Kahr T-9 Review and endurance test

[jocko]

it

Is there any reason to get a stainless guide rod since we are sort of on the subject here?

being stainless won't show the wear as much as the standard kahr guide rod, . Both will work just as good..:israel:

[mity2]

This is an interesting reading as I order T9 yeasterday, and waiting for it(Should be here sometime next week).

I intend to shoot my T9. May be not as fast as OP is, however.
My K9 I bought in April, I carry it everyday(and finish shows it), and I usualy go to Range every weekend(or every other).

But everytime I'm out, I shoot at least 50rds. and sometimes more.

So simple math would indicate that my round count is roughly at 1000rds or so.
I still see no evidence of recoil spring needing to be changed tho. But I guess I should replace one as insurance as Oldtex stated, since this is my primaly carry gun.

My S&W M&P9 - I bought it when it first came out in 2006 - has been around 8000rds at this moment. Still on original recoil spring. But I can start to see that the ejection is going farther then it did back then...

[DMR]

I completed the challange today. My hands are black from wiping down the pistol. All in all I have mixed feelings about the test. One it pointed out to me just how much I need to get into some classes again. The layers of rust over my fundimentals realy hampered a few stages.

Today I had three more failures to feed between 1900-1924. Each was the first round on a reload. The feed ramp was heavyly coated with carbon and a little rough. For two the failure to feed cleared when I slapped the bottom of the mag. The other I had to drop the mag to clear the stopage. The round fell right out the mag well.

No other issues at the completion.

Nothing broke. 1 failure to extract leaving the round half way out the chamber sitting on top of a empty mag. 1 Stovepipe. 6 failures to feed on the reload. Likely the failures to feed were user induced[:I]


I did find out that Kahr recommends replacing the recoil spring every 1,000 rounds. Seems like a short life for the springs, but maybe replacing the spring at 1,000 would have dropped all six of the failures to feed.

It's not a Glock, but after I replace the spring I will keep going. The re-set doesn't bother me now either.

Pistol: Kahr T-9
Caliber: 9x19mm
Ammunition: 800 124 gr DAG Surplus, 300 115 gr. CCI Blazer, 900 115 gr. Speer Lawman
Dates of testing: 26-July-10 to 26-Sept-10 Total rounds fired: 2,000

[jeep45238]

I wouldn't have mixed feelings. You ran a pistol hard and got it incredibly filthy and sluggish, which more than likely led to the malfunctions.

I say give it a medal for putting up with ya

[oldtex]

I did find out that Kahr recommends replacing the recoil spring every 1,000 rounds. Seems like a short life for the springs, but maybe replacing the spring at 1,000 would have dropped all six of the failures to feed.

Moderators, perhaps we need a sticky addressing the issue of spring life. It appears that many of us don't know Kahr's recommended frequency of changing recoil springs.

[DMR]

Ordered another 2,000 rounds and a second T-9 with night sites ($500 on GB used ) is on the way as a "spare". Not sure if will go out to Accurate Iron or to Cylinder and Slide again.

Now to get some classes into the scheaduale. This will push total round count to 5,000 rounds. This run will be more moderate with cleaning in the every 500 round area. I hope to be done before SHOT.

And yes I'm going to change the recoil springs this time. Same for the P-9, about time they were refreshed.

[jocko]

I guess spring life is what ever floats ones boat. you can shoot it until it starts to act differently or until it breaks something and then change to new springs or you can error on the side of caution and change ever 1500-2000 rounds and just not worry about it. Nothing cheaper in the gun that recoil springs and nothing more important in a gun than a recoil spring as it is a main part of proper timing in any semi auto. There is no exact round count for changing springs, every gun mfg-er has a different change round count. If you adhear to what they state, ur gonna be OK, They IMO certainly error on the side of caution, they are not going to go to the extremes with recoil springs, for they know better.

If yo shoot anys emi alot, CHANGE SPRINGS and just continue shooting it like you stole it..

[DMR]

Got it on the springs already. Glad to see you've recovered from your spill.

[Seahawk60]

I know, but I live in NY and opted for a single stack vs. a nutered double stack. It's a compromise, but I fully understood the choices.

