New CM40 Issues

[kevpain]

Hello all, this is my first post to the forum. I'm sure this has been discussed in depth, so please pardon me for not searching through all the previous threads. I took my new CM40 to the range yesterday and had a plethora of issues. The very first round failed to feed and the problems continued from there. With the exception of about 30 rounds in the middle of my visit, I had nothing but problems. Probably 10-15 failed to feed over the course of about 150 rounds.

I also had a round feed, but the slide never fully reset. I could see the round in the barrel, but could not eject or fire. The slide needed to go approximately another 1/4" forward to be fully engaged. This was with AND without the magazine in.

I tried about 5 different kinds of ammo, pretty much all had problems. I cycled ammo through both the 5 and 6 round magazines.

I've read that some of the Kahr mags have problems. Could this be the cause or is it just a matter of putting more rounds through? Also, I did not clean the gun prior to use.

Sorry for the length, any help would be appreciated.

[TheTman]

Did you let someone else fire the pistol to see if they had problems? Did you use the slide release to cycle the first round? That sounds a lot like the problems I was having with my CW40 when I first got it. It was my first poly framed pistol, and I was limpwristing it. Once I corrected my grip on the gun the problems disappeared.

[jocko]

sounds to me like ur trying to hand rack the gun andu should use the slide release lever to load that first round, as the manual states. As the gun loosens up and gets smoother u and the gun will then beOK to hand rack.

evidentey u did not clean it as u stated, that should be a clue to at least do that. two good stickys here to read to.

#1kahr lube chart

#2propper prepping of ur kahr. there aer some good tips there to check out...

u have a hand connon in ur hands with the 40 cal in such a ultra light small ass gun. grip is very very importantj. Would be nice if u could have a good shooter go along with u to watch u and alsoto shoot the gun..

[wyntrout]

Lock the slide back and see if the extractor claw is clear of the breech face enough for a cartridge rim to fit under it. I had a P380 where the claw was touching the breech face and the cartridge rim would not go under the claw, even when the slide was pushed into "battery". The pistol was essentially in blowback operation.

I also had a problem with my P40 where the cartridges would cock at about 45° into the chamber and would "snick" or click into place with the tiniest rear pressure on the slide, allowing the round to easily chamber when the slide was released completely. I radiused the parts of the extractor and the breech face with a file or stone and fine sandpaper to allow enough room for the rims to get under the claw easily... stopped the problems.
Also, you might look at the lower leading edge of the slide's breech face... the stripper... and see if it's beveled... instead of a sharp edge. The .45's really need the bevel or the breech-face/stripper comes to rest on the RIM, instead of behind it. I haven't really looked at my P40, but I'm sure it's beveled. A proper, full rack can overcome that problem, though.

Wynn:)

[kevpain]

Thanks guys. I did use the slide release on the first round as stated by the manual. Like I said, the very first round got hung up. I also had my buddy fire it. His final round hung up a bit too. I'm pretty sure I'm not limpwristing, but I guess it's possible that I did a bit toward the end as my was
a bit tired.

[kevpain]

Guys, I've done some more reading. I suppose it's possible that not cleaning the gun before use could have caused some of the issues. I just can imagine the gun would function so poorly though. The slide seems to move very "clunky" or "jerky" when I attempt to chamber a round. Even when using the slide release rounds will sometimes jam at roughly a 45 degree angle and other times at what seems to be the correct angle. I don't know.

Again, I did have a couple of instances where the slide would not go in to full battery.

[TheTman]

My slide would not go all the way into battery, had to nudge it with my thumb to fire. It was due to limp wristing. It's very easy to do if you haven't shot poly framed pistols. I guess they flex more than say a 1911, which I never had limp wrist problems with. I was used to shooting revolvers and steel framed pistols where limp wristing causes fewer problems, so I never picked up I was not holding the gun correctly.

[1911luver]

Hi I will say I own both a CM40 and MK40 and the failure to return to battery in my case was me not the guns. I'm used to 1911's and revolvers so even though I owned kahr P9 in the past,and have been shooting handguns for years I had a bit of a learning curve.

The grip I used on my 1911's and revolvers weren't cutting the mustard on my micro kahr pistols. Again I'm not stranger to recoil or polymer framed guns,but these small guns firing the .40 are a different animal. Some people call us fanboys when we state a simple fact that applies to all semi auto handguns but more so to these sub compact ones.,they require a firm grip to function properly.

