First Kahr, MK9 with FTE troubles, advice?

[jocko]

xaman, definitely not saying it is shooter error. When one actually trie sto limp a gun it is hard to do. I understand your sitauation, I just would hate to see you send a "good" gun back to kahr and get it back with a message that nothing is wrong etc. That will not help your matter any at all, let alone additional cost Is there any gun smiths aroundyour area that could do some test shooting ?? ssurely u know someone who u consider proficient with a semi.

xaman, we had a fella on our forum about two weeks ago with a PM45 kahr he b ought used and had all kinds of issues and labeled it a POS. But when he let his gun shop where he bought it from take it out and shoot it with 3 people and filmed it, they had not one issue.s He was miffed with the results, but after a great cleaning and lub ing and confidence that it washim and not the gun he is shooting it now with no issues. All guns handle differently to. u have a samm 9mm here probably unlike anything else you have shot, U have to also understand that 3 stovepipes in 170 rounds is very very hard to trouble shoot beig u replaced about all parts that matterj. I can assure u kahr will not shoot a 100 rounds for test purposes. less llikely even less than 50 rounds. I am here, u are there, so I have no idea nor do I intend to say it is shooter error either. I just have to bring up the possability as it is in the menu of things that can happen..

[xaman]

I appreciate your feedback jocko, you've been super helpful.

I just spent a while looking into limpwristing and I have a very hard time believing I could be doing that ever, but especially after the range session today where I locked everything up so tightly and still stovepiped. But I do understand your position and appreciate your thoughts. I also understand that Kahr will likely not fire it enough to replicate the problem. My second round with Winxhester stovepiped today though, so maybe I'll get lucky and it'll malfunction for them, lol.

After hearing SO many good MK reports, I'm wondering whether to sell this one at a major loss and buy a brand new one, hoping for better luck. This little guy carries so well without dressing around my Glock (plus I like it's aesthetics way more than the ugly Glock). I'll have to think on this some more...

[Cokeman]

Hmm...how major are we talking? :hungry:

[jocko]

xaman: here is my take on this. more than likely this is why the first owner sold the MK. Morally and ethically the right thing to do is get the gun fixed and then sell it, yes I know if you get the gun fixed u proably will keep it, then that is a plus for you, but I really get my dandruff up when one peddles a bad gun. It is just not the right thing to do. We are not used car dealers selling prodcuts. They will tell u anything to sell the product. I think if it was me I would call kahr and have a nice chat with them. you will have to pay to send it back that is a given, but they might share the cost the other way. if you document all the new parts you put in the gun, then they should not be putting in those parts new and charging you for it, you must express that in your letter to them so thay know well and sure what the deal is. Then proceed from their. if it is a major repair, have them call you and discuss it. A new MK today is not different than the MK u have now, Sure it shold be OK but that is not a given and if it has to go back after this first fiasco, ur gonna be real pissed.they are super guns, they really don't give much head aches, yours is different and if u send it in your gonna have to relate to them that the stove pipes are sporadic so as not to just shot 20 rounds and give up on it as OK. I hate to see you take a loss to but IMO I don't think you really want to trade in a bad gun. Now I don't know if you bought it from a dealer or a gun show or what, bu tif a dealer sold it to you he might work out something with you on it to keep good customer relations. I do think you have done all you can back here on ur gun and it needs to go back, ur not limping the gun, u have worked to hard to prove that is not the issue.

PM sent:

[xaman]

Absolutely, I wouldn't sell the gun without full disclosure. I'm keeping this thread active and updated for public record as well. I'm guessing you are right in that the previous owner had the same issues, but he told me it was flawless after break-in so I'll just have to take him at his word, it's not like I'm going to get a refund anyway

If I sell it, it would be discounted for someone who either wants a range gun, or is comfortable with 98% carry gun, or is more patient/proficient to tinker with it and get it dialed in. But if I get it right first, I will definitely keep it, if reliable it will perfect carry piece for me.

I'll let you guys know what happens next, thanks for all the insight.

[CJB]

Ditto recoil spring. Remember to rack the slide a few hundred times.. .break that spring in.

[GOOFA]

If you were using Federal Champion 115gr ammo that's your culprit, marginal at best. Get yourself a decent box of 124gr FMJ ammo while breaking in your new spring. Winchester Nato would be fine, S&B 124gr, American Eagle 124gr just stay away from the bargain stuff. That should take care of your troubles, if not you then need to look more into your grip and eliminate any movement. Good luck.

[xaman]

I talked to Kahr today and they said ship it in but it won't be covered under warranty. I'm not sure it's worth the money and the trip. I'm gonna chew on it a bit.