Not a bad choice at all, either. I live in AZ and can carry ANY pistol (legally available) I want openly or concealed and still choose to pocket carry the lower capacity PM9 w/ two spare mags a vast majority of the time.

[Seahawk60]

I really don'thave a set round number to replace. WhenI get a wild hair, I just replace recoil springs and also mag springs. I really don't try to push tne envelope with recoil springs, They are cheap to replace and IMO when in doubt REPLACE.

I went well over 2000 rounds (yes, I keep a spreadsheet of that stuff ) with the first recoil spring/guide rod assembly (old style). No problems with it, but I just wanted a spare, so I contacted Kahr and they sent me two of the new "redesigned" PM9 assemblies.

Mag springs are not that important.

Oh, yes, they most certainly are...

Some gun techs have said that 5000 rounds out of a gun is a lifetime for 90% of most shooters and I do think that is probably right. Ammo is not cheap, areas to shoot are getting less and less

Yes, this sure brings Kel-Tec to mind. I just hope other manufacturers don't start building CRAP to only last 5-6K rounds because of the issues you mentioned with people shooting less and less.

[Seahawk60]

I keep spare recoil springs on hand for all my autos (except the wife's P32...need to get one for that).

Call/email Kel-Tec. They "spray" out free parts like nobody else. Aside from frame, slide and barrel, I'm sure I have enough free parts gained over the years to build at least one complete P3AT.

[Seahawk60]

The other night at the range my T40 started banging up the mouths of ejected cases. The cases were scrap as far as reloading goes, so I intend to try a new recoil spring. The manual says "D" shaped cases coming out of Kahrs is "normal", but the fact is that the gun never did this before. Kahr CS pointed me to that statement in the manual, so no fix was suggested to me. Continuing would be unacceptable, since I reload and rely on salvaging my brass. Without a fix, the gun will be set aside, possibly sold.

Uh, ever heard of a case resizing die? I reload dented "D" cases all the time. It's actually QUITE common for a pistol to deform brass like this.

[DMR]

I recieved a batch of springs in today for my T-9 and P-9. The spring on my post 3,000 round T-9 was compressed to almost the same size as a new P-9. The new T-9 springs were about 3/4" longer. Guess it's time for a change

T-9 Spring after 3,000 rounds top. New spring bottom:


I also posted in the Hex head thread the following Ed Brown Slim Hex head 1911 grip screws work.

I ordered them from Brownells:

087-000-059 SS SLIM ALLEN HEAD GRIP SCREWS 4 PK

My second T-9 also arrived. Serial number just over PA01XX

[Retops]

I am enjoying this thread because it confirms my belief that Kahrs are excellent pistols that are up to just about any task. My PM9 is a workhorse that I carry a lot and shoot almost every time I go to the range. My PM9 is an old one, eligible for the recall although I never sent it back, and it keeps plugging along shooting any ammo that I have put into the magazines. It shows almost no wear in spite of circa 2K rounds through it.

[Seahawk60]

My PM9 is an old one, eligible for the recall although I never sent it back, and it keeps plugging along shooting any ammo that I have put into the magazines. It shows almost no wear in spite of circa 2K rounds through it.

Good to hear. My PM9 is the same way with excellent reliability and it fell into the recall range. Don't even worry about the recall if you aren't having feeding problems. All they do is polish the feed ramp and chamber because some older ones in certain serial number ranges wouldn't feed Gold Dots, which is/was a popular police load. I went ahead did the recall and all I had to do was just send in the barrel. I only did it because I'd just bought the pistol and hadn't gotten too attached to it yet, so I didn't mind the potential of it being gone for weeks on end. Kahr had the barrel back to me in a week, which was awesome. The not-so-awesome thing is they would NOT send it back to my house. They'd only send it to a Fed Ex hub, for some reason, which was quite a ways from my house. I missed it the first time, so it got sent back. I called and mentioned that it had NO SERIAL NUMBER and the frame is considered the actual "gun", but Kahr insisted it was still a "gun part" so they couldn't ship it direct to me and it had to go to a hub.