Proper prep of a new kahr

[k421incubus]

Followed this prep with my new CM9 this weekend, and it shot 200 rounds flawlessly. Thanks for the great info!

[Bawanna]

How come you do not lube the striker channel after cleanining with the
3M #08880? I usually do the same with my LCP but put a shot of rem oil
very small shot I might add in the top hole over the striker, I haven't had any problems. Should I not lube the LCP striker channel also?

Would emmery paper work in place of the 600 grit sandpaper when working on the magazine?

The oil attracts dirt, lint, and stuff you don't want in there. Everything is stainless so it isn't gonna rust. If your putting it in a safe for an extended period of time I might squirt some oil in there. Then clean it out when you bring it back out.

Emery paper should work just fine and dandy on them magazines.

[zhills]

The oil attracts dirt, lint, and stuff you don't want in there. Everything is stainless so it isn't gonna rust. If your putting it in a safe for an extended period of time I might squirt some oil in there. Then clean it out when you bring it back out.

Emery paper should work just fine and dandy on them magazines.

Thanks, I Know I have some emery paper in the shed.

Is there a parts explodeded view of the PM9, or CM9 here on KahrTalk?

[Bawanna]

http://www.kahr.com/Pistols/Kahr-PM9.asp

Try this, if you click on the diagram picture it show up above larger and you can magnify with your cursor. I cursed alot trying to find it I'll tell you that.

Don't lose any sleep over the sandpaper on the feed lips deal. It most likely will work just fine as it comes. If you have an issue you can always drop back measure off 25 yards and do a little sanding.

[Scoundrel]

I recently purchased a CM9. It's all cleaned and broken in. I am having a magazine problem.

I have had no issues whatsoever with the 6-round magazine that came with it. I also ordered a 7-round magazine made by Kahr.

I was having a problem with nose-dive jams when there were three or four bullets left in it. I saw the summary by Jocko and found the detailed instructions with photos by GB6491. I performed the test and found that the follower was getting hung up on the magazine release latch. I shaved and sanded it until it no longer got hung up. Then I took the CM9 back to the range for testing.

Shaving the magazine definitely made a difference. However, it was not what I expected. What happens NOW is that with one round in the chamber and a full 7-round magazine, it jams when I have fired the one in the chamber. The very first round in the magazine jams with a nose-dive. It does this perhaps 6 out of 10 times. I did a lot of load, fire, jam, clear jam, reload, fire, etc. testing. Once it gets past the first round, it never jams at the 3rd or 4th round anymore.

Then something unexpected happened. I ran out of the Federal Champion 115 Grain 9mm Luger ammo I was using, and I bought a box of Sellier & Bellot from the range. Those did not jam. I went through two boxes to be sure. No jams at all with the S&B ammo.

I know that the Federal is not very quality-consistent. Every single bullet has dimples or scratches on it, some worse than others. However, I have had zero jams in the 6-round magazine out of maybe 200 rounds that I have put through it.

The 7-round magazine seems very touchy, and while I intend to do some more testing with the S&B, I'm still not very comfortable with the magazine. I have other 9mm pistols that will eat the Federal ammo all day without issue, and the idea of a jam in my CM9 makes me less inclined to rely on it.

I ordered a Wolff +5% spring for the 7-round magazine, but I am not convinced that 5% extra power is what is needed.

I ordered a couple more 6-round magazines from Kahr, and I will test them with both ammo brands thoroughly. I will also test the 7-round magazine with the Wolff spring when it arrives.

I am not dead set on having a 7-round magazine. If the additional 6-round magazines also don't have any problems, but the 7-round continues to have this problem, should I just throw it out and call it good, or do you have any suggestions on what else might be happening?

I asked my local gunsmith about it, and his answer was: Try a Wolff spring, and it it still happens, throw it away.

[jocko]

your magazine comes with wolff springs. indeed the 7 round magazine in the PM9 and cm9 guns for some give fits. I would just call kahr and ask them if u can send back this 7 round mag in exchange for a 6 round mag. They have done this for alot of people. Tell them what is happening and that u just don't trust the magazine. Odd that the S & B ammo worked 0k and the federal did not.

what u can do is order from wolffs the 7 round 5% more strength magazine spring and see if that does not correct the issue. For some it has been the way a person grips the 7 round magazine being it sticks out and it might be giving that magazine a different angle for that first round. I am at a total loss to tell u exactly what is the issue, other than the 7 round magazines do give some owners fits.

You bought a cm9 becuase if is very concealable, so just get another 6 round magazine and either use the 7 round for range use or send it back for exchange. Shooting a 7 round extended magazine gives u a different feel/hold than the flush 6 round mag, so for me I practice the way I ultimately carry..

gunsprings.com

[Scoundrel]

Thanks. I have sent an e-mail to Kahr about it.

[Rainman48314]

late to the party but...

I have both Glock and Kahr (3 now) and don't participate in the ford vs. chevy style debate. I just want my guns to be clean and last long. I haven't purchased a can of gun scrubber or similar products in 10 years. I clean the polymer with a damp cloth or qtips, usually no solvent required. If I need a solvent I use 70% diluted isopropyl alcohol, but that is usually only used on metal parts. Regular gun oil on a qtip also seems to break up most gunk reasonably well.

