Kahr CW-380

Kahr CW-380

            Not so very long ago, presumably to cash in on the quite understandable popularity of micro-mini-.380 pistols, Kahr introduced the P380.  Though it quite frankly looks bigger than, say, the Kel-Tec P3AT or that (in my humble opinion) blatant copy, the Ruger LCP, it is in all honesty about the same size, overall (.4” taller and .3” shorter front to back).  It weights slightly more (9.97 ounces vs 7.75 ounces), but I can drop either on in a pair of walking shorts or even lounge pants (hey, don’t judge) and tote it about without a problem.  What the Kahr has that my previous favorite lacks are a set of serious, very usable yet low-profile sights.   It also features an external slide lock.  I don’t mean some itty-bitty vestigial “feel-good” bit of metal added as a last minute touch of feature creep.  I mean it has a real, usable, full “combat-style” slide lock.  More in a bit on why that is important beyond the obvious like cleaning and, oh, say attending pretty much any shooting classes where the range-master will insist you lock your slide open to prove it’s empty --- oh, yours doesn't lock back?  So sorry, no refunds, please leave now and get a real gun.  Okay, it wouldn't likely be that bad, but not being able to lock your weapon open to “show clear” could make the difference between your weapon (i.e. the one you’re actually going to use in real life) being accepted for a carry class and not.

Kahr CW380 & Kel-Tec P3AT - Two Tiny .380s

CW380 literally fits in the palm of the hand.

            A friend of mine had one when he moved back into my fair state and I had the privilege of shooting it.  I loved the way it shot, not too snappy, very accurate, uber-smooth trigger, etc., etc.  What I didn't like was the price.  I mean, I could make my quarterly house insurance payment (in a hurricane prone area, south of the arbitrary “flood zone”) for the price of a P380!  Gadzooks, man!  What was a miserly professional gun-toter like me going to do about this?!  Well, not to worry, as I have previously purchased two, count ‘em TWO Kahr .40 caliber pistols (K-40 Covert and PM-40) for quite a bit below retail (admittedly they were slightly used … two mags fired through the former and two rounds fired through the latter before they went up for sale for cheap).  I’m a Kahr fan and seem to be a magnet for good deals.  Or so I was.  I couldn’t find such a sweet deal on the P-380.

            I was not alone.  Kahr apparently realized this was a problem and introduced their CW line.  These are essentially the same pistols with some cost-saving steps taken in manufacturing which bring them more into line with the average middle income budget, no need for a second mortgage (I jest, but the full-on K, MK, P, and PM series are quite pricey … think SIG-Sauer P226 pricey, but like those, well worth the money).  So, what are these drastic cost-saving steps, you ask?  What butchery or sad lack of fitting does it take to cut a couple hundred (or so) bucks off the cost of an otherwise fine firearm?  Well, the CW line features, in lieu of the polygonally rifled barrels of the other series, Ye Olde Standard button-rifled barrel.  You know, like most every quality firearms manufacturer uses and is quite happy with.   Oh, yeah the marking on the slide?  On the higher end models these are laser etched.  The CW line makes do with simple roll-makings (which are, to me, much more crisp and clear) … again, just like most every other firearms manufacturer.  Oh, and they only come with one magazine.  Annoying, but certainly a problem easily sorted.  Those are the only differences I can find.  Chime in if you personally know more.

            So, weekend before my Wedding Anniversary/Valentine’s Day, there was a local gun show.  Since my retiring last year after an illustrious (or at least stress-filled) 25+ year police career, the chief of a local tiny town and long-time friend of mine chased me around asking, demanding, insisting, and pleading, and eventually plying me with booze until I agreed to take a part-time post with their police department (“VERY part-time” I insisted … she just laughed, and laughed …).  I’d just finished my first month of “I thought this was supposed to be part-time work!” and had, as happens, a fist full of money.  More importantly this was unbudgeted money.  As happens, there was a local gun show that weekend.  Joined by my friend, the P380 owner, I set about on a quest to find me a cool new shooting iron.  About two hours later I came home with a brand new CW380.  A quick online check showed Kahr mags available from Kahr directly for about $40 each.  Midway USA had them for something like $28 each which I found much more reasonable.  I even paid for the faster shipping because I might be a miser, but once I spend money, I’m rather impatient.  I also picked up some A-Zoom aluminum snap caps (5-pack) of .380 for function testing and getting used to the trigger until I could get some range time.

