Kahr magazines...What makes them bad ?

[joe d]

I'm trying to figure out exactly what it is that makes kahr mags function or not function the way they do...I'm at the range last night with my CM9 and CW45...put at least 200 flawless rounds thru both...I've done the mag follower mods and I was pretty much able to slingshot load the first round with an open slide anyway...Just for the heck of it,on the last couple of mags I shot, I set the slide closed,inserted a fresh mag and tried a full slingshot...No good...first round doesn't load..I racked it a couple of times..once or twice I got it to load after a couple of slingshots..more often it would nosedive...If I slingshot a fresh mag with the slide open or of course just use the slide release, no problem,works every time...just got we wondering what exactly is it that prevents these mags from doing what every other gun I own or have ever handled does...Is it the follower,or the feed lips,or just the general construction of these mags that prevents this...Don't get me wrong,I love my kahrs but this is something that has always kinda bugged me...It got me wondering how this would hinder my performance in a frenzied defense situation...Just thinking...

[muggsy]

Did you have the same problem before the follower mod?

[kerby9mm]

My experience with the 6 round mag varies. The 2 6 round mags I have for my mk9 work differently. The mk''ahr mag slides right in and shoots out. The other mag that says 9-6 Kahr does sometimes and not others. With that mag loaded it slides in and out. Unloaded is a different story. If I push down on the follower before I put it in it goes in no drag otherwise there is a slight resistance at the bottom as I first put it in. I worked on it by polishing it so it is better but still like the mk Kahr mag that came with the gun. My conclusion is that these new 9-6 Kahr mags flex somehow. I don't have feed issues whether I sling shot or ride the slide real slow. I just thought that if they flex it COULD cause problems don't know for sure.

[joe d]

Did you have the same problem before the follower mod? It's always been that way..I didn't do the follower mod on the CW45... I did it on the CM9..I've always been able to slingshot the open slide after inserting a fresh mag on both guns before and after the mod...I know it's just a "kahr mag thing" but it still aggravates me when I get into it at the range..I don't understand why they just don't bone up and fix their mags so they work correctly in all situations...The cheapest crap guns on the market have that figured out at least...Kahrs are awesome handguns...A simple fix on their part would make them even more so...

[joe d]

Back to the range today and tried a couple of things...The way it turns out is if I load 1 light in the mag,it'll do a full slingshot with a closed slide just fine..When the mag is full to capacity,it might take a rack or two,or not load at all on a slingshot...Maybe too much tension on the springs ???...beats me..Both guns shoot flawlessly aside from that,so I'm thankful anyway...

[Ikeo74]

It got me wondering how this would hinder my performance in a frenzied defense situation...Just thinking...

It will never be a problem because your gun will be loaded and if you shoot the full mag and haven't stopped the threat yet just put in a new mag and hit the mag release lever to load it up because the gun will be locked open anyway.

[jocko]

Maybe it has something to do with the offset feed ramp on kahr barrels. My PM9 at first was a real bear to hand rack, and I thought I knew it all. I also could not hand rack my P380 at all, but after a few hundred rounds out of my PM9 it got better ALOT BETTER.. Now with thousands of rounds thorgh my PM9 it is smoother than butter on bread, but in no way as easy as my G19 is either. If I riad my PM9 slide any, it can fokk up. I can ride my Glock and never have an issue. Just the nature of two different guns. I have no issues today hand racking my PM9 or P380. I only carry the mag in thegun so no spare is one me so it is a mute pointk, other than clearing a jam, which I can do the tap rack and bang drill pretty good. Anothe reason why I think a cm or pm kahr is not the best gunb for a woman, if for the main reason most women couldno way hand rack properly a cm or Pm kahr

funny thing this weekend. My wife an I was in a outlet mall, a big one and their was a big coach store there, and I was in there with the wife looking and a sales lady came up to me and ask If I needed anything I said no but I would like to passon a comment and she said that wold be nice. I said you need s purse so that a woman can have a specil area in that purse to carry a handgun. She looked at me like "are u fokking nuts" and she said sir" This is a coach store, we don't make things like that" stupid bit-h:mad: I would have loved to give her about 8 inches but I knew I was about 4" shy, so I just shut up.

