P40 magazine help

[Indigo]

Greetings brain trust. Just bought my 15th Kahr off gunbroker, buyer beware though. Looks brand new but seller stopped answering my emails when I pointed out that in 16 magazines full of Fiocchi fmj the slide wouldn't lock back on empty not one time. I studied my other Kahr 9mm/.45 mags and the little bump thing that engages slide lock is shaped very different on the .40 compared to the other calibers. Do all .40 mags have this shape? Can you swap out a 9mm follower and get slide lock? Also, rounds 4,5 (loaded into mag 2nd, 3rd) in all 16 magazines failed to feed and needed to pull back slide slightly to relieve pressure on round then it could be pushed into chamber with slide. Not a fan of that either. My Ranger 180 grain HP's all fed correctly but still wouldn't lock slide back. Please help. My other Kahr's are perfect. This thing is a useless black turd at the moment.

The .40 is in the middle. The little bump thing is way less rounded and much more pointy than the other 9mm/.45 followers where they engage slide lock.
http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n618/devito99/A41F024C-AFA2-410F-8AD3-BD266F454B84-3783-000003B19B3D9004.jpg

[jocko]

either one should work OK, they did go to the rounded one lately. I have no clue why. Have u visibly checkedto seeif the mags lock open if u just pullback the slide on anembpy magazine. to see what that metal ub is doin with that slide lock lever.U could have a bad slide lock lever, if all 3 are doinit. Give kahr a call and explain it and I wuld think they would send u a new slide stop lever to install. Also on wyns thead on kahr 45 fixes he shows a nice photo of what that sldiestop spring should look like. It indeed could be bent outta whack. IMO has to be one of those two things and each should be easy to check out. Sounds like the seller did sumpin wrong with the gun and peddled it. Kahr can fix it but check some of this out urself first.

PM sent to.

[Tilos]

From what I see in your pic the middle mag's mag follower does NOT have the metal pin insert that contacts the slide lock/release, and appears as though the plastic has been deformed from contacting the slide lock/release.
The left mag's follower appears to have the pin, with the stock, conical shape.
I have found that pin in stock form, to drag in the inside of the mag and have stoned/filed mine for clearance in the mag, and it kinda looks like the pin in the mag follower on the right, in your pic :001_huh:

[Indigo]

From what I see in your pic the middle mag's mag follower does NOT have the metal pin insert that contacts the slide lock/release, and appears as though the plastic has been deformed from contacting the slide lock/release.
The left mag's follower appears to have the pin, with the stock, conical shape.
I have found that pin in stock form, to drag in the inside of the mag and have stoned/filed mine for clearance in the mag, and it kinda looks like the pin in the mag follower on the right, in your pic :001_huh:

9mm on left, .40 middle, .45 on right. It's dark, but there is a small rectangular metal piece there to engage lever, its just simply a lot smaller than the larger, more rounded 9/45 mags.

Jocko. If I pull the slide all the way back on an empty mag and press slide lock lever up manually to catch it will hold. If I don't apply pressure to that lever though it won't lock open

[wyntrout]

I thought that my P40 mags' follower pins dragged too much on the inside of the tube and sanded them a bit. Then none would hold the slide open on empty. I had to buy all new followers.:rolleyes:

My P40's slide lock spring's screw really seems prone to loosen and then I have failures of the slide to lock back. I check that often now, especially if I have ANY problems.

I had problems with my P40 in chambering rounds and found that radiusing the parts of the extractor claw that come in contact with the cartridge rims really helps. I used small diamond files and whet stones to smooth those and stopped the partial chambering thing.

Wynn:)

[knkali]

did you say 16 mags? If so then it is the gun. can you take a high res pic of the chamber with an empty mag in with the back? I bet something is out of tolerance and that is the prob with the slide lock and feeding. I bet the mag is not going deep enough into the frame.

[Tilos]

OH, Ok then...

[jocko]

9mm on left, .40 middle, .45 on right. It's dark, but there is a small rectangular metal piece there to engage lever, its just simply a lot smaller than the larger, more rounded 9/45 mags.

