CW45 (and other poly Kahr pistols): issues and fixes

The missing slide notch:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wyntrout

The missing "notch" for the recoil spring movement in the front of the slide is a biggie, too. Some guys have chosen to "machine" that as it should be instead of sending it back to Kahr... especially if you have to pay the shipping.
Nice post. Thanks.
Wynn:)
The thin metal unmachined notch area:

http://kahrtalk.com/pm-series-pistol...m45-issue.html
The notch as it should look:

http://kahrtalk.com/pm-series-pistols/1368-notch.html

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Here are some photos to compliment Wynn's excellent post;
PM45 slide without the notch; notice damaged area (original photo posted by elars here :
http://i40.tinypic.com/wu10z6.jpg
How correctly machined slides will look (my CW45 on the left and wyntourt's PM9, as posted here):
http://i55.tinypic.com/20truok.jpg

The fix:
Send it back to Kahr for repair or as Wynn writes: "Some guys have chosen to "machine" that as it should be instead of sending it back to Kahr..."
IMO, a "Dremel" type tool or file would get the job done on a CW45, the metal is quite thin there.

Regards,
Greg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gb6491

The missing slide notch:

Here are some photos to compliment Wynn's excellent post;
PM45 slide without the notch; notice damaged area (original photo posted by elars here :
http://i40.tinypic.com/wu10z6.jpg
How correctly machined slides will look (my CW45 on the left and wyntourt's PM9, as posted here):
http://i43.tinypic.com/31626p2.jpg

The fix:
Send it back to Kahr for repair or as Wynn writes: "Some guys have chosen to "machine" that as it should be instead of sending it back to Kahr..."

Regards,
Greg

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Thanks for all the info gents. Just took possession of a new CW45. Until this last pic I didn't realize that the "notch" was supposed to be there on all of them. Well mine had no "notch" but I prepped it per instructions elsewhere on this forum and put about 120 rounds through it. Ran pretty well with one light primer strike, one stovepipe and several FTRB. However the FTRB's were my fault as they were with very light reloads (4.0 grn Bullseye over 200 LSWC). The only reason I tried them was I was short on FMJ rounds.

All in all I put 50 of the 230 Rem Golden Saber, 40 Win Whitebox 230 and 40 light reloads.

When I stripped it after the range visit I saw the damage. I was really not looking forward to sending it back so I gave it a go with my MiniMill and a 3/16" endmill. Came out great. Cleaned it up with a cratex tip in the dremel and all is good.

I also had the very very sharp corner on the barrel hood so I took care of that with the cratex as well.

Thanks for all your help guys, you are a world of knowledge!

BTW, really like this gun. Can't believe how controllable it is shooting 45 acp rounds. Hopefully they will get their quality control working right.

Dave D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dmdalton

Thanks for all the info gents. Just took possession of a new CW45. Until this last pic I didn't realize that the "notch" was supposed to be there on all of them. Well mine had no "notch" but I prepped it per instructions elsewhere on this forum and put about 120 rounds through it. Ran pretty well with one light primer strike, one stovepipe and several FTRB. However the FTRB's were my fault as they were with very light reloads (4.0 grn Bullseye over 200 LSWC). The only reason I tried them was I was short on FMJ rounds.

All in all I put 50 of the 230 Rem Golden Saber, 40 Win Whitebox 230 and 40 light reloads.

When I stripped it after the range visit I saw the damage. I was really not looking forward to sending it back so I gave it a go with my MiniMill and a 3/16" endmill. Came out great. Cleaned it up with a cratex tip in the dremel and all is good.

I also had the very very sharp corner on the barrel hood so I took care of that with the cratex as well.

Thanks for all your help guys, you are a world of knowledge!

BTW, really like this gun. Can't believe how controllable it is shooting 45 acp rounds. Hopefully they will get their quality control working right.

Dave D

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Beautiful job Dave. My PM45 had a minimal notch but it was there. Yours looks much better and more well done than mine from the factory. I deliberatly left mine for the break in to see if in fact if would get beat up. It must be enough as I don't see any contact or sign of it getting hit. You may have inspired me to take another look and make it a bit prettier although it's like chrome valve covers on your car, you know they are there, they look cool but nobody sees em. Still nice to have things looking proper.
I think Kahr is getting the message and some of this stuff we see is getting squared away before they get shipped. Hope it only gets better.
Good pictures too by the way.

I'm still amazed by the thickness of that area and the more robust notch on the PM9, as compared to the .45's. It just doesn't seem right!
I opened mine up some more and added one to the K9 of 12+ years. It had little marks on the thin, un-notched area, so I gave it some freedom! I also beveled all of the strippers a bit more and polished them and the underside of the slide there where it rides over the cartridges in the magazine.
Wynn:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bawanna45cal

Beautiful job Dave. My PM45 had a minimal notch but it was there. Yours looks much better and more well done than mine from the factory. I deliberately left mine for the break in to see if in fact if would get beat up. It must be enough as I don't see any contact or sign of it getting hit. You may have inspired me to take another look and make it a bit prettier although it's like chrome valve covers on your car, you know they are there, they look cool but nobody sees em. Still nice to have things looking proper.
I think Kahr is getting the message and some of this stuff we see is getting squared away before they get shipped. Hope it only gets better.
Good pictures too by the way.

