I'm an idiot

[Adamt]

Yes, that's right, not all Kahr owners are smart. All you need is a little cash and any fool can buy a Kahr.

So I took this K9 on trade without knowing much about them. The previous owner said it was stainless. It looks stainless. The new ones are stainless. So I begin to sand out some pits in the frame. Now after researching my gun, I'm finding that it was probably made around 1996 and was nickel plated over carbon steel. I'm not sure how to confirm this.

My first fun gun restoration project is quickly turning into a disappointment and a money pit. Not sure what to do next. Live and learn. I haven't hit the slide with any sandpaper yet but I've polished it with Mother's to see it better, it was a weird matte gray when i got it. maybe nickel does this over time.

Not sure what to do next but I'm definitely feeling deflated. I will probably duracoat it, either all of it or just the frame. I can't justify NP3 or an expensive finish that would cost 1/2 or more of the value of the gun.

Any of you smart Kahr owners have any suggestions? Any way to confrim that this thing is not stainless?

[Tinman507]

Call Kahr with the serial number. They can tell you exactly what it is.
I realize it's a project gun but have you shot it yet?
Don't be too bummed. It's a totally outstanding piece of gunsmithing.
Shoots like a dream. Even if it's not 100% SS, it's gonna shoot nice.

[chipD]

If it were me I would call Kahr, they should have info about it by the serial number.

[chipD]

Call Kahr with the serial number. They can tell you exactly what it is.
I realize it's a project gun but have you shot it yet?
Don't be too bummed. It's a totally outstanding piece of gunsmithing.
Shoots like a dream. Even if it's not 100% SS, it's gonna shoot nice.


Sorry tinman you beat me to it, I couldn't see your post while I was typing. Plus 1 on what you said. :)

[Adamt]

I haven't shot it. I wanted to clean it up first. I really like these guns and this one seemed in decent shape for the deal but at this point, I'm putting more money into it than I really wanted to. I did email Kahr with the S/N. The gun had the original receipt and it was purchased new in '98 so I know it was made sometime before then. I looked on the box and it still has the sticker on it. It says in tiny print under the model number "nickel" That would have been a good clue if I had looked at it more carefully. Did they ever make nickel plate over stainless guns? I doubt it.

[AJBert]

Have you tried to see if a magnet will stick to it?

[jdavis]

If you need to refinish look here http://www.customizedcreationz.com/.
I have no experience with them but they seem highly regarded by those on th Sig forum.

[Adamt]

Kahr wrote me back and said it was made in April 1996 and that it's stainless. I'm not sure that makes any sense. The research I've done says the early ones were carbon with nickel plate. Did they actually make some in stainless?

[wyntrout]

I bought mine new in early '98. It's matte stainless and on the right side of the frame above the front of the trigger guard, it says
"9x19
Stainless
AR11xx"

And a magnet does stick to the frame and the slide. It depends on the alloy. Some stainless IS non-magnetic, as in screws and other fasteners on boats, especially around the compass.

Wynn

[Adamt]

Magnet sticks, frame doesn't say stainless anywhere. Wonder if it was in some kind of transition period.

Any other way to tell what metal this is?

[Adamt]

Here's the set of emails from Kahr. Based on this do you think it's really stainless or is he making a generalization? I did ask specifically whether it was stainless or not. Just seems odd that the box says nickel and from what I read online, the guns of this period were carbon with nickel plating.


Good morning.

This firearm was made in April of 1996. The K9 is a stainless steel firearm.

Have a good day from Kahr.

Eoin Pryal.
Kahr Arms.



Date: 03/21/2012 10:36 PM
Subject: RE: Parts Question



Hey Nathan,

I ordered the parts but I have one more question. I’m restoring this gun and I’d like to know when it was made. It has the original receipt dated May 1998 but I think it was made a year or two earlier.

It’s a K9, SN is AFxxxx. Can you confirm that this gun is stainless and when it was made. It looks stainless but doesn’t say that anywhere.

