CW9-When to replace springs, etc.

[Dak]

My CW9 has 900 rounds through it and works perfectly and I want to keep it that way. I do notice some wear on the magazine followers. I'm thinking about getting a stainless steel guide rod. I'm wondering how many rounds justify new guide rod springs and clip springs. I give it an immaculate cleaning with Prolix after each range visit. Any sage advice out there?

Dak

[ripley16]

The guide rod will last the life of the gun. Changing it is not a routine maintenance item.

Recoil springs will be fine for thousands of rounds before needing replacement. Some people that carry a gun will routinely replace recoil springs, a typical round count depends on the firearm. Your CW9 should be perfectly fine for several thousand rounds at least. A realistic number is perhaps every 5000 rounds. They are fairly inexpensive, low cost peace of mind... especially if you carry the gun.

Most magazines will also last the life of the firearm. Followers do get beat up a bit, so if it bothers you, change them every so often, perhaps with the recoil spring. They are cheap too.

[In-Yo-Grill]

The guide rod will last the life of the gun. Changing it is not a routine maintenance item.

Recoil springs will be fine for thousands of rounds before needing replacement. Some people that carry a gun will routinely replace recoil springs, a typical round count depends on the firearm. Your CW9 should be perfectly fine for several thousand rounds at least. A realistic number is perhaps every 5000 rounds. They are fairly inexpensive, low cost peace of mind... especially if you carry the gun.

Most magazines will also last the life of the firearm. Followers do get beat up a bit, so if it bothers you, change them every so often, perhaps with the recoil spring. They are cheap too.

Yeah...what he said. Severe wear and tear won't happen for thousands of rounds. Competition shooters change those types of parts on their guns because of the sheer amount of use they get. As an average shooter I'd be less prone to worry about replacing springs.

The only other situation I'd look into changing the springs is when buying a gun used. You never know how the other guy used it so it would be prudent to start fresh.

[Dak]

A belated thanks to your responses.

[at_liberty]

I have found the quality or hardness of the metal used in the follower catch to be suspect and am waiting for new follower inserts. My new mag springs came today. My followers were chewed up because of an assembly problem, but the followers are in much worse shape than the slide stop that catches that follower after the last round. I am referring to .40, which is a different follower catch style than on 9mm mags.

The point is that the real test for me was when the followers on the mags failed to catch after the last round fired. I would tolerate that once and be replacing stuff or looking for something that needed repair.

Routinely replacing followers and mag springs after a reasonable rule-of-thumb number will now be part of my maintenance program. The number 5000 sounds good to me re my 9mm, but I believe my .40 may need it more often from the look of the follower, a different style than on the 9mm.

[ripley16]

The number 5000 sounds good to me re my 9mm, but I believe my .40 may need it more often from the look of the follower, a different style than on the 9mm.

Round count suggestions depend on several factors, and are of course merely guesses that should be taken with a grain of salt. Maybe the biggest factor not mentioned is the number of magazines involved. Right now, when shooting my K9, I cycle through nine mags. If you have only two magazines, then they would see much more use than my nine and therefore need more maintenance.

Recoil springs are pretty robust but the weight of ammo, caliber and pressures all effect the spring. If you shoot alot of +P then the spring needs to be replaced more often.

Routine replacement parts for pistols are usually inexpensive. For the cost of a box of ammo, you can replace a slew of parts in most guns. The rule to follow should be "better safe than sorry" IMHO.

[jeep45238]

Actually, how hot the ammo you shoot through it really doesn't effect the life of the spring. The roudcount does, as the cycling of the slide wears and weakens the spring.

I personally replace the springs in carry guns annually. As stated before, it's cheap insurance. My small P3AT may see a box a year, so I replace those springs less frequently.

[at_liberty]

Routine replacement parts for pistols are usually inexpensive.

Well, I couldn't help thinking that the price of a new follower at $11.00 each was pretty sobering. The whole mag is $44.00. I thought springs were pretty reasonable at about $6.00 each on average with shipping.
It seems that everything Kahr is kind of "Yikes!", when it comes to price.

[wyntrout]

KAHR ARMS ONLINE SHOP (http://www.kahrshop.com/index2.asp?cate=acc&model=mags)

Kahr sells maintenance "kits" now for the magazines: follower and spring $19
and polymer or steel base plate and the retainer $15.
Shipping up to $50 is $6 and after that a few bucks more.
Make the best use of the shipping by spreading it over several items.

Wynn:)

[jocko]

buy the maintenance kits for the magazines. It is a good bargain compared to a nce magazine price. replace followers as needed. I havce replaced one mag follower in my PM9 over 25,800 rounds and it never let me down but when I replced magazine spring, the follower was cracked. If you get good ones, they do seem to hold up pretty darn good.

The Kahr 40 followers seemed to be the most problematic of all followers and for reasons I know not why.

One should replce according to his shooting and carry habits. Springs are cheap in comparsion to ones life. I am probably guilty of not replacing springs as often as i should to, and I have a box full of new magazine 5% extra strength magazine springs and recoils springs..

[shelbyg1998]

Try wolff springs plus 10%. You will save money. stay safe Vito

[jocko]

Try wolff springs plus 10%. You will save money. stay safe Vito

jsut came out with them, wolffs makes 5% extra strength magazine springs, not 10%. I wish they did though..