Jocko. If I pull the slide all the way back on an empty mag and press slide lock lever up manually to catch it will hold. If I don't apply pressure to that lever though it won't lock open

thereis sumpin wrongor totally out of whack with that little springhy on the left. . taketheslideoff, reinsertthe slide release lever, now insert an empty magazineand seeif that follower is pickin up that slide release lever. very easy to check. If that spring is bent to fardown ward,it willexert enoghpressure on that slide lock leverto over ride the powe rof the magazine follower spring. thistestwillalso show u if thefollowers are indeed engaging that little nub on the slide lever on the insideof theframe. Iwould betthatpartis OK but it is easyto see.:Amflag2:

[Indigo]

did you say 16 mags? If so then it is the gun. can you take a high res pic of the chamber with an empty mag in with the back? I bet something is out of tolerance and that is the prob with the slide lock and feeding. I bet the mag is not going deep enough into the frame.

Here you go. Hopefully one of these shows what you're looking for.
I'm guessing that feed ramp mark indicates some polishing needed there.

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n618/devito99/1BB54CB8-42FE-416B-BBEA-EEDFCFED8F35-4918-000000D737C6D1FD.jpg
http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n618/devito99/B008FB2C-D551-4B28-B743-4DDA3A000D6F-4918-000000D73CA0FDDE.jpg
http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n618/devito99/87A429EE-A751-41DD-9016-7D0AD83E706A-4918-000000D7416F9673.jpg
http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n618/devito99/6A5D48FA-9DE3-4A69-A8FB-9C4F873410D6-4918-000000D746D71996.jpg
http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n618/devito99/BF905D30-390D-4EB4-B890-716AB6A11C02-4918-000000D7518630E7.jpg

[hardluk1]

For what its worth in my TP40 the 9mm follower work in the 40sw mag when hand cycling them on an empty mag. The metal tab on the 9mm follower also sits 30ths higher than the 40cal follower in the 40 mag. Maybe enough to make a difference. Small difference in widths of follower to mag can account for that. It also feeds well by hand. Did not shoot it to see if it locked back as I have near by neighbors that work night and sleep first half of the day.

The photo of your different mags makes me think the metal tab in your 40sw follower maybe part of your problem. By eye only the 3-40sw mags I have the metal tab sits higher in the plastic than yours look to be. Mine average .445 ths from the metal edge at the front of the mag.

Yea a little polishing may help with feeding issues along with something help hold on tightly. I find I have to adjust my grip about have way thru a mag.

[gb6491]

Looks to me like that slide stop has been trimmed and probably too much:eek:
I believe that the edge marked with the blue arrow should be where the red arrow is for your stop to work properly;
http://i40.tinypic.com/xmsvq1.jpg
You might pull it and compare it to these two Kahr slide stops:
http://i40.tinypic.com/mrcnpz.jpg
Regards,
Greg

[Indigo]

so you think ordering a new slide stop lever might be a cheap thing to try out before I start shipping it off?



Looks to me like that slide stop has been trimmed and probably too much:eek:
I believe that the edge marked with the blue arrow should be where the red arrow is for your stop to work properly;


http://i40.tinypic.com/xmsvq1.jpg
You might pull it and compare it to these two Kahr slide stops:
http://i40.tinypic.com/mrcnpz.jpg
Regards,
Greg

[gb6491]

so you think ordering a new slide stop lever might be a cheap thing to try out before I start shipping it off?
If it has been trimmed, then yes I do think so.
Then again, if you have a 9mm Kahr handy, you might try swapping it's slide stop into the .40 and checking function.
Regards,
Greg

[Indigo]

I've got lots of those so ill try it out. Thank you. Jocko I got your message thank you too I'll look through that stuff. Thanks to all other participants I really hate to get stuck with something a person could easily have handled themselves


did you say 16 mags? If so then it is the gun. can you take a high res pic of the chamber with an empty mag in with the back? I bet something is out of tolerance and that is the prob with the slide lock and feeding. I bet the mag is not going deep enough into the frame.


If it has been trimmed, then yes I do think so.
Then again, if you have a 9mm Kahr handy, you might try swapping it's slide stop into the .40 and checking function.
Regards,
Greg

[knkali]

yep looking like the slide stop. Snap a pic of that for us too please

[Indigo]

yep looking like the slide stop. Snap a pic of that for us too please

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n618/devito99/0EB8F51F-0CD1-4730-8A59-E7CA1E7F43E2-4609-0000046E1A020CD8.jpg

Here's the slide stop. Took off slide, looks like magazine engages the catch. I have a few extra 9mm slide stops so I think I'll go to range tomorrow and try combo of 40 mag follower with 9mm slide stop and 9mm slide stop with 9mm followers in the .40 mag tube. Hopefully something works.

