Thread Size

[mtnwinds]

Hoping someone here knows the thread size/pitch for the screw that holds the slide lock spring in place. It screws into the frame.

[muggsy]

Which model of Kahr pistol do you own? If you lost your screw the best place to get a replacement is from Kahr. Go to Kahr Arms parts. If the screw threads into polymer do not over tighten it.

[mtnwinds]

The screw is for a CW9. Just interested in the thread size.

[jocko]

hoping someone here knows the thread size/pitch for the screw that holds the slide lock spring in place. It screws into the frame.

buy it and the concaved washer that comes with it from kahr

[mtnwinds]

I don't need the screw or the washer. I'd just like to know what size the screw is.

[Bawanna]

I couldn't say myself. Consider this a shout out to Greg or CJB or a few others that probably know.

I don't see any spec on it on the parts list.

[mtnwinds]

I PMd Greg and he replied that he did not know. That forced me to rumage through some boxes in the garage and find my 'Screw Checker', a handy gage that Brownells sells. Sure enough, the screw is a 2-56 flat head torx screw.

[Bawanna]

I'm gonna write this down.

Things that Greg don't know- 1

Things that Greg does know-9.999.9999.999999.999999999942764890423..00

I could be of a couple million on line 2.

Crap, now Greg knows this too so the don't know has to go back to zero again.

[jocko]

my thoughts, ask kahr they might tell you. I would not loa dup on um, ur not gonna loose it, the threads on thaqt screw willnever wear out and if anything wears out it will be from over tightening that screw in the polymer and there for stripping it out. THEN Houston, we have a problem.

everyone hgere will tell any kahr owner to just not fokk with that screw.If there is a weak spot in the kahrs, IMO this is it, but that being said, we hav enot seen any stripped out either and kahr can fix it if u do. Snug is good with that screw, u can never tighten it, as the polymer will give out first. MY PMJ9 has over 32 k rounds thrugh it, probbly been apart (slide off) 300+ times. I have reploaced one springhy and that was very earlyoin due to my neglience in putting the slide lever back in. I could have straightened it out myself but I had a new spare so I went that way.

MTNwids, I am not preaching to you here but just givin some new readers some insight in to this area. I always wished Kahr would have inbedded a metal insert in that polymer to accept that little screw, but again they really donn't have any issues in that area, so I guess if it isnt b roke, then don't fix it. Just sayin

I have to concur with the colone. I am alittle dissappinted in Gregg, first time he has not had a definitive answer. Not sur ethis forum can put up with such incompentence either colonel. U have qa tuff decision to make:behindsofa:

[muggsy]

You've piqued my curiosity, mtnwinds. Why the hell do you want to know the screw thread size/pitch? I only worry about stuff like that when I drop a screw and it rolls down the sewer in my basement. C'mon now, admit it. Yer cheap and wanted to avoid the shipping costs. :)

[gb6491]

http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs42/i/2009/074/b/6/Dunce_by_adambaronphoto.jpg (http://adambaronphoto.deviantart.com/)

[jocko]

http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs42/i/2009/074/b/6/Dunce_by_adambaronphoto.jpg (http://adambaronphoto.deviantart.com/)

looks like my school room in the old Catholic School that I went to for 8 years. Been in that corner before, may times. Once for having a 4" snake in my shirt pocket. Nun didn't think to much of that:behindsofa:

If anyone ever went to a catholic school with nuns, u will know that a sense of humor was not their forte either:behindsofa: Just sayinb

Buts that where I learne dto read and write so well today, so it was worth it. Just sayin:Amflag2:

[mtnwinds]

Greg, that has got to be a pic of my 4th grade classroom. :eek: We had ink bottles in the inkwells and filled our fountain pens by sticking the pen in the bottle and lifting the plunger. Always managed to get ink all over the place.

Notice the bell on the teacher's desk? Every once in a great while I got to take that bell off the nun's desk and go out into the hall to ring it when it was time for classes to change.