What is that isoprpyl alcohol diluted with..or do you buy it labeled that way? I use 99% to wipe griping areas as I tend to get oil all over everything.

[Rainman48314]

Do they listen?

Thanks. I have sent an e-mail to Kahr about it.

I get the sense that there are a set of known problems with a percentage of Kahrs. There are great stickies that almost require you to be a 'smith.

I see you emailed them. Do they listen? Surely they must understand that there are many owners who do not work in machine shops or have calipers, stones, files, dremels at home.

I am looking for a finished product, not a kit or a beta test project when I spend $600-800 on a SD gun. I have great respect for those who choose to do their own repairs and modifications. I would respect Kahr more if they fixed issues from years earlier.

[Denny M]

+1 on everything Rainman said.

[jocko]

Imo

I get the sense that there are a set of known problems with a percentage of Kahrs. There are great stickies that almost require you to be a 'smith.

I see you emailed them. Do they listen? Surely they must understand that there are many owners who do not work in machine shops or have calipers, stones, files, dremels at home.

I am looking for a finished product, not a kit or a beta test project when I spend $600-800 on a SD gun. I have great respect for those who choose to do there own repairs and modifications. I would respect Kahr more if they fixed issues from years earlier.

I think ur stretching some of these "known problems". The stickys are there to help, certainly in 90% or more none are needed...

[8th ID]

jocko--

Thanks for the info here! I did take my CM9 out before reading here. I had no problems at all in 120 rounds. But I will be doing some more 'prep' before taking it out again.

Like you said, great info for a Kahr or any other semi-auto.

Thanks,
8th ID

[jocko]

most all kahrs are good to go out of the box, but we have also seen some that come tothe owner with some "crapola" in the striker channel and then it causes issues down the road or sometimes from the git go. Knopw where and how to clean that striker channel has been a big help to most all owners. the factory's don''t clean and relube guns before boxing and shipping, so one should at leat look over the entire gun and make sure it is cleaned, lubed properly and then just shoot it like u stole it.

The kahr lube chart is in my opinion the best I have ever seen... Those damn CM9 are just being so damn good out of the box that in all my years of seeng new products cominbg out, nothing has been as flawless as the cm9. And every owner that I have talked to has told me that after a few hundred rounds the gun just feels totally diffgerent. They just get smoother as things mate up in the gun. The trigger system as smooth as it is gets even better with really no special care other than rounds down range. Trust me, YOU CAN'T SHOOT OUT A KAHR..

[Rainman48314]

I think ur stretching some of these "known problems". The stickys are there to help, certainly in 90% or more none are needed...

Jocko, I wrote my comments after reading page after page of repairs and modifications Greg aka GB6491 was forced to do to get a reliable Kahr 45. While his efforts are laudable, and his photos superb, a Self Defense gun isn't an erector set. Its not a kit car, its not an assemble your self Computer. I don't think 90% is a high enough standard when competitors do better.

[jocko]

u might be right, if u really feel that strong, why do u even own a kahr??? Are u stating the other companies don't have issues??. I have owned 3 kel tec , had to send them back atotal of 17 tmes before I could get them running good enough to sell them, and I think I know alittle aobut making some guns work "if it is minor". Owned one Ruger lcp, that had to go back to get right, and Ruger makes good stuff, but are u going to tell me that their total recall of their SR9 and over 50K of the lcp is nothing major??? Every one of those Ruger owners back then was BETA testers as far as I was cncerned... Still over on the elsi pea forum on the main page is two reports of defective lcp, one 3 weeks old with broken peaces, another with a photo showing a cracked polymer frame. None of these guns are fool proof. Ruger turns one out ever 52 seconds, so sh-t is gonna happen, never good when it happens to you the owner but Ruger will take care of it.. Mine now fixed I will swear by it but before it was fixed I swore at it..

What GB did to his gun, he did to HIS GUN, most of the kahr 45 required nothing at all. Ur always gonna find the negatives on a gun forum, that is where pepole come with issues. Kahr is not exempt from that as u well know. Greg could have also done what most would have done with a gun that gives issues. He could have sent it back but he choose to do it his way. Some people can make things work without sending them back but that is their option also. I am not alibing for kahr, I have always felt the P380 is a gun with issues. It is getting better but IMO it is not there yet, but again kahr has over 20K of them out there and we read of a few dozen on this forum with issues so we assume they are all like that.

I have said this before, if u get a kahr with issues and you are not comfortable with their fix or have lost faith in it, then peddle it and find the gun that pleases u,. as there are to many other good guns out there to.. But I don't put my head in the sand thinking that the next brand is going to be better. What we expect is sometimes not what we get.

And to me anyways it does seem the bigger the framed gun the better they seem to work. Kahr K9 comes to mind..

oops: forgot had to send my G19 back once for slide lock issues.Today one of my best guns for accuracy.