Kahr P380

Hello, Ive been lurking this forum for the past couple of months now. Today I stumbled acrossed Kahr's website and noticed they have a new model soon to ship. Kahr Arms / .380 Models / P Series

My EDC is a Kimber UC II. Im used to the 1911 platform and am no stranger to handguns. Recently, Ive been toying with the idea of purchasing a BUG. When I first saw the Kahr P380 I instantly became intrigued by it.

That being said, What can anyone tell me about the .380 platform. I have never shot one, and have been curious as to its stopping power. Im in no way trying to start a war on which caliper bullet is better(.45vs 9mm, etc.). Im only trying to find some insight to the .380. Any info would be highly helpful. Thanks.

Gelatin Penetration Tests Here: .380ACP

I'm from the bigger is better school of thought, since CNS disruption can be caused by virtually any caliber, but rapid bleed out requires bigger and deeper holes. That said, the penetration of 380 ACP seems fair.

I carry a CW9 as my BUG or go-anywhere gun.

I have a Sig P230. I like a .380....fun to shoot, but I prefer a little larger caliber for carry. I am now carrying a Kahr CW9, and am thinking about making my SP101 a bug.....but then I'm also kicking around the idea of the Kahr CW45 as my carry.....

At 2.5" barrel length, this may very well be the high quality replacement for the KT P3AT and Ruger LCP. I'd certainly look into it if it's small enough to pocket invisibly.

Don't get me wrong here, I love my P9 and would gladly pay any reasonable price for a carry pistol of such good workmanship...BUT, it seems to be that the P.380 seems much too expensive. Why not spend the extra 200 on an R9?

The Kahr website shows an MSRP price of $649 for the .380 model, and I was curious what the gun might sell for at typical retail.

The Kahr PM9 model has an MSRP of $771 and Bud's Gun Shop sells it for $588, which is 76% of MSRP. If you apply the 76% figure to the .380, you get an estimated retail price of $495.

It does look like a pretty nice little pocket gun, with a "no magazine" weight of 10 ounces and very small dimensions. I think it would conceal quite easily in almost any pocket. Perhaps it would make an excellent backup gun.

My order is in! I'm not a fan of the 380, but I am of Kahr so I'm going to give it a whirl.

Thank you for everyones responses.

matiki: thanks for the great website. it was very informative.

SIXTO: If you do indeed purchase the new P380 please be sure to give me a range review as I too am leaning towards this as a BUG.

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Originally Posted by jaydmhonda

Thank you for everyones responses.

matiki: thanks for the great website. it was very informative.

SIXTO: If you do indeed purchase the new P380 please be sure to give me a range review as I too am leaning towards this as a BUG.

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Will do. I'm first in line to get one in my area.

You know, I just looked at the photo comparison between the P3AT and P380 - I'm sold. REAL SIGHTS for the win - and if it has the typical Kahr trigger that's just gravy!

9mm's out of a small Kahr can be snappy, a .380 might just be a perfect balance. Its dimensions would seem to make it a perfect BUG or light cary gun.

Well I wasn't planning on buying another Kahr anytime soon, but I think that may have changed.

Sixto, do you know what the price point is going to be for those yet?

As much as I love my PM9, I also like my P3at, not half as much as my PM9 but I would find it hard to spend more then 2x the cost of the P3at. But I am going to find one and play with it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SonofASniper

Well I wasn't planning on buying another Kahr anytime soon, but I think that may have changed.

Sixto, do you know what the price point is going to be for those yet?

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MSRP is 650, I'll bet it will be right around 500 on the shelf, give or take a few dollars. I suspect that Kahr is going to do everything they can to keep the price as low as possible to compete with the lesser quality pistols that it will be next to in the showcase.

With some help from cvhoss's table, I produced another 380 ACP BUG comparison table.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...comp_table.jpg

Quick note: Kahr's website states the P380 as having a slide width of .75 inches. Using the Kahr-supplied picture comparing the top view of the P380 and the P3AT, pixels, and proportionality, I came up with an overall (approximate) width of .91 inches.