Ran the PM40 Today

[man1nboat]

I took out the PM40 today with cheap Walmart ammo and had a few FTF's. I believe that 2-3 were due to my thumb getting in the way and the same due to the cheap ammo (they only had the $15 Made in Italy crap). I started out with a clean gun and ended up with a mess requiring cleaning. Attached is the target from ~10 yards. My hand honestly was twitching somewhat after 50 rounds of 180gr. Great for personal defense but not for target shooting :-)

[man1nboat]

Strange... I reexamined the barrel and noticed a mark (line) on the left side (9 o'clock) of the chamber side. Broke out the dremel tool and polished the ramp, face and hood to a nice shine with flitz. No more mark... Still believe that the cheap ammo and thumb problem caused the FTFs but maybe the line had something to do with it.

[scosgt]

What Italian does WalMart sell? Are you speaking of Privi Partizan? That is not Italian.

[warbird1]

Strange... I reexamined the barrel and noticed a mark (line) on the left side (9 o'clock) of the chamber side. Broke out the dremel tool and polished the ramp, face and hood to a nice shine with flitz. No more mark... Still believe that the cheap ammo and thumb problem caused the FTFs but maybe the line had something to do with it.
You shooting with the high thumbs?

[man1nboat]

@scosgt... There was a 170gr brass box that I originally thought was Russian but the top of the box said made in Italy. The box was $19 come to think of it... @warbird1 yeah a few FTFs were thumbs high I believe... Had the same problem with the K9 too but this is a smaller gun.

[garyb]

Once you get used to her with more repetitive shooting, you will find that you will enjoy target shooting with her much more. Also, if you reload, you can make a nice light load for target shooting that will cycle just fine. This will allow you to enjoy more shooting at the range...cheaply (relatively speaking), but keep your SD ammo in her for carry. Also, look for Jocko's prep thread and follow it closely. It will help prevent any failures at the range. It takes awhile to cycle the burrs out of them sometimes. I sat and cycled the slide over and over again, hundreds of times when I first got my PM40 after cleaning and prepping it per Jocko's instructions. The only FTF I've had was due to expanded brass cases shot from unsupported glocks. Once I figure that out and how to prevent myself from using them again in the future....never had a single blip with my sweatheart 40. Good luck with it. Give her time at the range and you'll be shooting at 25 yrds like no tomorrow. The gun is very capable once you get used to it....and is very reliable once the minor bugs are sorted (prepped) out.

[man1nboat]

@garyb - Nice write-up. It's my EDC and have no regrets. I agree with your comments. Now to find Jocko's prep thread

UPDATE: I cannot find Jocko's prep thread. Anyone have it?

[garyb]

Look under Kahr-Tech. It is there.

[man1nboat]

Thanks Gary - found it. I took apart the magazines and to my horror they were oily, dirty and not maintained. Additionally, the flush magazine's spring was backwards. More and more I am working through these issues. I believe I am good to go now... Thanks!

[garyb]

Glad you found it man1nboat. When did you purchase that PM40? Was that a new or used PM40? Just curious.

[man1nboat]

Hi Gary - I purchased the PM40 a few weeks ago. From the SN it appears to have been manufactured ~ late 2007. From the looks of it few rounds were initially fired (guessing ~500, not inside slide marks gouges, etc...). I cleaned it up but NOT the magazines (my bad). They looked awful... I have not totally gone through it minus replacing some springs that I want to do as preventative maintenance...

Really like the 40... Plenty of punch and I love the trigger.

Thanks

Richard

[jocko]

be sure to keep an eye on the magazine followers, the PM40 is kinda hard on them sometimes.

u can also by the outter recoil spring for the pM40 off of the wolffs spring site listed under the PM9. I would recommend for the 40 cal the 20.5 outter spring to. Makes a very nice set up. Ur factory is 18# the same as the PM9 and there is certainly a differencein the calibers as far as recoil goes.

