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Monsolo
04-25-2013, 05:34 AM
Howdy, folks, newbie to Kahr here. I've been a shooter for decades but have never owned anything other than Glocks and Baby Eagles. So, it was with trepidation that I bought my first Kahr the other day. Why? That's a good question! The only answer is that Glock doesn't make a compact single-stack .40-cal handgun... my Glock 27 was just too heavy by a few ounces on my hip. So, my good friend has a Kahr P9 and talked me into holding and buying the P40... holy cow! :o The grip is awesome and the weight of the gun is perfect! Now for the bad news... I get the gun home and immediately disassemble it to get to know it better. Well, that was two days ago and, this morning after some filing of the recoil spring and rod, I FINALLY got the gun back together again! I'm not very happy about having to hand-modify a brand new gun just to get the doggone thing to reassemble!! :mad: Well, I'm going to give the gun another chance and see if it can impress me to the point that I'll get over the spring/rod crap... hopefully it will because it really does have the potential to be the perfect carry gun for me. We'll see... :)

97hmcs
04-25-2013, 06:20 AM
Why would you file the recoil spring and rod? That's not normally part of the reassembly procedure.

skiflydive
04-25-2013, 07:36 AM
You did WHAAAT? Never heard of anyone doing that...

My CM9 went together hard the first time I put it together but I was able to finesse it together after a few minutes struggle. Since the breakin it glides together like a rattly old Glock

MW surveyor
04-25-2013, 08:23 AM
Can you say............................................... ..................TROLL!

ripley16
04-25-2013, 09:12 AM
Why did you think you had to alter the recoil spring and rod?

MLESa7990
04-25-2013, 09:16 AM
Can you say............................................... ..................TROLL!

I don't see it.

wyntrout
04-25-2013, 09:20 AM
That's why I ENCOURAGE new Kahr owners to read the manual and watch the take down videos for their pistol. Kahrs aren't like OTHER pistols!

Welcome to the Kahrtalk forum supported by K a h r Arms.
Here are a few essential links and things to do BEFORE you take your new pistol to the range, and ESPECIALLY BEFORE taking it apart and trying to re-assemble it! The Kahr is a different design… 6-7 unique patents cover the Kahrs. I’m not trying to imply that you don’t know anything about guns, but many don’t know anything about the Kahrs and some of the things you can do to damage or cause malfunctions of your new, or new-to-you Kahr pistol.

First, if you don’t have a manual, yet, or one didn’t come with your pistol, you can view it and/or download the pdf file here:
http://www.kahr.com/PDF/kahrmanual.pdf

Please watch one of these videos FIRST! These videos can point out possible problem areas and emphasize correct procedures!
Take down and re-assembly videos:
T, TP, CW, P, & PM/CM Series:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=G2cZgVg_SwA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=G2cZgVg_SwA)
MK series:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...mSCnIOaUk#t=0s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zXmSCnIOaUk#t=0s)
K series:
http://www.kahr.com/Pistols/Kahr-K9-Elite.asp
There are many links on fixing problems listed in several places… under the New Member or Kahr Tech sub-forums.

A very handy one is the Kahr Lubrication Diagram:
http://kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?t=14750
Many of your questions can be answered in these areas and you can learn how your Kahr works and not damage it with improper handling.

Another great resource for information on Kahrs... Archives of Magazine and Internet Reviews for Kahr pistols by industry experts. They test these pistols and report on their views and the ammo they tested in it. This is a good way to find ammo that might fit your needs along with accuracy and feeding in the pistol... usually from a rest with velocity and energy, as well as penetration and expansion sometimes... very informational.

http://www.kahr.com/product-reviews.asp

Frequently asked questions: http://www.kahr.com/faq.asp?

One very important bit of advice: Hold the Kahr pistol firmly when firing OR CHAMBERING a round. These compact pistols need all of the force they can get from the slide to get a round into the chamber successfully. If you don't hold the pistol firmly, part of the needed momentum is transferred to MOVING THE PISTOL and the top round will DIVE and jam into the right side of the feed ramp. The weak hand, over hand rack method gives the best grip and a firm rack will give you the best chance at chambering a round.

Use the weak hand fingers over the slide(clear of the ejection port), thumb along the slide and pointing to the rear. Use the gun hand to simultaneously firmly push the gun as you give a vigorous rack with the weak hand and cleanly release the slide as it reaches the rear limit and is "snatched" from the weak hand. This approximates a real rack from firing and beats the slide release method WHEN executed properly. Much more strength can be exerted when this is done closer to the body.

Here's a video on that. The first part is what I'm talking about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=hjLbFOw8sow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=hjLbFOw8sow)

There are many helpful members here most of the time who might be able to help you, but as anywhere, there are many opinions and not all are correct. Be mindful of this before doing anything drastic to modify your pistol!


