K9 Recoil Spring Reduction

[cowboyarcher]

Hi all,

I am a newb to the Kahr guns but recently came across a K9 for a great deal and simply love it. It is a fine example of craftsmanship and is a very slick gun! (No doubt influenced by my exclusive use of Glocks up to this point).

Anyhow, I'd like my wife to be able to use the gun as a plinker and home defense gun but the slide is just too stiff for her to manipulate, no matter the technique she deploys. Is there such a think as a reduced power recoil spring for these guns? I realize it could damage the gun if used over the long term, but it's easy enough to swap it out for sustained plinking. She needs to be able to clear the gun, otherwise it will be unsafe for her to deal with it.

Any other thoughts?


Thanks all and God bless you!

[JERRY]

if the gun has been broken-in and hasnt "softened" up enough for your wife to rack the slide it probably isnt a good choice for her. im against reducing the power of recoil springs unless its a race gun with reduced power loads.

[cowboyarcher]

Well the previous owner installed a brand new 20lb spring in it before the sale as well as replacing all the other springs in the gun. Prior to the swap the gun has 2200 rounds through it.

How many rounds does it typically take to noticed a softening of the recoil spring?

As for being the wrong choice for my wife, that very well could be the case. I purchased without first having her try it, so that is on me. The price was low enough though I could not pass it up.

[JERRY]

dont get rid of the gun! its a keeper.

buy a stock recoil spring directly from kahr and try it out. the break-in doesnt weaken the springs so to speak, they just get their working set and become a little more smooth in feel.

i dont know what the stock weight is for that gun but try a stock spring from kahr first.

[jocko]

go to wolffs gunsprings and buy her the 18# reduced power spring. They list it for the k( so theyihave testedit out. It won't harm the gun at all. But lets say 2# less, is this gonna be a big difference for her. that is what ur after, so give it a shot and seeif she can handle it. I would, I think though shoot 50+ rounds thorugh the 18# spring to let it take its designed set before letting her try the gun herself. Compare this 18# (reduced power) tomost factoyr glocks of 13#. big difference, I have preached this many times, kahrs are just stout in the recoil spring category. It is what it is and many many women just cannot handle it PROPERLY. It is evident ur wife cannot, . U might have just bought urself a damn nice K9, so that ain't a bad thing.

But for me if ur still interested in her getting into the K9, thenindeed get the 18# sprng and give it a try. It will not harm your K9 PERIOD. (gunsprings.com)

Kahr at one time used to offer a lady p9 AND ALL it was was a reduced power recoil spring. Evidently the program didnt go that well as they no longer offer it..

[JERRY]

go to wolffs gunsprings and buy her the 18# reduced power spring. They list it for the k( so theyihave testedit out. It won't harm the gun at all. But lets say 2# less, is this gonna be a big difference for her. that is what ur after, so give it a shot and seeif she can handle it. I would, I think though shoot 50+ rounds thorugh the 18# spring to let it take its designed set before letting her try the gun herself. Compare this 18# (reduced power) tomost factoyr glocks of 13#. big difference, I have preached this many times, kahrs are just stout in the recoil spring category. It is what it is and many many women just cannot handle it PROPERLY. It is evident ur wife cannot, . U might have just bought urself a damn nice K9, so that ain't a bad thing.

But for me if ur still interested in her getting into the K9, thenindeed get the 18# sprng and give it a try. It will not harm your K9 PERIOD. (gunsprings.com)

Kahr at one time used to offer a lady p9 AND ALL it was was a reduced power recoil spring. Evidently the program didnt go that well as they no longer offer it..

this makes no sense if women were buying kahr guns. maybe women arent really looking much at kahrs like their magazine adds lead one to believe, or are those women eye candy for us guys?:D

[jocko]

naw not really, I think this has not beenin the karh line for a few years even. I am specualiting as to why they dropped it, but price had to be one thing and then again my bet is that with reduced power springs, most women still could not handle it.

Hell look at this forum even, women are not by and large kahr gun owners. I stand alone in saying kahrs are not really a womens gun, get that recoil spring in the 14# range and u might have sumpin going for u but that ain't gonna happen. eye canday, u betcha, but damn I like eye candy.

A women at first only sees the nice stuff in a kahr, small, very light, no brain matter needed to operate it, pull the trigger and it goes bang. They love all of that, but when u get to the nitty gritty of, racking the slide, clearing a jam, loading and unloading, the it is a real game changer. Let alone if she ever had to take the gun down herself to do anything. Just sayin

Being in the gun business for 40 years, I have seen alot but most of the time it is we men who think our wives should own this or that. a gun for a woman is IMO a tramatic thing for them to have. They are buy and large not gun nuts like we are. I am not at all familiar with the other brand semi's so I can't say which one in the sub gun wold be a better gun for a woman, but she ain't gonna pocket carry it, at best she might purse carry it. The glock G26 sure comes to mind as a very easy gun for a women to shoot, and do the drills with. I can assure u she can hand rack a G26 with ease, and reliability will be excellent to.

I still feel that most women would be more competent and certainly trainable with ease with a wheel gun--ANY WHEEL GUN. probably accuracy wise she would do better with a semi auto to.

Wehave a few gals on this four that I am not putting into this classification either, but a su know of over 10K members, on this fourm. how many women owners do we have and maybe a betterquestions is how many COMPETENT women are kahr owners. DAMN FEW

That Ruger SP101 p;icutred here on this forum, other than wieght, it is a super handgun and the cylinder latch is easier to operate than the Smiths, IMO. Marvelous wheel gun. U know u don't have to shove _+P ammo in a wheelgun for a women to carry it either.

[ripley16]

IFRC, the Lady Kahr came with a 14# recoil spring. Finding one that weight may be a chore unless Kahr happens to keep some around or Wolff has a comparable spring. May be worth an email to Kahr to find out.

[jocko]

I did not know what the poundage was but that is IMO a doable for a women MAYBE.

damn trouble is that 14# was for the blunt nose kahrs and today the new models (cm and PM) take a different longer recoils spring

[cowboyarcher]

Well asked Kahr about the reduced recoil springs and here is the response I got after just 12 hours or so:

"Good morning. Thank you for the question. Unfortunately we do not make or
offer any different weighted springs for our firearms. The recoil spring is
specifically designed to be the correct weight to make that firearm
function. I would suggest shooting the firearm some and leaving the slide
in a locked back position for a few days to see if that helps the spring
any. I apologize for any inconvenience."

[Steve in Sunny Fla]

Honestly, if you want it to run as nicely as possible, reducing recoil and insure full battery all the time, I've found stepping up to the 22# spring is the best way to go. I think kahr has already softened the recoil spring as much as they can for easy manipulation. and for those who would "take me to task" on the 22# spring recommendation, try it first. Steve

[jocko]

Havehad the 22# in myh used K9 since I bought it a about 3-4 years ago.. Works fine for me. My K9 is even magna ported.. Recoil??/What the hell is that!! Just sayin