Picked up my Kahr P380 after work last week. Just went into OAS to browse around and there it was. Hem-hawed around, fondled it, fussed and fidgeted and, despite the money talk the wife and I had recently, pulled out the ol’ plastic. Figured I got a couple Kahrs I’ll be selling at the Tulsa show.
Fit is typical Kahr tight. Trigger is long but smooth. My hands aren’t particularly big, just medium, but the last quarter or so of travel does get confined and bunched up. But hey, this thing can just about fit in the box a deck of playing cards come in.
Tried it out in an Elite pocket holster and it renders it unrecognizable in slacks pocket. What printing that takes place doesn’t look like a gun. Light too so it doesn’t flop around like my j-frame does.
I had a kel-tec P3AT for a little while. The only things I had against it were essentially no sights (none that my eyes could pick up anyway), and the slide couldn’t be locked back in any way. The last one for me was a safety thing. I’ve long developed the habit of locking the slide back if I have a gun out but not directly attended by me. If I lay it down I remove ammo and open the action of any gun. The Kahr solves both of those points (true slide lock and excellent sights for a gun this size) but so far seems to conceal just as well as the kel-tec.
At the range I fired 85 rounds of 94gr FMJ Prvi Partizan(sp) and 50 rounds of 95gr FMJ Blazer Brass for a total of 135 rounds. I fully expected a few failures of some kind with the tight little Kahr. But I had none, zip, zilch; no failure of any kind. The last 6 magazines I even loaded one in the chamber then inserted a full mag. I shot the Prvi stuff first and it seemed to dirty up the gun pretty bad. It also was hitting 3 to 4 inches low at 10yds. The Blazer on the other hand was hitting right at point of aim to maybe an inch or so low.
When it comes to accuracy let me start by saying I don’t have a lot of trigger time with these ultra-small pistols with long trigger pulls. I find them challenging to master. 1911’s and Glock types I can plant 80%-90% of shots in about a 3” circle rapid fire from 10yds. 5 or 6 round slow-fire strings sometimes produce clover leafs. Not so with these little pocket pals. I used the same target for all 135 rounds. The result was about 80% in an oval about 6 inches in diameter. And probably half of those in about a 4 inch oval. 4 or 5 of the magazines were rapid fire. The clear majority was all in a zone that definitely would have ruined someone’s day. All shooting was done at a measured 10yds, outside on a still day. I believe with a little practice I could tighten this up by maybe half. Beyond that would take a lot of dedication. Every flaw in technique is really magnified by these tiny guns.
Am I happy with my purchase? Right now very much so! I know the Ruger and Kel-tec are cheaper. The Kel-tec I had was reliable and was accurate. Never had the Ruger and I understand it can be locked back somehow. I’m glad I spent the extra couple hundred for the Kahr. An actual slide stop, great sights (can be changed if I want to) and fit and finish on par with topflight full-sized guns. Even the inside of the slide is finely finished. And when I slowed down while using the Blazer ammo I was printing 5 to 6 shots around 2 to 3 inches at 10yds. For me that’s completely acceptable for a gun this small. Way better than I could muster with my j-frame in double action.
I hope this helps some who may be contemplating buying one. I got a feeling I’ll be either changing out the sights for night sights or buy a factory equipped one when available. Either way, I feel I’ve nailed down the pocket .380 that’s right for me.
Be safe, shoot lots, protect and enjoy the sport.
Fit is typical Kahr tight. Trigger is long but smooth. My hands aren’t particularly big, just medium, but the last quarter or so of travel does get confined and bunched up. But hey, this thing can just about fit in the box a deck of playing cards come in.
Tried it out in an Elite pocket holster and it renders it unrecognizable in slacks pocket. What printing that takes place doesn’t look like a gun. Light too so it doesn’t flop around like my j-frame does.
I had a kel-tec P3AT for a little while. The only things I had against it were essentially no sights (none that my eyes could pick up anyway), and the slide couldn’t be locked back in any way. The last one for me was a safety thing. I’ve long developed the habit of locking the slide back if I have a gun out but not directly attended by me. If I lay it down I remove ammo and open the action of any gun. The Kahr solves both of those points (true slide lock and excellent sights for a gun this size) but so far seems to conceal just as well as the kel-tec.
At the range I fired 85 rounds of 94gr FMJ Prvi Partizan(sp) and 50 rounds of 95gr FMJ Blazer Brass for a total of 135 rounds. I fully expected a few failures of some kind with the tight little Kahr. But I had none, zip, zilch; no failure of any kind. The last 6 magazines I even loaded one in the chamber then inserted a full mag. I shot the Prvi stuff first and it seemed to dirty up the gun pretty bad. It also was hitting 3 to 4 inches low at 10yds. The Blazer on the other hand was hitting right at point of aim to maybe an inch or so low.
When it comes to accuracy let me start by saying I don’t have a lot of trigger time with these ultra-small pistols with long trigger pulls. I find them challenging to master. 1911’s and Glock types I can plant 80%-90% of shots in about a 3” circle rapid fire from 10yds. 5 or 6 round slow-fire strings sometimes produce clover leafs. Not so with these little pocket pals. I used the same target for all 135 rounds. The result was about 80% in an oval about 6 inches in diameter. And probably half of those in about a 4 inch oval. 4 or 5 of the magazines were rapid fire. The clear majority was all in a zone that definitely would have ruined someone’s day. All shooting was done at a measured 10yds, outside on a still day. I believe with a little practice I could tighten this up by maybe half. Beyond that would take a lot of dedication. Every flaw in technique is really magnified by these tiny guns.
Am I happy with my purchase? Right now very much so! I know the Ruger and Kel-tec are cheaper. The Kel-tec I had was reliable and was accurate. Never had the Ruger and I understand it can be locked back somehow. I’m glad I spent the extra couple hundred for the Kahr. An actual slide stop, great sights (can be changed if I want to) and fit and finish on par with topflight full-sized guns. Even the inside of the slide is finely finished. And when I slowed down while using the Blazer ammo I was printing 5 to 6 shots around 2 to 3 inches at 10yds. For me that’s completely acceptable for a gun this small. Way better than I could muster with my j-frame in double action.
I hope this helps some who may be contemplating buying one. I got a feeling I’ll be either changing out the sights for night sights or buy a factory equipped one when available. Either way, I feel I’ve nailed down the pocket .380 that’s right for me.
Be safe, shoot lots, protect and enjoy the sport.
