Methos1979
07-04-2012, 09:05 AM
Hello all. New guy to the forum although I've been lurking for quite a while. Not new to Kahr though. Owned an MK9 a couple years back. Great gun but too heavy for the 'pocket pistol' I was looking for.
Recently went into a local shop with my son as he was looking for a new, small 9mm. He was trying to decide between the CW9 and the CM9. He went with the CM9 and it has proven to be a good little gun. But that's a different thread.
While at the shop I noticed a used T9 in really good looking shape for a really good price. Back when I had the MK9 and was doing research on that gun, I had noticed the T9 and thought it looked like it would be a great gun, just the right size for carry - not too big, not too small.
This T9 came with no case and 5 magazines. I took it apart and it was filthy inside. I hate it when people trade in guns and don't clean them. But the gun looked solid. I know the owner of the little shop well and usually he'll let me go test-drive a used gun before I buy. But he was not there this day and I didn't want to lose out on the deal so I bought it.
I took it to the range and fired a couple types of ammo (ball and Speer Gold Dot HPs) through the gun using all 5 mags. The gun feels so great in the hand - as many of you know - and it shot very well with one major flaw - the slide would not lock back on the empty magazines! Not only that, but the magazines would not eject and felt jammed in the gun. I had to pull really hard to get them out.
I came home and jumped right on here and started researching and found a couple long threads about people having similar problems and sending the gun back to Kahr for fixes (sometimes lengthy or multiple times). One person suggested weak springs or worn followers. Since I assumed the gun was somewhat old I ordered new springs and followers for the mags and new springs for gun itself.
They came in and I installed everything and went back out and test fired again - no change. I did a little investigation at the range and discovered what was happening but I had no idea why. Basically for some reason the little metal tab on the follower that should push the slide stop up on empty was instead riding inside (instead of under) the slide stop tab.
Here is what the position of these two should look like on proper slide lock back operation:
http://www.metrocast.net/%7Escottm/New%20Photos/Photo%20Jun%2016,%2019%2048%2041.jpg
This is what was actually happening with the slide stop and follower tabs:
http://www.metrocast.net/%7Escottm/New%20Photos/Photo%20Jun%2016,%2019%2048%2014.jpg
The sideways pressure exerted on the magazine follower's tab is why the magazine would not only not drop free, but required a tremendous amount of pulling to get it out - not an ideal situation for what for me would be a carry gun.
So now what to do. This is obviously why this guy dumped this gun off. Since the gun is old and I am at least the second owner the warranty is long gone. Do I just dump the gun off on some other poor schlub? I don't want to be that guy. But I'm already into this gun for the purchase price plus another $114 in parts that did nothing. Kahr's bench fee is $65 an hour and based on what I read from someone else who had this problem, it could be a lengthy fix. A couple people said Kahr ended up replacing the slide and/or frame! What would that cost?!?
So I figured I'd at least call Kahr and see what my options were. I called and got Ian on the line and talked it through. He talked it over with a gunsmith and said they were not convinced it would be a major repair and I should send it in and they would look it over and call me back to let me know how much it would cost to repair. So I said okay, let's do it.
Then he asked me for the serial number. I provided it and he punched it into the system to see what the build date was. I was shocked when Ian said that my gun was built in May, 2012! This gun was brand-new. The guy must have bought it new, suffered the same issues, and rather than take the time to send it back to Kahr, dumped it off!
Needless to say I was now excited because Ian assured me that any repairs would be fully covered by the warranty even though I was not the original buyer. I shipped the gun in and got it back yesterday, 12 days after sending it to Kahr. The gunsmith report said they 'reworked the barrel'. I was a little dismayed because I can't see what reworking the barrel would have to do with the issue. But I went to the range and test fired it again with all magazines and both types of ammo and it functioned flawlessly! Needless to say, I'm thrilled. I got basically a brand-new T9 for a used price.
Here's an eye candy shot of the gun with 4 of the mags:
http://www.metrocast.net/%7Escottm/New%20Photos/Photo%20Jun%2016,%2020%2014%2013.jpg
So now I just have to find and order a nice holster for it. In the interim though, I was able to take a hair dryer to the old Kydex Comp-Tac Infidel I had for the MK9 and make it fit the T9. Since I'm a lefty I always keep my old holsters. All I really had to do was open up the front of the holster since the frames of the MK9 and T9 are quite similar. It's like a slide-type holster with the end of the slide protruding out the front an inch or so. Here's a photo of the T9 in the MK9 Comp-Tac Infidel:
http://www.metrocast.net/%7Escottm/New%20Photos/Photo%20Jun%2016,%2019%2040%2052.jpg
So the story has a happy ending. The T9 is a great gun that feels great in the hand, shoots extremely well (very tight groups and dead on) and carry's perfectly on my hip. Thanks for taking the time to read. I hope this saga will help someone else if they encounter the same problem I did.
