Field Stripping and Stuck Barrel

[SportHog]

Hi, new member here. I bought my first Kahr, a PM9, about 15 years ago. It has been a great firearm and my favorite carry piece. I recently purchased a "nearly new" CM45 from an individual off a different forum board. Like others have written, I found when I racked the slide on am empty magazine, i needed both hands to press the slide release. I am not really bothered by that and chalk it up to tight tolerances and a very low round count.

I field stripped the pistol, as I have done with my PM9 for years, to clean it before taking it to the range, and found that I could not remove the barrel from the slide. There is not enough clearance to allow the barrel to come out. Before I take a hammer to it, has anyone experienced this before? Should I try to send it to Kahr to look at? Any advice would be appreciated.

[b4uqzme]

Yep. I had a CM45 for a while and I remember that. I just kept fiddling with it until the barrel popped out. Hope that works for you too. Regarding the slide stop. Kahr slide releases are designed NOT to work on an empty mag. It should work fine with rounds in the mag. FYI.

[SportHog]

Thanks for the tip, b4uqzme. I monkey'd with it for about 20 minutes last night and turned the barrel every which way but loose, but could not get it out.

Today, I e-mailed Kahr and received a response within 15 minutes. Kahr Service said this is "normal for this firearm." I should rotate the barrel 90 degrees so the barrel lug is pointed away from the slide stop notch, and it will come out easily. I will try again tonight taking their advice.

[wyntrout]

When a magazine empties, the follower BY DESIGN pushes up on the slide lock lever to lock the slide back. It's difficult to overcome the slide lock spring AND the much stronger magazine spring. Remove the empty mag or use a loaded one and the slide release is easy to press down again, by design.

I always rotate and wiggle the barrel to one side on the .45's when removing it from the slide... just before it's all of the way to the rear.

If you didn't get a manual, they are available for download at https://www.kahr.com/brochures-manuals/

[kenemoore]

Yep, my pm45 works the same. With the muzzle to the right, I rotate the barrel about 45 degrees away from me, then lift up and out, same as the 9's. It takes a few tries to get the hank of it. You kinda roll it out and up at the same time.

[SportHog]

Well, I did what the service department recommended and the barrel came out without much difficulty.

[Ozarka75034]

Hello, new to the Forum but not to Kahr products. Have had fantastic experiences with two CW380's and one MK9 Elite. Purchased a new CM45 in November and had a wonderful initial range trip w/o problems for 50 rounds fired. Cleaned weapon, took back to range and began the odyssey of malfunctions that brings me to the Board here. On the 2nd trip, the first round fired perfectly, but the second round became stuck in the chamber. Took massive effort, but cleared the jam. Slide back/locked. Different magazine, same result. Fired first round (FMJ) and second round became stuck. Slide wouldn't open no matter what. Much sweat and worry later, slide was opened and round ejected. Tried to remove field strip and clean...barrel stuck no matter what, just like Sport Hog above, but I could not remove it for anything. Came back 8 weeks later, with a note: polished slide and barrel. Tested and round ejects. Well, not for me. I returned to the range, and this time had another live round stuck. This time, the first round fired and the second round became stuck. Improvement? Perhaps. I was disappointed b/c the thing shoots like none other...at 8 yds puts one hole inside the other. Removing the stuck live round was pure terror; I'll take the 5th on how that was accomplished. Anyway, sent it back a 2nd time, waited 6 weeks and it just came back....the repair note said replaced ejector. Ok, crossed my fingers and went back to the range. Yes, you guessed it. Won't eject the first round, and a live round gets stuck. Okay, so, long winded but any ideas? How can the timing be messed up so that each time a round (only FMJ used so far) gets stuck? Using different OEM magazines? I'm going to contact CS, but wow... have owned it since 11/17 and only been in my possession less than 3 weeks with only 3 rounds fired since the initial Honeymoon trip. What else could be wrong? I won't take a Dremel to it; I don't want to void the warranty and I want so much to depend on this to be my EDC...it was so sweet shooting. Thank you.

[0ddl0t]

Have you tried different ammo?

[gb6491]

Hello, new to the Forum but not to Kahr products. Have had fantastic experiences with two CW380's and one MK9 Elite. Purchased a new CM45 in November and had a wonderful initial range trip w/o problems for 50 rounds fired. Cleaned weapon, took back to range and began the odyssey of malfunctions that brings me to the Board here. On the 2nd trip, the first round fired perfectly, but the second round became stuck in the chamber. Took massive effort, but cleared the jam. Slide back/locked. Different magazine, same result. Fired first round (FMJ) and second round became stuck. Slide wouldn't open no matter what. Much sweat and worry later, slide was opened and round ejected. Tried to remove field strip and clean...barrel stuck no matter what, just like Sport Hog above, but I could not remove it for anything. Came back 8 weeks later, with a note: polished slide and barrel. Tested and round ejects. Well, not for me. I returned to the range, and this time had another live round stuck. This time, the first round fired and the second round became stuck. Improvement? Perhaps. I was disappointed b/c the thing shoots like none other...at 8 yds puts one hole inside the other. Removing the stuck live round was pure terror; I'll take the 5th on how that was accomplished. Anyway, sent it back a 2nd time, waited 6 weeks and it just came back....the repair note said replaced ejector. Ok, crossed my fingers and went back to the range. Yes, you guessed it. Won't eject the first round, and a live round gets stuck. Okay, so, long winded but any ideas? How can the timing be messed up so that each time a round (only FMJ used so far) gets stuck? Using different OEM magazines? I'm going to contact CS, but wow... have owned it since 11/17 and only been in my possession less than 3 weeks with only 3 rounds fired since the initial Honeymoon trip. What else could be wrong? I won't take a Dremel to it; I don't want to void the warranty and I want so much to depend on this to be my EDC...it was so sweet shooting. Thank you.
Welcome to the forums:)

In regards to the stuck slide:
1)I think 0ddl0t brings up a good point about the ammo.

2)The reasons I believe that lie in these threads:
http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?26938-PM45-is-ammo-finicky!/page2
http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?27829-CW45-doesn-t-chamber-properly&p=358217#post358217

Regards,
Greg