            Next I did some side-by-side comparisons of my new pistol to my other two aforementioned Kahr .40s.  My CW380 looks like a shrunken version of my PM40 in virtually every detail.  Actually, in comparing them, I was reminded just how incredibly tiny my PM40 is (yes, it’s a brute to shoot, but we all have our crosses to bear).  When looking at the two one is apt to think, “Gee, that little .380 is only a little bit smaller than that .40, so why not just carry the .40?”  Why not indeed.  Once we see how much thicker the PM40 is when compared to the CW380 however, we can see how in many types of pants (jeans, say) the PM40 can print rather significantly and anything that can cover that print will be big enough to cause a lot of suspicious or at least curious looks at that pocket.  The CW380, roughly the same thickness as the P3AT (.2” thinner than the Kel-Tec, actually), lends its self very well to deep cover concealment and as that nearly perfect “always gun.”

CW380 and PM40 

PM40 & CW380 - which do you think fits in a pocket better?

            Five days went by and I was finally able to get to my preferred shooting range.  First, a word about Kahr pistols.  The manual says to load the first round out of a magazine into an empty chamber by first locking back the slide (THIS is that other reason slide locks are important on Kahr pistols), inserting the loaded mag, and tripping the release.  This is sage advice, especially with a new pistol and failure to heed this advice caused nearly all my troubles on the range.  When loading from the traditional sling-shot method I suppose I either did not pull the slide completely to the rear or inadvertently let my hand ride it forward a fraction.  I had very, very few problems loading as the manual said to do it (when all else fails read the bloody directions, y’know?).   Kahr also recommends a 200 round break-in phase.  Yep, you are expected to put a couple o’hundred rounds though their pistols before trusting them with your life.  Crazy, right?  I mean, why not just grab a hunk of machinery made by fallible human hands, toss in whatever load strikes your fancy and just drop it on a pocket.  WRONG!  N-E-V-E-R trust A-N-Y firearm, especially a new one (or a very well used one) without a test period that should include some of the ammo you intend to carry in it.  Back in MY day, EVERY semi-auto was expected to go through that 200 round break-in phase.  Malfunctions were expected (and happened) but the repeated use smoothed bearing surfaces, wore away tiny burrs, and soon the whole thing was polished up inside and ran like you expected it to.  We've been spoiled by Glocks and SIGs and a few others but honestly, I've seen most top brand pistols have trouble out-of-the-box.  Some just needed breaking in, some were apparently “Monday or Friday guns” (you know, crew in a hurry to leave for the weekend on Friday and still hung over come Monday) and needed to go back to the factory for rework or replacement.

            So, internet pundits’ ravings and rants aside, I have no problem with a break-in period because I intend to give all my new and new-to-me such a trial.  Mine, by the way, broke in with 100 rounds.  First up, I ran some Blazer Brass 95 grain FMJs through it, then some Remington 95 grain FMJs, a few Winchester “flat points,” their “White Box” FMJs, and last some of my cherished stash of carry ammo:  Federal 90 grain Hydra-Shoks.  Accuracy was fine with all.  To be honest, the pistol could shoot better than I could as I had in my new contacts and they don’t do well with near vision.  So, I made do with low-powered reading glasses to get a mostly clear sight picture and a very to extremely blurry sight picture.

