new life into an old Kahr K40- DURACOAT!

[9mmman]

i recently picked up an old Kahr K40. the manufacture date put it in April 1999.

here is a before shot- it is next to my Para LTC which i bobtailed myself:
http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y317/bawlaaaa/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG0157-1.jpg

and after:
http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y317/bawlaaaa/100_1256.jpg
http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y317/bawlaaaa/100_1258.jpghttp://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y317/bawlaaaa/100_1261.jpg

the only reason i redid the Kahr was because i had too much paint left over from coating the frame of the Para LTC 9mm. here is a picture of the duet:
http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y317/bawlaaaa/100_1283.jpg
http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y317/bawlaaaa/100_1286.jpg

i left the mag/slide releases and trigger black to match the rubber grips, and painted over the sights because i couldn't get them off, but i have a set of Mepro's in the mail so its all good. ATM i just painted a white dot on the front sight, and the line on the rear, and it is much easier to pick up now then they were on the factory black sights.

whats the verdict?

[frank_drebin]

You asked so I'll give an opinion. I think it looks rushed and completely cheapens the gun.
I'm not a big fan of the stuff myself. To me the guns always look like they were dipped in thick latex and left to dry. With the sights painted like that you may find that you see edges with the new ones installed or you may even knock some of the new finish off trying to remove them.

[Bawanna]

Good eye Frank, I thought they looked pretty good. Still look pretty nice. I think it will improve with the new sights although I think you mark up the new paint job but dont see much way around that really.

Nice job on the Bobtail 9mmman. I did the bobtail on my Para 7.45 Limited. I did alot of sweating and worrying as I applied the hacksaw I'll tell ya that.
It turned out perfect and I have no regrets but it was a bit scarey taking a hacksaw to a brand new gun. I just like bobtails.

[9mmman]

You asked so I'll give an opinion. I think it looks rushed and completely cheapens the gun.
I'm not a big fan of the stuff myself. To me the guns always look like they were dipped in thick latex and left to dry. With the sights painted like that you may find that you see edges with the new ones installed or you may even knock some of the new finish off trying to remove them.

but i took my time with the prep. about 3 hours of prep time total, and waited 10-15 mins between very thin coats.

as far as the sights, i thought about the finish causing and edge. so i changed my order to truglo TFOs. they will cover it up just fine.

keep in mind the gun was manufactured in april of 1999. i purchased it in 2000. it has been holstered/shot countless times in the humid houston weather. it was actually rusting. i think duracoat has protective qualities to prevent that from happening over the next 10-12 years.

as far as the latex look, i agree, but that is very east to get rid off. all you have to do is go over the finish with very fine grit sand paper, and it will give it a matte look.

thank you for pointing all that out...it makes me want to change a few things.

[9mmman]

Good eye Frank, I thought they looked pretty good. Still look pretty nice. I think it will improve with the new sights although I think you mark up the new paint job but dont see much way around that really.

Nice job on the Bobtail 9mmman. I did the bobtail on my Para 7.45 Limited. I did alot of sweating and worrying as I applied the hacksaw I'll tell ya that.
It turned out perfect and I have no regrets but it was a bit scarey taking a hacksaw to a brand new gun. I just like bobtails.

thanks for the kind words on the bobtail. its my 2nd one i did myself. and with just a measuring tape, hand drill, and a dremel too. i didnt use a jig on either projects. the first was on a cheap- sub 500 gun- american classic commander. the one in the pictures is a Para LTC lightweight 9mm commander. and i have just 590 investsed into the gun along with 2 hours of bonding time for the bobtail, and about an hour of bonding time for the duracoat. shoots dead on, and when i compared it next to an ed brown guarduan 9mm- which mind you costs 1400ish, the quality is at par. i am very happy with the outcome.

the cutting and blending isnt what scares me, its getting the new MSH pin hole just right. measuring, remeasuring, and measuring again. actually felt a drop of sweat roll down my eyebrow when i started to drill.

[Bawanna]

I bought the jig and everything when I did mine but unless you have a very good drill press and a very very good drill press vise it's pretty useless.
I ended up not using it and broke out my Stanley 25' tape measure. Carpenter in my blood.
I drilled on my cheap drill press, very small hole to make sure I hit the right spot then just enlarged it till I got to the round file stage.
Hacked off the corner with a hack saw and it was all hand file work after that.
Like you say a couple hours figuring, 10 minutes working and 15 gallons of worry sweat on the floor and we were good. Turned out nice.
Like many things if I did another one it would be easy the second time.
I'll see if I can find a picture of my butcher job. I dig bobtails.

