Can we revisit the 380 carry ammo question?

[TheLastDaze]

Just to clarify my post above; I meant if I have to continually tweek the gun to no avail I prob wont send to kahr but get rid of it.. (sometimes I type to fast before I can process the information) ...

[DavidR]

Awesome man !!!! really good news to hear it cycled..... tell me isn't it the best looking ammo you've ever laid eyes on?? I really am hyped about this ammo bigtime.... new innovations man... gotta love it.... ??

I picked up some of this ammo in 38 special - 140 grain +p. I hope to shoot a cylinder or 2 this week. Lehigh ships very fast. Twice I've ordered on a Thursday and the ammo arrived Saturday (PA to FL via FedEx). The 38 ammo uses Winchester brass with the Lehigh bullet. It looks great but the packaging was crummy - cheap cardboard that tears when you open the box. At $1.50 a round they need to include a plastic tray.

[erichard]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rzp...zNFJMw&index=1

Lehigh recently put up a video (above) showing that XP bullet being cycled through 5 subcompact guns, including the P380. In that video, it seemed to cycle through the P380 fine, but there is a written disclaimer at the beginning of the video that said the P380/CW380 was the only subcompact that did have issues (off camera apparently) and that the feeding issue was probably related to the steep feed ramp design in these guns. I believe they were getting nosedive issues, which I've experienced with flat nose/truncated WWB ammo.

I'd be curious to hear what other folks experience with this XP bullet, particularly those who have polished the feed ramp and done the slingshot alteration on the follower (which can be found in the new owner's forum as a sticky). That follower mod is meant to help prevent nosedives by keeping the bullet tipped upwards while still held by the magazine lips. I did that mod, and it did help with the Winchester FMJ flat nose bullet feeding.

The ammo is too expensive for one person to test hundreds of rounds, but maybe collectively we can analyze whether the modification makes the bullet useable. It would be a nice carry round since it virtually guarantees both penetration and a large wound channel while staying within FBI limits of 12 to 18 inches of ballistic gel penetration.

Absent that, we could still reliably use it as the first round in the chamber, since that would already have been fed prior to a gunfight. Not the greatest endorsement, but it might prove useful.

I also wonder if the feed ramp could be sanded just a bit to lessen the steepness of the lower aspect of the ramp ever so slightly. Given the video, it seems the ramp is borderline OK, but not 100% reliable. Just a little sanding might push it into the 100% category, but I'm not gunsmith, so I'm all ears on this possible strategy.

My guess is, if your p380/cw380 has trouble with the Winchester white box (wwb) truncated rounds, it will have occasional troubles with this Lehigh xtreme Penetrator. What I wonder is, if you no longer have problems with WWB due to the modification, then does that signal optimism for this XP bullet cycling ~100% in the Kahr 380. I'm guessing/hoping yes. That would allow perfecting your gun with cheap ammo prior to testing out expensive XP ammo.

I do think this could be the defensive bullet of the future, the next design after the long dominant hollow point. This is especially true of the .380, as it satisfies FBI requirements where other .380 designs fail. It makes the 380 a bona fide defensive round.

[DavidR]

Can we revisit the 380 carry ammo question?

I fired 20 rounds through my CW380 with no feed problems. I have 500 rounds through the CW380 and it has never jammed. Unfortunately it has intermittent failures to go into full battery with any ammo (except Hornady Critical Defense). We'll see if it still feeds when I get it back from Kahr.

I've been thinking about getting an LCP. Does anyone know if it feeds in the Ruger?

[muggsy]

I don't put much stock in bullet performance results taken from ballistic gel tests. I prefer bullet performance results taken from autopsy reports.

[WLEEP]

PRECISION ONE is the best (I think) never failed in any way and great penetration (at least that's what she said!)

[DavidR]

PRECISION ONE is the best (I think) never failed in any way and great penetration (at least that's what she said!)

Precision One is made of unobtanium.

[KingWulfgar]

Precision One is made of unobtanium.

Just ordered 2 50rd boxes this morning. Sold out in under an hour. Email them and ask them for a heads-up. It was the only way I knew it was going to be available. Sounds like they are selling it faster than they can make it. She told me they had 12k rounds sell out in less than an hour a couple days ago.

[DavidR]

Just ordered 2 50rd boxes this morning. Sold out in under an hour. Email them and ask them for a heads-up. It was the only way I knew it was going to be available. Sounds like they are selling it faster than they can make it. She told me they had 12k rounds sell out in less than an hour a couple days ago.

Nice!
I spoke to them some time ago and they put me on the list to be notified but I haven't heard from them. I've moved on to Lehigh Defense XP for my LCP.

[Pointblank]

Precision One is now offering the XTP loading in +P for the 380. I wonder how that would perform?

[muggsy]

Since I've never been assailed by a block of ballistics gel wearing four layers of denim, I'm not overly impressed by ballistic gel tests. With the .380 I'm more concerned with under penetration than I am over penetration. Most .380 hollow point bullets don't penetrate deeply enough unless they plug with cloth and don't expand. In that case they perform just like ball ammunition. With the .380 or any other concealed carry round your goal should be multiple center mass hits. In other words, don't just shoot once and then step back to admire your work. These guns were designed around a ball load and that seems to be what functions best in them. If the gun does not go bang every time you pull the trigger you might as well have a rock in your hand. You can buy twice as many ball rounds for half the price of the latest pocket rocket loads.

[Phantom]

Corbon Powerball is great ammo. The ball insures reliable feeding. I use it in all my Kahr Pistols.

[TheTman]

I was looking at Buffalo Bore .380 since their ammo always seems to run a bit hot. They advertise a Barnes +P 80 Gr TAC-XP Lead free HP Bullet, in a brass case, as running at 1136 FPS out of a P380. That sounds like a serious contender to me. Their 100 gr lead flat nose cartridge runs at 1061 FPS out of a Keltec. And a 90gr JHP at 1100 FPS out of a Keltec.

[Whaleman]

I carry the Buffalo Bore +P 90 grain JHP in my P380. Dan

[McE]

Anyone carry the Lehigh products? Either Max Expansion or Xtreme Penetrator?

They make special notes about Kahrs, but mention only trouble is with first round loading. If you carry hot then it shouldn't really be a reason to miss out on seemingly promising ammo.

http://www.lehighdefense.com/shop/am...unition-detail