CW40 Explodes after 250Rds

[Kahrgoesboom]

I bought a brand new CW40 and took it to the range twice and the gun explodes in my hand right after slide slams forward. Blast blew out side of firearm and magazine. Went to local hospital where they pulled pieces of the grip out of my hand and was denied on warranty from both KAHR Arms, then by Davidson's Gallery of Gun because I sent gun to KAHR first. I am stuck with a paper weight and 3 magazines. Since then the gun shop I bought it from will not order any more Kahrs due to this issue of the firearm not being replaced.


Found 2 others with same issue and was not covered. Seeing if this happens often?

[JohnR]

Hard to believe Kahr would deny warranty service for that. They must have given a reason.

[Bawanna]

Did they give you any reason why they wouldn't warranty it?

Handloads? Defective factory load.

That type of a blow up is usually a hot round of some fashion or another.

Good information on the Davidsons warranty. I figured there had to be some real fine print in their warranty. Basically not worth the paper it's written on.

We've heard of a couple blow ups, I believe Wyntrout had one blow a side plate, was using some questionable ammo that he no longer uses.

Your the first one I've heard of that was injured enough to need a doctor. I'm sorry to hear about that part.

[Kahrgoesboom]

Kahr gave 3 possible reasons that their warranty will not cover. (Hot load, Bad Casing, Squib) I went ahead when they sent it back and send it to multiple gunsmiths who determined a out of battery detonation cause that amount of damage cause of how the brass was deformed. No +p ammo used in firearm.

[Bawanna]

Sounds like something the ammo manufacturer should address.

Did they offer any kind of price to fix the gun? The side plate is designed to blow off in a high pressure situation. So the cost to repair may not be too horribly bad depending on what all else was damaged of course.

[wyntrout]

I was using factory remanufactured ammo and had about a half dozen defective cases that blew out just above the case rim/grove. When it happened on a second case I went through the last 140 rounds of a 1,000-round case and found 5 of those cases. After blowing out an extractor in my PM9, then the sideplate and extractor in my P9, I thought to shoot up the remaining rounds with my K9 and blew the extractor out on that. I broke down and destroyed the remaining rounds with that case brand.

Yours is the most violent and destructive instance that I've heard of. It sounds like an over-charged reload, OR a second round fired after a squib where the bore was not checked for an obstruction... all usually from improper reloads.

Reloads void the Kahr warranty, so I don't know that you have any recourse... unless the ammo used was standard new ammo from a reliable manufacturer.

I don't "accuse" you of using reloads, but too many are quick to blame the pistol or the manufacturer when the user doesn't follow the manufacturer's recommendations.

Wynn

[Bawanna]

Well said Wyn. My concern now is getting your gun back up and running so you don't have that paper weight laying around.

Second only to your hand healing and getting back to 100%.

[FLBri]

Just a quick response on Davidson's warranty ...
I can understand them not honoring the warranty AFTER the gun was sent to the manufacturer and than denied .... Somewhat.

But I have had them honor a warranty a few years ago, when I simply broke a trigger spring on an NAA Guardian. The sent me a new pistol and I had even started sanding/refinishing the slide (to a polish eventually).

[Kahrgoesboom]

$540ish to repair the firearm, Bought new at gunshop at cost $263.99.I am good about checking for squibs or any ammo issues. We noticed after the gun blew apart that the guide rod had been worn down a lot over the course of the 250rds.. The few theories I seen for the out of batteries is poor machining causing firing pins to stick and the fact the twisted feed ramp in conjunction with the sharp slide bottom could cause rounds to go off.

[TenorTim]

Just curious, Are you left or right handed? I've been concerned that the "pressure relief panel" on my CM9 would potentially cause more serious injury for me (being left handed) than a right hander. My entire palm is covering the panel who's purpose according to kahr is to "pop out" in the event of high pressure buildup and prevent bodily injury...
More on my thread here: http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?t=23167

[Kahrgoesboom]

Right handed, Panel scraped trigger finger very nicely

[warbird1]

What kind of ammo? If factory then what brand? Reloads? Inquiring minds want to know. I have several hundred rounds thru my CW40 with zero problems. High quality factory ammo only. What the manual says...

[wyntrout]

I know that it's not for everyone, but perhaps an early slide disassembly and thorough cleaning to include polishing of the striker and its channel/tunnel could give peace of mind that there's no manufacturing debris and that there IS free movement of the striker and proper operation of the safety block.

It's not really that hard and the instructions can be found in several places. You SHOULDN'T have to do that, but I've found debris from machining in new pistols... notably S&W revolvers, that moved around and sometimes caused the cylinder to lock up... a life threatening situation in self defense.

The lower leading edge of the slide... the stripper... should be beveled and have nothing that would dent a primer.

It would seem that Kahr could figure out where the cartridge was when it was fired and possibly you have a claim against the ammo manufacturer. The "C" models are inexpensive and can be found for $299.99 to over $500. I had to really hold back comment when a guy recently listed a CW40 upper for $250!

In any case, I'm sorry that you had this experience and were injured. We're all conjecturing without any visual evidence and I don't mean to imply any wrong-doing on your part.

All of my Kahrs have had a few problems, but between Kahr, myself and others help here, I got the pistols working to my satisfaction and find them perfect for my concealed carry needs, though I do have other pistols that are better suited to home defense or where larger size need not be concealed.

Wynn

[Kahrgoesboom]

I'll try to post up pictures. I was using a mixture of different brands to know if it does not like any certain brands. I know it was magtech as well as others. I have a stockpile of ammo for my FNS-40.

[hardluk1]

Sound to much like an ammo problem. production numbers are so high there going to be failures from time to time. If you can read the case head contact the company and see if they will help you. All the guide rounds wear to sort of a ruffled finish but not an issue. Even if it was out of chamber it would likely be do to bad ammo not a failure from the recoil spring to seat the round with in spec ammo specially at 250 rounds.


Ammo quality with cheaper practice ammo is the main reason I started reloading again.