M.
Recently went into a local shop with my son as he was looking for a new, small 9mm. He was trying to decide between the CW9 and the CM9. He went with the CM9 and it has proven to be a good little gun. But that's a different thread.
While at the shop I noticed a used T9 in really good looking shape for a really good price. Back when I had the MK9 and was doing research on that gun, I had noticed the T9 and thought it looked like it would be a great gun, just the right size for carry - not too big, not too small.
This T9 came with no case and 5 magazines. I took it apart and it was filthy inside. I hate it when people trade in guns and don't clean them. But the gun looked solid. I know the owner of the little shop well and usually he'll let me go test-drive a used gun before I buy. But he was not there this day and I didn't want to lose out on the deal so I bought it.
I took it to the range and fired a couple types of ammo (ball and Speer Gold Dot HPs) through the gun using all 5 mags. The gun feels so great in the hand - as many of you know - and it shot very well with one major flaw - the slide would not lock back on the empty magazines! Not only that, but the magazines would not eject and felt jammed in the gun. I had to pull really hard to get them out.
I came home and jumped right on here and started researching and found a couple long threads about people having similar problems and sending the gun back to Kahr for fixes (sometimes lengthy or multiple times). One person suggested weak springs or worn followers. Since I assumed the gun was somewhat old I ordered new springs and followers for the mags and new springs for gun itself.
They came in and I installed everything and went back out and test fired again - no change. I did a little investigation at the range and discovered what was happening but I had no idea why. Basically for some reason the little metal tab on the follower that should push the slide stop up on empty was instead riding inside (instead of under) the slide stop tab.
Here is what the position of these two should look like on proper slide lock back operation:
http://www.metrocast.net/%7Escottm/New%20Photos/Photo%20Jun%2016,%2019%2048%2041.jpg
This is what was actually happening with the slide stop and follower tabs:
http://www.metrocast.net/%7Escottm/New%20Photos/Photo%20Jun%2016,%2019%2048%2014.jpg
The sideways pressure exerted on the magazine follower's tab is why the magazine would not only not drop free, but required a tremendous amount of pulling to get it out - not an ideal situation for what for me would be a carry gun.
So now what to do. This is obviously why this guy dumped this gun off. Since the gun is old and I am at least the second owner the warranty is long gone. Do I just dump the gun off on some other poor schlub? I don't want to be that guy. But I'm already into this gun for the purchase price plus another $114 in parts that did nothing. Kahr's bench fee is $65 an hour and based on what I read from someone else who had this problem, it could be a lengthy fix. A couple people said Kahr ended up replacing the slide and/or frame! What would that cost?!?
So I figured I'd at least call Kahr and see what my options were. I called and got Ian on the line and talked it through. He talked it over with a gunsmith and said they were not convinced it would be a major repair and I should send it in and they would look it over and call me back to let me know how much it would cost to repair. So I said okay, let's do it.
Then he asked me for the serial number. I provided it and he punched it into the system to see what the build date was. I was shocked when Ian said that my gun was built in May, 2012! This gun was brand-new. The guy must have bought it new, suffered the same issues, and rather than take the time to send it back to Kahr, dumped it off!
Needless to say I was now excited because Ian assured me that any repairs would be fully covered by the warranty even though I was not the original buyer. I shipped the gun in and got it back yesterday, 12 days after sending it to Kahr. The gunsmith report said they 'reworked the barrel'. I was a little dismayed because I can't see what reworking the barrel would have to do with the issue. But I went to the range and test fired it again with all magazines and both types of ammo and it functioned flawlessly! Needless to say, I'm thrilled. I got basically a brand-new T9 for a used price.
Here's an eye candy shot of the gun with 4 of the mags:
http://www.metrocast.net/%7Escottm/New%20Photos/Photo%20Jun%2016,%2020%2014%2013.jpg
So now I just have to find and order a nice holster for it. In the interim though, I was able to take a hair dryer to the old Kydex Comp-Tac Infidel I had for the MK9 and make it fit the T9. Since I'm a lefty I always keep my old holsters. All I really had to do was open up the front of the holster since the frames of the MK9 and T9 are quite similar. It's like a slide-type holster with the end of the slide protruding out the front an inch or so. Here's a photo of the T9 in the MK9 Comp-Tac Infidel:
http://www.metrocast.net/%7Escottm/New%20Photos/Photo%20Jun%2016,%2019%2040%2052.jpg
So the story has a happy ending. The T9 is a great gun that feels great in the hand, shoots extremely well (very tight groups and dead on) and carry's perfectly on my hip. Thanks for taking the time to read. I hope this saga will help someone else if they encounter the same problem I did.
M.