Kahr reliability

Kahr reliability? Hmmm. Here's the deal. I work at a gun shop and sell most brands of firearms out there. Customers are always asking if a brand is good or bad; reliable or not reliable. The facts are that we have had returns of guns with some minor problem from every manufacturer out there, from time to time.
The Kahrs have rated among very high in terms of being reliable, especially after the recommended 200 rnd break in period. Kahr makes a statement reguarding the break in and all the other makers should as well! It's not smart to trust your life on a new gun without going out and putting at least 500 rnds thru it to make sure it works.
It's just common sense, and I for one commend Kahr for passing that common sense on to the public. Most other makers don't. I have a P45, and after about 1,500 rnds the first 2 weeks of ownership, I have not had one single failure. I cannot say that for my Kimbers, Colts, S&Ws, Glocks, H&Ks, or any other semi I have had. Not that they are not good guns, but any make may need a little tweeking to run well, from time to time.
I will say the most failures reported from customers have come from T*%#@s!
Things like safeties falling off, magazines falling out when locked in during firing, slide releases breaking, sights falling off, etc. And don't get me started on their revolvers. about 30% of their guns come back for repairs during the first month of ownership, or to trade for something that does work.
After 30 years of carring some really nice 1911s, I am now carring a Kahr; and use my 1911s for plinking, with my Kahr in a belt holster.
I like um!

I've put about 500 FMJ down range on my P9 in it's first month.

Except for a failure to chamber on the first magazine (I did it wrong :oops:), this thing has been flawless.

Havn't looked back.

Have a IWB holster being made by K&D Holsters and this will be my 100% carry.

frjeff

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Originally Posted by frjeff

I've put about 500 FMJ down range on my P9 in it's first month.

Except for a failure to chamber on the first magazine (I did it wrong :oops:), this thing has been flawless.

Havn't looked back.

Have a IWB holster being made by K&D Holsters and this will be my 100% carry.

frjeff

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Yup! nearly the exact same story with me. Waiting on a IWB holster form Kramer. should get any day now, It's been about 8 weeks, which is what they said the wait was. Mine too will be my only carry. What exactly are you getting from K&D?

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Originally Posted by YFZsandrider

Yup! nearly the exact same story with me. Waiting on a IWB holster form Kramer. should get any day now, It's been about 8 weeks, which is what they said the wait was. Mine too will be my only carry. What exactly are you getting from K&D?

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Have the Dakota Defender on order. It will be late Sept. or so before I get it.
That should be about the same time (with the lengthy delays) that I actually get my CHL plastic.

frjeff

My little MK9 Elite has been 100% reliable since I got it, It is easy to conceal and supprisingly accurate for a small gun.

I started out a long time ago with a K9 and loved it. Now when getting back into CCW I wanted the MK9 elite 03 but found the MK40 elite 2003 instead so I thought should be about the same, just a bit more kick and I've shot 40's many times before. Well shooting the MK40 is fine, needs some break-in time. Mags stick, slide sometimes would not travel all the way back or not all the way forward after picking up a round. Never had problems with the first one in the mag so can't help there.

Where I had problems was in keeping one in chamber during the day to carry is fine, a good holster keeps the trigger safe, but trying to get the round out at night, nightmare. The dang thing would not be ejected. The round seemed just to long, the slide would lack about 1/3 inch moving back to allow the round to eject. I tried racking it over and over, I changed the recoil spring/rod assembly to stainless steel (mostly for aesthetics), then when I had all the problems I thought I had screwed up the spring/rod so ordered another from Kahr. Nope, same problem. Gunsmith told me it just needed to be broken in. He also showed me several areas that needed to be filed due to burrs or very sharp edges. But still no ejecting that full round. I could see nothing that would be stopping the slide when it has a round in chamber. Spent rounds eject fine, no problem there but they are 1/2 shorter. Nothing I could see would do the trick. It still will not travel back all the way with a full round in chamber. Without it moves readily to the slide stop, so go figure. Has anyone had the same problem? I talked trade to one guy and told him the problem and he seemed unconcerned. Now, I've sold the gun and told the buyer about same problem and he, also, seemed unconcerned. So, any wisdom will be appreciated.

PM9 About two years old. 1500 rounds. No problems. I trust it and let my wife carry it.

I have put about 25 rounds through a used P40 i picked up a month ago. no problems at all so far, and I even have a couple of friends who have never fired a small sized 40 before. If anyone is going to limp-rist and have a malfunction it would have been them. they both put 21 rounds through it without any problems.

I have about 500 rounds through my mk9 and not as single problem. I use it as my carry gun in an uncle mikes IWB holster.

I have 4 or 5 hundred through the CW9 I bought back in March, and it has been flawless!! Kahr has to be one of the best pistol manufacturers out there today.

I've got a couple 1911s, xd, and sigs... but anyone I take out shooting, says, "can I try that Kahr again"

Its that slim profile in your hand! A couple friends have an open offer on the table for my P9, but its not for sale. Can't beat my Kahr with some custom polishing, 600 rounds down pipe, and loaded up with Winchester Rangers:smt033

Brand new Kahr P9 Stainless with night sights. First 200 round break-in yesterday.

