Kahr p45 lite strike?

There have been a couple of discussions on this in the past. As far as primers go, Federal is the lightest, then Winchester, Remington, then CCI is supposed to be the hardest to fire. Light primer strikes are not at all unheard of in Kahr pistols. Make sure your chamber is clean as the rounds headspace on the case mouth. Pull the striker assembly out of the slide and make sure there is no crud in the striker channel. Clean and relube it and try again. Somew guns just like certain brands and types of ammo and yours may be one of them. If the Federal shoots fine, use it and forget the steel case stuff. Reloaders at your range who pick up spent brass will be glad you did.

Kahr's are known to have ftf problems with certain rounds. Personal oppinion shows that it's hard to trust a pistol that picky... while they do feel good.

andy's place:

It is critical to keep the striker channel clean and free of lube and Kahr has provided a clean out hole on the bottom of the slide, just for that purpose.

Insert the tube of your favorite gun scrubber type spray and have at it.
I use CRC heavy duty silicone lubricant as it leaves some dry lube behind, some use brake cleaner, and you will see lots of crudd blow out of the striker channel.
And NO lube (liquid) in the striker channel.
I'd give this a try before shooting it anymore.

Read the stickies here for a lube diagram and other good info:
http://kahrtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=27

I assume this is a used gun since you said you have a 30 day warranty. Some light strikes can be attributed to the slide not fully moving forward. If the breech face isn't tight to the barrel the firing pin will be held back a very short distance and thus not strike with full force. I'd advise you replace the recoil spring as well as a good cleaning. A new spring may help return to battery totally. Kahr springs are advised to be replaced fairly often... say around 1500 rounds or so. Check the slide prior to shooting some of the "problem" ammo, to see if you are able to move the slide forward a millimeter or so.

FYI, of all the factory ammunition out there, I find that steel cased Russian Ammo like Tulammo & Wolf end up in the dud bucket at our range. When I go to the indoor range of my club, I check the misfire bucket and there are sometimes a round or two in there. Usually a steel case round, with a light strike. Only thing I can't tell you is what type of pistol it was shot in. LM

Andy's place said:

I am new to this so please if this is not the right place to post help me but i just bought a Kahr p 45 and i like the feel, points well it has had well over 200 rds thru it however it still seems to dislike some ammo a very lite strike on the primer. has any one else experienced this? likes federal hates herters steel case and fiocchi. i did get a 30 day warrantee but the clock is ticking so whats the scoop? i want a sidearm that can be trusted as this was purchased for carry thanks Bruce

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Just an FYI, numerous large police departments across the US are dropping the entire Kahr line from their accepted off duty/BUG list. Multiple feeding issues and striking problems are the cause. Get rid of it while you can.

LD

Just an FYI, numerous large police departments across the US are dropping the entire Kahr line from their accepted off duty/BUG list. Multiple feeding issues and striking problems are the cause. Get rid of it while you can

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NYPD dropped the Kahr as an off-duty gun because officialdom specified a heavier trigger that Kahr refused to create. Reliability was not the issue. Are there references you can cite to back up this claim of "multiple" problems? Kahr owners would like to know.

usp9 said:

NYPD dropped the Kahr as an off-duty gun because officialdom specified a heavier trigger that Kahr refused to create. Reliability was not the issue. Are there references you can cite to back up this claim of "multiple" problems? Kahr owners would like to know.

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FYI, I am a former owner myself and my PM-9 was plagued with feeding problems even after a professional polish job. I agree that the NYPD pull was due to the nonavailability of a heavy trigger, but there has been a national trend of Kahr removals. Our large department here in Indy (IMPD) has pulled the Kahr .380 along with the LCP and Keltec, but the larger Kahr calibers are on the chopping block as well. This has been an issue that the department Armorer has been watching and documenting very thoroughly. I'll work on a link for you.

LD

The Kahr P45 was the first pistol I owned in 2007. Same deal, it would light strike about 6 out of 100 of Winchester White Box. Sent is back to Kahr with this as the issue. Got it back three weeks later with a polished feed ramp. Go figure. The pistol never had a feed or ejection issue just the light strike.

Started loading ammo for it and it is true that federal primers worked best but the issue persisted. I felt no confidense in carrying this pistol for protection. It was a safe queen for a couple of years, then last May I traded for a Smith & Wesson Body Guard 380 and never looked back.

I really liked the size and how it handled but could not get past that light strike issue.

I have a P45 all black, love it, BUT it only likes Federal Brand and Speer Lawman; great groups with the Federal ammo (FMC and HShock JHP). I tried WWB, Rem- every once in a while (once in 100 rds) FTE/FTF, but Tula or Herters, anything steel case...now you have a door stop. Cases would jam in the breech just a mess. So only shoot and carry Feds. Lucky they are cheap at BassPro, Gander Mtn , and WalMArt. I carry it in a Tuckable IWB.
Yes, cleaning the channel, fresh recoil and firing pin springs help alot, and she likes it wet....lots of oil.

