Kahr p45 nightmare

[Bluetick]

After purchasing a Kahr CW9 and having fantastic results with reliability and accuracy I bought a Kahr P45. I received my P45, cleaned it and went to the range. After shooting 100 rounds of numerous malfunctions including: Failure to feed, failure of trigger to reset and failure to feed I went home to field strip and clean gun. The next day I returned to the range and shot another 150 rounds of numerous malfunctions of the same thing. I called kahr and they emailed a Fed-Ex label for shipping on their dime. Pistol was shipped back to the factory and returned about 4 weeks later. The note said the feed ramp was polished and the transfer bar changed out.

I took the gun to the range and again had failure to feed after failure to feed problems. The pistol would fire, eject the casing and close on an empty chamber. Gun was again sent back to the factory on their dime with a note explaining the problem. Pistol was sent back to me about 4 weeks later with a note saying no work done, no problems found. I took pistol to the range and had the same failure to feed problem. I emailed Kahr arms and after 1 week no response. I called them and left a message, no return phone call. I called them again and was not so nice and finally talked with a live body. A Fed-Ex label was emailed to me and I was told they would exchange gun with another P45 with a new frame. I had to go through a FFL dealer since the serial number was different. My new gun arrived at my FFL dealer and it was not a P45, instead it was an Auto Ordnance 1911. I called Kahr Arms and told them they sent a 1911 not another P45. I also wanted a return phone call to find out what was going to be done about this. No phone call ever received. I then called and was not so nice and was told I would be sent 2 flush fitting P45 magazines for my trouble along with the correct P45. My rebuilt P45 was finally sent about a month ago and no extra flush fitting magazines were ever sent. My new P45 is more reliable than the first but not 100%.

[kerby9mm]

Sorry to hear of your problems but I guess they will have to take this one back and fix it too. One would think that Kahr would step up QC with guns being sent back if for just the shipping costs. When my mk9 went to Kahr it never took more than 2 weeks and 2 of the 4 times it was only 7 days. Keep after them to get your gun right.

[CJB]

Couple of things.

First, you never mentioned what ammo you were shooting in the P45
Next, you never stated if other folks tried it, to see how they did with it

Sometimes trigger bars get goofy on a new gun - and I'm convinced that this is most times not caused by anything more than excess flashing on the polymer frame being dislodged and interfering with the works. The same mechanism, and you almost never hear of a situation on the stainless framed Kahrs, only polymer.

Also, know that any time they send the gun back to you, its likely to have a new recoil spring in it. That means... you gotta break that spring again. They are definitely not made to work as shipped, but to become as they ought to be, as they take their set with use. Springs do that.

Dunno if that helps.

[Bluetick]

The ammo I was using for the 200 round break in period was an even mixture of Aquila and Remington 230 grain hard ball. I was told by the Kahr repair department to only use american made ammo so I switched to Federal Indepenence 230 grain hard ball. I did not notice a difference in malfunctions with any of the 3 different types of ammo used.

I did not have anybody else shoot my P45. However, I have had numerous brands of other small semi auto concealed carry pistols in .380 and 9mm with no problems. I had great luck with a CW9 and had no malfunctions even during the 200 round break in period. I carry a full sized .40 pistol for work (for over 20 years) and do quite a bit of shooting.

[josp]

Sorry to hear of your issues Bluetick. Unfortunately, you might have gotten "that" gun. I know I did with the wife's stupid car. Anyway, call Ian at Kahr and speak (politely helps) of your issues. I carry my P45 (and P380) for work, and they seem to be LE friendly.
And maybe have someone you know shoots well try it. Have to rule out operator error as well. Lost count on how many co-workers I've set straight cause they picked up some bad habits.
Good luck.

[steveschu]

Sorry to hear of your problems but I guess they will have to take this one back and fix it too. One would think that Kahr would step up QC with guns being sent back if for just the shipping costs. When my mk9 went to Kahr it never took more than 2 weeks and 2 of the 4 times it was only 7 days. Keep after them to get your gun right.


Why blame Quality Control for poor workmanship? You cannot inspect quality into a part. The 'builders' or 'gunsmiths' or 'technicians' or whatever you want to call them need to step up to the task of manufacturing a proper article. The Manufacturing Department is where the trouble begins and some firm scrutiny there is needed to assure quality.

[knkali]

wow, I have nothing to say in defense of the CS your received but I will say, clean the gun and follow the breakin procedure stickied here on the forum. My P40 likes to be run wet btw. My P40 took almost 600 rnds before it ran right. It has been a runner since. I do get a malfunction approx 1 per 125 rnds. Any more than that and I would not carry it. So try to hang in there.

