"New" E9

[slimedog]

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum and to Kahrs. Last night, I purchased a Kahr E9 (KE9090) with 2 7-round magazines for $350. The original owner said that the pistol sat unfired in his safe since he purchased it new. It appears to be in perfect condition. The recoil spring is very strong - I had a difficult time holding the slide in the right position to push the slide stop lever out. The pistol is all black and appears to have a powder coat finish on the slide.

I have a few questions that I'm hoping you guys can help me with:

(1) Any idea what the finish and materials are? The slide does not appear to be blued or parkerized. [ANSWER - KE9090 indicates a 9mm with a black oxide carbon steel slide. The frame is apparently blackened stainless steel.] Here's a picture:

http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b482/cjgesh/kahr-ke9090_zpsae5a1751.jpg

(2) It has a staked plastic front sight. Based on some youtube research, the sight looks like it might be the same as the CW/CM series. Is that correct? I'd like to get a front night sight for it, but want to make sure that Kahr part "KWTFNSKT" would actually fit and be the correct height. [ANSWER - Kahr confirmed that the E-series and C-series use the same front sight.]

(3) Kahr's website lists different part numbers for the K9 and E9, though they only differ in the suffix (e.g. the recoil springs are 005K9S and 005E9 respectively). Are they actually different, or are K9/E9 parts generally interchangable? [ANSWER - See below. With the exception of the front sight and possibly grips, K9 and E9 parts are generally interchangable.]

Thanks very much. I'm looking forward to sending some of my hoarded 9mm downrange Saturday morning.

Best,

-SlimeDog

[gb6491]

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum and to Kahrs. Last night, I purchased a Kahr E9 (KE9090) with 2 7-round magazines for $350. The original owner said that the pistol sat unfired in his safe since he purchased it new. It appears to be in perfect condition. The recoil spring is very strong - I had a difficult time holding the slide in the right position to push the slide stop lever out. The pistol is all black and appears to have a powder coat finish on the slide.

I have a few questions that I'm hoping you guys can help me with:

(1) Any idea what the finish and materials are? The slide does not appear to be blued or parkerized. I'll post a picture this evening.

(2) It has a staked plastic front sight. Based on some youtube research, the sight looks like it might be the same as the CW/CM series. Is that correct? I'd like to get a front night sight for it, but want to make sure that Kahr part "KWTFNSKT" would actually fit and be the correct height.

(3) Kahr's website lists different part numbers for the K9 and E9, though they only differ in the suffix (e.g. the recoil springs are 005K9S and 005E9 respectively). Are they actually different, or are K9/E9 parts generally interchangable?

Thanks very much. I'm looking forward to sending some of my hoarded 9mm downrange Saturday morning.

Best,

-SlimeDog
Welcome to the forums:)
Congrats on the E9!
1. Looking forward to seeing photos of your pistol
2. Yes, front sights for "C" series Kahr pistols will work on your E9
3. Yes, the parts are generally interchangeable between the E9 and K9 pistols (the old instruction manual shows only the front sight being an exception). There have been frame changes to the K9 over the years, so that might make a difference, but I think that will be limited to grip fit.
Here's a blurb from the Kahr website (circa 2000 (http://www.kahrtalk.com/web.archive.org/web/20000619162426/http://www.kahr.com/pistols_E9093.html)) about the E9:
"The Kahr E9 is an economized version of the Kahr K9, based on the same design platform with the same reliability, accuracy and performance. Appearance features have been modified for greater product affordability. The frame is a matte stainless steel and the slide is 4130 chrome-moly steel with a matte black finish."
Regards,
Greg

[jocko]

sounds like u have bought a really super E9 to. great gun, will serve u well, just alittle more maintenance ona blued gun ovber a stainless one but otherwise like GB stated, except for the staked sight about the same as the K9. I would imagine without photos that your frame (*lower) is smooth sided and not scalloped like the newer model K series.

I ever really knew wat the lower frame was made of either. being it was a blued fini9sh, I assumed it was some kind of steel but GB says it is stainless, so I think he would know also. Whether that E9 setin the safe as the fella said or shot it like he stole it, u can't hurt a E/K series IMO.. they are just great guns and kahrs flagship gun to.

PHOTO'S PHOTO'S

[JFootin]

Wow! An unfired safe queen E9! For $350! You scored!