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Thanks.

I couldn't let it alone even though it probably would be fine without doing anything to it. As the area is so thin it would have deformed a lot more in 100+ rounds if it was going to. The fix was easy to do with the Mini Mill but could be done with a small round file like a chainsaw file or something similar. With a steady hand you could do it with a carbide bit and a dremel.

Dave D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wyntrout

I'm still amazed by the thickness of that area and the more robust notch on the PM9, as compared to the .45's. It just doesn't seem right!
I opened mine up some more and added one to the K9 of 12+ years. It had little marks on the thin, un-notched area, so I gave it some freedom! I also beveled all of the strippers a bit more and polished them and the underside of the slide there where it rides over the cartridges in the magazine.
Wynn:D

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Like you say, it is very thin on the bottom, but there isn't any pressure on it like there is at the end/front, so I guess it isn't a problem. If you want to notch it, the thinness does makes it easy.

Dave D.

Very nice thread, lots of good info. Thanks for this.

THE PROBLEM:
I found that on my CW45, the slide stop would become disengaged from the slide stop retention spring and pop outwards (to the left) enough that the slide would not stay open after the last round. This would happen even though I had pushed the slide stop in as far as possible, and heard the click.
It was worse when new, and seemed less frequent as the pistol became broken in.
THE CAUSE: While cleaning the gun, I noticed that the washer that holds the slide stop spring in place was showing a worn area, just adjacent to the hole in the frame for the slide stop. Hmmm! The blueing was removed on a sliver of material, and some wear was evident. Well, there is only one thing that would cause this wear. Sure enough, when I assembled the slide stop into the frame (slide was off so I could see everything), and heard the 'click', I could see that the boss at the bottom of the slide stop shaft was contacting the spring washer . My theory is that pressure against the slide stop was causing it to disengage from the retention spring as the gun was being fired.

THE CURE: I filed the edge of the washer where the wear had been observed. I filed until I could see a sliver of daylight (clearance) between the slide stop boss and the washer when they were assembled. Guess what! Today at the range the problem was gone and the slide stop stayed in place.
My only 'caveat' is that if you rotate the washer for any reason, so that a new part of it moves adjacent to the hole; the problem will return.

THE CONCLUSION: It seems to me that this washer is a bit too thick and needs to be reduced a few thousandths of an inch in thickness.

Nose dives:
Also see: http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.p...t-modification

Follower interference:
The follower simply needs to be made so that it does not contact the latch at anytime. To prove this to myself, I marked the area of the follower that appeared in the latch window, then reshaped the upper portion of the follower and cut off a portion of the skirt. *If you are doing this mod to eliminate nose dives, you may not need to remove as much material as shown here. Try removing just enough material to allow the follower to pass the magazine latch without issue.

You can usually see where the latch is being scrapped by the follower.
https://i.postimg.cc/QtZLyfcZ/2rmmo9i.jpg

Now, the follower does not contact the latch at any point. Magazine latch window (OEM follower on the left, modified on the right):
https://i.postimg.cc/x8d6xmpS/149rtkm.jpg


UPDATE!!! - I now prefer to grind/sand/file the follower skirt for clearance vice cutting it (see right two photos). The upper part of the follower still needs to be reshaped for clearance as shown in the photo of the modified follower.
https://i.postimg.cc/NMC60zDW/45followerfix.jpg

Magazine spring installation:
I might also suggest to check the orientation of the spring to the follower. We've had folks report receiving a new magazine with the spring installed incorrectly.
Correct position of spring on the follower:
https://i.postimg.cc/fLPds0Ts/15guw0m.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Andyo5

THE PROBLEM:
I found that on my CW45, the slide stop would become disengaged from the slide stop retention spring and pop outwards (to the left) enough that the slide would not stay open after the last round. This would happen even though I had pushed the slide stop in as far as possible, and heard the click.
It was worse when new, and seemed less frequent as the pistol became broken in.
THE CAUSE: While cleaning the gun, I noticed that the washer that holds the slide stop spring in place was showing a worn area, just adjacent to the hole in the frame for the slide stop. Hmmm! The blueing was removed on a sliver of material, and some wear was evident. Well, there is only one thing that would cause this wear. Sure enough, when I assembled the slide stop into the frame (slide was off so I could see everything), and heard the 'click', I could see that the boss at the bottom of the slide stop shaft was contacting the spring washer . My theory is that pressure against the slide stop was causing it to disengage from the retention spring as the gun was being fired.

THE CURE: I filed the edge of the washer where the wear had been observed. I filed until I could see a sliver of daylight (clearance) between the slide stop boss and the washer when they were assembled. Guess what! Today at the range the problem was gone and the slide stop stayed in place.
My only 'caveat' is that if you rotate the washer for any reason, so that a new part of it moves adjacent to the hole; the problem will return.

THE CONCLUSION: It seems to me that this washer is a bit too thick and needs to be reduced a few thousandths of an inch in thickness.

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shoulda just call kahr and had them send you a new washer and slide stop spring. That would have solved ur issue.