lakeline followers...chewed up

[kiki]

So I purchased a brand new CM9 and I also bought some Lakeline followers gun worked flawlessly with no problems after 200 rounds but when I got home to clean the firearm noticed that my Lakeline followers were all chewed up anyone else have this happen???

[Bawanna]

Yes, and some far worse. Appears you feed ramp needs to be shortened up a bit, it's smacking the follower.

On the bright side, had that been a factory follower it probably would have broke. Often times just the skirt so it still functions but still broke.

There's a thread around here discussing that ramp. Might search rampectomy. I'll look for it first chance I get.

[kiki]

it appears those hits are from the slide stop! not the feed ramp...becuase my other kahr mags dont have any wear on them!!!

[gb6491]

Yes, and some far worse. Appears you feed ramp needs to be shortened up a bit, it's smacking the follower.

On the bright side, had that been a factory follower it probably would have broke. Often times just the skirt so it still functions but still broke.

There's a thread around here discussing that ramp. Might search rampectomy. I'll look for it first chance I get.

That was my experience with my CW9: http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?29039-How-does-this-work&p=369845#post369845
I'd say my follower took less a hit then the OP's, but I never noticed anything on the OEM followers. There are a few marks on my Lakeline follower , high up on it, that might be from the slide stop, but they have not progressed any further than shown in the linked photos and I'm not concerned with it.

I'm sure Alphonse will be by soon to share his thoughts on this it...smart man that one.

Regards,
Greg

[Ed M]

Bawanna has it right.

Want to prove it to yourself? Go to a craft store and pick up a silver colored Sharpie marker. Color the whole front of a factory mag follower with it, reassemble the mag, and run a couple of rounds through it - one round at a time.

You'll see where the feed ramp is hitting it. You can do the "rampectomy" yourself - it's easy. BTW - the sharpie wipes off with a bit of rubbing alcohol.

[vinnier6]

Put the oem followers back in

[gb6491]

Put the oem followers back in
I've found the Lakeline follower superior to the old style, stock OEM 9mm follower. Kahr thinks enough of it that they have them on their website:
http://www.kahr.com/Magazines/Kahr-Lakeline-Metal-Mag-Follower40-CAL-QLLK-MF-030.asp

I haven't tried the new style, polymer follower folks have been seeing from Kahr. I imagine, depending upon how closely they followed the modification folks have been doing to the old style follower, that it will work quite well. It would be interesting to see a side by side performance comparison with the new style follower and the Lakeline follower. Even if operational performance is a wash, my money would be on Lakeline in terms of durability. They may scratch up, but that front skirt isn't going to break on them like we've seen on the poly followers.

Regards,
Greg

[vinnier6]

I've found the Lakeline follower superior to the old style, stock OEM 9mm follower. Kahr thinks enough of it that they have them on their website:
http://www.kahr.com/Magazines/Kahr-Lakeline-Metal-Mag-Follower40-CAL-QLLK-MF-030.asp

I haven't tried the new style, polymer follower folks have been seeing from Kahr. I imagine, depending upon how closely they followed the modification folks have been doing to the old style follower, that it will work quite well. It would be interesting to see a side by side performance comparison with the new style follower and the Lakeline follower. Even if operational performance is a wash, my money would be on Lakeline in terms of durability. They may scratch up, but that front skirt isn't going to break on them like we've seen on the poly followers.

Regards,
Greg

All well and good...but if I had them all chewed up like the op, I would put back in the oem followers

[gb6491]

All well and good...but if I had them all chewed up like the op, I would put back in the oem followers
Whatever floats your boat boss :) The poly follower usually won't show any (to little damage)...until it fails.
Photo originally posted by Moosetang:
http://www.pbase.com/image/151727869.jpg
The Lakeline follower will show damage until it reaches the point where the feed ramp no longer hits it, but I doubt the front skirt on it will fail like the OEM version.
Best just to fix what is causing the damage regardless of which follower is being used.
Regards,
Greg

[bobk538447]

Followers are cheaper to replace than messing up a feed ramp on a barrel. I also have a broken skirt on a follower on a CM40.

[RonW]

To this day I still fail to understand why some guys just have to swap parts out of a perfectly fine working firearm and then wonder why it doesn't run right. I own a CM9, (2 mags) CW40 (4 mags) and a K9. (3 mags) I even used my CW40 in IDPA matches where I'm dropping my all factory mags on the floor, out in the dirt, they seen rain for the past 3 yrs. Our local IDPA club uses a indoor range & we have weekly IDPA matches. My all factory CW40 mags still work perfectly fine. Sure the top of the follower will get chewed up from the brass rim of the cases, they're polymer. So what? If I encounter a reliability issue with them I'll simply order new ones from kahr, they're like what? 7 bux? But to this date, I have not had to replace any parts on any of my mags. (in fact, only thing I replaced on my kahr's were the front poly sights for steel night sights & a recoil spring for the CW40, since it has well over 6k rounds)

From what I can see in the OP's photo, that looks like normal wear from shooting..It's metal, what were you expecting? It's not gold plated that's going to get shinier & more beautiful every time you shoot it, unless you own a K9, then yeah, it might. :P

[berettabone]

Maybe not in this particular case, but I have noticed that some people just can't leave well enough alone. They think they're an engineer and gunsmith, but they find out that they should have left well enough alone. You have to know your limitations. I can see changes to other things, but not the mechanics. Just asking for trouble. If you've got the skills to pay your bills, fine, but if not, leave well enough alone. You can thank me later:o

[bugs]

I've had some dents in my Lakeline followers also; instead of the file /test/file/test routine with the ramp, I felt that it would be easier to file the dents in the followers smooth. did it and touched up w/blk. marker. no issues.

NRA LIFER

IDPA BELEIVER

[tony k]

When your feed ramp hits the follower hard enough to break em, you have 3 options.

1 buy new oem followers and a few spares because you're going to keep breaking them

2 do the rampectomy

3 buy lakeline followers

People that say "leave well enough alone" have never dealt with the exact issue you're having.

[340pd]

You guys are making me nervous. All I have ever done to my PM9 is slightly change the angle on the followers ala http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?6943-Chambering-the-first-round-a-slingshot-modification/page2&highlight=follower%20mod
I didn't even flatten the top, just change the angle eve so slightly.
I have had no trouble with any of my three mags since then. Should I be concerned?

[Bawanna]

If your not having any troubles, nothing to be concerned about.

If the follower is getting beat up the ramp is too long and needs to be shortened a bit. I've never had one that needed it but it doesn't appear to be horribly difficult.

I would not like my followers getting beat up.

[340pd]

Thanks. Mine has been running like a purse snatcher. Love that little gun.