CW9 eats guide rod

[gun0wner]

Have any of you had an issue where a CW eats the guide rod? Every time we have taken the pistol to the range and put 50 rounds through it the guide rod would be more and more chewed up. We sent it back to the factory and asked them to fix it. They refused. I asked them to at least replace the original rod with the SS rod as it is harder -- they refused. I asked could they sell me the SS rod at cost -- again they refused. They said some pistols just do this. They replaced the guide rod with another one just like the original black rod and sent it back. It was even chewing the guide rod them put in it (as they tested it) and it was already fairly chewed up. They didn't seem to care, they just kept telling me how much they wanted to make me happy (only they wouldn't actually do anything to make me happy). I have owned lots of pistols (Sig, Walther, Ruger, S&W, et. al.) and none of them have chewed the guide rod like this. I even have another CW9 and it doesn't chew the rod. I am so disappointed with the lack of service, I will be getting rid of my Kahrs. Any one else had this issue with the guide rod in a CW or the stellar customer service?

[muggsy]

If you round the muzzle end of the guide rod spring tip it will stop chewing up the guide rod. A chewed up guide rod that doesn't impair function does not need to be replaced. It's a cosmetic issue and considered normal wear. If you would like to improve the appearance you can do so by polishing it with 600 grit emery cloth. It's a very easy fix. A bit of cold bluing will bring back the original finish. You may also notice scuff marks on the barrel hood and barrel. These are considered normal wear, too.

[Ronni3_J]

I havent had that issue with mine but I will start paying more attention

[Alfonse]

As Muggsy said, dressing the end of the spring will stop it.

[Bobshouse]

Calling first dibbs! Doesn't it just irritate you to death knowing every time you pull that trigger it's causing another scratch? Send it to me, scratches that I can't see really don't bother me much.

[sharpetop]

My CW9 guide rod did the same thing. Kahr sent another one with the same result. I ended up sanding them down a bit and now have a spare. The gun never malfunctioned as a result of the banged up guide rods.

[Exiledviking]

http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?t=26188

[Exiledviking]

I meant to include text in my post above. I was having the same issue on my P9. Seems to have to lessened with more rounds thru it. It appears to have been the sharp ends of the recoil spring causing the problem.

[Ronni3_J]

After looking at my guide rod I realized as soon as I got mine I ran it on the convolute wheel at work. I took off all the black finish since im not worried about rust. Its been silver since I got my CW9. No bite marks from the spring on mine.

http://jdlautodesign.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Kahr-CW9-Black-_1.jpg

[gun0wner]

Thanks for all the replies. The solution begs the question ... if the fix is this simple, why didn't Kahr service either; take 5 minutes to file/grind the spring, or, take 1 minute to replace the spring? I have sent back a defective LCP to Ruger and they not only paid shipping both ways and repaired it, but gave me bonus parts for the inconvenience. Sig remounted a sight on a P226 that I bought used (technically wasn't warranted to me). Apparently Kahr service isn't in the same league as these manufacturers. Sorry, not giving it away. I will doctor the spring, clean up the rod and sell the pistol. I am not going to keep something from a manufacturer that tells me over and over they want to make me happy, but won't put their money where their mouth is.

[RonW]

What do you mean by "eats the guide rod"? Are you talking about the black finish flaking/wearing off? If so then that is normal wear & tear... If you run your finger nail across it, it does feel "rough" however... I too wasn't crazy about the guide rod wear in the finish on my CW40, although it never affected performance/reliability I did replace it with a stainless steel guide rod from Kahr's custom shop... $26 bux. I also ordered a front night sight for the CW40 & my CM9 as well as a SS rod for my K9 while I was at it...

[gun0wner]

By 'eating" the guide rod I meant it chewed it up. It cut groves in the rod and not small ones either - they were .5 mm deep in places. It was so bad I expected it to start hanging up on the spring after a while. I was more put off by the fact that the Kahr service department did nothing to resolve the issue and wouldn't give or sell me the ss guide rod at cost. I did replace the guide rod with the ss rod and that resolved the issue. Heat treating the guide rod may also have resolved the issue (which makes you wonder why that was not part of the design).

[muggsy]

Thanks for all the replies. The solution begs the question ... if the fix is this simple, why didn't Kahr service either; take 5 minutes to file/grind the spring, or, take 1 minute to replace the spring? I have sent back a defective LCP to Ruger and they not only paid shipping both ways and repaired it, but gave me bonus parts for the inconvenience. Sig remounted a sight on a P226 that I bought used (technically wasn't warranted to me). Apparently Kahr service isn't in the same league as these manufacturers. Sorry, not giving it away. I will doctor the spring, clean up the rod and sell the pistol. I am not going to keep something from a manufacturer that tells me over and over they want to make me happy, but won't put their money where their mouth is.

I can't speak for Kahr Arms, but they probably thought that it was simply a cosmetic concern and that it didn't impair function. Now that you know the fix you can do it yourself or send it back to Kahr and have them do it. I sent a gun back to Ruger to have a gritty trigger fixed. They sent it back untouched saying that the trigger pull was within specs. I took the gun apart and smoothed up the parts myself.