Kahr Polymer Frame Disassembly (Tutorial)

[AEnemaBay]

I noticed that there weren't any guides to disassembling the Kahr polymer frame (or I just have weak Google-fu), so I figured I'd give it a shot. This guide should be good for all TP, P, CW, and PM series of Kahr pistols. The pistol used was my new Kahr PM9.

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU DAMAGE YOUR PISTOL WHILE PERFORMING DISASSEMBLY OR ANY OTHER TYPE OF MODIFICATIONS.

PLEASE REFER TO THE EXPLODED DIAGRAM PROVIDED BY KAHR ARMS ON THEIR WEBSITE:

http://www.kahr.com/DL/kahrpartslist.pdf

Tools
1. T5 screw driver
2. T6 screw driver
3. 1/8” pin punch
4. Brass hammer (or other non-marring hammer)
5. Dental pick (or other pointed tool)
6. Pair of small needle nose pliers

Disassembly
1. Ensure that the magazine is removed from your pistol and that the chamber is empty.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...y/IMG_3857.jpg

2. Follow the standard procedure for field stripping of your specific pistol.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...y/IMG_3858.jpg

3. Using a T6 screw driver, remove the slide stop spring screw and washer (30) retaining the slide release spring (29) located on the left side of the frame.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...y/IMG_3859.jpg

4. Using a T5 screw driver, remove the side panel screw (41) located at the rear right side of the frame and gently pry the side panel up and out of the frame.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...y/IMG_3861.jpg

5. Grab hold of the top portion of the trigger bar spring (14) using a pair of pliers and pull down and outward removing it from the frame.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...y/IMG_3862.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...y/IMG_3869.jpg

6. Using a 1/8” punch, remove the headed trigger pivot pin (12) from the frame taking care to remove it from left to right. NOTE: TRIGGER SPRING IS UNDER TENSION
7. With the trigger pivot pin (12) removed the trigger (9), trigger spring (10), trigger spacer (11), and trigger bar (13) can be removed from the frame.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...y/IMG_3870.jpg

8. Using a dental pick, hook the cocking cam pivot pin (32) through the small hole in the head and remove it from the frame.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...y/IMG_3872.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...y/IMG_3873.jpg

9. Grab the ejector (31) and pull it out of the frame. With it, the cocking cam (15) and cocking cam spring (16) will be removed as well.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...y/IMG_3876.jpg

10. Using a dental pick, hook the magazine catch spring (18) and pull it to the side and outward in order to release it from the magazine catch (17).
11. Using a pair of pliers grab the top of the magazine catch spring (18) and pull it straight and out of the frame.
12. Remove the magazine catch (17) from the right side of the frame.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...y/IMG_3880.jpg

Reassembly Tips
1. The legs of the cocking cam spring (16) correspond to the holes in both the ejector (31) and the cocking cam (15) itself. The spring can be placed in either way and the entire unit in reinstalled into the frame.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...y/IMG_3883.jpg

2. The trigger assembly is to be assembled as shown below (trigger spring (10) has been omitted from the photo for clarity).
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...y/IMG_3890.jpg

3. The easiest way to reinstall the trigger bar spring (14) is to attach the hook onto the bar as normal and then use a pair of needle nose pliers to grab the loop in the spring and then bend the lower half into the slot in the frame.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...y/IMG_3862.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...y/IMG_3867.jpg

4. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT over tighten the Torx screws when reinstalling them into the frame. You are mating steel threads with polymer threads and if you tighten them too much the steel threads will win and gut the polymer. Only tighten the screws until they are snug!

If anyone has any other questions you can ask them here and I'll try my best to explain it and/or provide a more detail photo of the piece/process.

[OldLincoln]

Tips on re-inserting the right side cover plate torq screw without messing anything up (e.g, how tight without stripping, etc)?

[Bawanna]

Tips on re-inserting the right side cover plate torq screw without messing anything up (e.g, how tight without stripping, etc)?

While this is a well done and informative thread I believe the best way to reinsert the right side cover plate screw as well as the slide lock lever spring screw is to leave them intact unless something is for sure broken. There seldom is any reason to go this deep into a Kahr to my feeble way of thinking.
If I ever do go inside I'll be thankful that somebody "AEnemabay"boldly went where no mans gone before. Good thread, good effort. Much appreciated. Hope I never need it but always be prepared for the worst.

[AEnemaBay]

Tips on re-inserting the right side cover plate torq screw without messing anything up (e.g, how tight without stripping, etc)?

Thanks! I'll update the OP.

[AEnemaBay]

While this is a well done and informative thread I believe the best way to reinsert the right side cover plate screw as well as the slide lock lever spring screw is to leave them intact unless something is for sure broken. There seldom is any reason to go this deep into a Kahr to my feeble way of thinking.
If I ever do go inside I'll be thankful that somebody "AEnemabay"boldly went where no mans gone before. Good thread, good effort. Much appreciated. Hope I never need it but always be prepared for the worst.

Thanks a lot. I'm also in the works of picking up a CW45 to make it a "covert" model using PM45 mags and also trying to perfect a way to shorten the reset point on my PM9. So stay tuned for more...

[Bawanna]

Thanks a lot. I'm also in the works of picking up a CW45 to make it a "covert" model using PM45 mags and also trying to perfect a way to shorten the reset point on my PM9. So stay tuned for more...

Theres lots of fellas here that will watching anxiously on that shortened trigger reset. A bit shorter reset would be a pretty cool thing.
Everyone loves a covert too so keep us in the loop on that as well.