            First, the bad.   Yes, I had some feeding issues.  Mostly I had failure to go fully into battery and a simple push on the rear of the slide was all it took to set things back right again.  I had maybe five or six what are to me uniquely Kahr feeding failures.   It’s almost like the cartridge is too long and it wedges with the upper part of the tip just inside the chamber, the tip of the rim seems to be at the bottom of the extractor and no amount of pushing, or finagling will get it seated.  The only way to run it is to do what you should do anyway, tap-rack-ready (tap the mag to be sure it’s seated, rack the slide to clear everything and reload, and then re-evaluate the target/threat/situation).  Those cleared up before the end.  Again, I stress, the piece was brand new and began to get pretty dirty from the assorted (old) ammo I was putting through it.  Once, about 2/3 of the way through all of this, I ran an impromptu patch through the chamber and the problem did not repeat.  Ejection was positive but not overly energetic.  By that, I mean the empties got clear, life was good, and I didn't get whacked in the forehead with the brass.  I had a couple of weird stovepipe-like jams where the empty was caught long ways between the breech face and the top of the chamber mouth.  These instance were almost certainly my fault and were due to my grip as I kept falling back on my standard duty-pistol grip (support hand mainly holds the weapon, firing hand is just there to pull the trigger, firing hand thumb across base of support thumb, support thumb alongside the frame, pointed at the target).  This is not going to work with such a small and snappy pistol.  Felt recoil was not at all unpleasant (less than my Kel-Tec P3AT) but you must really grip this little blaster so that its slide and springs do all the work.  Hold a bit too loosely and … well, if you don’t understand that, you probably don’t need to be carrying such a weapon.  Some careful study showed that the two-handed "duty pistol grip" as described above allows a minute gap between part of the tiny backstrap and the shooting hand resulting in a less than fully secure hold.  This, I've found to be the case with most if not all micro-mini-guns.  You have to HOLD them VERY FIRMLY and they are really meant for quick one-handed shooting, not careful two-handed aimed fire.
            By the last three mags, I had no feeding issues whatsoever.  One mag stovepiped the last round.  The next did that weird Kahr lengthwise stovepipe.  The last simply did not lock back after the last round was fired.  Those are all primarily symptoms of my grip relaxing a bit on the last round.  As I was concentrating on shooting tiny groups with my aforementioned visual issues, I could well have eased up my grip.  This did not happen when I was shooting fast, one-handed combat-style at various targets.  In fact, when shooting it fast and one-handed, after the first few mags went through it, I had zero problems.  This is not a target pistol or a range pistol.  It’s meant to be pulled and fired one-handed (though it is capable of quite good accuracy).

            Next, the good.  The little pistol is VERY accurate.  From 21 feet I tore up the center of the target (mini-silhouette).  I often as not got two rounds in one ragged hole.  This pistol is far more accurate and its sights far more usable than anyone has a right to expect such a weapon to be.  Part of the credit goes to the excellent and very smooth DAO trigger.  I could hit “Pepper-poppers” from 25 yards with boring regularity.  As often as not I could hit them from 40 yards.  50 yards … well … a man just has to know his limits, I suppose.  Actually I was shooting a bent ‘popper that functioned as a gong.  Chances are, even if I hit it, I’d not have heard the “ding!”  But lacking firm evidence to the contrary, we’ll call the fifty yard shots misses.  I’m not proud … much.  Recoil, as I said, was mild, especially for a tiny .380 pistol.  Actually the front and backstraps of the grip are very aggressively checkered and gripping it hard enough to ensure no error on my part was far less comfortable than actually firing the weapon.

First 15 rounds scored me a 100%
 on our BUG/OD course!

Hard to tell, but that's SIX rounds
(fired from 7 yards)

Up to 18 rounds in by this point (7 yards)
 - gotta count the holes very carefully.

I kind of lost count at this point.
I was up to either a total of 4 or 5 mags.
Point is, if the bad guy is at across the living room range, he's toast. 

            Magazines fall free and fresh ones go in smoothly.  After a while, I could load from slide lock by pulling the slide the rest of the way back and releasing it smartly.  This is good as not only do I shoot left-handed but that is the proper way to reload from slide-lock under stress as lock levers take much finer motor skills than you’re likely to possess in such times.

