Advice requested

[Jerlin]

Purchased CW40 in January, 2015. Had failure to feed problems with every magazine. Sent pistol back to Kahr explaining problem and got it back in about 2 weeks. The repair ticket said the trigger was reworked and trigger bar lubed. Went to range and had the same FTF issues on every mag. Fired Winchester, Federal and Aguila ammo, and it happened with all three brands. Once more I told Kahr about the problem, and they had me send the pistol back a second time. Returned with ticket indicating they reworked the feed ramp and chamber rim. Went back to range today, and the Aguila ammo wouldn't even chamber but got stuck on the ramp. Blazer ammo I used had no trouble chambering, but I had at least 2 FTF on every magazine.
I am at a loss as to the next step. I guess I can continue to send the pistol back to Kahr and hope for the best, but obviously I'm not very confident. Ironically, I really like the way it handles and shoots and I want to use it for CCW. I just need to be able to depend on it, obviously.


Any suggestions are welcomed. Thanks for your time.

[Alfonse]

I would check out the mags. If you have more than one and it is doing it with both, it is probably not them. Next, I would have somebody else shoot it.

Kahrs require a firmer grip than many other pistols. It sounds like it is working for Kahr. Some folks have to work on their grip for a Kahr to work well for them. Others have no issues. FTF is a symptom of a grip not being right.

Sometimes reworking the extractor so rounds slide under it helps solve the issues. FTF can be failure to feed, fire, etc. So, I don't know exactly what you mean.

But, assuming feeding, drop rounds in the chamber and make sure they go in and come out without sticking. The chambers are tight and the .40 rounds seem to sometimes engage the rifling before seating.

Hopefully the real experts on the CW40 will weigh in soon.

[Jerlin]

Thanks, Alfonse. I did talk to the range officer who also mentioned grip. He fired a magazine and had two failure to fire events. I say failure to fire but I think it is more a failure to feed. His advice and the advice of some other people I talked to was to polish the ramp or put something slippery like Pam on it. I did polish it up when I cleaned it (I used Mothers) but I didn't use a dremel and did not put anything else on it.

[Alfonse]

Usually using Mothers by hand will make the ramp mirror shiny. That should be plenty fine. Search the threads, but I have read on the .40s that some self-defense (hollow-point) rounds can "stick" in the chamber. If you have been shooting some FMJ rounds, that is not likely to be the issue. The other thing that seems to sometimes happen is the ejector seems too tight and the rounds don't want to slip behind it, causing it to fail to feed. I would probably send it back to Kahr at this point. If you stick with them, they will make it right.

[cobrasjp]

Usually using Mothers by hand will make the ramp mirror shiny. That should be plenty fine. Search the threads, but I have read on the .40s that some self-defense (hollow-point) rounds can "stick" in the chamber. If you have been shooting some FMJ rounds, that is not likely to be the issue. The other thing that seems to sometimes happen is the ejector seems too tight and the rounds don't want to slip behind it, causing it to fail to feed. I would probably send it back to Kahr at this point. If you stick with them, they will make it right.
Did you mean extractor instead of ejector?

[Alfonse]

Yes.

[Jerlin]

Kahr replied to my new ticket and I'm sending it back again for them to check. They have been very easy to work with, and I'm confident it will be fixed. In addition I'm looking at all of the shooting videos that talk about grip and shooting issues that relate to semi auto handguns. All of my formal pistol training when I was a LEO in the 1970's was with the
revolver (I'm really dating myself here). Since then I have owned and shot semi auto pistols but a review of technique can never hurt (especially an old dog). The limp wrist videos have been helpful. I'll report back re my CW40 issues.

[b4uqzme]

Glad Kahr is taking care of you. Other than that, just make sure you keep shooting quality FMJ until it proves itself 100%. I'm not sure I'd recommend Aguila as a break-in round. Maybe not WWB either but others have had good luck. Stick with Federal, Blazer, etc. BRASS. Then start working in SD rounds. Did you say you checked/cleaned the mags? Make sure you check the spring orientation too while you have them apart. And some light polishing of the feed lips couldn't hurt either.


Just giving you some homework while your gun is away...to keep you interested and your spirits up. :)

[Jerlin]

Good advice b4, thanks.

[Scarywoody]

As Kahr has worked on the feed ramp, etc., I would suggest dis-assembling the magazines. Make sure the spring is in correctly. You have same issues with both so probably not but just to make sure. I polish up the inside and outside of the magazine to reduce chance of friction drag, plus it looks good. I lightly oil the magazine spring. Make sure the followers are in good shape and not broken. Make sure the magazine lips are not dis-formed. You may consider the magazine follower mod to re-adjust the angle the bullet travels into the chamber (tech section). Once you are sure the magazines are in good shape, load three rounds and see how it goes. If good add one more, etc.

[marshal kane]

. . . I say failure to fire but I think it is more a failure to feed. . .
Likely your magazines are back at Kahr now but when you get them back, load a few rounds into each one and strip them off like the slide would do using your thumb. The rounds should strip out like a greased pig then examine the cartridge cases for scratches. If you see scratches, the interior feed lips of the magazine has burrs. These can create enough drag to prevent your Kahr from chambering. I had burrs in my new P9 magazines causing failures to chamber. Take something like a wood dowel, toothbrush, etc. and push the magazine follower down, then lock it in place by putting a nail through the inspection holes. Take a hardened steel rod, like the shank of a drill bit, and burnish the interior magazine lips to rub off the burrs. This should eliminate any feed problems if this is caused by your magazines.

[Jerlin]

Thanks for your replies. I'm sure it will work out with some persistence on my part and the good advice you all have shared. I am really impressed with how the CW40 feels and shoots and I'm determined to make it a reliable CCW.

[Scarywoody]

Nothing to do with feeding, have you tried a rubber grip on it? It makes a big difference in handling. I use a Pachmyr on mine and it adds much more comfort and control.

[muggsy]

You need to be able to describe the problem accurately. Don't confuse the issue by calling a failure to feed a failure to fire. The least you can do is to point the tech people in the right direction. Was it a failure to feed or a failure to go into full battery. All of those are very different issues.

[Jerlin]

Point taken.

[Jerlin]

Got CW40 back today. Kahr replaced the barrel. Hope to visit the range in the next few days.