[Tinman507]

She looked at me like "are u fokking nuts" and she said sir" This is a coach store, we don't make things like that" stupid bit-h:mad: I would have loved to give her about 8 inches but I knew I was about 4" shy, so I just shut up.

Did you do what you always do and do it 4 times?

[jocko]

wise ass!!

[Cokeman]

funny thing this weekend. My wife an I was in a outlet mall, a big one and their was a big coach store there, and I was in there with the wife looking and a sales lady came up to me and ask If I needed anything I said no but I would like to passon a comment and she said that wold be nice. I said you need s purse so that a woman can have a specil area in that purse to carry a handgun. She looked at me like "are u fokking nuts" and she said sir" This is a coach store, we don't make things like that" stupid bit-h:mad: I would have loved to give her about 8 inches but I knew I was about 4" shy, so I just shut up.

Now what? :confused:

[jocko]

I will stay out of coach stores!!!

[Cokeman]

Why? because you're not the coach of any team? Do you have to be a coach to shop there?

[Cyterio]

Is it really a problem with the magazines or the polymer frames? I've never owned a polymer Kahr so I have no experience to speak of for them. I do own a MK9 Elite and when chambering a round I always slowly ride the slide back and then forward to chamber, it always works.
I've noticed that when my slide is locked back and I insert a new magazine, it (the magazine) has quite a bit of up and down play until I release the slide lock to chamber a round. Could this be the problem when chambering??? I'll have to pay attention next time I chamber one with the slide already locked back because in that situation I normally just release the slide lock with my thumb per Kahrs instruction in the manual. I change it up though for example when I'm done cleaning it. I insert the magazine, slowly rack the slide back and then forward again to chamber and then drop the magazine and top it off with another round.

[jocko]

shouldn;'t be an issue the mag cut out where the magazine release lever goes are all exactly the smae place and deminsion, same thing fgor the mag release to. Wht ur feelig IMO is the small difference in the bottom of the magazine where it is not making contact with the btoom of the mag well. . sounds like ur MK is doing perfect. IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT..

[kerby9mm]

My mk9 does exactly the same thing as yours and mine works perfectly. It because with the slide back the slider is not pushing down on the mag follower to make it tight.

[paperpuncher]

I must be the only one able to sling shot a CM9 and get any round to load. Just have to pull until your hand comes right off of the back of the slide.

You can feel a slight jarring when the round gets picked up and rammed into the chamber though.

[Blue150]

I saw something about this on another thread. Load your full mag with the slide closed, then pull your slide to the rear and hold it. Look to see if that top round is firmly in front of the bullet stripper or still stuck under the very leading edge. Someone said that to fix the problem you need to slightly increase the chamfer on the stripper and make sure it is glassy smooth to allow that first round to slide up the face.

The reason it happens in Kahrs but not 1911's or Glocks is the size factor. The face of my 1911 moves more than a quarter inch past the rear of the mag giving plenty of room for the round to pop up. The Kahr, in contrast, almost clears the mag in the interest of building the smallest gun possible which makes the configuration of that chamfer much more critical. In full size guns the chamfer just keeps you from shaving the brass off the top round but in a short action it becomes essential to the feeding cycle.

There are a couple of factors that cause it to malfunction only on the first rounds; first, the spring tension is highest on the first round and second, both recoil and friction from the bottom of the stripper on the next round as it goes into battery work to shift that next round forward in the magazine just enough to clear the face. These second factors seem to also contribute to the slide lock in mid mag that happens with some Kahrs. Yet another consequence of building to very tight tolerance to fit everything into the smallest possible package.

This is by no means the only possible way that this malfunction could be induced but it's pretty easy to check. Be safe and use a bullet trap or a hillside while experimenting with live ammo.

[joe d]

Appreciate the replies...