UPDATE: New MK9, polished hood

[kenduc999]

Hi everyone, I just got my first Kahr (I feel 16 again :D), and Im loving it. I traded a mint OD G26 for it, and will never look back. So far I love the gun, and it shoots like a dream. I put 200 rounds through it yesterday, and it ran like a top.
When I traded for it, it was night time, and my inspection was less scrutinizing than it ought to have been. I failed to notice that the "burned powder residue" was in fact significant pitting throughout the whole bore. I showed the gunsmith at the range, and he commented that he had never seen pitting like that on any gun, much less a modern handgun. I think it is some kind of defect, I cant imagine not cleaning a gun would do this, isn't modern ammo supposed to be safe? It didn't hurt the function of the gun, and it was a tack driver from the start, but I am pretty particular about cleaning my guns, and it kills me knowing there is pitting on something in my safe!!
After I found the pitting, I figured the time was as good as any to try and polish the barrel hood (it came out pretty good too). It took away all the scratches from the action cycling, although I'm sure they will be back, they will not be as noticeable.
I will call Kahr on Monday and ask what they can do, but as I am not the original owner I think I might have to foot the bill on my own this time. :(
Here are some pics I took this afternoon:

http://i51.tinypic.com/14kicd0.jpg

http://i51.tinypic.com/rc2995.jpg

http://i51.tinypic.com/k529hl.jpg

http://i54.tinypic.com/2rdb29i.jpg

[Bawanna]

Welcome kenduc, your polish job looks real nice. You might have to send that barrel in for Kahr to look at but if it is indeed pitted, they might just replace it for you.
A "Nice" call or email would be a good start. They are good about taking care of stuff. If it's shooting so good I'd be reluctant to change it but if it's pitted I'm like you, I just wouldn't want to live with it.

Let us know how you make out. Glad you joined us.

[kenduc999]

thanks for the advice, I think I may try that "nice call". I plan on ordering a new slide back (i think the previous owner took it apart with a hammer), and new wood grips from them too, so it could be shipped back with those items. Anyways, I think they will treat me right, I hear only good things from this forum about them! Im happy to be here!:D

[yqtszhj]

nice MK9

[OldLincoln]

You may want to look at Bawanna's Famous Grip Emporium (http://kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?t=5082) before buying grips. He does beautiful work and the thread shows it off.

[jlaudio29]

Looks good, welcome to the MK9 world. You did a pretty good job on the polish. Ill have to pick your brain on what steps you did and attempt it some day.

If you need a holster for it Let me know, I make custom holsters (pictures on facebook) and would love to make one for your MK9, IWB or OWB :)

[jocko]

if kahr did not ask you if you were the original owner, then u say nadda either. Have u tried some good bore cleaner to see it indeed it is pitting.That is just so so strange as ur bore is nickel plated and that is far more less corrosive than standard steel bores. If it shoots great and kahr willnot replace it on their dime, then IMO keep it as itis and just shoot it like u stole it. nice polish job.

[kenduc999]

OldLincoln: thanks for the link! those are some excellent grips, and I will have to give them a good look!!

jlaudio29: as far as the polish is concerned I started with 800 grit, and worked it till all the tooling marks and sandblasted finish was gone, then upped it to 1500 grit. after the 1500 grit, I pulled out the Dremel (*gasp*) and went to work with one of them cotton wheels and red rouge. after it was nice and shiney with that, I did the same but by hand and very lightly. It turned out very good, but there are still some very minor swirls I would like to get out, but I need a finer compound. Also I taped off the barrel so I didnt remove the finish there.

thanks for the heads up on the holsters! I will check them out! look forward to an email as soon as I can unload some of my old holsters (I have a bunch of cheap small caliber misc holsters).

jocko: I did indeed scrub the heck out of it, and actually used a fiberoptic camera to determine that it was infact pitting (one of the benefits of working with airplanes: access to really cool tools). I may very well leave it as is...but it still bothers me, even if the pistol is perfectly happy having a fugly barrel..

[kenduc999]

UPDATE:

I tried calling Kahr customer service to ask about how to have the barrel replaced (it was bugging the heck out of me), and I couldnt get a person to answer the phone. I had sent an email to Kahr Service about the pitted barrel on 8/27/2011, and included a picture of the pitting, and figured when they weren't busy they would get back to me... fast forward to last night, and I still had yet to hear from anyone, so I dug up the old email from my "sent folder" and re-sent the email, and at 7:30am this morning receive a reply from Jay! it would seem my first email had not made it to them (i have no idea why). he apologized for the issue, and said they would replace it if I sent in the barrel to their Service Dept.
I am very happy with the quickness of the reply, and cant blame them for not getting my email a month ago. I shipped out my barrel this morning, and will update this gain as soon as I receive my new one. So far, Kahr Service is living up to its reputation!:cool:

[jmurch]

kenduc,

did you do the polish job on a buffing wheel with rouge or???

i also am the new owner of an mk9 and love it. it is as of yesterday my daily ccw. one maint item / improvement i made and a safety thing as well for a used mk9 with unknown round count is that i installed a wolff guide rod recoil spring package.

the other thing that i did after researching the hell out of it is to buy a can or two of wal mart non chrlorinated brake cleaner and douch the crap out of the gun per the diagrams here.

[jlaudio29]

thats pretty cool. glad they are replacing it!

[kenduc999]

UPDATE:

I received my brand new MK9 Barrel last week while I was out of town. A man I spoke to on the phone (Rich?) was extremely helpful in indicating to me the status of my order, and followed up with me quickly. I installed the new barrel today, and everything fits together great. The bore is nice and bright, and I expect it to shoot even better than the last one. I am truly impressed with Kahr service, and this has made me a VERY happy customer...I think I see another Kahr in my future :D
...Now to polish the hood again....:)
Kenduc999