Muggsy, I can't remember anyone ever accusing me of being 'cheap'.:) Jocko is hinting at why I wanted info on the thread size. Like him, I think this screw is a weak point in the polymer frame design. The setup in the K series is much better.

I'm going to put a steel insert in my frame and then I can tighten that screw right down without worrying about stripping out the threads in the plastic frame. I should have the insert tomorrow and when I install it I'll post some pics of the process. What I've found out so far leads me to believe that this is a fairly simple modification. Total cost should be less than $2.00. It would have been so easy and inexpensive for Kahr to have included this insert in the fabrication of the frames. :confused:

Yeah, I know about the warranty consequences. Anybody who's pistol is out of warranty won't lose a thing. I purchased both my Kahr pistols 2nd hand and I also reload everything I shoot so I don't care about the warranty. Bottom line for me is I'll have more confidence/peace of mind regarding this CW9 which I purchased to be my wife's edc. Yup, the love of my life, a 71 yr old soon to be great g'ma is packing!:D

[muggsy]

I hope you know that I was just funnin ya, mtnwinds. There's not to much in life that I take seriously except for reloading ammunition. Greg, I want to know where you got that picture of me. I thought I burned all of the copies. :)

[CJB]

I couldn't say myself. Consider this a shout out to Greg or CJB or a few others that probably know.

I don't see any spec on it on the parts list.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.... but alas this old greybeard is clueless on that particular bit of information.

How about taking out the screw and measuring it?

[CJB]

I'm going to put a steel insert in my frame and then I can tighten that screw right down without worrying about stripping out the threads in the plastic frame. I should have the insert tomorrow and when I install it I'll post some pics of the process. What I've found out so far leads me to believe that this is a fairly simple modification. Total cost should be less than $2.00. It would have been so easy and inexpensive for Kahr to have included this insert in the fabrication of the frames. :confused:



Consider the following: Kahr didn't cut too many corners elsewhere. Maybe there's a reason for it being a screw into the plastic as it is. IOW, the screw is really more of a snug adjustment than a tight fastener. Could be metal to metal will allow backing out, whereas plastic to metal has some stick-tion. I don't know, which is why I'm saying... consider it.

[mtnwinds]

The manual says to tighten the screw so that the spring doesn't move. Yeah, right. I found that impossible to do in my cw9. I realize that the pistol functions well for most folks as it comes from the factory but being an incorrigible, anal retentive, old fart I have to mess with stuff to see if I can improve it. What else do you do when you're retired? http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-chores005.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php)

I'll be picking up a cw45 this Wednesday and then I get to mess around with modifying some of my 1911 mags.

Muggsy, I enjoy the friendly banter here and have learned not to take myself or anyone else too seriously.....most of the time.....well, at least some of the time. http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-violent018.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php)

The inserts won't arrive till Wednesday so it'll be the weekend before I get to try and ruin the frame on my cw9. CJB, after I fit the insert I intend to epoxy it in place. Only thing that will back it out is a KABOOM http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-violent030.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php)

[CJB]

Great for spring changes.

What manual says to tighten it until it doesent move? Not the OM ?

[yqtszhj]

Things that Greg don't know- 1

Things that Greg does know-9.999.9999.999999.999999999942764890423..00

I could be of a couple million on line 2.


I would say those numbers are about right.

[muggsy]

Mtnwinds, I'm from the school that teaches that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. You might just be opening a large can-o-worms here. Have you checked to see exactly what type of epoxy can be used to glue steel to polymer? Super glue might work, but then you'll be running the risk of not being able to remove your fingers from the frame. That part is known as the well-enough screw. Yer supposed to leave well-enough alone. Just sayin.

[mtnwinds]

CJB, I mis-spoke when I said the spring should be tightened so that it doesn't move. I meant to say, it should be tightened so that when one part moves the other doesn't; e.g. when the slide lock portion is moving to lock the slide back, the portion of the spring that locks the barrel lug pin in place doesn't move.