[man1nboat]

Thanks Jocko...

Question... I went to the Wolf site and saw the recoil spring set PN 52820 for $8.99 (20.5#). Any other springs you recommend changing while I'm in there? Thanks for your help!

http://www.gunsprings.com/index.cfm?page=items&cID=1&mID=29#185

Richard

UPDATE: I went ahead and ordered the above springs and replacement magazine springs as well. Thanks

[jocko]

wellu can combine a 3 pak of 5% extra strength mag springs and a 3 pak of 5# striker springs for the same postage price. The 5# striker spring is just a super mod, doesnt change trigger travel but changes trigger pull and just drops in the striker channel. U won't get any light strikes either, just a very nice mod.

If it was my 40 cal, I would put the 20.5 recoil outter spring in that gun over what u have i there now which is 18#. Never made alot of sens etome why the 9 and j40 cal used the same poundage when the 40 cal has so much more ump behind it. It might make it a tad harder at first 100 rounds to hand rack with the 20.5 spring but it might help somewhat with felt recoil. certainbly won't hurt a damn thing. the 5% more strength mag springs IMO u won'tnotice any difference in loading the mags either and 5% ain't much increase but it sure ain't gonna harm anything and should feed those round sup the mag tube a tad faster..

[man1nboat]

Jocko, I have a question... I have the old style recoil spring (13 coils vs 15 for the new style). Will the wolf set that I ordered still work? My SN is WA6674 and manufactured July 2006. I have the new style slide if that matters.

Update: I contacted Kahr and they said that I have the old recoil spring. I also contacted Wolf and they said that they only manufacture the old recoil springs and that my order included the striker spring.



FYI - Thanks for your assistance!

[wyntrout]

If you run across the Privi Partizan 180-grain FMJ, I've found it to be the wussiest load... the lightest recoil by far... okay for the range. Going from that to just about anything else is like going from .38 special target loads to full-bore .357 magnum loads!

Wynn:)

[garyb]

I own a PM40 and I could not say either way regarding the benefit of going to a heavier recoil spring. Personally, because I reload and I have found a nice soft load for the standard 18# recoil spring that came on my PM40. If I were to change my spring, I would need to go to a heavier load. Some IDPA shooters go to a lighter recoil spring solely to reload lighter loads to lower recoil. Something you may want to consider for target shooting. The 18# factory spring works fine for SD ammo, but the 20.5# may work better for that. It might be something to test.

As for the striker spring reduction, it is not recommended for duty carry by Wolf. It is recommended for target shooting. 1# is not much of a change, but might be a nice mod for target shooting. It might be something to test too.

[man1nboat]

Agree fully. I will let you know if there is a felt difference.

[Glock23]

FWIW, I have the stronger (20.5#) recoil spring and the lighter (5#) striker spring in my CM40.

To me, any difference in recoil is negligible, though it did cure an intermittent failure (slide not locking back on an empty mag).

As for the striker spring, there is a noticeable difference in the trigger pull, but not so much that it is no longer safe.

[jocko]

Agree fully. I will let you know if there is a felt difference.

5#striker spring is not a target spring. their notation in their webb site is a typical CYA THING. gLOCKS come with 5# strikers, many guns today do. to my knowledge today all cm9 and cm 40 and pm9 and pm40 today come with the 13 coil recoil spring. I think kahr droppedt he 15 coil outter spring not to long ago on the new cm andpm models due to alot of complaints about installing the spring and working theslide. so u have what I call the blunt nose model kahr which IMO is kahrs best little compact.

Whether the 20.5#spring gives u less felt recoil is debateable but it over all should be kinder to your gun, . either spring is perfect for your 40.I merely gave u a suggestion on the 5#striker spring u can decide for yourself. I have yet to read one complaint from any person who has put in that spring..:banplease:

[man1nboat]

Thanks Jocko. You've been a big help! Appreciate it!