CW40 feeding problems...

[rigginb]

bought a cw40 and have about 50 rounds through it. having some feeding problems. it will feed into the chamber but not all the way....make sense? like the bullet is too long...which it's not. the slide just stops about 1/4 inch short of being forward all the way. i know the "break in" period is 200-250 rounds, but it still should be firing...i dont care what you're shooting with. should i stick with this and see how it is around 200 rounds? any suggestions? this happens probably every 3 rounds. almost fed up with kahr. goes to show glock is where it's at

[CS534]

that doesnt sound too good. The only thing I can say is to make sure all of the rounds are seated properly in the magazine, where as that the rear of the case is pressed against that back of the magazine. I noticed on my CW40 that the first round would not chamber if there was a gap. Just a thought, and I was taught by some fellow cops its good to tap the magazine a few times to help seat the rounds. If that isn't it perhaps its time to send it in

[rigginb]

yeah that's what im thinking....i was really excited about this gun too.

[MikeyKahr]

1) How do you load? Do you slingshot or load using the slide stop? Kahr suggests locking back the slide, inserting the magazine, then releasing the slide with the slide stop to load.

2) Have you polished the feed ramp? Does it get caught on the feed ramp?

3) On which round does this feeding problem happen? First, second, all?

[jocko]

did u do the PREPPING OF YOUR NEW KAHR posted in the kahr tech section. It might just help you out alot.

50 rounds is not enough to get excited about yet, give it some time and do the pre prepping..

hopefully your shooting fmj ammo and not defense stuff. break it in with fmj, no sense in using the expensive stuff until it is right. When the slide doesnt go into full battery, Try to bring the slide back slowly and then tilt the gun upward and see if the round falls out of the chamber. It should. If it doesn't you couldhave out of spec rounds or a very short throat..

Do the pre prep..

[ripley16]

1/4" short is what caught my eye. That means the round is fully in the chamber, not caught up on anything outside the chamber, yet 1/4" is way too long for an out of spec or long round. Long rounds, or rounds that stop short in a short throat, usually protrude much less. Maybe a combination of both... long round plus short throat.

I wonder if the locking lug is too tight to fit the breech properly.

I recently read another forum post about American Eagle rounds being too long to eject from a CW40. Perhaps a simple ammo change will clear the problem.

[CS534]

I gotta say, out of all the guns I have owned, Glock, Smith, Ruger, I've never had to worry about "prepping" any of these. It seems to me that these Kahrs are way too finicky. I bought my CW to gice Kahr a try. A week after I bought it I sent it into Kahr. I guarantee that If I bought a Glock, which costs less money, I would not have had any problems.

[copterdrvr]

Kahr states clearly that the gun may require 200 rounds to "break in". I think folks sometimes forget that these are small, very light pistols and not big, clunky guns that have room to make things a bit "sloppy" when assembled. These pistols are more like fine watches than timex's.

I have 4 of them now and I've done the same thing to them before I even shot them that I do to ALL of my semi-auto pistols. I break out my trusty Dremel tool, chuck up one of their felt polishing wheels, goop it up with the Dremel polishing rouge and go to town on the feed ramp and the chamber. I'm not grinding or cutting-I'm only POLISHING the metal. The inside of the chamber and the feed ramp look like a mirror and guess what-the guns go bang every time!

I would bet that the first posters problem is primarily due to the fact that the pistol hasn't been broken in yet and things are still alittle tight. Polishing the ramp and chamber takes care of all that (in my opinion!) and should be done on ANY semi-auto, ESPECIALLY if you shoot hollowpoints, and who doesn't for self-defense!

I've seen some pretty rough feed ramps on some really expensive pistols. Why leave them that way when it's so easy to "fix" and it can only make them more reliable.

[ripley16]

Polishing the ramp and chamber takes care of all that (in my opinion!) and should be done on ANY semi-auto,

Not to digress from the OP's problem, and no offense meant but, polishing an already smooth and functioning ramp is probably, IMHO, the absolute least effective way of solving most feed problems. I think the "fluff and buff" fix is mearly something people are able to do with little skill or knowledge... a garage workbench solution to a nonexisting problem, pablum to make the gun owner feel connected to his gun. If a 20 lb. spring can't push a round into the chamber, something else is terribly wrong. If the coeficient of friction is that bad on a factory ramp, why is it allowed out the door.