Wyn, I have the tools to do what you advised on the extractor, but before I do, could you explain how it works to trim the claw and have a positive effect on rounds only feeding halfway into the chamber? I'd really appreciate it if you or anyone else could just summarize that for me. Thanks everyone.

[knkali]

:confused:http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc402/kahrp40/IMG_20130725_184057.jpg (http://s1210.photobucket.com/user/kahrp40/media/IMG_20130725_184057.jpg.html)
http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc402/kahrp40/IMG_20130725_184009.jpg (http://s1210.photobucket.com/user/kahrp40/media/IMG_20130725_184009.jpg.html)
http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc402/kahrp40/IMG_20130725_183808-1.jpg (http://s1210.photobucket.com/user/kahrp40/media/IMG_20130725_183808-1.jpg.html)

[knkali]

see above pix. does your slide stop have that protuberance like mine that pushes onto the follower? Your pic looks like it is flat across

[gb6491]

...

Wyn, I have the tools to do what you advised on the extractor, but before I do, could you explain how it works to trim the claw and have a positive effect on rounds only feeding halfway into the chamber? I'd really appreciate it if you or anyone else could just summarize that for me. Thanks everyone.
If the round has trouble getting under the extractor claw and up the breech face, it can create angles where the round will not feed properly or rob the slide of enough momentum that it can't finish the process.
Ns1ntMjiH6I
Regards,
Greg

[Indigo]

see above pix. does your slide stop have that protuberance like mine that pushes onto the follower? Your pic looks like it is flat across

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n618/devito99/AE075CCF-7C14-423C-96A8-3777E21A6759-4609-000004790168AF47.jpg
http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n618/devito99/8B1E45FA-418F-4FFE-81C3-B1F0824B2016-4609-00000478FC132677.jpg

If I'm looking at the same thing you are then yes it's flat. So I'll pick one if those up. That should solve one issue with the slide lock. Hopefully I can get the rounds to chamber all the way and then I have another winner here. Thanks-Brandon

[knkali]

kind of hard for me to see on your pix. BUT if your is in fact flat, then that is the problem. Need a view with slide stop pin pointing away from the camera to get the proper perspective. I think you know what I am referring to though. Please check the slide lock notch on the slide. Is it worn and out of spec?

Now if the lock back issue is solved, then we have a chambering problem still. For that, I ask how many rounds through the gun but the wear on the feed ramp looks like the gun has been cycled quite a few times. your thoughts?

Also I would disassemble the mag and make sure the spring is orientated correctly. Cant hurt. Maybe a new spring or two when ordering a slide stop?

I know my gun doesn't feed well when the recoil spring needs to be replaced. Sounds weird but it has solved my problem 3 times so I have to replace my spring every 800-1K rounds. you could be due?

[hardluk1]

For what I can see in your photo my 40 slide lock is like yours. Not the same as the 9mm ether. 40 has a smaller contact area with the same small extra amount to the front side as yours looks.

[dorangolv]

If the round has trouble getting under the extractor claw and up the breech face, it can create angles where the round will not feed properly or rob the slide of enough momentum that it can't finish the process.
Ns1ntMjiH6I
Regards,
Greg

Watched the video of the round being stripped off the top of the mag and chambered. How can you tell if there is a malfunction at the breech face/extractor gap?

[wyntrout]

My P40 was jamming with the round at about 45 degrees nose up in the mouth of the chamber, but if I just pulled back on the slide a TINY bit to relieve the pressure, the cartridge rim would "click" up under the extractor claw and then releasing the slide would allow the cartridge to easily chamber. I just used a small file or stone or sandpaper to lightly radius or smooth all of the surfaces that the cartridge comes into contact with as it is stripped from the magazine and chambered. That stopped the "hesitation" and click. I've had no problem since, but I do have to keep an eye on the screw/washer that holds the slide lock spring in place. That can loosen and cause several different problems as the slide lock and pin migrate outward and slide lock back stops, along with other problems.

Wynn:)