Welcome to the forum, slimedog! :) There is a wealth of valuable information in the New Member Area (http://kahrtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=56) and the Kahr-Tech (http://kahrtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=27) sections of the forum.

You can post pictures from Photobucket. The way I post pics is upload them to Photobucket, click on the image, select the Direct Link on the right, come over here to the Post Edit Window, select the Picture Icon (http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee486/John_England/Misc/PictureIcon.jpg), paste the link in there and hit Enter. If I am pulling a picture from some other website, I Right Click it and select Copy Image Location, then post the same way. So, let's see some pics! :)

[slimedog]

Thanks very much for the replies. Great info, Greg - just what I needed to know. I'll order that sight today.

Historically, I've been a Glock guy, but I pocket carry a Ruger LCP mainly for convenience. After handling a CM9 before Christmas, it seemed kind of silly to carry a 380 when there was 9mm almost as concealable. Unfortunately, when I finally decided to make the move, there were no Kahrs (or any 9mm pistols) available anywhere. When I saw the E9 in the classifieds, it seemed like a good price and I figured it would great for learning the platform until I can find a CM9.

I'll get a few pictures up this evening. I'm excited to get it to the range - it seems like a very high quality pistol and I really like the way it fits my hand.

Best,

-SlimeDog

[slimedog]

Well, I just learned something from the most recent Kahr manual. According to the key on page 27, a KE9090 is a 9mm (909) with a carbon steel "black oxide" (0) slide.

[jocko]

I just left my local wal mart with 9 boxes of remington 9mm fmj. they got in 30 boxes a few hours ear;li8er and the 3 box limit, I was able to bring in two friends. bigt score. First mess of ammo that I have gotten from there in months.. My cost with 10% discount was $12.46.. for 50

[RedRyder]

Jocko, you old dog U. Just got delivered 2 - 350 rd boxes of Blazer Brass 9mm that I had to pay $160 ea for. I finally got frustrated waiting on WallyWorld and needed some range fodder. Chalk one up for Jocko

[Bawanna]

Jocko, you old dog U. Just got delivered 2 - 350 rd boxes of Blazer Brass 9mm that I had to pay $160 ea for. I finally got frustrated waiting on WallyWorld and needed some range fodder. Chalk one up for Jocko

I'm anxious to see his response, he gets all wound up with me when I call him old goat. Old dog might be ok. I'll let you know when the mail arrives.

[RedRyder]

I'm anxious to see his response, he gets all wound up with me when I call him old goat. Old dog might be ok. I'll let you know when the mail arrives.


Well I can certainly understand that. Being called an old goat is really BAAAAAD. Sorry, couldn't help myself.

[Bawanna]

Actually it might not be what he's called but the callee. I don't think he ever liked me much. Never did, never will. I'm trying not to get a complex over it and curl up on the floor and suck my thumb or nothing like that though.

I like myself and that's all that matters or so says my therapist.

[jocko]

It's OK Red ryder if u call me an ol goat even. it us not the name but the SAYER of the name. the colonel, as nice as he may be has not figured that out yet. Just sayin

u know the ol sayin: "U CAN LEAD A HORSE TO WATER BUT U CAN'T MAKE HIM POOP":Amflag2:

[Tinman507]

Actually it might not be what he's called but the callee. I don't think he ever liked me much. Never did, never will. I'm trying not to get a complex over it and curl up on the floor and suck my thumb or nothing like that though.

I like myself and that's all that matters or so says my therapist.

-DIETlxquzY

[slimedog]

Just FYI, Kahr confirms that the E-series pistols take the same front sight as the C-series. I'll put the C-series sight to the test as soon as Kahr has them back in stock.

[Bootlegger]

I'll tell ya how my luck gos', I just learned about the E-class not long ago and found they were a little less in price than other models when new so I start looking for one, just to have something else to play with, how come all the ones I find now are as much as a new K?? "rare, discontinued...blah blah"

You got a really nice deal, and it RARE too :D

[Bawanna]

I get that alot myself. Everything is plentiful and reasonable until I decide I want one, then it's rare as chicken lips, none to be found and 3 times the money they were yesterday.

Never could figure that out. Glad to find I'm not alone and other are effected by this malady as well.

[Bootlegger]

yeah, I tell everyone if they want to find a briar patch in the woods or make money on something they have, just follow me.

