PK380 accuracy issues?

[LaiePoi]

Shot the pk380 today at the range as a rental (for my wife) and I was not very accurate at all with it! Not sure if it's because the barrel length is so much shorter than my PPQ (4 in.) and XDM (4.5 in.) which could cause me to be less accurate. I even pulled the target in within 6 ft just to see if I was really shooting that off and I still was hitting about 3 inches off my point of aim....at 6 feet.. Thats me lying down! So weird!! Keep in mind I can hit the bullseye just about every time with my PPQ and XDM at 7 yrds until there's a gaping hole in the target, but with the PK380 I'd probably shoot better with my eyes closed! Any ideas why this is? My wife and sis in law were a lot worse with it too than they are with the xdm but my wife probably shot the 380 better than me and she never shoots close to as accurate as me! lol. Not sure if the gun condition was bad with it being a rental or what but it made me rethink about getting one for my wife if it really shoots that bad for us. That is the only slide that my wife can rack with no problems whatsoever because the recoil spring is so light...so please someone tell me it ain't soooo!!! Tell me it was just a bad rental!

[hmott3]

Man I wish I could tell you its you and not the gun, but I think it may be a little of both. I have a ppq.40 and like you my wife couldn't really rack much besides the pk380 and loved the fit of it. Its what she wanted so we got her one. The other day while out shooting I put maybe 100 rounds through the ppq and had nice gapping holes at about 20 ft. She got tired of shooting so I picked up her pk380 and could barely even hit the damn target! I ended up putting 3 mags through it and I did get better. With the first magazine I was off way left and had some at the top of the target and some near the bottom. The secound got a little tighter and the 3rd seemed to group up about fist size maybe a little bigger. Not even close to what I did with the PPQ where I could put 3 clips into a nice ragged hole with a few fliers.

So anyway, long story short. I think its not fair to compair the pk380 to your PPQ, but getting used to the gun could help too.

I basically bite my tounge about it all, she loves the gun so why bother? Its more then acurate enough to hit a man size target center mass from 20ft away and she enjoys shooting it enough to go with me shooting. I really can't ask for anything more then that. In the end what I want is to shoot a gun I love, standing next to the woman I love. Its really just a bonus that they can protect my family and I as well. So she gets to shoot whatever the hell she wants, and while I think she could pick a better gun.. she doesn't. Its no PPQ, but thats not what she wants.. and I really don't think its fair to compair them.

[LaiePoi]

Thanks for the great info!! I'm glad I was not the only one. We are in the same boat on this one my friend, as far as the wives go. I was low to the left as well for the most part. The first thing I told my wife before we shot the 380 was that this is not a target gun so don't expect to be accurate from 15 yards or anything and that it will serve as a self defense gun/round for her that she can fully operate with no help from me. I guess I just didn't expect us to shoot as far off as we did from so close. But I did tell her not to worry about hitting the bullseye with it, as long as you can hit center mass on a silhouette, that's all that matters. I agree that it should not be compared to the PPQ or XDM. I'm sure it was not made to outperform those fine guns...you can see that in the price difference! The best thing about the pk380 was that even though I did get a little better after a few mags, my wife still shot better than I did with it! Which is great knowing this will be her gun. My main concern was to find her a gun that she can operate all functions without my help and being able to protect herself and our children at any time....bottom line is the pk380 offers this to pretty much any woman. I still have the pk380 with laser on layaway. My wife said she loves that she can rack the slide with ease she will just have to get used to shooting it. She is right. The laser should help Boost her confidence about being on target as well. Thanks for the info I feel a lot better about it now

[table42]

As you've mentioned, there is a bit of a learning curve or adaptation. All last year I mainly shot my PK because it was my carry weapon and I wanted to get better with it. Two weeks ago I went to an indoor range where I rented a Ruger SR9 and Ruger P95. With those two in the mix, I expecting to be much better than with the PK but it wasn't so. I was punching paper about the same with all three. Balance or recoil or trigger or something was at work.

[dkaiser76]

I've experienced this as well...wondered if it was me or the pistol, or maybe the ammo. However, I've had good days and bad days. Haven't given it a thorough cleaning since breaking it in, so hoping this will help. I've had a few jams too... but attribute this to inferior ammo. Any other suggestions are most welcome!

[table42]

I've found that weapons finicky about ammo are also finicky about being clean and lub'd. Even the M16/M203 I carried in the military would jam if I failed to keep the sand out.

But back to accuracy, there are probably too many variables at work. If I wanted an accurate range gun, in auto, it would not be a PK. The 380 ammo itself has only received attention in recent years. I've had a 380 since the early '80s and it was always been the red headed step child. It got little attention and finding defensive loads was impossible. At greater distances I think it might be inherrant to tumble, with some weapons and loads anyway.

[Walther_PK380]

hitting about 3 inches off my point of aim

All of them off in the same direction from your point of aim or in different directions from your point of aim?

[LaiePoi]

Originally Posted by Walther_PK380

All of them off in the same direction from your point of aim or in different directions from your point of aim?

Man they were kind of all over the place. My hand probably just needs to get use to that pistol grip. A lot smaller than I'm used to I suppose

[Walther_PK380]

I think you're right. It's likely that you've gotten used to the other firearm and haven't got much practice with the PK380 yet. The fact that your wife shot more accurately with it leads me to believe that's it's just a case of what you're more used to shooting.

[dkaiser76]

I have also found the sights to be a bit lacking, and am wondering if there any fiber optics available? Not sure if the front is removable, but I'd like to replace it with a hi-viz of some sort if possible, like I did with the P22...