Bent lip on ejected brass, and overall break in issues?

[HawkeyeFan]

Just took out my new MK9 Elite today to break it in. Through 100 rounds, I had 8 rounds that failed to fire and one round that jammed up and required manual extraction. I also noticed a lot of my brass were heavily dented on the lip afterwards. I know the suggested break in is 200 rounds, but are Kahr's really THIS unreliable to start, or did I catch a bad one off the line?

http://i1328.photobucket.com/albums/w527/dustinbrundrett/20141223_114859_zps88ipwvw8.jpg

[kahrnut1]

look at your owners manual it shows the brass bent just like yours. thats normal

[HawkeyeFan]

In all of the booklets and papers that came with it, I see no picture of brass. I'll take your word. Just concerned because my FNS9 doesn't do that, and my brothers CW9 doesn't either. As well as the incredible amount of ftf's in just 100 rounds. Again, never had that happen with my FNS9, nor my brothers CW9.

[Steelratt]

For what it's worth, my MK40 never bent any brass, nor did it have any ftf issues. I did have fte's with orange tip dummy rounds during malfunction drills, but that was it. Did you try multiple ammo types?

[muggsy]

Dented brass isn't unusual and it comes from the spent case striking the edge of ejection port. Some, but not all of the brass ejected from my CM9 show the same dent. I reload and the sizing die straightens out the dents without any problems. It's a situation not limited to kahr pistols. Glock pistols will do the same thing.

[Bawanna]

Curious what your shooting for ammo. Also when you say fail to fire, in battery just no bang, slightly out of battery, nudge the slide and then get the bang?

They seem to prefer full power loads especially at first, if it's not quite going into battery it will most likely improve with more rounds.
They also like a rock solid grip especially at first also. A lot happening in a small package.

[Redstate]

Muggsy, my Glocks don't do it.

[JustinN]

When you say it failed to fire, what happened? Was it not in battery, was it light strikes, hard primers, ammo issues? I'd be very surprised if your MK9 had issues, we just don't see problems out of K and MK guns very often.

What kind of ammo were you using? For the break in period you'll have the best luck using a nice, self defense ammo, not a cheap FMJ...and I know that sucks but it does make life easier.

[HawkeyeFan]

I've been using new Freedom Munitions 115 gr round nose. Same ammo I've put through my FNS, and the same ammo my brother has put through his CW9. No soft grip, as I hold it like someone is trying to take it from me. It appeared to be in battery every single time, but wouldn't fire. Just racked the slide then put it in another magazine and shot it again. No light primer strikes on the rounds I had ftf's on. The gun was cleaned and lubed before I shot it. If it means anything to anyone, my FNS and my brothers CW9 have never dented brass.

[Ikeo74]

To help you we need more precise information. Give us detailed information about the problems you are having. I have an MK9 and the bent case is normal. You will get a bigger dent with more powerful ammo and it is caused by a very strong ejection that causes the case to rube the ejection port as it exits the gun. Less powerful ammo will have a smaller dent and target ammo may not have any dent at all. The fail to fire needs a mote info to judge. If you over lubed the striker channel it makes this happen. Are you shooting weak reloads? Under lubing can cause failure to go into battery. Give us more details and We will fix every one of your problems. You didn't get a bad one, you just need to correct some issues that are caused by shooting a new gun and getting to know it.

[Ikeo74]

"No light primer strikes on the rounds I had ftf's on" Please clarify this for me, Did you get a normal primer strike dent, or none at all. It makes a difference on what fix we recommend.

[HawkeyeFan]

I'll be heading back to the range tomorrow. I'll take another 100 rounds of my target ammo, and 50 rounds of my carry ammo (135gr Hornady Critical Duty.) I'll make sure to pay more attention to everything (though I typically check the slide after each round) and report back with any new info. It shouldn't be over or under lubed, but it's a shame if these guns are that finicky about lube.

[HawkeyeFan]

No strike with the ftf. Put the round back in, pulled the trigger and it fired.

[Ikeo74]

I'll be heading back to the range tomorrow. I'll take another 100 rounds of my target ammo, and 50 rounds of my carry ammo (135gr Hornady Critical Duty.) I'll make sure to pay more attention to everything (though I typically check the slide after each round) and report back with any new info. It shouldn't be over or under lubed, but it's a shame if these guns are that finicky about lube.

Do this before you go back to the range......Apply a liberal amount of automobile chassis grease to the recoil springs, make sure that you press it into and on and around the inner spring too. Then put a small amount on the slide surfaces that the slide rides on. Don;t put any in the striker channel. If you have lubed it already take some back off never over lube the channel.

Remember these guns are small and tight and have very close tolerances. They are precision made and tight. They run without problems if you do your part. The recoil springs do bind if not lubed. They smooth out quickly and the chassis lube eliminats the binding on new springs.

[HawkeyeFan]

Thanks. I'll give it a shot and report back tomorrow.

[Ikeo74]

Have fun, I think you will get the reliability that you were expecting tomorrow.

[Ikeo74]

Here is mine, take a look.

http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?15492-MK9-Before-and-after-Wood&highlight=mk9+wood

This post reminded me of something. The grip screws work loose, take a screwdriver along to tighten them if they do. I put lock tite on mine.

[yqtszhj]

A lot of that will clear up as breakin continues. Just use factory full power ammo in the beginning. You have a good pistol. My cm45 had very similar issues in the beginning but its all good now.

[yqtszhj]

Muggsy, my Glocks don't do it.

My glock 19 will do a lot of ugly things if you dont baby it.

Now my 30S is flawless since day one. I use the 19 to practice and the 30S for business. ;)

[muggsy]

Muggsy, my Glocks don't do it.

Not all of them do.

[muggsy]

On page 23 of the Kahr MK40 Owners Manual it states that dented case mouths are caused by the brass striking the lower side of the ejection port and this is to be considered as normal. There is no need to contact Kahr for service. It also discusses primer smear as being a normal. If any of you ever took the time to read the owners manual you might learn something about your gun. That notch in the left front frame rail is supposed to be there, too.

[HawkeyeFan]

Finally had a chance to get to a range yesterday. Put another 100 through it with only 1 failure to fire. The dented brass still weirds me out (the range officers assumed extractor but had never seen something like this happen.) Glad to read that it's pretty standard, though. I collect my brass as I'd like to eventually reload, so I have another question: Will continual use reduce the dramatic denting, as some cases are so warped I couldn't imagine they could be safely resized. Thanks again for all the help.

[Bob T]

Finally had a chance to get to a range yesterday. Put another 100 through it with only 1 failure to fire. The dented brass still weirds me out (the range officers assumed extractor but had never seen something like this happen.) Glad to read that it's pretty standard, though. I collect my brass as I'd like to eventually reload, so I have another question: Will continual use reduce the dramatic denting, as some cases are so warped I couldn't imagine they could be safely resized. Thanks again for all the help.

The bent brass is normal and fine to reload. I reload it all the time. Sometimes I need to "push" the bent side out a little using something like needle nose pliers, from inside the case, before forming.

I've had much worse than these....
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c163/Baatfam/ForumPics/Shooters/reloading-1030296.jpg (http://s27.photobucket.com/user/Baatfam/media/ForumPics/Shooters/reloading-1030296.jpg.html)

[HawkeyeFan]

That's great to hear. I've quickly noticed I'm a much better shot with the MK9 over my FNS9 (the sights feel more natural to me) and it's a pleasure to carry. Nice to see things are going to be fine.