[Rotorflyr]

While it's true that one can't blame Quality Control for poor workmanship, one can blame them for allowing said poor workmanship to make it out the door. ;)

[wyntrout]

I don't know if anyone has had more trouble than I, but my PM45 went back 4 times... once was to get a decently engraved replacement slide for the first time they replaced the slide... and the last visit was for destroying all kinds of magazines and resulted in a new frame. Shortly after that, the recoil spring assembly retainer nut departed and they sent me a new assembly. I also had a slide lock spring break cleanly in two... a new one! They sent me replacements for that, too. Kahr CS has been very responsive and I finally have a reliable PM45, but it did take some work on my part and Kahr CS, with help from the head of Kahr CS at the time.
I had failure to feed on day one, using the recommended slide lock release method. The lower forward edge of the slide that strips the top round out of the magazine was not beveled, and with the slide ONLY locked back as recommended, the "stripper" rested on top of the case rim, rather than behind it. A PROPER slingshot rack would overcome this with further travel to the rear, BUT I was using the recommended releasing the slide method! The fix is adding a bevel to that stripper part of the slide so that the stripper kind of pushes the cartridge/magzine forward enough that the stripper winds up BEHIND the cartridge.
I don't know if this was one of your problems, but it was found on some CW models, too.
Another problem was the "notch" missing that allowed the recoil spring assembly enough room to move with the barrel's movement during firing when it locks/unlocks moving up and down in its rearward movement.
These problems are posted in several areas... the New Member Links :

http://kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?t=14797

and Kahr-Tech sub-forums:

http://kahrtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=27

and specifically:

http://kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1612

Some of this may be helpful. Kahr doesn't always seem to address some of these issues.

I originally called my PM45 "Boomer". After 4 trips to the factory and probably NO original parts left... at all... maybe the slide lock(??), I called it "FrankenBoomer". I'm quite happy with it now, and I have to really try hard to get it to malfunction with exaggerated "limp-wristing"... left-handed! I will fire no matter how badly I hold the pistol, which is the way it started out... after a round was chambered... but became really hard to keep from having FTF's with even the strongest locked hard grip!

Wynn:)

[Charlie98]

Deja vu all over again...

That's about the same story with me... have a CW9 I love and trust 100%, bought a P45 and still haven't be able to get it to work 100%.

My P45 has pretty serious fail to fire issues, but not really any feeding issues. Mine will fire nice expensive Speer Gold Dots 100%, but not RP factory hardball or my equivalent reloads. I did respring it completely and that helped, and I cleaned out the striker channel (had metal shavings in it) but ignition is still too spotty for me to trust my life to it.

This past weekend one of the P45's mags split at the feed lips... *sigh*

When it fires, it's a wonderfully accurate pistol, and it handles well with a very nice trigger, but...

At this point I would glady trade my P45 for a Auto Ordnance 1911 (of equivalent value...)

[FirstKahr]

My P45 was a malfunctioning nightmare for the first 400 or so rounds, then it settled down and has become 100% reliable. More than 800 rounds through it now without a hitch.

[dorangolv]

Deja vu all over again...

That's about the same story with me... have a CW9 I love and trust 100%, bought a P45 and still haven't be able to get it to work 100%.

My P45 has pretty serious fail to fire issues, but not really any feeding issues. Mine will fire nice expensive Speer Gold Dots 100%, but not RP factory hardball or my equivalent reloads. I did respring it completely and that helped, and I cleaned out the striker channel (had metal shavings in it) but ignition is still too spotty for me to trust my life to it.

This past weekend one of the P45's mags split at the feed lips... *sigh*

When it fires, it's a wonderfully accurate pistol, and it handles well with a very nice trigger, but...

At this point I would glady trade my P45 for a Auto Ordnance 1911 (of equivalent value...)

Wow! I don't like what I'm seeing here.
The more expensive P45 appears to be more troublesome than the very similar (and cheaper) CW45.

Bought my P45 Sept 16, 2013 and had bucket loads of FTF and FTE's. Ejected brass was wildly unpredictable and went flying off in all directions.
After hours of sanding, polishing, cleaning, lubricating and even filing bits for smoother operation and 950 rounds fired, I managed to fire 100 rounds IN A ROW without any kind of malfunction.

yipee.:(

Sent it to Kahr after 500 rds. They had it for 4 weeks and put 280 rds through it. They had no failures of any kind.:confused: Now what am I supposed to do with that?!? How can I send it back again if they've already determined the gun is functioning normally? They used Black Hills ammo which I've never seen here in Las Vegas.