Sorry to rant, but this "polishing" fix is not the answer to pistol feed problems. You'd have to have a seriously damaged ramp to hinder the forward motion of a cycling bullet enough to prevent it feeding.

Polished chambers are another solution to a problem not stated. Many reliable firearms have purosely unpolished chambers. A slick chamber more facilitates extraction, not feeding.

There... I got that off my chest. :blah:

[toocool]

I gotta say, out of all the guns I have owned, Glock, Smith, Ruger, I've never had to worry about "prepping" any of these. It seems to me that these Kahrs are way too finicky. I bought my CW to gice Kahr a try. A week after I bought it I sent it into Kahr. I guarantee that If I bought a Glock, which costs less money, I would not have had any problems.

The first Glock I ever bought was a 3rd gen G23. It would fail to feed every 3rd round or so. I sent it back twice, and they still weren't able to get it to work. I finally traded it for (of all things) a Ruger P95, which never caused me a problem. Guns are man-made, mechanical devices, and as such, are subject to failing.

And in reality, all firearms require "prepping". Taking a new-in-the-box gun and just loading and shooting it without prepping (cleaning, lubing, etc.) is just foolish. Kahr is the only manufacturer that specifically recommends it.

[copterdrvr]

Couldn't agree less-hah!

Can't even remember how many pistols of my own, friends and "customers" that went from being unreliable to "go's bang every time the triggers pulled". I think I'll keep doing what has apparently defied logic but has somehow amazingly enough, worked-over and over and over and, well, you get the point. :yo:

If it wasn't that, it must have been the laying of my hands on the guns because I didn't do anything else to well, most of 'em anyway! :D

[CS534]

In my opinion, for the amount of money Kahrs cost, which is a lot, they shouldn't have so many quirks and issues. It shouldn't take proper prepping or adjustments to achieve a reliable weapon. These guns, for the price, should be ready to go right out of the box. I have owned different weapons from different manufacturers and never heard of, or experienced, so many of these issues. Hey, I'm here because I am a Kahr customer and enjoy my CW40. These are my 2 cents. Also should note this: when I was in the police academy we had 20 students and used Glock 19s for all training. After 6 weeks of training never once were the guns cleaned, and never once did any of us have a failure or hiccup of any kind. That is my experience.

[jocko]

In my opinion, for the amount of money Kahrs cost, which is a lot, they shouldn't have so many quirks and issues. It shouldn't take proper prepping or adjustments to achieve a reliable weapon. These guns, for the price, should be ready to go right out of the box. I have owned different weapons from different manufacturers and never heard of, or experienced, so many of these issues. Hey, I'm here because I am a Kahr customer and enjoy my CW40. These are my 2 cents. Also should note this: when I was in the police academy we had 20 students and used Glock 19s for all training. After 6 weeks of training never once were the guns cleaned, and never once did any of us have a failure or hiccup of any kind. That is my experience.

kahrs are good to go out of the box. What issues yor reading here and more than likely no more than you willfind on most any otgher gun forum. People who have no issues don't post or even know such forums exist. Peoplewho do have issues seem to post for help and also jsut to be letting everyone know .

good for glocks at your police academy. Indiana bought 1200 G22's a few years back and glock had to come in and take EVERYONE BACK and they replaced it with the G17. Illinois had G22 also and now carry G17, So please don't act like glocks are infallibleMy G19 is the best shooting gun I have ever owned, so I am not knocking glocks, I sold hundreds of them and can't remember one issue either , course back then you either bought a G17 or a G19.

Also there are literally hundreds of very positive reports on this forum with kahr owners. Nobody likes to get a lemon, but it is gonna happen. haveen't seen the perfect gun yet. If man make sum, he will fokk um up. Humm, lets see, good ol Ruger whom I admire for thier fine fireamrs. proudced the SR9 (a recallhad to be issued) Then the lcp and over 50,000 had to be recalled for major safety issues.

Shame on ur academy for not providing up coming officers wtih cleaned and lubed glocks to train with. Not an examply I would want to start new troops out with. Just my opinion,

[copterdrvr]

I use one of the really fine stones on my Dremel to (just barely) radius the few remaining squared edges of the chamber area of my pistols. I can slow cycle Azoom blanks into the chambers of all of my pistols (to include my P380) with zero hangups. Couldn't do that before my little "polish job".

