K9 Maintenance

[Oklahoma40]

New member, just joined. I have two questions:

1) I have a K9 that I purchased new from a dealer in Feb, 1996. Really like it. Haven't done anything to it except have a ghost ring made for it. Had less than 700 rounds put through it.

Seems like I read somewhere that I should get the trigger spring replaced. Is that right and where can I find whether any other PM needs to be performed on it?

2) Is there somewhere that I can get info about reliability of the Kahr 380?

Thanks in advance and I look forward to learning a lot from you guys.

[b4uqzme]

You are in the right place. Tour the threads and you will find plenty of info about the .380's (good and bad). Just take some of the bad with a grain of salt. But understand that the smaller the pistol, the more susceptible to minor issues IMHO. So the issues posters experienced are genuine but can often be avoided with some TLC.

I don't see any reason to replace a trigger spring but the recoil spring should be replaced periodically. There's debate about when. I just wait until I start getting failures during my range time...or if recoil starts feeling excessively harsh.

Other than that, just review the sticky thread in the new member area about cleaning and lubing. Just to make sure you aren't missing anything. Sounds like you are not.

Welcome!!

[Oklahoma40]

Thank you!

[Alfonse]

I believe early K9s had a trigger made for some big east coast city police department and that much higher force is required to activate it. If you search elite trigger conversion for k9.

The factory will do it here for $125: http://www.kahr.com/custom-shop.asp

Here is more on it: http://www.defensivecarry.com/forum/defensive-carry-guns/119049-k9-trigger-update.html

[cobrasjp]

I believe early K9s had a trigger made for some big east coast city police department and that much higher force is required to activate it. If you search elite trigger conversion for k9.

The factory will do it here for $125: http://www.kahr.com/custom-shop.asp

Here is more on it: http://www.defensivecarry.com/forum/defensive-carry-guns/119049-k9-trigger-update.html
The trigger you are referring to is the New York trigger. IIRC, it is the same pull weight, but just a tad longer trigger stroke.

[Oklahoma40]

Good info. Thanks again!

[ripley16]

I believe early K9s had a trigger made for some big east coast city police department and that much higher force is required to activate it.

That isn't exactly accurate. The K9 came with a certain trigger. That's simply how it was first designed. Later when the Elite model was offered, (1998), the shorter trigger was available, but only in the elite. A standard K9 still came with the longer trigger. The NYPD announced the inclusion of the K9 into the list of allowable off duty or backup guns. These were no different than any standard Kahr. Over the years people informally differentiated the standard and elite trigger by calling one the "NYPD" trigger and the other the "elite". The NYPD later tried to get Kahr to change the trigger, but it didn't happen and the K9 was removed from the allowable list. This led to a bunch of police trade-ins hitting the market. Kahr did not make a trigger for the NYPD.

Recently The standard K9 trigger was changed to the so called elite, (the same trigger found in other regular Kahrs), and the old longer trigger is now an option.


Seems like I read somewhere that I should get the trigger spring replaced.

Unless you want to change the trigger spring, it should not need to be changed, especially after only 700 rounds. If the gun is functioning properly leave it alone. The only regularly replaced spring is the recoil spring. Kahr says to do this every 1500 rounds or so to maintain reliability. They're cheap, so a new one isn't a big deal.