First time out with new PM9 and P380

[Phillip Dean]

Hello,

I purchased a P380 about a week ago and a PM9 today. I cleaned and lubed them then headed to the range and these were the results.

PM9 ate 150 rounds of mixed defensive HP loads such and Federal HST, Speer Gold Dot and DPX. After that I fired 100 rounds of blazer brass. Out of those 250 initial rounds, the only problem was premature slide lock three times in the first five magazines. A change in my grip corrected that problem so the only three malfunctions observed were, I believe, caused by my thumb bumping the slide stop during recoil.

The P380 ate 150 rounds of some old defensive rounds that I had lying around. They consisted of Corbon DPX, Speer Gold Dots, Buffalo Bore 100 gr HC and Remington 102 grain Golden Saber. All of those fire fine with absolutely no malfunctions. Next I shot 100 rounds of Fiocchi 95 grain ball. With that round I had many failures to return to battery with each magazine. I’m not sure if the Kahr just do not like the Fiocchi. It could have been that the weapon was just plain filthy by the time I got to the Fiocchi. I will take it back clean and see how it behaves before making judgments.

Overall, I am quite please with them. I have since cleaned and lubed them. The actions are already noticeably smoother that they were out of the box.

[wyntrout]

I think that I've heard the P380 and Fiocchi don't seem to work together well. It's aggravating when ammo doesn't seem to work with a gun, but the important ones did. I had heard bad things about the MFS FMJ with the P380, so I sold my 500 rounds of that at a gun show before my P380 arrived (11 month wait for NS version).
.380 ammo is getting plentiful and cheaper all the time, especially the Sellier & Bellot 92-gr FMJ. I've only had a very few primers not fire the first strike with that ammo. I've bought a bunch of that and it's my range ammo... the cheapest dependable stuff I can get online... best price lately at Sportsmans Guide... $13.99 and a 5% discount from that for members!
Wynn

[jocko]

My P380 did not like the `102 grain golden sabre and loved all else. Unless one is just totally in love with a particul aorund that is givingyour gun an issue, just move on to another good defense round. There are alot of good 380 defense rounds out there. Find the one that is totally reliable in yourgun and just stick with.

in my case I have shot the corbon hp round and the corbon powerball 380 and have settled on the 380 powerball as I like the round for the Kahr 380. I have never had issues with fmj ammo, when I can find any around but I do try to avoid totally unknown ammo of any size if the price is what draws me to it.

[kpm9]

I've had bad experiences with Fiocci and Magtech and steer clear of them.
Both are dirty and had several squib loads. That is unacceptable for factory ammo, IMO.

[Phillip Dean]

Thanks to all for the feed back

My P380 did not like the `102 grain golden sabre and loved all else. Unless one is just totally in love with a particul aorund that is givingyour gun an issue, just move on to another good defense round. There are alot of good 380 defense rounds out there. Find the one that is totally reliable in yourgun and just stick with.

in my case I have shot the corbon hp round and the corbon powerball 380 and have settled on the 380 powerball as I like the round for the Kahr 380. I have never had issues with fmj ammo, when I can find any around but I do try to avoid totally unknown ammo of any size if the price is what draws me to it.

Mine seemed to love my top three choices of defensive .380 loads. The 102 Golden Sabers, Corbon DPX and BB 100 HC all worked well. Next time out I will shoot a couple of boxes of each and see what functions best and is most accurate. May try some critical defense if I get a chance to buy some.

I've had bad experiences with Fiocci and Magtech and steer clear of them.
Both are dirty and had several squib loads. That is unacceptable for factory ammo, IMO.

I only had one hundred rounds of Fiocci. Won't buy more in .380. I have a some of the flat nose Winchester FMJ loads. We’ll see how well those work as practice rounds.

FWIW, I have had good luck in Fiocci 9mm in my Glocks.

[alank2]

Hi Phillip,

I too have a new PM9 that had premature slide locks. If you determine it isn't your thumb, it could be what mine had. Ammunition was being pushed slightly forward in the magazine 1/8" or so and it was bumping the point on the inside of the slide lock lever. I filed down that point a bit and it works great now. You can test this by unloading, VERIFYING unloaded, field strip, put a magazine with your ammo type 1/8" forward up through the mag well and see if it touches the slide top level...

Good luck,

Alan

[tomwalshco]

My P380 runs Fiocchi just fine. I carry the 95 gr, XTPHP Fiocchi, which is a Hornady bullet. Casing is nickel plated. I always buy it when I can find it. No problem with the Hungarian MFS, either. Only thing it hasn't liked so far is Herters steel/laquer, but my Kel-Tec eats it up. Go figure.

[Internet Blohard]

Hello,

I purchased a P380 about a week ago and a PM9 today.

Well, well, well....you went all out and got both. That's what I call style.

[Phillip Dean]

Hi Phillip,

I too have a new PM9 that had premature slide locks. If you determine it isn't your thumb, it could be what mine had. Ammunition was being pushed slightly forward in the magazine 1/8" or so and it was bumping the point on the inside of the slide lock lever. I filed down that point a bit and it works great now. You can test this by unloading, VERIFYING unloaded, field strip, put a magazine with your ammo type 1/8" forward up through the mag well and see if it touches the slide top level...

Good luck,

Alan

Thanks. I did this and confirmed that it was just my thumb.

My P380 runs Fiocchi just fine. I carry the 95 gr, XTPHP Fiocchi, which is a Hornady bullet. Casing is nickel plated. I always buy it when I can find it. No problem with the Hungarian MFS, either. Only thing it hasn't liked so far is Herters steel/laquer, but my Kel-Tec eats it up. Go figure.

Mine did not like the Fiocchi 95 grain FMJ. I did notice that the chamber had a rough spot so I polished it to a mirror finish. I may give the Fiocchi another try.

Well, well, well....you went all out and got both. That's what I call style.

I traded all of my smaller handguns for some nice ARs (LMTs, Colt 6920) and then rediscovered it is just too hot in Austin not to have a pocket pistol. The PM9 is nice to have when you just don't want to strap on a belt holster. They P380 works well when max concealment is needed. In fact, I don't miss my LCP at all.

[Phillip Dean]

Crappy pics of new Kahrs