[Bawanna]

Took me long enough, had to take a picture, couldn't find one.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n538/hopke5/DSCN2142.jpg

[9mmman]

here is a link to my 'how to'

no vice, no drill press, no jig. just a hand drill with a 1/8th bit (same size as the MSH pin), and a dremel with a cutting bit, and sanding bit, and then various grits of sand paper until i got it right. im an accountant by profession, but i should have been an engineer.

http://houston-imports.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11728623&postcount=888

shows a step by step of how i did my para LTC. even though i had a jig when i did my american classic commander, the rails on the jig didnt fit the rails on the inside of the frame of the american classic commander. they were too wide, so i used the method in the link. the american classic was my first bobtail job. the link shows my 2nd, the para LTC 9mm. total money invested into it is 590. next cheapest 9mm lightweight bobtailed commander 1911 is the dan wesson guardian which is on sale at budsgunshop.com for 1200+

[9mmman]

Took me long enough, had to take a picture, couldn't find one.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n538/hopke5/DSCN2142.jpg

now thats a sexy para.

is it possible to do a bobtail on an LDA? is there a mainspring housing that is similar to the original design?

id so do it if the internals are the same.

[Bawanna]

I asked that question several times myself. It must be possible, I did it and it works. The main spring housing and internals are pretty much the same, it worked perfectly.

I was more concerned with the full size gun. All the bobtails I've ever seen were commander sized, thought maybe it would throw things off but it didnt hurt a thing. It feels so good in my hand, looks good (to me at least) and there isn't another like it anywhere that I've ever seen.

I do like being different, course it could just be that I'm accustomed to it since birth. I think that was the doctors first words, aaah, a different one.

[wyntrout]

Nice work guys. I don't like the straight, sharp MSH. I really like the rounded one that's on my Springfield Champion 4". I keep trying to talk myself into a 5" 1911, but I think my Champion is perfect with the 4" bull barrel... that has an integral feed ramp... and no bushing.
When I was looking for a 1911, I would look first for a rounded MSH... pretty "rare" or hard to find... not much choice. The bobtails are a little drastic to me and generally the guns are too big, but you really need to to do something like that for concealability.

Dang! I want a 5" 1911, but I can't find anything I like, so far. I have the S&W 645 and it's humongous... a real hand cannon. I just can't get past my 4" S.A. Champion being the perfect size... for a RANGE gun... or a home defense gun, but my PM45 is my favorite for CCW. With my PM9 Minituck, I can carry anything but the P380, and the K9 is heavy, so I might as well go with "Franken-Boomer", which I've been carrying in the heat here... wearing shorts. My Minituck with Horsehide got a workout today... 102° moving in the Van and 108° starting out today. I was loading 11 cartons of "Click-it" bamboo wood flooring into my van, securing it, and then unloading it this afternoon and then putting everything back in place in the van... quite a work out and lots of Gatorade involved... and lots sweated!!

Nice work and nice looking guns. I hope my next projects turn out as well.

Wynn:)

Some pix of my Champion... before with unmatched sights and the after Novak adjustable NS added.

[Bawanna]

Wynn, like I said before you can swap that MSH out from flat to arched or vice versa in about 2 minutes. Brownells has dozens to choose from in all kinds of finishes with checkering or fish scale or smooth, blue, stainless, plastic, lots of options and not terribly pricey either. No big deal at all. Your right that your champion is close to perfect but you'd also hardly notice the extra inch on a full size either. Barrels easy to hide.

I think you'd be a bob tail fan if you ever held one. Feels really good in the hand.

[wyntrout]

It's just a little radical to me... the bobtail. The k9 is the perfect looking and handling gun... and I guess the K40 is, too, but I haven't had one of those.

Dang it, I want a K45 so bad! I keep thinking about a K40... but I haven't seen the deal I want, yet. After shooting my brother's XD40... not sure what model... and it wasn't bad at all with regular Federal Champion FMJs... recoil-wise.

I just love those fat, stubby .45 bullets and the satisfying kick I get out of shooting them... recoil and joy!

Wynn:D