shooter521
Certified Glock Nut
Hey, all!
A co-worker of mine bought a Kahr P380 a couple months ago, but has been unable to shoot it due to ongoing health and scheduling issues. So he brought it to me along with a couple spare mags and some ammo, and asked if I'd wring it out and report back to him. Duh, OK.
So this afternoon I happened to be down at lovemywoods' place doing some troubleshooting on a couple of guns in preparation for NFA Day, and figured I'd shoot the little Kahr alongside my customized Colt Pony Pocketlite and do a bit of comparison/contrast. lovemywoods and esrice graciously agreed to help out.
The P380 was unfired prior to today, beyond anything done at the factory before shipment. The Colt had a documented 725 rounds through it.
The Kahr and the Colt:
esrice shooting the Noisy Crickets:
My results:
Some thoughts:
SIZE
The Pony's grip is nicely hand-filling while the P380's seems almost too thin (think Kel-Tec P3AT or Ruger LCP here). Both guns only allow two fingers on the grip. The P380, being slimmer and lacking the beavertail found on the Pony, is a bit more concealable. Capacity on both guns is the same, 6+1. Advantage: None.
SIGHTS
The P380's sights are of the "bar-dot" pattern but are extremely low profile. They are better than what pass for sights on the P32/P3AT/LCP, and are even preferable to the standard Pony sights (rear notch and integral front blade), but the custom Cylinder & Slide front sight on my Pony was much easier to pick up. Plus, the P380 shot consistently low at 7 yards.
Advantage: Pony.
TRIGGER
The P380 trigger "feel" is identical to that on my P9... smooth DAO with about 1/4" of take-up, ~6# break and a long reset. No surprises there. It blows the stock Pony trigger pull out of the water, and is shorter and lighter even than my C&S tuned example. That said, I felt I could manage or "stage" the Pony's trigger more easily. lovemywoods also preferred it by a small margin.
Advantage: Pony.
RELIABILITY
The P380 burned through 110 rounds including 3 types of FMJ and 2 types of JHP, without a single malfunction. The Pony had 1 malfunction in an equal number of rounds.
Advantage: P380.
ACCURACY
Despite the fact that it shot low at 7 yards with all ammo types, consistency and accuracy were outstanding. Average group sizes with the P380 were smaller than with the Pony, and I had multiple holes touching on several occasions.
Advantage: P380.
In closing, the Kahr P380 would make an excellent backup or deep cover gun. It has usable sights, is small enough to conceal easily but has enough size and mass to be a comfortable shooter, has a good trigger, is quite accurate for its size class, and is boringly reliable. As esrice said, "it's everything Kahr, only smaller."
The P380 with factory night sights is supposed to be available by year's end... I will have one.
A co-worker of mine bought a Kahr P380 a couple months ago, but has been unable to shoot it due to ongoing health and scheduling issues. So he brought it to me along with a couple spare mags and some ammo, and asked if I'd wring it out and report back to him. Duh, OK.
So this afternoon I happened to be down at lovemywoods' place doing some troubleshooting on a couple of guns in preparation for NFA Day, and figured I'd shoot the little Kahr alongside my customized Colt Pony Pocketlite and do a bit of comparison/contrast. lovemywoods and esrice graciously agreed to help out.
The P380 was unfired prior to today, beyond anything done at the factory before shipment. The Colt had a documented 725 rounds through it.The Kahr and the Colt:
esrice shooting the Noisy Crickets:
My results:
Some thoughts:
SIZE
The Pony's grip is nicely hand-filling while the P380's seems almost too thin (think Kel-Tec P3AT or Ruger LCP here). Both guns only allow two fingers on the grip. The P380, being slimmer and lacking the beavertail found on the Pony, is a bit more concealable. Capacity on both guns is the same, 6+1. Advantage: None.
SIGHTS
The P380's sights are of the "bar-dot" pattern but are extremely low profile. They are better than what pass for sights on the P32/P3AT/LCP, and are even preferable to the standard Pony sights (rear notch and integral front blade), but the custom Cylinder & Slide front sight on my Pony was much easier to pick up. Plus, the P380 shot consistently low at 7 yards.
Advantage: Pony.
TRIGGER
The P380 trigger "feel" is identical to that on my P9... smooth DAO with about 1/4" of take-up, ~6# break and a long reset. No surprises there. It blows the stock Pony trigger pull out of the water, and is shorter and lighter even than my C&S tuned example. That said, I felt I could manage or "stage" the Pony's trigger more easily. lovemywoods also preferred it by a small margin.
Advantage: Pony.
RELIABILITY
The P380 burned through 110 rounds including 3 types of FMJ and 2 types of JHP, without a single malfunction. The Pony had 1 malfunction in an equal number of rounds.
Advantage: P380.
ACCURACY
Despite the fact that it shot low at 7 yards with all ammo types, consistency and accuracy were outstanding. Average group sizes with the P380 were smaller than with the Pony, and I had multiple holes touching on several occasions.
Advantage: P380.
In closing, the Kahr P380 would make an excellent backup or deep cover gun. It has usable sights, is small enough to conceal easily but has enough size and mass to be a comfortable shooter, has a good trigger, is quite accurate for its size class, and is boringly reliable. As esrice said, "it's everything Kahr, only smaller."
The P380 with factory night sights is supposed to be available by year's end... I will have one.
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