            Yes, I like my new CW380.  After this last outing it is riding in my left front pocket in a holster I made for it.  The two spares are in the opposite side pocket in a repurposed nylon card wallet.  No, I don’t worry about a possible stovepipe on the last round.  Why?  Because I’ll be bringing the weapon up close into my “work space,” dropping the empty mag, ramming in a fresh one, and racking the slide.  It makes no difference whether the slide is locked by its latch or an empty casing.  That is assuming I will even have the opportunity in a gun fight to reload.  Honestly, if there are multiple threats closing and they don't scatter after I start shooting, there likely won't be time for reloading.  In any event, there were only three such FTE issues throughout my 100 rounds of shooting.  Thus I wager Ejection Issues won't be an issue over the next 100 rounds or less.  So, I have my summertime main gun, my “always gun,” and the boon companion to my other two Kahr pistols.  I think I made out well indeed!  J

           

A quick 3 shots at a target of
opportunity (7 yards)

Another target of opportunity
and another quick 3 shots.

**** UPDATE! ****

     I've now had this little wonder for almost a year and have had more range time with it.  I've learned a couple of things.  First off, do NOT feed it steel cased ammo unless you want to spend the afternoon performing malfunction clearance drills.  Second, I am now convinced all of my earlier issue were simply due to my grip.  Shooting one-handed, even rapid fire has produced zero malfunctions (so long as I wasn't "trying to save a few bucks" by shooting steel cased .380 ammo).  Shooting two-handed using the old "Cup and Saucer" hold produced excellent groups and 100% reliability.   So in my case the "break-in period" was to break ME of shooting it like a larger duty weapon.  I have several carry weapons on rotation (particularly now that I'm back to purely Retired LEO status now) yet this tiny Kahr CW380 winds up in my pocket (and occasionally in my waistband) more often than just about any other firearm.

  

Gun Review: Kahr PM40

Recently I embarked on a quest to find the best OD/BUG (off-duty / back up gun) on the market. This is a quest I undertake from time to time. After all, technology changes, my particular needs might change, etc. What does not change, however, is that I need a weapon that is comfortable enough to carry 85-90% of the time (saving the smallest and lightest and less powerful for that other 10-15%). That weapon must be reliable, reasonably accurate, and preferably chamber a duty-caliber round. If all else fails, I'm willing to take a .380 but I normally reserve that for my tiniest OD/BUG, the Kel-Tec P3AT.

Well, I wound up recently purchasing a very lightly used ("Like New Condition") Kahr PM40. By very lightly used, it was, so the dealer told me, bought new by a deputy a couple o'counties over. Said lawman put, reportedly, two magazines or less through it and promptly traded it in. Hmmm ... I love a challenge! In fairness, it did not appear to have any wear whatsoever on it. When I closely examined the interior I saw a very fine amount of smudge on the inside. About right for a couple o'mags, I reckoned.

First, let me describe this little wonder. It's a double action only (DAO), polymer framed ultra-compact pistol chambered in .40 S&W. Mine came with a stainless steel slide, barrell, and trigger. The finish is matte, bordering on satin. The trigger pull is quite smooth and easily managed without being nerve-wrackingly light. It measures 5.35" long, 4" high, .94" thick, and weighs about 17 ounces with an empty magazine.


I'm actually amazed at how close it is to the size of my uber-tiny Kel-Tec P3AT .380. It looks like it's maybe 1/3 bigger, but that's just an eye-ball guess. I haven't done any actual measuring yet. Still, it's under an inch thick (just) and rides very comfortably in my waistband inside a Don Hume clip-on leather holster. The thin, formed leather adds very little bulk and the reinforced mouth let's it stay open for relatively easy reholstering. I've worn it IWB (inside waist band) behind my hip, cross-draw, appendix, and even just barely fore and aft of 3 o'clock (along the outseam of my pants) and in all those posts, it concealed under an XL t-shirt. I've also worn it quite a bit in an Uncle Mike's pocket holster. It literally just becomes a small not-at-all-gun-shaped lump in my office kahkis. It almost disappears in my relaxed fit Levis. This polymer framed Kahr is even comfortable on my ankle. That's something I could not say about it's slightly larger and much heavier brother, the K40 Covert.

