davcar45
10-01-2014, 03:51 PM
Yesterday the MK9 I ordered arrived at the local gun shop. My first Kahr pistol, I have never fired one before. Before the gun arrived I made the decision I wanted the SS guide rod so I ordered that from Kahr and it's been here a few days before I got the pistol. Since I wasn't able to get to the range yesterday I made the decision to go ahead and install the SS guide rod. A little scary since you basically destroy the rod it came with and use the parts to assemble the stainless rod. What I did to disassemble the old rod was cut a piece of wire coat hanger about an inch or two longer than the plastic factory assembly. I stuck the piece of coat hander in the hole, then used a hammer to punch the cap that keeps the spring captive out of the plastic rod. I think it took two hits and it was apart. I was surprised actually how easy it came apart and decided it was probably a good decision to replace the plastic. Glad I did it.
I did have to fit the stainless rod. It fit through the slide no problem however the rod was to long. It stuck out far enough that it looked bad. The little steel button that threads in the end of the rod was outside the hole in the slide it should sit in. Almost longer than the barrel. I shortened the rod a little bit at a time with a file. It looks good now.
I cleaned everything up last night, lubed it up and today I went to the range. The trigger was a new experience for me, I have never felt anything like it. It will take some getting used to, just the long pull etc. It is smooth but it was tough to stay on target through that long pull. I found if I prepped the trigger, meaning stroke it to near the full length of the pull then concentrate on front sight alignment I did better.
I put 250 rounds through the gun. 1 stoppage in which the empty got caught horizontally between the barrel hood and the breach face. This could have been induced by me trying to relax grip enough to get comfortable with the trigger. Happened about half way through the 250 rds. No other issues. One thing, I used blue thread locker to hopefully keep the end of the SS rod from unscrewing. That didn't work. It was loose after two magazines. I just tightened it by hand after each mag and kept shooting. The gun fed, extracted and ejected everything but the one I explained above. 50- FMJ PMC Bronze, 50- Remington UMC, 40- Federal HST 124gr standard pressure, 10- 147 gr Gold Dot standard pressure and 100 of my 115gr FMJ reloads. I have a lot of confidence that the gun is and will continue to be reliable. I shot everything at 21'(7 yards) today all on 9" paper plates. Recoil is not a problem, the gun is very shootable. Trigger finger did start to have pain somewhere between 150-175 rounds. Was just getting uncomfortable to shoot. Understandable from such a small gun. Only had the 3 mags it came with so that took a toll on my trigger finger as well. Mags are tight with new springs. Getting the 5th and 6th rounds or 6th and 7th rounds in with the tight new springs started to take it's toll.
On the guid rod, I guess I am going to have to use red loctite on that to keep it from unscrewing. Was trying to avoid that but on such a small screw I should be able to get it unscrewed to change the springs without to much trouble.
So overall, I like the pistol. It is pretty much everything I expected. I am a 1911 guy and shoot those a lot and even though I have traditional double action pistols, Sigs etc, most times I shoot those single action. So it's just going to take some time behind this gun for me to be able to group consistently with it. I've shot enough different firearms I know I can master it with time.
I'll get it cleaned up and post some pictures later tonight, if nothing else to show how the guide rod looked before I fit it. Other than that, it looks like any other MK9 with black grips. It is a well made pistol.
I did have to fit the stainless rod. It fit through the slide no problem however the rod was to long. It stuck out far enough that it looked bad. The little steel button that threads in the end of the rod was outside the hole in the slide it should sit in. Almost longer than the barrel. I shortened the rod a little bit at a time with a file. It looks good now.
I cleaned everything up last night, lubed it up and today I went to the range. The trigger was a new experience for me, I have never felt anything like it. It will take some getting used to, just the long pull etc. It is smooth but it was tough to stay on target through that long pull. I found if I prepped the trigger, meaning stroke it to near the full length of the pull then concentrate on front sight alignment I did better.
I put 250 rounds through the gun. 1 stoppage in which the empty got caught horizontally between the barrel hood and the breach face. This could have been induced by me trying to relax grip enough to get comfortable with the trigger. Happened about half way through the 250 rds. No other issues. One thing, I used blue thread locker to hopefully keep the end of the SS rod from unscrewing. That didn't work. It was loose after two magazines. I just tightened it by hand after each mag and kept shooting. The gun fed, extracted and ejected everything but the one I explained above. 50- FMJ PMC Bronze, 50- Remington UMC, 40- Federal HST 124gr standard pressure, 10- 147 gr Gold Dot standard pressure and 100 of my 115gr FMJ reloads. I have a lot of confidence that the gun is and will continue to be reliable. I shot everything at 21'(7 yards) today all on 9" paper plates. Recoil is not a problem, the gun is very shootable. Trigger finger did start to have pain somewhere between 150-175 rounds. Was just getting uncomfortable to shoot. Understandable from such a small gun. Only had the 3 mags it came with so that took a toll on my trigger finger as well. Mags are tight with new springs. Getting the 5th and 6th rounds or 6th and 7th rounds in with the tight new springs started to take it's toll.
On the guid rod, I guess I am going to have to use red loctite on that to keep it from unscrewing. Was trying to avoid that but on such a small screw I should be able to get it unscrewed to change the springs without to much trouble.
So overall, I like the pistol. It is pretty much everything I expected. I am a 1911 guy and shoot those a lot and even though I have traditional double action pistols, Sigs etc, most times I shoot those single action. So it's just going to take some time behind this gun for me to be able to group consistently with it. I've shot enough different firearms I know I can master it with time.
I'll get it cleaned up and post some pictures later tonight, if nothing else to show how the guide rod looked before I fit it. Other than that, it looks like any other MK9 with black grips. It is a well made pistol.