[jocko]

So so true

While this is a well done and informative thread I believe the best way to reinsert the right side cover plate screw as well as the slide lock lever spring screw is to leave them intact unless something is for sure broken. There seldom is any reason to go this deep into a Kahr to my feeble way of thinking.
If I ever do go inside I'll be thankful that somebody "AEnemabay"boldly went where no mans gone before. Good thread, good effort. Much appreciated. Hope I never need it but always be prepared for the worst.

leave the lower grip section alone. there is just no need to take that lower section down, other than saying u can do it. Shorteneing the trigger travel/reset is going against all kahr has done to design a safe ass carry gun with no external safety. You can't do one without doing the other... Why would anyone want to make a kahr with a hariy ass trigger. If you shorten it a 1/4", it is hairy. Again IMO leave the fooker alone. It ain't ever gonna be a 1911 trigger or even a glock trigger. Why reinvent the wheel..

[dusty10]

+1 on Jocko's post. I love the trigger on the Kahrs because I was previously carrying a J frame that had trigger work done to it. Kahr triggers are just like that. Problem was, no matter how much I practiced, I could not reload that revolver as fast as I can re-insert a full mag in a semi-auto pistol. When I discovered Kahr had invented the perfect conceal carry line of weapons currently in existence, I found conceal carry nirvana. As Jocko said, "it will never be a 1911" but it already is a great carry piece.

[OldLincoln]

I tend to want to fix that which isn't broken - until I "fix" it. However, this isn't a lawnmower so I promise I WILL leave the grip plate in tact. I am used to my trigger and it definitely is not broken, but the rumor is there's something in there I can polish!! But I won't. sigh...

I am going to the range today to dirty up my PM9 so I can clean it again, and polish some more parts - YEA! I don't know what they put in that polish but it must be illegal or bad cause I can't wait.

On my aircraft (KC-135) there was a small little section on #2 inboard nacelle that aligned perfectly to see the landing gear, only it was a dull color. I about wore my hands out using never-dull to make it mirror perfect. I had the only plane in the fleet that the a/c could visual the main gear. They really appreciated that, guess they preferred landing on rubber tires. I always flew with them so I confess a bit of enlightened self interest.

[wyntrout]

Hey! That would have been a good suggestion for all planes that would benefit the crews immensely. A buffer would have been nice, too.
It's nice to know the condition of your landing gear and tires so you can take the appropriate actions. Surprises suck with aircraft and they are big Molotov Cocktails waiting to be ignited.
Wynn

[O'Dell]

I tend to want to fix that which isn't broken - until I "fix" it. However, this isn't a lawnmower so I promise I WILL leave the grip plate in tact. I am used to my trigger and it definitely is not broken, but the rumor is there's something in there I can polish!! But I won't. sigh...

I am going to the range today to dirty up my PM9 so I can clean it again, and polish some more parts - YEA! I don't know what they put in that polish but it must be illegal or bad cause I can't wait.

On my aircraft (KC-135) there was a small little section on #2 inboard nacelle that aligned perfectly to see the landing gear, only it was a dull color. I about wore my hands out using never-dull to make it mirror perfect. I had the only plane in the fleet that the a/c could visual the main gear. They really appreciated that, guess they preferred landing on rubber tires. I always flew with them so I confess a bit of enlightened self interest.

I couldn't see the gear on my jet, just three little lights. I was told though, that if it took zone 5 burner to taxi back to the ramp. you probably landed wheels up.

[OldLincoln]

I couldn't see the gear on my jet, just three little lights. I was told though, that if it took zone 5 burner to taxi back to the ramp. you probably landed wheels up.

The B-58's landed blind with the angle of attack too high and the wing blocking so they would line up, flare and pray.

We had one that missed and the gear made a hole in the mud about 2' deep before the engines spooled up and actually pulled it free. I doubt it was mud in the crew's shorts after that. I went out and saw the mud all over the gear and fuselage and the hole it made.

Another flared and the thing fell out of the sky a good 6 feet off the runway. Actually broke it's back and you could see down inside through a big crack it made.

What's sad is that it was an impossible plane to fly yet they screwed the a/c who broke one. My crew and I had dinner in Spain with a B-58 crew from our base. The next morning they were to fly into the Paris Air Show. They landed 20' short and all perished. It was an interesting high performance aircraft but not sustainable.

[OldLincoln]

In my outfit, I followed the don't ask permission strategy. I'm sue they have regs that say no to everything so I simply didn't ask. Not even for the coffee cup holders! Wynn can attest to dealing with those 12 hr flights and the only place to set your paper coffee cup is on the center console with everything you will need for an inflight emergency. Sheetmetal shop was very obliging so I just did it - Nike style.

Problem was the other chiefs didn't appreciate what they had. They wouldn't fly unless they had to and couldn't wait to get rid of the bird on fly days. When I wasn't flying I'd stand by and watch mine take off with a little misty pride in my eye.

[wyntrout]

Yeah, we had to find somewhere to go 'cause they kept talking about GUNS on the General Discussion Forum.

And, our policy was always "if you can't stand the answer, don't ask the question".

Wynn

[O'Dell]

The B-58's landed blind with the angle of attack too high and the wing blocking so they would line up, flare and pray.

We had one that missed and the gear made a hole in the mud about 2' deep before the engines spooled up and actually pulled it free. I doubt it was mud in the crew's shorts after that. I went out and saw the mud all over the gear and fuselage and the hole it made.

Another flared and the thing fell out of the sky a good 6 feet off the runway. Actually broke it's back and you could see down inside through a big crack it made.

What's sad is that it was an impossible plane to fly yet they screwed the a/c who broke one. My crew and I had dinner in Spain with a B-58 crew from our base. The next morning they were to fly into the Paris Air Show. They landed 20' short and all perished. It was an interesting high performance aircraft but not sustainable.

But they sure were purty!