One of the many reasons I wouldn't own one.........I hear alot of that.......it doesn't do this, it does that, but other than that, it's a great firearm...it's like saying.....my transmission fell out, my steering wheel broke, my tire fell off, but, other than that, it's a great car......

Initially, the Lotus 49 sheared cam timing teeth, bent radius rod brackets, the Cosworth engine had breathing problems, and the
original gearbox tended to self destruct from torsional stress.

Clark also won the first race the car appeared in (Zandvoort '67), and it went on to become one of the most successful designs
in motor racing history.

Successful engineering means identifying the cause of a given failure, and redesigning the culprit if possible until success is
obtained. No one ever got anywhere by abandoning a good design for want of solutions to a minimal number of faults.

For me, the P45 was flawless in both cases until the recoil springs wore out. It fits my hand, fits my small frame in a
comfortable carry, and I shoot well and naturally with it. Everyone is different, but in my case it's worth pursuing a solution
to the spring fault.

So I'm looking for constructive comments from people who have had the same problem.

--Mark

Originally Posted by Mark087

...I suspected a worn recoil spring...The new spring was a full 1/4" or more longer than the old one...

Mark, I have absolutely no experience with any Kahr pistol. However, I have years and years of experience with the 1911, and with a couple of Officers'-Model-size, 1911 shorties. Based upon that experience, I offer you the following observations:

All of the recoil springs in all of my pistols have lost about 1/4" of length during service, with no effect upon the performance of the guns. It is normal for a coil spring to "take a set" at a length slightly shorter than that of when it was new.
That said, many shortie semi-autos are spring sensitive, and some makers tell you to replace the recoil spring every 500 rounds...or every 750 rounds, or every 1,000 rounds, or whatever. If your pistol requires recoil-spring replacement every 500 rounds, I suggest that it's a relatively inexpensive "cost of doing business" with your otherwise-satisfactory defensive weapon.
Still, I must note that two of my full-size 1911 pistols, used for more than 20 years in practical-shooting competition, have never needed new recoil springs. They are still chugging along satisfactorily with the original springs. Neither pistol bobbles its ejections. (The shorties don't get used that much.)

Just for the heck of it, I also offer that sometimes extraction problems have their origin in shooter technique.
If your pistol's recoil spring does indeed begin to weaken at, say, 500 rounds, could it also be that you are yourself tiring out at that point, and are gripping the pistol in a grasp that's a little weaker than that of your early-in-the-day technique? That might cause extraction problems too.
It is at least worth checking-out.

But, all-in-all, I don't think that having to change the recoil spring every so often, in a gotta-be-reliable, save-your-life gun, is a particularly terrible flaw, as long as you know the interval well.
Yes, it's inelegant, as engineering goes, but it isn't terrible. And, as I understand it, Kahrs aren't the only ones with this, um, flaw.

Then I would suggest that you look for constructive comments from Kahr.....do you expect a forum member to redesign your firearm........I would suggest, that most on this forum would have either put up with the flaws, or gotten rid of it....I just read a constructive idea, replace your spring on a regular basis, or buy a better firearm..........." is excellent in all respects except this rather serious situation." Sounds to me, like you have lost confidence with this firearm, and I stand by my original statement. Is that constructive enough for ya.........

Steve - Your comments are pretty much in tune with what I've been thinking. I also have a couple of M1911s, one of which is a parked 1944 mil issue with (as far as I know) the original spring. Always works, every time. But my concern is 1/4"+ is a much smaller fraction of the total length of the 1911 spring than the Kahr spring. And there's been a definite correlation between the latter wearing out and FTEs.

Roger on the shooter technique. In this case, the FTEs started early in the session when I was still fresh. Didn't make that clear in my original post.

Roger also on the periodic recoil spring change as maintenance suggestion. Like an oil change. That's what was on my mind when I ordered a couple the other day. Since this is the only flaw I've been able to find in my carry gun so far, I figure the extra effort at vigilance is worth it. Count rounds, when I hit 700, change the $9 spring.

It'll be interesting to see how Kahr responds. It's very possible the current spring is a necessary compromise between spring force and hardness. If a spring is made too stiff, that may mean it's too brittle and the very last thing you want is for it to break - that can lock the piece up tight.

Got the new recoil springs from Kahr yesterday, and thought at first they'd sent me the wrong ones.
They were over an inch longer than the ones I was replacing! Taking into account the 1/4" of
shrinkage I was seeing on the originals, that's still over 3/4" longer to start with.

The new springs had the same number of coils, but they were spread out over a longer length.
I miked the originals in several places and got .043" diameter. The new ones miked at .045".
.002" is a small difference, but over 22 coils it was enough to make the difference I felt.

I wondered how the heck I was gonna get the thing into the gun, and sure enough it was a real
pain. Literally. The muzzle end kept wanting to sproing out. Finally I found I could compress some
coils onto the chamber end of the guide rod at first so there weren't as many at the muzzle end.
Very awkward.

Slide operation is noticeably tougher - a good thing, but would it shoot? Just went through 50
of my midrange reloads and a mag of my carry ammo - Hornady 200gr XTPs - with no burps
whatsoever. I limp-wristed a few on purpose with no burps.

Ran out of time so will continue later. But no further posts on my part about this will indicate
I'm satisfied. It's obvious that Kahr has gone to a completely different spring design, and for the
better. Unless you count what I'm now going to call "Kahr Recoil Spring Thumb".

The good news is I ran another 50 rounds through without any FTEs or burps of any kind, including deliberate
limp-wristing to see if I could induce a failure. Even on my worst day I wouldn't hold the piece as loose as I
tried - and it cycled no problemo. Cartridges included a wide variety of mid-range loads - commercial
PMC FMJ, Federal FMJ, my flat point reloads, Mil Ball 230 FMJ, Hornady 200gr XTP JHP carry loads, etc.

The bad news (possibly) is when I stripped the piece for cleaning, the spring had shrunk back down to the
same length of the worn-out springs! This means the spring lost an inch in just 100 rounds. Maybe normal
and expected - I intend to find that out.

Since I had no failures, there is absolutely no question that my FTEs were again caused by a worn-out
recoil spring. I've been trying to get through to the Kahr tech people to ask some very pointed questions
about the spring redesign, whether they've tested one to failure, and what their results were.

So far, their line has been constantly busy. I emailed over a week ago - no response. I'll keep trying
until I get through and post what I find out here.

Loss of length—spring set—is not an issue, as long as the spring functions as it was intended to do.
All coil springs "take a set," some more than others.
The only criterion is: Does it do its job?

It's nice to see your issue resolved!