Wynn:)
Aka wyntrout

PS: I keep thinking of stuff to add and help new members... and am trying to cover most of the popular subjects. Yes, it's repetitious to many, but possibly not to all new members. This approach is easier than having to look up every tidbit for each new member or question that arises. :)

Monsolo
04-25-2013, 09:27 AM
How am I a troll? :confused: I'm not getting that.

Anyway, what I'm talking about is the very end of the recoil spring that seats into the slide. That end was not allowing the guide rod to enter the hole in the slide itself. No matter what I did or how hard I pushed, I could not get the recoil spring/guide rod assembly to seat onto the barrel. It turns out the culprit was the very end of the spring was just ever so slightly bent in towards the guide rod, that was blocking the guide rod from going completely through and into the slide hole... OR it had a burr that was doing the same thing. All I did was take a very fine needle file and gently knock the very end of that spring down about .010" and everything worked fine. :) In fact, the guide rod itself, from the factory, has a big ground-in line about an inch-and-a-half back where that spring end was scrapping it every time the slide was racked. I'm thinking about ordering a new guide rod...

Just so everyone is clear, I didn't take a huge stinking file and grind down my spring! Jeesh! ;)

wyntrout
04-25-2013, 09:57 AM
it sounds like the free end of the spring was bent or out of spec'. A tweak with needle-nosed pliers would probably have sufficed, but it seemed like you made too big a deal out of the operation. Stuff happens and sometimes we have to tweak our new toys, but too many people rush into taking the pistols apart and then failing to get them back together properly. Spring orientation and properly installing the slide lock pin are favorite areas where people fail to notice there are proper ways to install those things. The take down video covers this and can help prevent "malfunctions".

Sorry that you seemed to be "attacked", but you did make a big deal out of a minor thing and the recoil rod should be fine. It's steel and scrapes and scratches are no biggy unless they impeded function.

I hope that your first range trip will go well. the trigger is long and smooth, and people are usually favorably impressed with that and the accuracy. I really love my P40, but I just put Big Dot sights on it and so far I'm underwhelmed with shooting lower by 3-4" at 7 yards when I dot-the-i and cover the bullseye with the big dot!

My P40 is Mag-na-ported and a real fire-breather. I've posted a lot pf pictures in my posts on this pistol. I recommend the Speer 180-gr +P Gold Dots Short Barrel version for defensive carry... awesome cavities... shallower, but wider at the bottom for performance out of these short-barreled Kahrs.

Wynn:)

97hmcs
04-25-2013, 09:58 AM
I agree, not a troll in any way.

I thought you took a gas powered cut-off saw and shortened the recoil spring and guide rod. :rolleyes:

Bawanna
04-25-2013, 10:18 AM
Seems like a lot of itchy trigger fingers around here guys.

Monsolo, take it out and shoot the heck out of it and let us know how you feel about it then.

There are a few things that one needs to get used to in the assembly process and getting used to the trigger and such but it is indeed a perfect carry gun.
I think once you bond with it a little you'll get along fine.

MW surveyor
04-25-2013, 10:29 AM
OK, I take it back Monsolo. But you gotta admit it read like you had to do a major modification! Your explanation was much better.

chrish
04-25-2013, 10:57 AM
Guys, also not seeing the 'troll' aspect of this. Seems to be a real problem and I don't even read 'overreaction' in the first post. Even if it weren't a physical problem, new Kahr owners are not always aware of how TIGHT a brand new Kahr can be. Not everybody comes here first and reads up and pretty much nowhere else are you going to get that information. This is the ONE STOP KAHR INFO SHOP. But this wasn't even a Kahr tightness issue, this was a bent recoil spring, and not easily noticeable obviously.

Monsolo, doubtful the guide rod needs to be replaced now that you've fixed the tip of the spring. I don't think the scratch, even if it's deep, would impact functionality. Sounds like you correctly identified the problem and corrected it. A new recoil spring maybe, but otherwise I'd just roll w/ it and shoot the crap out of it. It'll loosen up and most likely you'll love it.

Still, I imagine if you called Kahr and told them what you found, they'd shoot you out a spring and guide rod. I'd at least call and ask.

Happy shootin'...

Tinman507
04-25-2013, 11:35 AM
http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o542/tinman507/Temptation_zps6b5f3fee.jpg

LorenzoB
04-25-2013, 02:51 PM
Just to be sure...

1) The closed end of the spring seats against the flanged end of the guide rod. The open end of the spring goes into the slide.

2) The closed end of the spring is a smaller diameter than the rest of the spring. That end needs to be pushed onto the guide rod first and forced down to the flange (it will scratch the guide rod as it slides down). After it is on the rod, that end does not move when the slide cycles.