150 Speer Lawman 124 (practice ammo).
50 Speer Gold Dot 124 +P (carry ammo).

Zero failures. Very pleased.

PS: Wife ran 100 rounds through her PM9 stainless with NS (previously broken-in with 200). She used Lawman, Gold Dot, and Pow'rball. Zero failures.

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Originally Posted by kilts4ever

Has anyone had the same problem? I talked trade to one guy and told him the problem and he seemed unconcerned. Now, I've sold the gun and told the buyer about same problem and he, also, seemed unconcerned. So, any wisdom will be appreciated.

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Were these rounds unjacketed lead?

I had this problem with my LCP when I tried to use Buffalo Bore 100 grain hardcasts. It would shoot them fine, and eject the empties fine, but it would not eject a live round. I determined that after firing several rounds of all lead bullets, that lead was building up in the chamber and causing the lead bullet to stick.

I cleaned the barrel, and didn't use any more unjacketed rounds, and never had another problem.

I had a Kahr PM9 (recently replaced by a Kahr P380)& put probably 300 rounds through the PM9... never had a single malfunction !! Reliability was stellar (my buddies Glock 40 isn't even close by comparison from a reliability standpoint).

J

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Originally Posted by Centerhold

.....my buddies Glock 40 isn't even close by comparison from a reliability standpoint.

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Don't go sayin' that, you'll encite a riot:smt042

Light primers strikes. Is this a big problem with Kahr's ? I have a P45 shot 1500 rounds Winchester silver tips american eagle and many other types of factory ammo. Last week started to have infrequent FTF lite primers strikes about every other mag. Stripped slide and clean all internal parts, still the same do I have a defect?

250 flawless rounds through mine so far.

I have had my CW9 for 3 years and it has been flawless. A few stove pipes due to a limb wrist is all.

I have a CW45 which is very reliable, but will not digest all bullet types.
I have found that it has no trouble eating up my 230 FMJ handloads, as well as Remington 230g Golden Saber hollow points. But the overall length of my 230g lead round nose reloads (1.260"), while not an issue on any of my other guns; is too long for the CW45 and causes the bullet nose to contact the rifling before the case mouth seats against the edge of the chamber. This prevents the slide from going fully into battery and causes the gun to misfire often, and it was difficult to eject the unfired round from the gun. After reducing the OAL to 1.235", these loads ran right through the gun with no further problems except for excessive leading of barrel and chamber. Tough to remove. I have decided not to shoot lead in the Kahr for this reason.
Also, the factory-loaded Hornaday 230G +P XTP is 1.230", and this is too long for reliable cycling in the Kahr. I found this out when I loaded the same bullets to match the factory length. Problems were the same as described above, failure to fire (because not in battery) and difficult to eject by hand. I reduced length to 1.200" and problem disappeared. Accuracy was also quite good.

My theory is that the Kahr's rifling is higher, or perhaps closer to the chamber; and is more sensitive to bullet shape than most .45 autos. My 230g FMJ handloads are near maximum length, yet feed reliably through the Kahr. So I think bullet shape is the issue.
These problems can be avoided if you make sure that the case rim (of a seated round) does not protrude past the back edge of the barrel hood. You can test this visually, without shooting the round. Remove the barrel, seat a round in the barrel, and lay a straight edge on top of the barrel hood and verify that you can see a little daylight between the straight edge and the rim of the cartridge. If you can't, then the round is too long and the bullet is contacting the rifling before the case mouth contacts the edge of the chamber.

I hear good things about the P9.

I had a CW40 for a while. It had a few feed problems but was new and tight and that might have cleared up with use. The thinness was good and bad. Easy to carry but hard to hold onto, and the mag release was in exactly the wrong place for me, so I dropped the mag out every 3 or 4 shots. Prob'ly not desirable for CCW.

My wife and I purchased 2 PM9's. I had a thread going a bit ago regarding problems with mine. I had to
send it back to Kahr twice. I was getting FTF problems. Since then, I've put about 1500 rounds through it with
NO PROBLEMS at all. I really like this gun, I am very accurate with it as well.

I really like my Kahrs.

RCG

Just came back from the first shooting session with my CW9. Out of 35 rounds I had 2 FTF's. Both the first round from the mag. After I cleared it, every shot after was fine.
The gun is used, but very little. I guess it needs to be shot more. After 100 or more rounds, I hope it gets better. On the plus side of things, this is accurate as hell, and minor muzzle flip. Very fast next shot to target. I'm sorry to say this, but it beats my Para Carry 12 45 ACP to next shot on target.

Back from the second time at the range with the CW9.
I put 50 rounds down range with no malfunctions what so ever. I just wish the trigger pull was not so long. Started shooting targets at 25 yards today. The little pistol is good even at that distance.
This is the best pistol I have bought so far, and I have had my share.