Metal Magazine Followers For 9mm Kahrs!!

[Streetkahr]

Look what I just found by following a thread on G10 grips for MK pistols. The company only does MK G10 grips. but they will soon offer metal followers for all Kahr 9mm mags! This will be great. I don't really care for the plastic followers on Kahr mags. I think this will be a huge improvement. I'm going to be all over this like a wild monkey! I can hardly wait. They will be kind of expensive at about 20 bucks each, but I think it will be worth it.

https://lakelinellc.com/product/meta...-for-9mm-kahr/

"Our upgraded magazine follower for all 9mm Kahr magazines is precision machined from aircraft grade 6061 Aluminum. Then, it is hard anodized to military specifications to provide even more resistance to corrosion and wear. It doesn’t get much tougher or more reliable than that. Our follower was carefully designed and tested to help provide fault-free feeding in Kahr pistols. Compatible with factory magazines and factory magazine springs as well as aftermarket springs from Wolff Gunsprings."

Ferro Veritas, In Steel There Is Truth. Elegant Weapons From A More Elegant Age.

[yqtszhj]

I've got a follower that's dinged up pretty good, for $20 I think I would give it a try.

[muggsy]

The polymer followers work just fine in my Kahr Pistols and since Kahr will replace them for free if they fail, I think I'll pass.

[Alfonse]

The followers should be available in the next couple of weeks. Thanks

Now that I'm off my phone, I'll add a bit more.

I have been having a blast designing parts for Kahrs.

The follower that will be out is really nice. It is CNC machined and does cost more than the factory molded part, no doubt. It is a bit of a risk putting accessories out for Kahrs, since there aren't nearly as many of them as there are Rugers, Glocks, etc. There are ways to reduce part cost, but tooling costs go up. That doesn't really make the part less expensive if not enough of them sell.

For example, I have a beautiful, dare I say unbreakable, striker and spacer for the 380 Kahrs. It doesn't hit the round below in the mag either. The striker is kind of a complex part to make though. Forgetting about the striker for a minute, the factory spacer is MIM. I can make mine that way as well, but the tool is the better part of $10k. The point is it takes a bit of a commitment to do some of this stuff for yet to be determined sales volumes.

That said, I have a great background for working through the process to come up with parts at the best price I can make them for given the volumes that will sell. Not every part is going to be for everyone, but at least you will have more choices than are out there now.

[Streetkahr]

I've got a follower that's dinged up pretty good, for $20 I think I would give it a try.

I am still a new Kahr K9 owner. How do the followers get dinged up? It sounds like that is something that would be good to know.

[Streetkahr]

The polymer followers work just fine in my Kahr Pistols and since Kahr will replace them for free if they fail, I think I'll pass.

I'm still new to Kahrs, but I have read that Kahr mags are the weak link in the chain for the K9. If so, would that be due to the followers? I have also read on this forum of a fix some have had to do where they have needed to sand the underside of the follower. I can't remember the reason they had to do that, but it makes me wonder if this metal follower would be more reliable for a Kahr that is not just a range gun, but is serving as home defense and CCW? Another forum member reports he has a follower that is dinged up pretty good, so if the follower absolutely must never ever fail, could the metal follower be an advantage?

Ferro Veritas, In Steel There Is Truth

[Alfonse]

I'm not sure where his dings are. They could be on the front where the barrel can sometimes contact the follower after the last round, or they could be on top from loading.

Even when the followers break, the pistol still usually works. Many times people don't even realize the follower has broken until they clean the pistol. I have quite a few Kahrs and have never had a broken follower on any of them. But, others have had them break at times. I hope that helps.

I will also add that the profile of this follower is like the "sanded" follower, but even more so. It really helps guide the round even when the pistol is cycled more slowly than in live fire.

[Streetkahr]

The followers should be available in the next couple of weeks. Thanks

Now that I'm off my phone, I'll add a bit more.

I have been having a blast designing parts for Kahrs.

The follower that will be out is really nice. It is CNC machined and does cost more than the factory molded part, no doubt. It is a bit of a risk putting accessories out for Kahrs, since there aren't nearly as many of them as there are Rugers, Glocks, etc. There are ways to reduce part cost, but tooling costs go up. That doesn't really make the part less expensive if not enough of them sell.

For example, I have a beautiful, dare I say unbreakable, striker and spacer for the 380 Kahrs. It doesn't hit the round below in the mag either. The striker is kind of a complex part to make though. Forgetting about the striker for a minute, the factory spacer is MIM. I can make mine that way as well, but the tool is the better part of $10k. The point is it takes a bit of a commitment to do some of this stuff for yet to be determined sales volumes.

That said, I have a great background for working through the process to come up with parts at the best price I can make them for given the volumes that will sell. Not every part is going to be for everyone, but at least you will have more choices than are out there now.

Thank you for the info Alfonse! I am glad I discovered your company today. I don't think there is anyone else offering Kahr upgrade parts, and I am all for replacing any MIM parts. I will order the followers when you release them. Can I sign up to be notified of new products? Do you think you will ever make G10 grip panels for the K9? What is the difference between your stainless guide rod and the one offered on the Kahr parts website? I think they are being made by Wolff, but I'm not sure. Are there any MIM parts in the K9, and if so, would you eventually offer upgrades? Sorry for all the questions, but I really excited that you are improving Kahrs.

