Walther PK380 jam issue

[Cat-Herder]

This is the pistol that my GF keeps picking up and saying "i like this one" so that is why i will go through the grief. She is new to shooting so i have to get her what she wants.

Do yourself a favor and run a couple of boxes through it and break that sucker in, then! A happy woman is an important thing!

 

[zx6rman96]

This makes me nervous as I was thinking about getting my GF this exact pistol. Anyone else have any thoughts on this???

we have the same issue with my gf's pink pk380. not every round jams like the guy said, but every other when she's shooting it. me personally it has never jammed on me but maybe once. i think she limp wrists it sometimes. We only have about 150rds through hers so far, so we will see what it does after 500.....Great looking 380 tho!

 

[blamecharles]

we have the same issue with my gf's pink pk380. not every round jams like the guy said, but every other when she's shooting it. me personally it has never jammed on me but maybe once. i think she limp wrists it sometimes. We only have about 150rds through hers so far, so we will see what it does after 500.....Great looking 380 tho!

Do yourself a favor and run a couple of boxes through it and break that sucker in, then! A happy woman is an important thing!

Plus it will be good training opportunity.

 

[longshooter]

Guys, thanks for all the great advise. I cleaned it after the last range session but haven't gotten back to the range yet. My wife is a relatively new shooter, so we will definitely take a look at her grip next time. Thanks for all the great advice!! I'll make sure to let you all know how the next range session goes.

 

[superjoe76]

Wow, mines been good right out of the box. The only time it has done it, once or twice, was when my son would limp wrist it. I told him to hold it firm and not allow recoil and it doesn't do it.

I really like ours so I hope you get it resolved soon.

 

[VERT]

My wife loves her PK380! That alone makes all the hassle worth while.

1) Clean and lube that sucker
2) If your gun is like ours it will be very ammunition specific. Some loads run like a type writer others will FTE every shot.

Loads that work in wife's gun: Remington Green Box, Prizi Pruvi, CCI Blazer, Federal HydroShok

Loads that don't work: Sellier & Billot (sorry for spelling), Federal American Eagle, Winchester White Box

I have found the good old fashioned Federal Tactical HydraShok to be very reliable. I know there are better self defense loads but this is what we use. I was also surprised by the aluminum cased blazers. Wish I could find a case of those somewhere.

 

[LawDog76]

All, I recently picked up a new PK380 as a carry handgun for my wife. On the first trip to the range this weekend, I was less than impressed. Shooting 95gr. FMJ Speer Lawman ammo, basically every round created a jam issue. It looked to me like the next live round in the mag was creeping forward due to the previous shot's recoil. As the slide was recoiling to eject the spent round, it looks like the empty case rim was catching on the partially moved forward round in the mag, breaking it free from the extractor and leaving the spent case hanging in the chamber. Anyone ever seen this type of issue? Or have any suggestions to prevent it? Thanks for your help!

Did you strip it down, clean the grease from out of it, then oil it before your trip to the range? I've owned 2 of the PK380s and they both fired flawlessly. The very first time I fired my PK380 was in December outside in freezing temps with no issues. I've ran WWB, Gold Sabers, PMC Bronze and Independence ammo through mine.

 

[longshooter]

Hey LawDog, I did. I gave it a pretty thourough cleaning prior to the range trip. I'm anxious to give a couple of other ammo types a try to see if that helps the situation. I plan on picking up a few boxs at the 1500 this weekend to see if I can find a round that it digests better. I'll try to pick up some of the ammo you mentioned. Thanks!

 

[TSmith]

I really like the looks of this gun, but have been concerned about the reviews. I read somwhere that Walther sent an engineer to examine some of the problems and that they were going to attempt to fix things. Does anybody know if they have made any changes?

 

[NickJ]

I have a PK380. Mine had 3 or 4 FTE's in the frist 250 rounds. So break it in and shoot about 300 rounds through it before you rely on it. I haven't had any malfuntions in the last 300-400 rounds I fired.

I also polished my entire inner slide just to make it run smoother...along with the barrel. I believe it helped out quite a bit.

Good Luck!~

 

[NickJ]

Return it to the factory & let WALTHER fix it

it doesn't need fixed. Just broken in, cleaned, and lubed.

 

[TSmith]

I hope breaking in it is all it is. Because I can't keep from looking at them when I see one. I will probably cave in and get one at some point.

 

[mister]

I'm glad this thread exists. I've been seriously considering picking one of these up as a new carry piece. I knew they needed a good break in period, but now I'm not sure if it's something I could trust when it really counts.

 

[firehawk1]

Finally got the PK380 I had ordered from Bud's. First thing... everyone is correct you HAVE to clean the thing. I don't know what Walther used to lube it with, looked like some left over oil from WW2 or something. Nasty brown/black stuff.

Fully cleaned and lubed I took it out and so far have run about 100 rounds thru it. Mostly PMC FMJ, and only had one FTF. The PK380 does not like limp wristing at all like several have stated here. My wife had several FTF, and it was her limp wristing it. She had never shot a handgun before so the FTF's weren't the pistol's fault IMO.

I did run 8 rounds of HP ammo thru it with no problems. All in all I like the PK380, recoil is truly no worse that the P22 I have, and out of the box I was killing pop cans at 25' or so.

It IS a keeper!

 

[longshooter]

Quick update:

After about a 30 minute hold time, I got ahold of S&W customer service. Described the issue to them and they requested I ship the pistol back for evaluation. Shipped it out yesterday 11/2/11. Customer support sounded like this was not a new issue. Service was good though, very friendly person. I'll keep you posted on how things turn out.

 

[pamsue1030]

This is why

With all of the quality .380's available right now, why put yourself through this grief? There are similar sized .380's from Bersa and CZ, smaller ones from Kahr, Ruger, Kel-Tec, Magnum Research, etc. that all seem to work better. Sure, any new firearm will benefit from a break-in period, but Smith & Wesson, as much as I love their revolvers, have had many issues with semi-autos. The only ones that seem to function well right out of the box IMHO seem to be the M&P's.

The reason some of us put ourselves through this is because we are female. I don't know all the gun talk lingo...so here goes. I have pulled the slide on just about every .380 and the Walther is by far the easiest. For those of us with obvious strength issues, this is the right gun. It has jammed on me a few times, but I am sure I am limp wristing it and need more practice. I bought it for CCW and it's light. That is good. I have a Sp101 I have shot for years but I am acclimating to Semi-Automatic. Just adding I really love the SP101 and wish it were lighter so I could CC it.

 

[jamstutz]

The reason some of us put ourselves through this is because we are female. I don't know all the gun talk lingo...so here goes. I have pulled the slide on just about every .380 and the Walther is by far the easiest. For those of us with obvious strength issues, this is the right gun. It has jammed on me a few times, but I am sure I am limp wristing it and need more practice. I bought it for CCW and it's light. That is good. I have a Sp101 I have shot for years but I am acclimating to Semi-Automatic. Just adding I really love the SP101 and wish it were lighter so I could CC it.

Being female does not mean you have to count on a defense handgun that is not 100% reliable. If you love your SP101 but want a lighter handgun to carry have you considered the Ruger LCR? Small as the SP101, very light weight, and it has an exceptional trigger right out of the box.