Diamondback .380 - Review

[Spahr0311B]

This will be my first post, thought I should familiarize myself with the site before jumping in.

I recently purchased a Diamondback .380 for a backup to my backup. I was drawn in by the small size and excellent sights. The day I bought it I fired approximately 30 rounds of Federal Hydoshock 90grn Reduced Recoil through it. Experienced failure to feed on EVERY mag. Fired first shot, slide goes back, strips round from mag, round feed jams before going into battery. I strip the mag, rack rack rack, re-insert and fire the rest of the mag.

I say to myself "Self, thats not good." So I take it home and clean it. Read the instruction manual, discover that there is a 100rnd break in period. No-problem, I go out and buy a couple of boxes of .380 ammo (50rnds Remington, 50rnds Atlanta Arms reloads) and go back to the range. Failure to feed mag after mag. Plus one failure to eject about 60rnds in. End range session after 130 rnds, upset but willing to give Diamondback a chance to make it right.

Call Diamondback, am told the gunsmith is out to lunch and will call me back. Recieve no return call.

The positives- accurate small gun, excellent sights, easy pocket carry.
The negatives- Feedjam after feedjam after feedjam.

I personally have no use for a gun that I can not rely on. Will be downloading this gun ASAP.

Just thought you all should know.

[usaffarmer]

I havent had any problems with and have about 250 round out of the gun. Did you try differant mags? more than 2 or 3 types of GOOD ammo?

To me 130 rounds out of a guns isnt alot. And even 250 rounds to me isnt worthy of putting my faith and trust in to it.

[Spahr0311B]

I have not tried another magazine, do not have one available to me. I will try to aquire one and see if the problem continues.

I was not trying to imply that 130 rounds was a lot. I just was pointing out that it exceeded the "break in period" that was stated in the owners manual.

[bullitt5172]

I debated for quite a while on getting one and finally picked one up. I've been pleasantly surprised, it has been 100% reliable through the first 100 rounds. I won't claim it's a "good gun" until I get a couple hundred more through it as some of the issues seem to come up after 200+ rounds with these little guns. It shoots really well and is quite accurate. It will make a good little BUG if it remains reliable and in one piece.

[mnagant762]

I just got one of these for her last week, she wanted a pocket pistol and dislikes revolvers. Strange thing I noticed is hers does not have the stainless mag release and neither does the other two my local shop got in. Makes me wonder why they did this and if they changed anything else. The dealer told my FFL that Glock has a cease & desist order on these.

[bullitt5172]

I just got one of these for her last week, she wanted a pocket pistol and dislikes revolvers. Strange thing I noticed is hers does not have the stainless mag release and neither does the other two my local shop got in. Makes me wonder why they did this and if they changed anything else. The dealer told my FFL that Glock has a cease & desist order on these.

I don't see how Glock would be able to, their patents have all expired as far as I can tell.

[mnagant762]

Thats what I thought, the slide if definitely very Glock like but the frame isn't so I don't know how that works. Could just be a ploy by the dealer to try and sell a pile of them.

[mnagant762]

Got around to shooting hers today and the only thing I can say is WOW what a POS. Could only stomach putting about 70 rounds through it due to the constant FTF,FTE,FTRB and the trigger wouldn't reset. Shot AE fmj,PMC fmj,Glacier Safety Slugs and some Cor Bon HP. The last two mags she ran through it she had to manually chamber every round, it was kicking the brass about 10 feet away. I know they recommend a 100 round break in but this is a bit ridiculous. Will be on the phone with them first thing in the morning. :suicide:

[andy366919]

I've had the same problems with mine too. Ive fired a total of 210 rounds so far, S&B, PMC, a Hydrashock. Multiple failures to feed, extract, and eject. Also, the triger failed to reset about 10 times so far. I cleaned and lubed it after the first hundred rounds and it still didnt make a difference. I dropped it off at the gunstore where I got it and they said they would take care of it. Hope it comes back working like it should because I love the feel of the gun.

[Bubba FAL]

Good info, another promising design that has teething problems? Sounds eerily reminiscent of issues with SKKY pistols.

Please follow up and let us know what Diamondback has to say about these problems.

[andy366919]

Please follow up and let us know what Diamondback has to say about these problems.

I will let you know as soon as I get it back. It is taking a quick detour to the gunsmith, then it is going to back to the factory. The gunsmith was curious because he had heard nothing but good things about the gun and wanted to check it out for himself.