Muggsy, a lot of folks went to that same school you did and they generally do just fine for themselves. The school I go to teaches me that whether or not it's broken, see if you can improve it. I never have been very good at leaving well enough alone. I guess you could say it's has never been one of my virtues. Regarding the epoxy, most all epoxy compounds I've used have no trouble joining two dissimilar surfaces together; metal to plastic for example. Have you ever bedded a barreled action? If you're not careful, when you're bedding a steel barreled action to a wood or plastic stock you can stick the two together pretty darn tight.

A poem by Robert Frost, 'The Road Not Taken' and a book by Richard Bach, 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull' pretty much sum up my thoughts on leaving well enough alone.

[mtnwinds]

Well, the deed is done. I didn't time it but I think it took 30 - 45 minutes. Here's the insert I used.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk89/mtnwinds/DSC04580.jpg

I used a series of letter drills to sneak up on the final size of 1/8". I didn't want to take a chance that the 1/8" bit would catch in the hole and make a mess if I tried to drill it out in one pass.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk89/mtnwinds/DSC04581.jpg

The insert is self tapping. I used the existing factory screw threaded into the insert to drive the insert into the hole. It takes a bit of finesse to keep the little insert lined up while applying enough pressure to get the threads to bite into the hole. I used a magnifying visor to help me keep things under control. Here's the insert in its new home. You can see some excess material which I clean up later on.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk89/mtnwinds/DSC04573.jpg

I buried the insert just below the surface of the frame so as not to interfere with the spring or washer. There will be a slight amount of frame material that needs to be cleaned up. I'm a hobby woodworker and I found one of my small fishtail chisels worked perfectly. Here's the spring installed.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk89/mtnwinds/DSC04577.jpg

All that's left to do is to install the washer & screw. I'm going to get a new screw as the torx faceting is not all that durable in these tiny screws. It works o.k. but I will be happier when I replace this one with a new one.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk89/mtnwinds/DSC04582.jpg

Well, that's it. I can tighten that screw as much as I want to and that's what I was after. I'm not going to bother using epoxy as that insert is in there pretty tight. When you tighten the screw, the force on the insert tries to pull it up against the washer instead of screwing it deeper into the hole.

Just for good measure, I want to say that I am not suggesting that you perform this modification to your pistol. Because it worked for me does not mean it will work for you and your pistol. This is something I decided to do to my CW9 and will shortly do to my CW45.

[CJB]

that is certainly clean looking work

[Alfonse]

That is very nice. Thanks for documenting it.

[wyntrout]

Well, those of us who like to turn "just a bit more" too many times, will have an idea about how to repair the stripped threads. Thanks!

I am in favor of not fixing things that aren't broken, though. They usually just get more broken. :rolleyes:

Wynn:)

[gb6491]

That was well done mtnwinds:)
The inserts are from http://www.mcmaster.com correct?
Regards,
Greg

[mtnwinds]

Thanks for the kind words guys. The inserts are from McMaster Carr. I have xtras as they come in a 10 pack. I doubt I'll ever have that many Kahr pistols to modify. If anyone wants one please pm me with an address and I'll send you one. I figure I have 8 inserts I won't be using. I've also got a pack of screws coming and they come 50 to a pack. I'll stick one of those in with the insert so you'll have what you need except for the drill bits, etc.

I bought (actually traded for) my CW9 used and I think somewhere along the line someone overtightened its screw. But I also know that it is very easy to strip the threads out of that poly frame.

I like the fact that the modification is completely hidden. If you're careful when drilling the hole, you will only drill it about ¼" deep and not all the way through. That way, you can't tell by just looking inside the frame that anything has been done to it.

[IPSC]

New member here coming in late....hope you don't mind this question. Can the "photos" listed here be found?....not able to view them. Thanks.

[mtnwinds]

New member here coming in late....hope you don't mind this question. Can the "photos" listed here be found?....not able to view them. Thanks.

Those photos are on an old laptop. I'll see if I can find them.

[IPSC]

Thanks Mtnwind....I also sent you a private mail text. If you can't find the photos, maybe find the McMaster-Carr part numbers...as their current catalog shows a few items that that could be the part you used.... thanks !!