Not only do I NOT have to use the slide release to chamber a round, I can actually follow the slide forward with it in hand and it will cycle perfectly. I don't know-there may be something to this polishing baloney...

[Jay]

bought a cw40 and have about 50 rounds through it. having some feeding problems. it will feed into the chamber but not all the way....make sense? like the bullet is too long...which it's not. the slide just stops about 1/4 inch short of being forward all the way. i know the "break in" period is 200-250 rounds, but it still should be firing...i dont care what you're shooting with. should i stick with this and see how it is around 200 rounds? any suggestions? this happens probably every 3 rounds. almost fed up with kahr. goes to show glock is where it's at


It could be that the case rim is hanging on the extractor when it sliding under it.

.

[Jim K]

Check out the following link:

http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/friction_causes.htm

It will clear up some myth about friction. I welcome some engineers to jump in here and share their comments.

I know some folks who can whip out a Lorentz transform but cannot change a light bulb. It's interesting to see the range of BS here based on the number of firearms owned. Maybe some shoddy product can be excused if somone says "break in" enough times. I am not buying it. I worked for a real German company, not one that has a German sounding name. No excuses or defects were tolerated. The product conformed to engineering drawing period.

Jay, You make a valid point. If the cartridge hangs on the extractor then it will cause the problem the OP has.

OP, Check the extractor. Remove the slide and barrel and see if a cartridge slips under the extraxtor easily. The extractor should have enough tension to hold a cartridge but not too much that will interfere with feeding. Prep, as suggested by Jocko can't hurt.

Good luck, Jim K

[rigginb]

well i have good news and bad news. the good news is, i figured out my problem...the bad news is, it's my mistake. i am human after all!!! turns out it was my reloads. my press is not fully resizing the case. probably only 80% of it. so there is a bulge at the end. very very very slight bulge. it works in glocks, springfields, sigs, hk's, ect....i tried at work today. for some reason it just doesnt work in my cw40. that doesnt mean im leving it. im going to adjust my press.

so i put 50 rounds of pmc, win, blazer, and federal today. (50 rounds total, not each) shot like a champ and i loved the gun!!! very accurate. im a little more relaxed now

[noslolo]

Glad you found out what was wrong. I had one FTF during my first 50 rounds in my CW40, and I started to panic. I went back and followed the prep section and I haven't had another hicup. I went from a cheap gun to the smaller Kahr. The smaller the gun the larger the chance of having issues with your gun. I have no issues with what Kahr sells, but I'm now interested in a little polishing after having read this thread, it can't hurt.

[eastenn]

Whoops, had 2 windows open and posted a holster review in a feeding issue thread. Wait a minute, the holster shouldn't affect feeding?:crazy:

[jocko]

well i have good news and bad news. the good news is, i figured out my problem...the bad news is, it's my mistake. i am human after all!!! turns out it was my reloads. my press is not fully resizing the case. probably only 80% of it. so there is a bulge at the end. very very very slight bulge. it works in glocks, springfields, sigs, hk's, ect....i tried at work today. for some reason it just doesnt work in my cw40. that doesnt mean im leving it. im going to adjust my press.

so i put 50 rounds of pmc, win, blazer, and federal today. (50 rounds total, not each) shot like a champ and i loved the gun!!! very accurate. im a little more relaxed now

if that is the first mistake you ever made then this fourm is honored to be part of it. now just shoot it like u stole it. U have alot of gun savvy and u just eliminated the possables . nice job..

[Bawanna]

Seems we've been hearing an awful lot about failures lately related to handloads including my own. Although to my own credit I didn't give Kahr the ole one two black eyed punch.

Alot of negative pronoucements in this thread only to find it wasn't a gun issue at all.

As everyone here has stated no manufacturer is perfect but it dont take much of a bad hiccup to get alot of bad press, earned or not.

I even heard of Wilson replacing a gun they couldn't get to work, it was mentioned here at Kahrtalk. I'm still shaking my head over that one. Must be the ''Man" part of the equation.

Maybe if we all polish our heads (spider tatoo comes to mind) our guns will run better?