In the meantime i wanted to see if racking the slide might help the new recoil spring, so i did 200 racks last night, then I shot a few clips of Winchester NATO today and got 2 stovepipes. That's when I came in and called Kahr. The dilemma continues

I did think if an acquaintance who's a more experienced shooter than I am, so I may try to get with him if possible and let him try it too.

[jocko]

what is winchester NATO ammo.?? Have u tried regularover the counter wwb like at walmart??/ good idea to let another shooter try the gun, if he canproduce what ur having then assume it is now gun related.

[xaman]

Winchester NATO, best I can tell is an FMJ with the equivalent of +p loading, supposed to be hot. I already tried white box Winchester. I'll keep you updated.

[jocko]

I think I new thaqt about the hot part but just never seen it around anywhere for sale. evidently the wwb didn't do any better huh??

definitely let another guy shoot the gun, eliminate all possables, and that way if u have to call kahr u can tell them that just not u had this issue but other shooters also.. Kinda takes away in my mind anywys their thoughts of "well this fella is limping the gun" yadda yadda..

[xaman]

Thanks again Jocko. I'll keep you updated.

In the meantime I went to the gun shop/rage today and fired a PM9, CW9, Ruger LC9 and LCP for grins. They all shot fine, and afterward i went into the shop intending to buy a CW9. I wanted to give Kahr a chance, seeing as I bought this MK9 second hand. But then I saw a Sig p290 in the case and after a lot of hem-hawing I walked away much poorer and a new P290 in hand.

Ran 120 rounds through it after cleaning and lube, and it was perfect. Shot it well, even though the trigger isn't as good as the Kahr. More importantly it fed on three of the ammo choices the MK9 failed with.

[xaman]

I'm leaning toward not sending it in to Karh, at least not just yet. I still intend to let someone more "trained" handle it first. Honestly, even then, not sure I want to send it back on my dime knowing that even if they try to replace or repair it'll cost me an arm and a leg, and may or may not resolve the infrequent issues. I'm leaning toward keeping it in the family for now and relegating it to range use in the off chance that the new recoil spring needs a few more rounds to break in.

With that in mind I told my 14 year old daughter she could shoot it. She's been using my 22 conversion on a full sized Glock and was ready to step up in caliber. I was thinking of getting her her own 380 or full sized 9mm, but with my new problematic MK9, perhaps letting her fire and learn how to clear the rare failure is better than relegating it to paperweight status


Interesting results at the range today - 50 rounds of UMC bulk FMJ without hiccup, all in her hands. I've gone 52 rounds one other time (immediately after changing all the parts) with no issues, so it's not a new record, but it was encouraging nonetheless. I really expected to have more problems with the UMC since it is weaker than the Dynamit Nobel I've been mostly using, but it fed and extracted reliably.

She loved it, and got used to the trigger after a couple mags. She was grouping decently at 7 yards, as little as 2-3" when she took her time.

She's going to get to learn how to clean it this weekend

It's probably premature to speculate, but I'm hoping beyond hope that i helped the problems when i replaced all those parts, but that the new recoil spring now needs to break in. With today's range session, we're close to 200 rounds on the new spring. Of course the other possibility is that there is something in my particular grip that is problematic for this particular gun. Just not sure yet.

As always, thanks for reading, and I'll keep you updated. I don't want to leave this one hanging in cyberspace without resolve for future google searchers

[dss07]

Thanks for your post and updates, xaman; they have been very helpful in working through my MK9 issues. I have been documenting my FTE issues with my brand new MK9 here and here. I have fired over 400 rounds through it and have continued to experience problems despite trying most of what has been recommended. I broke down today and called Kahr. After describing the problem and what I had done to trouble-shoot it, they concluded that a gunsmith had to look at firearm. I live in DC, so sending and receiving a handgun is a veritable nightmare. But I just don't feel comfortable ignoring the FTE issues, especially because it is a brand new firearm.

Will keep you posted.

[jocko]

well at least ur trying to not criticize the gun as the culprit, being your daghter wa sable to fire 50 rounds through it with no issues. That could very well be an indication that maybe just you and the gun are not meant for each other . I wold think kahr would fix your gun once back with minimul charges at best other than postage back. they have been known to do that many times. Ihave yet to rea dof one sending back a gun not under warranty and getting hosed by kahr. BUT BUT that being said,k if u send back a gun that indeed works perfect back at kahr, then you have gained nadda, nothing, zero, so take ur time besides your daughter let another goodf shooter give it some rounds down arange. I would try to stay away from this 100+ to 200 rounds at one session thing,as this just produces more chances for shooter error,. These are smallguns, even though the MK is all steel it is still smallby most guns standards and it is easy for grip changes to result and u not know it is happening. Normally a Fresh shooter is a good shooter.