The PM40 takes either flush-fitting 5-round magazines, or 6-round mags that extend about a finger's width below the grip. My PM40 came with one of each, the 6-rounder having a large polymer floorplate that fills in the gap between the bottom of the pistol's grip and the bottom of the magazine. Some folks who've held it commented that they preferred the longer magazine as they did not like having to curl a finger underneath the grip. I personally prefer as small a grip as possible. Why? Simply put (and generally), the smaller the grip, the less bulk there is to print under a shirt. So long as there's enough to get a grip on when drawing, I'm usually happy. But, to each their own. I even heard a few comments to the effect that it was "too small." Sure, I've carried even full-sized USP .45 concealed and yes, I mean in this semi-tropical environment of the SouthEastern Gulf Coast. I can carry big guns concealed. I don't like carrying big guns concealed. It's not comfortable (for me, anyway ... I'm 5'09" with a waist that varies from 34" to 36" depending 'pon the season). This little Kahr is quite comfortable and in several modes of carry. Plus, it's light enough that it doesn't drag down the pants even in pocket carry and send all sorts of red flares up.

My model came with Trijicon Express-style sites rather than the standard ones. These feature a huge white dot front site and a rear site that, rather than the typical square cut-out, is just dished down somewhat from left to right, with a vertical white stripe down the rear center. Both the dot and the stripe feature Trijicon's glow-in-the-dark feature. Express-style sites are not designed for precision target shooting. They are designed to come up on target very quickly and go back on target very quickly after recoil. They do that and do it very well. Put that huge dot on the target, bring it down to dot-the-i over the rear site, squeeze the trigger, and ... there you go. A few days prior I had been shooting a friend's PM9 (fractionally smaller if you happen to have a micrometer handy, but otherwise virtually the same pistol in 9x19mm). His had standard gun sites installed. I was able to make hits on metal Pepper Poppers (chest sized falling metal plates) out as far as 75 yards. With my PM40 and it's express sites, though, I was having great difficulty repeating that feat. For one thing, at that distance that big front dot covers most of the target. Nevertheless, this ultra compact is not designed for precision target shooting. From 25 yards and in, it is very, very fast on target and very easy to hit with. From 15 yards and in, it really begins to shine. At the more realistic self defense range of 7 yards and in, I can't think of faster set of iron sites on a pistol.

Now then, recoil is, in a word, interesting. I equate it with shooting an air-weight j-frame .38 special with hot and heavy +P loads. After about half a box of Winchester "White Box" 180 grain FMJs, the web of my firing hand around the thumb joint was aching. I don't view this as a problem, however, unless one is recoil sensitive. This is not a pistol you're going to be firing a whole lot. The next day I qualified with it on our off-duty/back-up course. This consists of a total of 25 rounds fired from 15 yards, 7 yards, and from the hip at 3 feet. The last bit concerned me simply due to the fact that this being such a light pistol in such a high pressure cartridge, the shooter must fight the recoil or risk a feeding failure. Indeed I had one during the course. I limp-wristed the second shot and the slide did not go back far enough to load the next round. It tied up with the next round nose-diving into the feedramp. All it took to resume firing was to tug the slide back and let go. Still, it was a lesson first I and then later another shooter had to learn. Do NOT limp wrist this pistol at all! The "firm but relaxed" grip we are taught to use on service pistols does not apply here. Grip that pistol like it's a highly venemous, very angry snake and hold on! The tendecy I've observed is that once the shooter realizes the recoil isn't in the light weight .44 magnum category (ouch!), the firing grip relaxes a bit and then curse words follow. So, hold on, hold on tightly, and you should be okay. In fact, the ten rounds I had to fire from three feet one-handed and from the hip did not produce any stoppages at all. I seem to actually do better holding it one-handed. Perhaps this is due to my normal manner in which, utilizing two hands, I actually let the "weak hand" do most of the gripping and mostly consentrate on using the firing hand to pull the trigger smoothly. My extensive experience with the tiny .380 P3AT taught me how to overcome these hard recoiling tiny guns that are so dependant on a very firm wrist.

Kahr pistols are quite expensive. I've seen used Kahrs go anywhere from $450 to a couple of hundred more, with most hovering around or just over the $600 mark. That's a lot of cash. Still, if your needs include a super small, very light, high quality, big-caliber pistol, I don't know where you'll find one in this class for less. I only have about 100 rounds or so, maybe a wee bit less through mine at this point, but so far [knock-on-wood] I have to say I approve.