Peening/wear on my MK9 barrel/slide? Pics.

[JoeyMac]

So I picked up a used MK9 for a good price and I took it shooting today. Shoots great. Much smoother than my CM9. I don't know how many rounds were already through it, but I put another 75 or so through it of 9mm ball including my intended carry ammo. No malfunctions at all with standard pressure 124gr Speer GDHP or 147gr Federal HST standard pressure. Slow fire groups were about 3" @ 10yds.

Now that I'm back home and going through the pistol more thoroughly, I'm seeing some contact and peening inside the gun. Not the "kahr peening" in the typical areas on the barrel hood or slide lockup... those areas look great. It looks like the sides of the barrel hood are contacting the front-inside of the slide at the rearmost travel and that the back of the slide's nose is contacting the inside the frame. :confused:

Is this problematic? I suspect it was doing this long before I shot it. My CM9 looks to have this area chamfered so there is no metal to contact.
Does it need new springs? What's the scoop, here?

Yes, the gun is still dirty:

https://i.imgur.com/NwYs7ckl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/9R4berol.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/S6IEzjYl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/WxJ04PEl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/dlTGDGml.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/IT75HsWl.jpg

[Ed M]

First thing I do when I buy a used gun (rare) is buy a new recoil spring for it.

My reasoning is that I don't know how many rounds the previous owner put through it, and I like to keep a round count for it's maintenance records.

On the unusual amount of wear to both the barrel, frame, and slide - it might be just cosmetic, but if it were me, I'd want Kahr's opinion on it.

Call them, and send them the pics. Be honest and up front with them. Share your concerns.

Kahr has a very good reputation for helping people out even when the warranty doesn't apply. They take great pride in their work, and what they do for you may surprise you.

Even if they do nothing but give you advise, at least it's from the folks that made that gun.

[JoeyMac]

Well, I've already ordered a replacement spring assembly from Kahr (cheap) along with the stainless recoil spring guide rod (not so cheap)... and then I got carried away and ordered some Lakeline G10 grips and a few aluminum followers, too (definitely not cheap). This "too good of a deal to pass up" for a MK9 is rapidly turning into a pricey venture. :biggrin1:

I installed some fiber optic sights that were included for free with the gun when I bought it - I think they're the ones on the Kahr website. Then while it was apart I detail stripped the whole slide and frame and cleaned everything out real good and lubed it with Hornady one-shot. Otherwise, there looks to be no other problems and this thing really shoots great. It's so much more tame handling than my CM9. And it might be just in my head, but I think the trigger might be a bit smoother/lighter than my CM9 too. I'm very impressed.

I'm not going to worry about the light peening issue unless someone tells me otherwise.
I'll just swap out the springs, shoot standard P ammo, and keep an eye on it.

https://i.imgur.com/N9JZuWPh.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/vosJq3kh.jpg

[Ed M]

Such a good looking firearm.

Hopefully you'll recoup some of your cash outlay when you sell those CT grips. Pretty sure they're not made anymore, so they should fetch a premium price...