[mnagant762]

Hers went out today, kinda had to laugh when I talked to Pete the gunsmith at DB. Told him that the trigger reset 100% of the time during dry fire but only about 50% during live fire and he said "you might be pulling the trigger too fast and not giving it time to reset" :blink:

[skyugo]

Hers went out today, kinda had to laugh when I talked to Pete the gunsmith at DB. Told him that the trigger reset 100% of the time during dry fire but only about 50% during live fire and he said "you might be pulling the trigger too fast and not giving it time to reset" :blink:

confidence inspiring :eek:

[00bullitt]

I've experienced much the same. Would not feed and trigger would not reset. It went back 3 times and the problem was never fixed although they sent back a repair form everytime saying they fired 18 rounds and it worked fine. Finally I spoke to Pete and he said he would replace the pistol with a new one. I was happy with that solution since the dealer that I bought it from was going to give me a credit to use towards another J Frame. But to my surprise....I get it back and it has a new frame and my old slide. AND.....it still did not work. This time....It wouldn't even reset when hand cycling the slide. Now I have spent a week trying to get someone to take my call. I keep leaving messages with no return phone call. At first...I was snowed by the quality of the gun on the surface. Unfortunately that is only half of the equation. I'd rather it work reliably and be ugly.
Thumbs down from me.

[Wayne Dobbs]

I shot one (and watched it shot) for about 50 rounds yesterday. It failed to extract about 75% of the time, with the extractor jumping off the case rim and leaving it in the chamber. No double feeds were observed. I tried shooting it with only a chambered round and no magazine in for about six rounds and it extracted and ejected all of those.

The gun was a neat little package with good sights and a great DAO trigger. Too bad it's a POS...

[LeonCarr]

Friend has one, looks like a Glock that someone left in the dryer too long, very unreliable. went back to the factory several times, still unreliable.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

[Spahr0311B]

I was able to get my hands on another mag, continued to have the same failure to feeds. Ended up selling it (full disclosure to the buyer about the problems I had) and taking about a $150.00 hit square to the wallet. If your looking for a relaible BUG, I would not suggest buying this one.

[mnagant762]

Hers is still at the dealer, they told us to take it to him and have him send it back so we did, now a week later they won't give him their FFL info so he can ship it. He calls every day and said half the time they won't answer the phone. Now that's what I call customer service.

[NCHornet]

For those needing a small micro 380 or 32, check out the NAA Guardians. Mine have digested everything I have fed them with zero failures of any kind. To bad companies risk the safety of their customers to make the almighty dollar!!

NCH

[huudoo]

Magtech ammo for the win....
i hear good out of Fiocchi ammo also, i haven't tried it yet

ok went to the range today, i tried several of the shelf ammo. all were FMJ Ball type ammo
i was shooting about 25 feet and was able to keep it on a sheet of copy paper, well pleased
even hit a soda can 4 times out of 10 or so at about 40 feet.. really did’t keep count of rounds on any target’s
had a few fliers and most of the time just shot all 6 round then cool down….
i am not a marksman……. do i trust the pistol YES

i did not get to test HP self defense ammo, cost too much lol

how ever i do like Fiocchi ammo just haven’t found any for the 380 yet

after talking to a few smiths even Pete at DB all told me to watch and not to LIMP WRIST
that most all small cal semi auto’s have that sort of issue…….and find what ammo works and stick with it
i know on AR15′s chitty / weak ammo and case size will cause FTE , short stroking
or like problems FTF. stove pipes

for what it is worth, i like the DB and don’t see any issues with it ..using better quailty ammo

(( … american eagle federal with red on the box , sucks do not waste your money … ))

remington umc green/ white box 95 gr FMJ …no issues at all feed and fired every time 50 rounds .. Good

American Eagle red on box 95gr FMJ.. almost every mag some stovepiped or FTE
it had empty case in battery with one riding up, made it through all 50 rounds. .. Sucks

BEST AMMO for mine was Magtech 95gr FMJ.. shot about 40 rounds, plus 12 the day before.. not a problem one …. Great

the american eagle ammo was dam dirty and weak , i guess low powder or something. thick rim on case
remington UMC was better cleaner and more pop / power
the magtech was really clean and had a crisp crack, lot more power…

[nutnless220]

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