New Carry Gun Assessments
KAHR ARMS P380
KAHR ARMS P380- At first glance P380 appears impressive based on size and weight for easy concealment and carry. KAHR is known for quality and reliability and has an excellent line of concealment size handguns. Unfortunately the new P380, which has been out for over a year, has shown to be un-reliable. My first exposure was late last spring when students were showing up at the CHL class with their new P380's. Immediately the guns were malfunctioning, mostly failure to feed and misfire. Our first thought was limp wrist or a loose grip. After both I and the other instructor attempted to shoot them, we had the same results. Next, maybe it's the ammo. After trying several name brand quality ammunitions, still malfunctioning. Next we examined lubrication, still malfunctioning. If it had just been 1 or 2 guns and others were fine it just could be one of those guns, but, not when we had several over a 6 month period and every single one did the same thing. If you have one of these and haven't fired it I highly recommend you test fire it with your carry ammo including double taps and rapid fire. According to my neighbor, who purchased a P380, KAHR will except it for "testing" but will not commit to repairing the problem. Again, we love KAHR products but feel it's or duty to make the concealed carry community aware of a potentially serious problem.
RUGER LC380
RUGER LC380 -The success of the LCP and LC9 lead to the LC380. It's an LC9 chambered in .380, same size and weight. It would make one think, "What's the point, carry the 9MM." Recently we had the new LC380 on the range for a CHL qualification. At first the weapon seemed to cycle well. Than after a couple of magazines it started malfunctioning. The last round in every magazine would fly out of the ejection port or stove pipe. Upon close inspection the problem was obvious the magazine has a design flaw. Ruger took the LC9 magazine and put a spacer on the inside back of the magazine to make up for the 2MM difference in round length. Problem is the front lips of the magazine tend to spread after a little use and don't have enough bite to retain the last round in the magazine until its feed into the chamber. Using a modified LC9 magazine pushes the casing to far forward allowing the round to work itself loose. So, I'd give this one a pass until Ruger re-designs the magazine instead of rigging up the 9MM mag for 380.
Note the spacer in the magazine assembly.
Springfield XDS .45
Springfield XDS .45 - Springfield's latest addition to the XD family has the potential to be a smash hit with the carry community. This gun is lightweight, slim, easy to conceal and packs the .45 ACP round. It is 5+1 but with the extended magazine you get 2 more rounds and a longer grip, which some prefer. My experience shooting this weapon was nothing but awesome. It functions with the simplicity of a revolver but has the trigger of the XD line of handguns. The sights are easy to see making sight acquisition fast and accurate. I highly recommend checking out the XDS if you're on the market for a sub-compact .45 carry gun.
XDS extended magazine
We hope you find this information helpful.
Phil Ryan - Police Firearms Instructor / CHL instructor
