CT .380 issues

[Rednex]

I have 300 rounds through my new CT .380 and I still have feeding issues. I can bump the back of the slide with the palm of my hand and force the round into the battery but should I have to do this after 300 rounds? I've been firing Mag Tech FMJ's through it but I also use the same brand of ammo in my CW9 and it performs flawlessly. Any suggestions on fixing this? Should I use another brand of ammo? I also noticed that the slide is not locking back consistently after an expired magazine although it does lock back sometimes. I preformed the initial break down, cleaned, lightly lubed, and racked the hell out of the slide before I fired it. I lightly sanding the lips on the mag and also broke it down to make sure the mag spring was installed correctly. Possibly the extractor?

[Phantom]

Try a different ammo. I have found one of my CT380's will eat anything and the other only likes premium self defense ammo. Runs perfectly with strong ammo.

[ripley16]

Try a different ammo.

Ditto, Mag Tech is the only ammo I've used that caused feed problems due to excess length and the bullet shape getting caught in the throat. Worth a try.

[DEKerr77]

I'm having a very similar issue with my new CT380. The FMJ hardball rounds I tried (Fiocchi, Remington UMC and Speer Lawman) wouldn't feed with any regularity. I felt like I needed to add a forward assist to get the thing into battery, and rapidly grew tired of dropping the mag, cycling the slide and repeating. Interestingly, though, the JHP (Buffalo Bore and Speer Gold Dot) and HCFN rounds (Buffalo Bore) I tried all fed and functioned perfectly, in both unaltered factory mags and factory mags with Mag Guts inserts. Here's my theory:

The "cheap" hardball ammo isn't powerful enough to cycle reliably. Only higher velocity (over 1,000 fps) loads can overcome the CT380 recoil springs, which are some of the stiffest I've ever encountered. Theoretically said springs will become less of a bear with use, thus enabling the bulk ammo to function ... but until that happens I'm not trusting anything but primo cartridges for carry. My advice would be for you to pick up a few boxes of the same and see if they don't work.

[Armybrat]

My CT380 doesn't like WWB, but eats up the Federal, Remington, & Hornady CD.

Obligatory pic...

[Ljutic]

Mine is also a good eater, but that might be because I have not tried the ammo it doesn't like yet.

[b4uqzme]

I hope OP has found the ammo his gun likes and he's happy. FWIW I recommend anyone polish the chamber then plunk test any ammo they use. Then stick with what works. Makes sense these tight, tiny guns might be finicky. I saw a CT380 in person and the thin-ness is really appealing. Saw one NIB at a gun show for <$300 and shoulda pulled the trigger. Bad angel was saying: you are gonna love this gun. Good angel said louder: but you don't need another 380. Good angel won this time. Good angel rarely wins. Gotta throw him a bone once in awhile.

[st0ny3mu]

Do you grease the slide? I know it seems really silly but I had similar issues with my p380. Using a good quality grease on the slide really helped (as did a complete disassembly and through cleaning).


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[Armybrat]

I've never greased the slide on any of my semiautos, just used Hoppe's #9 oil. Has worked good for me.

[Bobshouse]

I don't grease my slides either, but in the case of the P380, I do. I use a product called Superlube, a synthetic grease, works great and doesn't migrate with use.

[Bills1873]

Mil-comm TW25B is an all-weather light grease that stays put and works well on slides and such.

[jayo84]

I use wilson combat grease on all of my slides. Smooth action, No issues, lasts long, no flinging.