I do not know why they are not more popular. When the K9 came out, it was considered the new gold standard for concealment, replacing the former gold standards of the Colt Detective Special and later the Walther PPK. There are many of them carried covertly around the world by professionals, and they are popular at Gunsite, but it seems that they were lost in the polymer flood to the mass gun buying public. I have never encountered a pistol so small that runs like a full size pistol. It is unfortunate that this is lost on the masses. Those of us that know will buy your parts. I hope there are enough of us out here for you.

Ferro Veritas, In Steel There Is Truth.

[Streetkahr]

I'm not sure where his dings are. They could be on the front where the barrel can sometimes contact the follower after the last round, or they could be on top from loading.

Even when the followers break, the pistol still usually works. Many times people don't even realize the follower has broken until they clean the pistol. I have quite a few Kahrs and have never had a broken follower on any of them. But, others have had them break at times. I hope that helps.

I will also add that the profile of this follower is like the "sanded" follower, but even more so. It really helps guide the round even when the pistol is cycled more slowly than in live fire.

Good to know. I like the fact that the profile of yours is like the sanded follower. When you say that it helps guide the round when it is cycled more slowly than live fire, do you mean that it resolves the no slingshot chambering rule?

[kerby9mm]

I have 2 steel kahrs a mk9 & mk40. Both will feed even when riding the slide (done as a test only) so I'm wondering if the metal follower profiled like a sanded one would be a problem & not an improvement. I also wonder if with the g10 grips if the grip screws would stay tight. My mk40 especially when shooting the screws shoot loose. I have to tighten them every other mag.

[topgun1953]

I have 2 steel kahrs a mk9 & mk40. Both will feed even when riding the slide (done as a test only) so I'm wondering if the metal follower profiled like a sanded one would be a problem & not an improvement. I also wonder if with the g10 grips if the grip screws would stay tight. My mk40 especially when shooting the screws shoot loose. I have to tighten them every other mag.

tip from Sig P938 owners: red loctite on the screws or use a small rubber O ring on the screw. I use a #60 o ring from the local big box hardware store on my sig grip screws.

[kerby9mm]

Coincidentally I had 2 Sig p238's & the one with the metal grips always came loose so I loctited them. The other had wood grips & they never came loose. For my kahrs I will get some O rings thanks for the tip topgun.

[muggsy]

If the feed ramp is the proper length it can't contact the follower and the follower won't break. There are literally thousands of Kahr pistols that feed just fine with the original follower configuration. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a MIM part. It's simply a less expensive way of manufacturing a part of equal quality.

[Alfonse]

Thank you for the info Alfonse! I am glad I discovered your company today. I don't think there is anyone else offering Kahr upgrade parts, and I am all for replacing any MIM parts. I will order the followers when you release them. Can I sign up to be notified of new products? Do you think you will ever make G10 grip panels for the K9? What is the difference between your stainless guide rod and the one offered on the Kahr parts website? I think they are being made by Wolff, but I'm not sure. Are there any MIM parts in the K9, and if so, would you eventually offer upgrades? Sorry for all the questions, but I really excited that you are improving Kahrs.


Ferro Veritas, In Steel There Is Truth.

I also just started a Facebook page for Lakeline LLC. It would be a good place to stay up with our latest information and news. https://www.facebook.com/LakelineLLC

I don't think you will ever hear of a MIM spacer breaking on a Kahr. That is a fantastic application of MIM and the part is far stronger than it needs to be. In comparison, a machined part is prohibitively expensive. I only brought it up because there is a tooling cost that needs to be amortized to make a new version.

I am designing new grips for the K9 as well. I am looking at G10 and other materials. The amounted of wasted material to machine Kahr grips is very high because the grip wraps around and makes the back strap unlike a 1911 or other common pistols. One advantage of that is using a material with different colored layers might look very cool!

I think our guide rods are super! The flange is thicker than the factory pieces and it is a solid piece. That makes it a bit heavier and much stronger. We are also using 316 stainless which is extremely corrosion resistant and very strong.

MIM parts per se are not a problem if well designed. As i said, the striker spacer is a great application for MIM. I haven't looked at my K9, but I expect that all the striker spacers are MIM. The striker on the 380 is machined and they are still breaking every so often. MIM isn't the issue. In that case I have designed a much stronger striker that also solves the problem of the round below the one in the chamber being struck. But, so far I have not found a production option that makes the parts affordable enough to sell. I would also make the spacer in MIM if I thought I could sell enough of them although the striker itself would be a very strong tool steel.

I love that Ferro Veritas as well!

[Alfonse]

I have 2 steel kahrs a mk9 & mk40. Both will feed even when riding the slide (done as a test only) so I'm wondering if the metal follower profiled like a sanded one would be a problem & not an improvement. I also wonder if with the g10 grips if the grip screws would stay tight. My mk40 especially when shooting the screws shoot loose. I have to tighten them every other mag.

I have not found them to degrade feeding in any instance I can find yet.

On the grips for the MK, the lower screw hole on the factory grips has very little engagement with the threads in the frame. I increased it a bit to make it closer to the upper hole as far as thread engagement. I don't think the material will make much difference either way. The G10 is very dense and has less give than the standard nylon though. O-rings or loc-tite should keep the screws in for you with any type of grip. In any case, you don't want to over tighten them and strip the frame.