Thanks,

Adam

[gb6491]

I think he made an erroneous statement as we know there were carbon steel K9s (I used to own one). There were nickle plated guns as well: http://web.archive.org/web/19980415041515/http://www.kahr.com/pistols.html (if the link doesn't work, input "http://www.kahr.com" in to the wayback machine and look at April 15, 1998).
Now, I guess it's possible that they could have nickle plated a stainless frame, but I doubt it. To test, get yourself a cold blue touch up product and see if it will darken the area you sanded. If you sanded through the plating and the frame is carbon steel the blue will darken it right away.
Regards,
Greg
BTW, here a shot of a nickle plated K9 from the link I posted above:
http://i41.tinypic.com/a4bjix.jpg

[Adamt]

That is a cool site. I've never seen it before. Thanks. The earliest cache was in April 2007. Listed in the product line was the K9093 in matte stainless steel, which is what the box for mine says it is. It also says "new". The guy at Kahr said mine was made in April 1996, a year earlier. So i wonder if the model number helps. Were all K9093s stainless as opposed to nickel?

I may try the cold blue technique or just put a drop of water on the slide and let it sit over night and see what happens.

K9093Kahr K9 matte stainless steel http://web.archive.org/web/19970416085032im_/http://www.kahr.com/New.gif

[Adamt]

That cached site shows the model 9091 as the nickel version. Why my box says 9093 and the nickel under it is a mystery.

[Adamt]

If my box is correct - and it has the correct serial number on it - and the model number is correct 9093. And this legend from the Kahr site is correct, then I think it's stainless:

http://www.kahr.com/Pistols/4/Pistols.aspx

Still not sure why the label also says nickel in small letters. Plus the Kahr rep says it was stainless based on the SN. I'll put a drop of water on the slide and see what happens - don't have much to lose at this point.

[Adamt]

Nope, I called my wife to get the info off the box. It's a 9091, which means it is carbon steel with nickel plating. I think the guy from Kahr is wrong.

[O'Dell]

Nickel plating shouldn't turn gray or dull if the plating is intact. Witness my eighteen year old P220 with some hard use behind it.

[jeepster09]

Yes, that's right, not all Kahr owners are smart. All you need is a little cash and any fool can buy a Kahr.

So I took this K9 on trade without knowing much about them. The previous owner said it was stainless. It looks stainless. The new ones are stainless. So I begin to sand out some pits in the frame. Now after researching my gun, I'm finding that it was probably made around 1996 and was nickel plated over carbon steel. I'm not sure how to confirm this.

My first fun gun restoration project is quickly turning into a disappointment and a money pit. Not sure what to do next. Live and learn. I haven't hit the slide with any sandpaper yet but I've polished it with Mother's to see it better, it was a weird matte gray when i got it. maybe nickel does this over time.

Not sure what to do next but I'm definitely feeling deflated. I will probably duracoat it, either all of it or just the frame. I can't justify NP3 or an expensive finish that would cost 1/2 or more of the value of the gun.

Any of you smart Kahr owners have any suggestions? Any way to confrim that this thing is not stainless?

Easy fix, have it Duracoated. I have had many guns Duracoated, both stainless and regular steel. I have also had scandium and titanium coated.

This Kahr is stainless:

http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/jeepster09/kahrmk.jpg

[voodoo54]

Can you post any pictures of your pistol so we can make an educated guess?

[Bawanna]

Can you post any pictures of your pistol so we can make an educated guess?

Good idea voodoo, but can you define educated.

[Krusty]

If you don't like the way it looks, then you can get it hard chromed, super shiny and easy to clean.

[voodoo54]

If we see the pistol then we can figure out what finish he's talking about based on peoples expierence(sp?) with different finishes.

[TheTman]

I think I'd go ahead and sand it smooth then Duracoat it as your least expensive option. I have a Kimber that someone didn't keep oiled and has some surface pitting, was going to have it NP3'd but may Duracoat it instead, would be much less expensive, thought you wouldn't get the benefit of the NP3.

[CJB]

If you have access to an air compressor, you can do K-kote very inexpensively. The 8oz can is enuf for two small guns if you're careful. Cost $16. Harbor Freight touch up gun, about $19. Acetone or lacquer thinner to clean up with.... you may already have that. If you want to re-dot the sights in white, another $9 for a small can of white KKote.

I like it because it is super forgiving, wears like iron, no rust at all, and is very very tough. You have to sand or abrade it off. Totally impervious to chemicals once cured in the oven at 350F for an hour.

K Kote is more wear resistant than DuraKote (especially the black 2300 series kkote). They say Ceracoat is better, but... I can't imagine it being all that much better, as the kkote is pretty damn good.