[slimedog]

Just got back from the range. What a nice pistol! Note that this is the first time it’s been fired. Here are a few observations:

(1) The magazines kind of freak me out. Obviously, you need to seat every round all the way back against the mag body. Even so, the top round doesn’t seem to want to lay flat against the round below. Is it just me, or do the feed lips get wider from back to front of the magazine? Both magazines worked fine.

(2) The first 20 rounds went extremely low (like 6”at 10 yards). By 40, it was hitting pretty much at point of aim.

(3) I used both the slide release and the overhand method to chamber with no problems.

(4) I found that I needed to bend my right thumb down a bit to avoid the slide stop lever. Not a big deal.

(5) The trigger is quite good. Long, with a long reset, but very smooth. Talk about a surprise break.

(6) It’s a pretty soft shooting pistol.

(7) I only had time for 100 rounds (a mix of WWB115g and Winchester 124g NATO). No failures of any kind.

Here are two 5-round strings at 10 yards on an Aimpoint sight-in target (each box is 1/2 inch). The POA was where the black circle crossed the gray line. Sad to say, but that’s relatively good shooting for me.

http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b482/cjgesh/kahr10yards_zps3a10f845.jpg

My first impressions are very positive. The only downside is that the nice, uniform, black finish on the barrel is now all scuffed up. In fact, there’s a pretty good scratch along the right side of the barrel that makes me wonder if there was little burr or some debris on the barrel penetration in the slide. So it goes. Anyway, thanks for all the advice. I have a feeling that there’s a CM9 in my future.

Best,

-SlimeDog

[jocko]

the unfor finish no matter what wason it wold have worn off anyway. there is metal tometal contact whenthe slide retracts and the barrel cams down. It is whatit is. only u are gonna see it anyhow. nice report, u willget better as more rounds fly out the gu to.

[RedRyder]

(1) The magazines kind of freak me out. Obviously, you need to seat every round all the way back against the mag body. Even so, the top round doesn’t seem to want to lay flat against the round below. Is it just me, or do the feed lips get wider from back to front of the magazine? Both magazines worked fine.

Ah yes the Kahr magazines. This has always freaked me out as well. Love my P9 and my very favorite carry gun but it still bothers me about the amount of slop the cartridge has at the front of the magazine. I even tweaked the front lips a little to try and bring them in but didn't want to mess things up if in fact that was the way they were supposed to be. Never had a misfire of any kind with mine though. You will notice from time to time in various threads about spare mags in pockets losing rounds and I'm sure this is the reason because the top rounds in the mag are not held tightly. I've never gotten a real good explanation of this on the forum either.

Good luck and shoot straight.:Amflag2:

[jocko]

ur also gotta remember that the kahr feed ramp is an offset ramp to allow the trigger bar to pass by with ease and therefore give u a higher profile with the gun which gives less felt recoil . That could be the reason the magazines are a tad different. I know it is irritating to some how that top round works, BUT IT WORKS, so why knock it. If ur gonna carry a spare indeed have a mag holder that covers that top round or it will pop out, again just something that if u own a kahr u either accept that and work around it or u peddle it. Not sure I would recommend jacking with the mag lips but that would be ur call to make to

[slimedog]

Good advice jocko - will do on the mag holders.

Thanks again to everyone for the great information.

[ripley16]

(1) The magazines kind of freak me out. Obviously, you need to seat every round all the way back against the mag body. Even so, the top round doesn’t seem to want to lay flat against the round below. Is it just me, or do the feed lips get wider from back to front of the magazine? Both magazines worked fine.


The mags have always been a weak spot IMHO. I wish Kahr would team up with Killeen Machine, maker of the finest mag made, (Seecamp's supplier), and come up with a solution.

[slimedog]

I picked up a new 7-round magazine for my E9 a few days ago. Haven't had it to the range yet, but I did notice something odd. When I insert the magazine (empty) into the pistol, it locks the slide back. In fact, it locks it back so well that I can't move the slide stop and have to drop the mag to release the slide. The two mags that came with the pistol don't behave like that. Seems like some kind of geometry problem, but I can't see what surface on the mag is causing the problem.

Any ideas Kahr gurus?

Thanks,

-SlimeDog

[Bawanna]

They are designed that way so your not trying to load an empty magazine.

It's very difficult to push the slide lock lever down with an empty mag in place on any Kahr.

Put one round in it and you can push it down like normal.

[slimedog]

Learn something new every day. Thanks.

[Redstate]

Great find on that E9. I wish that Kahr still made them.