Kahr Dilema

[Johnny Polite]

Yeah. Most of the time I will be carrying my Glock 23. They are hard to beat as far as reliability

[Estand]

I carry a Kahr P40 and highly recommend it. I did plenty of internet forum reading before coming to that decision. I found people had more issues with the smaller PM models and after talking to a Kahr rep I decided on the P40. It is nearly the same as CW40 but with a little more milling work done on it and a few other details.

Breaking in period is a must and I expected to have some FTL or FTE, etc but I encountered zero issues of any kind in the 350+ rounds so far, and that's with 7 different ammo choices. I also expected it to kick more than it did.

Finding a holster that fits is not easy, especially anything local. I ended up making my own IWB in Kydex and couldn't be happier.

[nuparadigm]

You asked about the PM's and the MK's. The Kahrs with which I have experience are different. For the past four years, I've, daily, carried a P45 (a couple of thousand rounds through it) and have noticed to cracks, warps or bulges of any sort. Before that, I had a K9 which was, also, boringly reliable.

[mr.72]

I wish my CW9 was boringly reliable. I am packing it as we speak to send it back to Kahr for the 2nd time. But I sure like it when it's working :)

[03Lightningrocks]

I wish my CW9 was boringly reliable. I am packing it as we speak to send it back to Kahr for the 2nd time. But I sure like it when it's working :)

Oh NO!!!! Is the issue a repeat issue or is it something different each time.

[mr.72]

Oh NO!!!! Is the issue a repeat issue or is it something different each time.

It's a saga.

When I first got the gun, it had "teething" issues that I (mistakenly) attributed to break-in.

magazine would drop on its own while firing (just released and dropped like 1/8", would still feed)
slide fail to lock back on empty (often caused by the magazine being dropped like 1/8")
1-3/100 rounds light strike
teeny metal "flakes" dusted inside the gun after a range session

After a few hundred rounds the metal flakes went away, but the other problems persisted.

After a month or two my first RA resulted in a new magazine release and spring. I replaced these myself. While I was in there that day, I also took out the striker and spring, cleaned the striker channel and reassembled the whole thing hoping to aid the light-strike problem.

Few hundred rounds later, it continued to light strike occasionally but I dismissed it, thinking maybe it was a hard primer here and there (WWB ammo) and since I never ever had a light strike with 200-300 rounds of my SD ammo (Federal BPLE +P) I figured it was good to go. Then one day at the range is just quit working almost altogether, light strike about 75% of the time with all ammo.

Then came RA #2. I wrote up a list of the problems I was having, magazine drops, light strikes, failure to lock the slide back, etc. and sent it back. They replaced the barrel and magazine follower and sent it back.

The new barrel fixed the 75% light strike, and now it's back to 1-3% light strikes, just like it has always been.

I suspect that the striker is out of spec... too short, etc. Or the striker spring is too short. Or it's misaligned and rubs (thus the flakes). Something like that. But sometimes it feels like when it light-strikes that the trigger is not totally reset, not enough pull weight, like I can tell it's going to light strike before the trigger breaks. This makes me think maybe the problem is in the frame of the gun, trigger bar, etc. I haven't disassembled that part of the gun.

So it's going back for the third RA. This time I complained loudly, told them I thought this was unsafe for a self-defense pistol to be this problematic, and that I was extremely disappointed in the quality of this gun. I asked directly for them to replace the whole gun, and not just do a band-aid repair again. I doubt they will do that, and maybe they can't do it because it may result in a new serial number.

I think I just got a lemon.

I wouldn't mind if there was a little more competition in this market space.

when it rains it pours ... while packing the Kahr to send it off I noticed my holster is cracked too! argh!! maybe it's a sign that I should switch to a whole different pistol.

[Estand]

I wish my CW9 was boringly reliable. I am packing it as we speak to send it back to Kahr for the 2nd time. But I sure like it when it's working :)

I noticed more people listing issues with the CW vs the P versions. The P models have "more time milling", wolf springs, match barrel per Kahr rep. But there seems to be a big gap between the two's reliability.

[CompVest]

mr.72, from my experience for what it is worth.

Have you marked your magazines ie:numbered them? If so have you noted whether the light strikes only happen with certain magazine/s? I had an issue with light strikes and traced the problem to one magazine. I took the magazine apart, cleaned it thoroughly, and the light strikes are gone! SRVA and I decided the offending magazine was keeping the gun just far enough out of battery to still allow the striker to hit but out just far enough to cause a light strike.

[mr.72]

mr.72, from my experience for what it is worth.

Have you marked your magazines ie:numbered them? If so have you noted whether the light strikes only happen with certain magazine/s? I had an issue with light strikes and traced the problem to one magazine. I took the magazine apart, cleaned it thoroughly, and the light strikes are gone! SRVA and I decided the offending magazine was keeping the gun just far enough out of battery to still allow the striker to hit but out just far enough to cause a light strike.

That's a great suggestion. I only have the one magazine that came with the pistol. I know some of the other problems were definitely related to the magazine (failure to lock the slide open on empty, for example). So this wouldn't surprise me if this were the problem.

The gun's packed and going onto the FedEx truck any minute now, so if it's not fixed when I get it back, I'll definitely try the magazine.

[CompVest]

Perhaps you will be able to get Kahr to give you a new magazine?

[mr.72]

Maybe. They didn't actually pick up my gun today like they were supposed to... they scheduled a pickup with FedEx but no airbill

so maybe I'll crack it open and clean & lube the mag as you suggest.

[CompVest]

Just an aside. I don't lube my mags. Just clean them and wipe down the outside with a teflon cloth so they will drop freely. I feel that any oil on them just attacks dirt and causes it to build up inside the mag.

[mr.72]

I agree about that the lube attracting dirt.

Very odd that a magazine could cause light strikes... but it wouldn't surprise me.

[mikeintexas]

I just figured you would guess. :)

I am in the DFW area. Specifically, north of Dallas.

I have bought a couple of guns at Bachman Gun at Northwest Highway and Webbs Chapel in Dallas. The usually have fair prices on guns and a good selection.

[Estand]

I have read to avoid any oil in the magazines for one big reason, that it somehow negatively affects primers.

Also just passing on a note on Kahr mags, I have read several people that had issues with after market mags in their Kahr's. That OEM Kahr mags are the only reliable way to go.