[TheTman]

I hadn't heard of the K-Kote before, sounds pretty cool. You get it at Harbour Freight?

[CJB]

Kal-Guard, aka KG-Kotings, makes K-kote, also Kal-Kote, and GunKote. Its all pretty much the same. It was the first miracle coating, and was sold as Kal-Kote - industrially only. That stuff is still made as the 2300 series. You can get the somewhat less beefy version, the 2400 version, which perhaps doesn't wear quite as well, but comes in many many colors, that also can be mixed.

Goes on thin - less than .0005 thick, as pins coated only grew by about .0007-.0008 total diameter.

You get it at KG direct, or at Midway. I've used it for years. Some say spray it with an airbrush, but I find that a small automotive "touch up" gun works best. My own technique was suggested by KalGuard a long time ago when I got a whole case of the stuff. They say - spray it light, several coats letting each dry between coats (minutes). When satisfied, you "dust" it with lacquer thinner, which knocks down any orange peel and imparts a smoother finish to the surface. A very uniform and smooth finish can be done that way - almost glossy - if you knock down on every coat. If you knock down on the last coat, you get a slight texture, but with some gloss to it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/bandersnatchreverb/Firearms/P3220175.jpg
new k-kote white dots (not perfect, but I can 2nd coat 'em)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/bandersnatchreverb/Firearms/P2190156.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/bandersnatchreverb/Firearms/P2190157.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/bandersnatchreverb/Firearms/P2180144.jpg

[Adamt]

Thanks for your replies. I'll try to post some pics but it looks like a sanded down frame and slide. Shiny, like freshly sanded metal. Not sure that's going to help much. I've resigned myself to getting it refinished which is too bad because one of the reasons I got the gun was because I just like stainless. I like the way the steel looks and the fact that you can work with it without getting it refinished.

Can anyone tell me what a fair price is to get a gun duracoated or cerakoted? I don't want to get ripped off.

I'll probably sell it after I coat it and find a stainless K9. Any idea what coating or color will help it sell faster or for more money? I'm thinking just black but there is a brushed stainless cerakote. Hard to tell what they really look like on the computer.

[Adamt]

Well, after I detail stripped the gun and cleaned it up and removed the pitting in the frame, I took it to a local shop to have parkerized. I get a call this afternoon saying that it must be stainless because it won't take parkerization. So I'm even more confused and starting not to care that much. This is a model 9091. I got two different answers from kahr. One saying it was stainless and another saying the 9091 is nickel over carbon steel. The gun does not say stainless on the slide. So the local gunsmith says it's stainless. The only thing I can think of is that this gun was made in some kind of transition period where they moved from carbon to stainless and this one was stainless with nickel plate. I'm going to have it bead blasted with a satin finish and call it a day.

I can tell you that after this, I'm not as excited about Kahr as I was. It's partly my fault but their customer service department has not been very helpful. They told me the gun was stainless, then carbon. I ordered $60 worth of parts and the order was wrong. I found out they changed the trigger pin at some point and the new pin won't work on the older models. Thier response to getting a replacement trigger pin was "sorry" we don't use those pins any more. They didn't recommend anything.

I still like the K9 but it's hard to get excited about the gun when the people behind it leave a bad taste in your mouth. Hopefully that will change after I've had a chance to shoot this thing.

[jocko]

IMO iI wouold think if the gun was stainless it would be marked on the slide that way but again in the early models I also am speculating. I did not know astainless slide couldnot be parkerized. Learn something new every day.

[wyntrout]

FYI: My K9 #AR11xx has "K9, 9mm, Stainless" on lower left of the box label and "K9093" on the lower right. There's no indication that it has night sights.
And on the gun's lower right side of the frame above the front of the trigger guard, it says

"9x19
STAINLESS
AR11xx".

It was ordered and purchased new March 1998. A magnet will stick to any part of the matte stainless gun... except the grips and plastic parts of the magazine, of course.

Wynn:)

[ParabellumJ]

+1 on customizedcreationz for refinishing, they do good work. They are near me and are currently working on one of my guns now. Got a total gun refinsih in KG Gunkote (titanium slide, black frame) for $100. I think that was a special price, normally it is like $165. They offer a "Brushed Stainless" finish as well as just about any color combo you can shake a stick at.