380 FTF

GaryS

Well-Known Member
Life Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2018
Messages
290
Location
Gold Hill, NC
Rating - 100%
4   0   0
Did a search on this forum looking for 380 info and found none so am starting a thread. I have not been here that long so it may be lack of experience using the search function. Have had good luck finding info on other Forums using their search function.

Have also done an Internet search for 380 failure to feed. First hit was the same issue I had with same firearm and ammo.

Had my first experience with 380 this month. Both (Kimber micro 380 and Springfield 911) have had Failure To Feed (FTF) issues.

The Kimber is having issue with the nose of the bullet going up the ramp with some ammo. (IMHO)

The 911 is having issues with the aft end of the ammo sliding up the slide and going into battery with some ammo. (IMHO)

Both appear to be more tolerant with hollow point ammo in nickel plated brass. The Kimber likes Hornady Critical Defense and was 100% with it. It even liked range target ammo when the last round in the magazine was the Hornady. The 911 was 100% with Speer Gold-Dot and Sig V-Crown.

Most results from internet searchs recommended 100 rounds should be fired before sending firearm back to manufacturer. Looking at the "brain trust" here to learn what other have experienced with 380s.

In my lifetime, I have shot more rounds of 45 ACP rounds down range out of 1911's that all the other handgun calibers put together. Past 24-months, I have fired more 22 LR and 9 mm handgun calibers than anything else. This is the first year I have shot more than one magazine of 380 at one time.
 
Around here the 380 is kinda obsolete. Slim 9’s are as small and seem to tolerate different ammo better. Plus 380 is a lot more expensive.
Hope your not offended but most Kimbers have some kind of issue. That’s why the resale is so low and then they are still hard to sell. YMMV
Plus seeing that you like the 1911 platform I’m really no help:)
 
Last edited:
My Sig p238 (used) had one or 2 issues with feeding early on, but I've shot many hundreds of rounds in it over many months, and since the new extractor was put in (May 2019), it's had no issues at all. It doesn't care what ammo I give it. lol.
 
I’ve had a half dozen .380 pocket rockets. A few were painfully sensitive to certain ammo. I’ve only kept one of the little beasts, LCPII. The rest are thankfully gone. And like Mike said, it’s just too easy to carry 9mm now.
 
Kahr cw380 will shoot anything I throw in there store bought. Getting ready to load up some home bodies and we'll see how that works.
I thought mine would too till I tried to run Fiocchi FMJ through it.

It was like trying to run 45 through a 9mm.
Would. Not. Run.
 
... Looking at the "brain trust" here to learn what other have experienced with 380s. ...
For what it's worth, I carried a .380 Colt Mustang Pocketlite as a backup (and occasional primary) pistol for several decades. I never had a "failure to - " problem of any kind with any ammo. The only issues I had with it were ergonomic - the small fixed sights and the short sight radius. It was strictly for close work for sure. The recoil was snappy, but manageable for me. The only work I did on it was paint the front ramp and I did a spring job when they wore out.
 
Last edited:
Never had an issue with my P238. It appears to eat everything I feed it. That said, it is my carry gun and I clean it regulary whether I have shot it or not and it has been shot as a demo by many of the ladies in our league. I am sure, at some point, I will need to replace recoil spring and extractor.

The LCP on the other hand is a back up gun. It works but not a go to.
 
Last edited:
I had a lot of issues with the first 10 rounds out of a beretta pico. It got less frequent through the first 50 rounds and haven't had a single issue with the several hundred since using 4 different types of ammo.
 
Last edited:
Around here the 380 is kinda obsolete. Slim 9’s are as small and seem to tolerate different ammo better. Plus 380 is a lot more expensive. --- snip---
:)

I know all that about the 380. I like 45 best. When I cannot have a 45, I would prefer 40 S&W. When I cannot have 45 or 40, then I would prefer 9 mm.

Never had much use for 380 when I had the three most popular semi-auto handgun caliber available. Neighbor purchased a 380. I feel I need to get some 380 experience to help her with it. I liked the light recoil of the 380. If it is not reliable, it may as well be at home in the safe.

Trying to be a sponge and soak up all I can learn about making the 380 run reliable.
 
Not under me own rock... Colt Mustang, Colt Pony, Browning BDA, Sig 238... all run fine with no FTFs.
Same here. I mostly shoot Federal FMJ in the same lineup of pistols, plus an LCP and P3AT; I usually finish each session with a magazine or two of Hornady XTPs. I haven't had any trouble with any of them; I do clean them regularly.
 
I have a good portion of 1,000 rounds of 380, which was the first thing I ever made when my friend and I bought the Dillon 650. Everyone said, it's not worth it. Turned out it was a bigger cost saving than any other caliber. We made a half a lifetime supply, and they feed just fine. His is a Bersa.
 
SIg p238 is my pocket gun
Never had any problems with it.
Have had Rugers and kel tecs in 380, tried a Kimber in 380 was not for me ftf and fte too often.
 
I have found here that most 380 problems with feeding is ammo related. In 380 here by make we have Beretta, Colt, Amt, Ruger and Sig. Don't know much about the Sig yet, the others run like crap through a goose when fed good quality hot BALL ammo. Underwood is champ for making things percolate. Enough rearward slide travel will usually give you enough forward momentum to Poke it in the hole.
We had KelTecs here and Man I really wanted them to work. I liked them. None made 100 round tests. Yes, I know yours works perfect! The 5 we tried didn't.
 
I really like 380s as carry guns and have shot several. The P238 is a little bulkier than the rest but it runs so well that it is my EDC. It will shoot whatever I throw at it, but I prefer ball ammo as my carry ammo. When shooting pocket guns, especially the smaller ones (LCP, etc), I tighten my grip by maybe 15-20% since my hands are so large and the gun is so tiny. With so little to hang on to and my hand size, the guns tend to slip a little bit even with a low recoil round like 380 ACP. It helps with cycling and reacquiring site picture quickly. Tighter grip is more important on the tiny 9 mms due to the increased recoil, but there are definite benefits in gripping 380s tighter as well. I’ve never had any feed issues out of any of them other the LCPII.
 
If a .380 is a blow back design (90%+ are) then I firmly believe that most FTF issues are due to the shooter not having a locked wrist and/or elbow when firing. When some recoil is lost to improper holding of the blow back .380, it will hiccup. It just happens and is just physics at work. Most blame the ammo or magazine when it's all about the way it's being held while shooting it.
 
I have found here that most 380 problems with feeding is ammo related. In 380 here by make we have Beretta, Colt, Amt, Ruger and Sig. Don't know much about the Sig yet, the others run like crap through a goose when fed good quality hot BALL ammo. Underwood is champ for making things percolate. Enough rearward slide travel will usually give you enough forward momentum to Poke it in the hole.
We had KelTecs here and Man I really wanted them to work. I liked them. None made 100 round tests. Yes, I know yours works perfect! The 5 we tried didn't.

I've found that you have to kinda push hollow points in to the Pico when initially loading the chamber unless you slingshot it perfectly, which ain't easy IMHO, yet it runs perfectly. STEEP feed ramps on those mouse guns.
 
Back
Top Bottom