TP45 barrel in P45 side?

[wombat338]

Hi all -- am new to the forum. I currently own 5 Kahrs, and am on a customizing kick right now. I've done a search of threads here, and couldn't find anything on barrel interchangeability between different models in the same series.

My next build will use a P45 as the base pistol, and one of the things I'd like to do to it is swap out the barrel for a longer one (which I also plan to have threaded). However, Kahr doesn't sell extended barrels without ports (which I don't like on a defensive pistol). Can someone who owns two models in the same series (e.g., PM45/P45/TP45 or PM40/P40/TP40) tell me whether a longer barrel works in a shorter slide? (In other words, are the barrels identical except for the length, or is each one model-specific in terms of lockup, function, etc.)

Thanks in advance!

[jlottmc]

Kahr's official line is that they are not compatible. That being said, if you have the chops, and the smithing skills and tools, then you might be able to fit one maybe. This has been asked before, and I don't remember if it was done. A barrel isn't that much, so if you dingus the TP45 barrel then you can still use the P45 barrel. Just my .02.

[wombat338]

Yes, I’m aware of Kahr’s official position. When I called to inquire about this, the gentleman with whom I spoke either couldn’t or wouldn’t explain the reason for it. So I don’t know whether there’s some technical reason, or whether company management just said to do a Nancy Reagan.


There are some modifications I’m willing to do myself (e.g., take a file to the barrel hood), and others I’d prefer leaving to folks with more expertise. (Robar has done very good work on three of my Kahrs.) What I’m hoping to find out here before I start down that road is what it will entail – does anyone on this site have enough experience with the platform to provide detailed information?


By way of comparison, a quick side-by-side visual inspection of the barrels for S&W’s M&P 40 and M&P 40c reveals that they are model specific – each barrel enlarges slightly shortly before the muzzle, presumably to minimize looseness when locked up, and permit the barrel to tilt further once it has reached the point in the firing cycle where it has unlocked from the slide. So putting an M&P 40 barrel in an M&P 40c slide wouldn’t be a very good idea, since it would be too loose at the muzzle. No amount of fitting could fix this.

However, the Kahr barrels are all straight, so any differences will be in the area of the barrel hood. I haven’t yet purchased a P45, so I can’t compare them, but it just doesn’t make sense to me to machine the barrels differently at the breech end. (At least for the TP and P models – with the micros, I can see various changes being necessary to ensure proper function once things get so small, in addition to the dual-spring recoil system.)


So . . . does anyone have both a TP45 and P45 (or TP40/P40, T40/K40, etc)? Can you lay the barrels side-by-side, visually compare them, and take measurements? Are they machined the same? Are there differences in the length, width or thickness of the barrel hood? Does the longer barrel fit in the shorter side and appear to lock up when the pistol is assembled? Has anyone fired a Kahr pistol so configured?

[jlottmc]

Search the archives. I know I have seen this or close enough to this here before. The barrel lug may be the part that is different (also has the feed ramp). The hood should be pretty close, but then there have been the old ported barrels, and I can't imagine that they were anything but a barrel from a bigger pistol all cut up. I'd lay barrels side by side, but don't have a TP45, nor time to post pictures.

[wombat338]

Search the archives. I know I have seen this or close enough to this here before. The barrel lug may be the part that is different (also has the feed ramp). The hood should be pretty close, but then there have been the old ported barrels, and I can't imagine that they were anything but a barrel from a bigger pistol all cut up. I'd lay barrels side by side, but don't have a TP45, nor time to post pictures.
Right you are. When I searched with "barrel lug" this thread came up.

http://kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?t=6125&page=2

Doesn't definitively answer the question, but for the metal-framed Kahrs it looks like they're close. Hope this is the case for the tupperware too . . . thanks for the assist!