic piston and slowing the closing of the slide. Cleaned and stopped dripping oil (and used a cotton swab/q-tip instead) and the problem stopped.

The other thing, if you reload, your loads might be to light. A friend of mine was using 2.5 grains of Tightgroup (minimum load), he went to 3.0 grains and had no more problems with the slide/stovepipes.

You also might want to get a go/no go gage to see if the loads are sized properly.

[Short Bus]

This fixed my CW380 that wasn't returning to battery. http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.p...tery-on-CW-380

[Ikeo74]

Also when I rack the slide it appears to be very difficult almost like something is sticking

I just posted this in another thread. These little guns with a double spring recoil spring assembly create a lot of friction between the springs. They bind against each other. Use auto chassis grease and coat both springs with a good amount make sure it gets inside the 2 springs. It will rack easier and it will go into battery every time, try it.......

[erichard]

I wonder if the sticky for the prep of these 380's should encourage racking the slide X hundreds of times, but without the recoil spring installed maybe. I think the main point of racking is not to weaken the spring, but to help mate the slide to the frame smoothly, etc. After all, when we order fresh recoil springs, we don't try to weaken the new ones (I don't at least). 300 rounds plus 500 to 1000 racks of the slide ages the recoil spring going on 1000 rounds, and then it is up against a tight, new gun. So the recoil spring may not be up to the job at that point. These smaller 380's have recoil springs that are substantially weaker and which need to be retired earlier than full size guns, even though the larger guns have more energy in the recoil cycle. I think the racking of the slide hundreds of rounds with the spring in place may be somewhat harmful rather than helpful.

New recoil springs will help your return to battery issue, assuming there's not some specific issue going on with your gun.

i have a new p380. before using the gun, i racked the slide 500 times, cleaned, and oiled the gun. i have used the same procedure with my pm9 and pm45. with different types of ammunition and different shooters, after 2-3 rounds, the gun does not go back into battery. i can strike the back of the slide, and push the slide into battery, and the gun fires fine. the gun has about 300 rounds of different types of ammunition through the firearm. the gun feels very difficult to pull the slide back on an empty gun, more so than my other kahrs. any ideas?

[Ikeo74]

In my opinion racking the slide x number of times could be eliminated all together if the springs were lubed with auto chassis grease. IMO only, racking the slide helps mate the inner recoil spring to the outer recoil spring. These springs rub against each other and "BIND" when new. That "BIND" is what keeps the gun from returning to battery. This binding can be eliminated by greasing the springs with heave enough grease to prevent the binding. Preventing the binding eliminates the need to rack the slide. I would like for a new gun owner to try this method and report the results after shooting the first 50 or more rounds. Try this method on any and all of the Kahr Pistols you are having trouble with not returning to battery.

[berettabone]

IMHO, racking is a waste of your time..........................SHOOTING is the only thing that helps set all of the parts................but if you think otherwise, rack away.............................

[MurrayNevada]

When I received my P380 I did the Kahr Prep and went to the range for break-in. This is the result with different ammo during the range session:
Kahr P380 Break-in
Sellier & Bellot - 150 rounds – Mostly all FTRB
Remington Golden Saber - 50 rounds – Perfect – All Returned to Battery – 1 Failure to Fire
Hornady Critical Defense - 50 rounds – Many FTRB
Precision One XTP - 50 rounds – Better than Hornady CD but too many FRTB
CLEANED AND CONTINUED SHOOTING:

Remington Golden Saber - 50 rounds – 5 Failed to Returned to Battery – 5 Failed to Fire (Fired on 2^nd Strike)
Hornady Critical Defense - 50 rounds – Won’t Chamber 1^st round (Using slide release) Most fail to RTB but gets better at the end of magazine.
Precision One - 100 rounds - Won’t Chamber 1st round (Using slide release) Most fail to RTB but gets better at the end of magazine.


Shipped back to the factory on their dime. P380 was returned in a couple of weeks. I don't know what they did but it is night and day from what it was. Is now very reliable and my EDC.

[CharlieR]

My P380 did the same, and after 400 rounds, I finally sent it back to them. They polished the inside of the slide to a mirror finish. Don't know what else they did, but it has been flawless ever since. The only time it fails to return to battery is with cheap reloaded ammo. Everything else feeds like silk. I know it's a pain to send it in, but in my case it was worth it.