I had my brother shoot both my kahrs and they ran fine through several hundred rounds. A shooters grip and and does cause a lot of malfunctions that we read about if the issues persist past the 200 round mark I'd call kahr they have great customer service and will make it right for you.

[Flincher]

Here's my 2 bits, for what it's worth, as a first time Kahr owner. When I desided on the P380, I joined this forum and read all the advice, printed out the lube chart, and followed the owners manual. Since my first time out with the little gun, the thing has run perfectly. Not one issue, and after this weekend I'll have nearly 500 rounds down the pipe.:)

[Joe L]

I have a PM-40, which is just the earlier version of the CM-40. I bought it used from a friend who sold all his semi-autos to go to revolvers. I don't have any problems with it at all. But, both of my sons have problems with it when they come to visit and we go out to the range. They are not used to shooting any pistols, much less the little 40 cal hand canon. This gun is well loosened up, broken in, whatever you want to call it. I keep it lubed and clean. I can blast through three magazines as fast as I can pull the trigger and reload. They can't. Limp wrist, hit the mag release on recoil, fingers on slide lock, loose grip, they do it. Similar problems to what you are seeing. They could shoot the CM-9 just fine, most of the time.

My hope is that, with a few more rounds of break in, and some experience with the gun on your part, the gun will function fine. If not, send it in, Kahr will fix it if there are mechanical problems.

The light weight 40 is a hand full. But I shoot mine out to 25 yards routinely, and have shot it out to 50 just for grins and was stunned that I hit an 11" plate with 4 out of 5 rounds, shot very, very carefully with plenty of time between shots.

I really, really like the little Kahr's, but they require a little more discipline and technique to shoot than a larger gun. I've mastered them and I am very confident that mine will function when needed. My wife and kids get larger guns.

Joe

[jocko]

it is so so nice to see two good members here fess up to soe of the issues being shooter error. When we mention thatto some who haver issues, they do take offense to it withy statements like"beenshootin for 20 years and none of my glocks do that" yadda yadda. These small guns do require more finese to be perfect, andIMO the 40 cal kahrs are even more suseptable to shooter error due to the hard recoil and a shooters grips just changes unknowinly. When you can shoot it ok and utters can't then it is not the gun and when utters can shoot it ok andu can't it is ot the gun.

I think the workd ":discipline" is the propper word to use. When we ask a shooterto eliminate shooter error as a possable for some of the issues it is only from prior reports from owners like who just posted that we say that. Itc an happen but first off u must find out if it is u or the gun.

Nice post 1911luver and Joe L.

[bonjorno2]

that stinks, although not cleaning the pistol before you shoot is ok for some. Kahr's not so much!

[BucketBack]

Here's my 2 bits, for what it's worth, as a first time Kahr owner. When I desided on the P380, I joined this forum and read all the advice, printed out the lube chart, and followed the owners manual. Since my first time out with the little gun, the thing has run perfectly. Not one issue, and after this weekend I'll have nearly 500 rounds down the pipe.:)

I joined this forum a few months ahead of buying a Kahr, I read and re-read for months, then pulled the trigger on a used CW-9. It has run good so far with no issues.

Now I'm looking at getting a CM-9, so here I am looking for bits and pieces of info beforehand.

A thorough cleaning and lube of any gun new to you is required to be sure crud isn't causes any issues.

I learned the hard way.;)

[wyntrout]

Dang, Joe!

"I have a PM-40, which is just the earlier version of the CM-40."

OW! Now that's a putdown! The CM40 is a cheaper version of the esteemed PM40!:D

Wynn:):boink:

[Joe L]

Wyntrout, point taken. I should have said "functionally, the PM-40 is the predecessor to the CM-40." I have had a PM-9 and a CM-9 and functionally, there isn't any difference, so I have assumed the same for the CM-40. Dang PM-40 is a hoot to shoot. Haven't shot mine since...Friday.

I want an MK-40 some day. Is it, functionally, the predecessor of the PM-40, LOL?

Joe

[wyntrout]

These are all current models like the old Chevrolet model differences... Impala=PM, Bel Air=CM, maybe Corvette = MK. Anyhow, :D the CM is a less expensive... OH... Cheaper Model PM9.

Wynn:D