3) There shouldn't be spring drag on the rod when the slide cycles because the rest of the spring has a larger inside diameter than the outside diameter of the guide rod. If the spring is really dragging, something is wrong, or you have the spring on backwards.

Here's a photo of the closed end of the spring against the guide rod flange...
8345

Monsolo
04-25-2013, 03:19 PM
Lol! I guess I can accept the criticism that I made a mountain out of a mole hill. I would just ask those of you who think that to kindly consider what I've previously owned and have been used to. All I've ever had were Glocks and, in this man's mind, they are the most rugged, take it out of the box and fire it flawlessly, reliable handgun in the world. Now, I know a lot of you won't agree with me on that opinion but you should at least agree that the Kahr is more tempermental and touchy than a Glock. Exhibit A: on every Kahr a 200-round minimum break-in is highly recommended. There's no such thing as a "break-in" with a Glock! Lol! Exhibit B: even your own sticky's talk about special "things" that have to be done to a Kahr before it's even fired... there's no such magic voo-doo with a Glock!

Now, I know it looks like I'm a huge Glock fan... that's because I AM! I stated that clearly in my initial post. I'm willing to try the Kahr and even get to the point that I love my Kahr... I just need to keep telling myself IT AIN'T NO GLOCK!!

Monsolo
04-25-2013, 04:19 PM
Just to be sure...

1) The closed end of the spring seats against the flanged end of the guide rod. The open end of the spring goes into the slide.

2) The closed end of the spring is a smaller diameter than the rest of the spring. That end needs to be pushed onto the guide rod first and forced down to the flange (it will scratch the guide rod as it slides down). After it is on the rod, that end does not move when the slide cycles.

3) There shouldn't be spring drag on the rod when the slide cycles because the rest of the spring has a larger inside diameter than the outside diameter of the guide rod. If the spring is really dragging, something is wrong, or you have the spring on backwards.

Here's a photo of the closed end of the spring against the guide rod flange...
8345

LorenzoB, yes, my spring is on correctly. Thanks for the heads up! :yo:

You make a good point that supports my account of the problem, as a matter of fact. The end of the spring opposite where the guide rod is inserted IS a bigger diameter, meant to allow the guide rod free slippage through. However, mine didn't allow the guide rod to slip through... it locked up on it. :cool: I corrected that... :D

getsome
04-25-2013, 04:21 PM
You are right, a Kahr is not a Glock...Both have their own nitch and after a while I'm sure your Kahr will grow on you too....They get better and better the more you shoot them....

Kahrs are a little different animal and require more from the operator than a Glock but they give back so much with their ease of carry, the look and feel in the hand and their unmatched design...It's hard to compare a Kahr and a Glock, I would say a Glock is like a Honda Accord, very reliable and anybody can drive one but then again everybody DOES drive one....I see a Kahr as being like a Ferrari which takes some getting use to and is a little more finicky but when you drive one there's nothing else like it....

I hope you like your Kahr and even though you had to tweek it a little it should be good to go now so get out there and shoot um up....

Monsolo
04-25-2013, 04:23 PM
You are right, a Kahr is not a Glock...Both have their own nitch and after a while I'm sure your Kahr will grow on you too....They get better and better the more you shoot them....

Kahrs are a little different animal and require more from the operator than a Glock but they give back so much with their ease of carry, the look and feel in the hand and their unmatched design...It's hard to compare a Kahr and a Glock, I would say a Glock is like a Honda Accord, very reliable and anybody can drive one but then again everybody DOES drive one....I see a Kahr as being like a Ferrari which takes some getting use to and is a little more finicky but when you drive one there's nothing else like it....

I hope you like your Kahr and even though you had to tweek it a little it should be good to go now so get out there and shoot um up....

You, sir, are exactly right! I, too, hope that the Kahr wears in correctly and becomes my favorite carry weapon... that's why I bought it!

I'll be out on the range this Saturday... I'll let ya'll know how it goes. Of course, that's AFTER I follow all the sticky's and properly prep it first! ;)

Bawanna
04-25-2013, 05:15 PM
Don't get overwhelmed by the proper prep thing. I think 97% of Kahrs would run fine right out of the box.

The proper prep is just a little insurance to make sure the first range trip is a pleasant one.

Actually the proper prep could be applied to any new gun. Clean, lube, run a bit wet, get to know it and get things smooth. The 200 round break in is nothing unusual in itself either, Kahr is just honest and tells you up front you might have some early growing pains.

High end 1911's, any of them need a little break in time.

Glocks are sloppy enough that they rarely have growing pains but they too are not trouble free 100% always all the time. Most of the time they are though.