The gun is crazy accurate, though. I go out to the desert and shoot old shotshell casings from about 20-25 feet away. I really like the combat Bar-Dot sights. Much prefer that to three dot like my Springfield Armory XD45.

I bought the Kahr because; it's 45ACP and it's only an inch wide. Like most every other Kahr owner, I love the feel in my hand and the smooth trigger... when it fires.

I'm using only factory 230gr FMJ; Federal, Winchester White Box, Tulammo, Armscore, Fiocchi and Remington UMC.

The 6 rd mags are working now. But I bought two brand new Kahr Factory 7 rd mags... which are crap. FTF for each of the first 3-4 rounds on both 7 rd magazines. WTF? I even tried loading only 5 rds but I get the same result.

As far as grip, think Homer Simpson strangling Bart and saying, "Why you little... !"

As per my conversation with Timothy at Kahr, I've changed my grip and stance.

http://www.gunsandammo.com/2012/10/09/which-is-better-the-isosceles-or-weaver-stance/

For years I used Weaver. But I've changed my grip which brought my body around to an Isosceles stance because of this gun.

All of these things have helped, but I'm still caught up in a love hate relationship with this gun.:puke:

Why pay so much for a gun that is renowned for it's design and reliability when the end user has to spend so much time and money "modifying" and "adapting" to the gun?

It's like getting married to an incredibly beautiful Supermodel that you want to show off to all your friends even though she is finicky and high maintenance.

I think maybe I'll give a name to my Kahr P45.

I'll call her... Giselle.

She feels more at home on the cover of Cosmo than Guns & Ammo.:D

[TheTman]

I sure don't like these stories lately of such poor customer service. They used to have really good CS, while Ian or Eon, and Jay were there, and I got my CW45 back in exactly 7 days when the trigger wouldn't reset, and it came back with something about reworking the side of the frame where the trigger bar sits. 4 weeks is an awful long time for them to work on a gun. They must be back logged with guns returned for service, which doesn't give me much confidence in their products they have produced recently. I'm not sure I still want the CM45 if and when it ever makes it to the market. Sure sounds like manufacturing and quality control have taken a dive. Did they move to a new plant or something? Something is going on.
I wonder if they hired some anti-gun nut that is sabotaging the manufacturing process or something weird like that. I can see that some anti-gun nut might pull some crap like that.
I sent my CW45 back 2 or 3 times to get it to fire from the extended mag, and they kept returning the gun saying it worked fine. It DID work when I only loaded 3 or 4 cartridges into it, which I imagine they were doing to test it, after I specifically told them the problem was in the first few rounds of a fully loaded mag. So I ended up selling it and was going to try a different CW45, then I saw the CM45 was supposedly going to be introduced and thought I'd wait for the CM45, which they originally said would be out last summer. But they keep putting it back because of all the CW380's being sold. I am definitely going to check out some other compact .45's before I get another Kahr. At least until they get the manufacturing and customer service problems straightened out.

[dorangolv]

I just got my P45 to run without failure. I'm still conditioned from experience to anticipate a jam after every shot fired. The last 250 rds have been almost flawless.
I'll keep it running wet the way I have been.

Let a friend shoot 4 mags in a row last Sunday. It was the first Kahr he'd ever fired. He loved it! No failures. Since he was shooting an XDs45, he wasn't accustomed to the long Kahr trigger pull and reset.
I'm not even sure if I am even after 1,150 rounds fired since September 16, 2013 when I bought it. I never quite now when The Beastie's going to go BANG!

It was the first time shooting with this guy who is a co-worker. We always talk guns when at work but we never went out. I think he was surprised that I was hitting everything I shot at. I saw him a couple times out the corner of my eye watching me plink away at his steel target without failure or miss. Really caught his attention. It's only a 3.5" barrel! I was having a blast showing off the accuracy of this Little Monster. Making a Coke can jump around from 25 yards in the cold desert air warmed my heart. I concur with John Lennon, "Happiness is a warm gun, yeah."
I'm really pretty excited now to have a gun that works. It's all I think about. I feel like a little kid with a brand new bike and he wants nothing more than to ride around all day long.
Now to shop for a belt and holster!

[dorangolv]

:oI think I might have fixed the problem(s) with my P45. Haven't had any failures of any kind since making these repairs.:eek::D:001_tt2::amflag:
http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?t=21904