Go figure, I have a PM9 & a P380 and have yet to have any real issues. The only issue if you want to call it that, is the P380 doesn't like steel cased ammo (won't always feed) but the PM9 eats it up like no tomorrow. LM

I have a pm 45 have been carrying it for about 3 years it has never failed shoot it quite a bit but don't shoot any steel case ammo in it at all.Carry ammo is cor-bon 185's but it shoots win.white box,cci,blazers etc.Did have a pm9 and also a p45 that i gave my son never any problems.

FYI, I am a former owner myself and my PM-9 was plagued with feeding problems even after a professional polish job...

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Was the polish job done by Kahr or someone local to you?
Regards,
Greg

gb6491 said:

Was the polish job done by Kahr or someone local to you?
Regards,
Greg

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My local gun shop.

LD

My EDC has been a Kahr PM45 for almost two years now. Eats everything I feed it, zero FTF or FTE's. Not the kind of gun I would want shoot regular at the range, but I'm confident that it will go bang if I need it to....

Just an FYI, numerous large police departments across the US are dropping the entire Kahr line from their accepted off duty/BUG list. Multiple feeding issues and striking problems are the cause. Get rid of it while you can.

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Sure would like to see you substantiate this.
I carried a PM9 every day for three and a half years, and shot it weekly.
Then I transitioned to a P45, carried it every day for a year and a half, and shot it weekly.

My PM9 had the "barrel peening" issue when new; Kahr fixed it and my PM9 has been a trusted companion ever since. P45 has been perfect since round #1.

Not being a fan boy--if there is a problem I want to know about it and fix it. I have honestly not had or seen (or read about) these "widely known problems" that have caused "numerous police departments across the US" to drop Kahr pistols.

Oh, and (FWIW) I do not use any steel cased ammo.

Bottom line: Put up or...

orionengnr said:

Sure would like to see you substantiate this.
I carried a PM9 every day for three and a half years, and shot it weekly.
Then I transitioned to a P45, carried it every day for a year and a half, and shot it weekly.

My PM9 had the "barrel peening" issue when new; Kahr fixed it and my PM9 has been a trusted companion ever since. P45 has been perfect since round #1.

Not being a fan boy--if there is a problem I want to know about it and fix it. I have honestly not had or seen (or read about) these "widely known problems" that have caused "numerous police departments across the US" to drop Kahr pistols.

Oh, and (FWIW) I do not use any steel cased ammo.

Bottom line: Put up or...

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As I said in post #10, I'm working on a link to an article. According to our department Armorer, statistical data on this is hard to obtain, predominately because these are off duty/BUG which are not issued or purchased by the departments, so malfunctions are rarely reported to the Armorer. They are only noticed when a failure happens during official qualifications. Also, in all fairness, the LCP has had more issues than the Kahr and was the first to be pulled here locally.

LD

I've owned a K9, PM9 and PM40. All three were problem free.

The P9 that I currently own is as a reliable pistol that I've ever owned.

NOW.

The P380 has been sent back to Kahr two times for light primer strikes. That couldn't find any problems. They told me to use only the ammo that works. LOL. The only reliable discharge is when I use ammo with Federal primers.

As a reloader, this isn't a major problem. It just means that I'm married to this gun forever.

A few years ago I bought a CW9. It was as good as any gun can be. Shot any kind of ammo, and went bang every time. One of the few guns I've owned that never had a single malfunction. Not one. It had well over 1000 rounds through it and was going strong, when Kahr brought out the CM9. I wanted the smaller gun, so I traded my CW9 for it. Same story. 100% reliable. It has never had a single failure of any kind. Shoots anything. I know Kahr recommends a break in period on their guns, but neither of mine needed one.

Having said that, I know a guy who bought a TP45 and had nothing but trouble with it. He dumped it after several attempted repairs. But I know more than a few Kahr owners. Most have more than one. And this TP45 is the only bad story that I have personally come across. Any gun manufacturer can turn out a lemon.

Regarding reloading for a Kahr P45 - I was experiencing about a 50% failure to fire (FTF). Some rounds would fire on a second strike. After reading comments on this site, I inspected my FTF's on my reloads, and they were definitely light primer strikes. I tried factory ammo, and it worked flawlessly, and the strike imprints were much deeper.

I ran my reloads throught the 4th stage Lee crimper/sizer once again. (About 15 trial rounds). I load up a mag and the first fired as normal. I checked to make sure the slide was fully closed on the next round but FTF, same with the next round FTF. Both rounds were difficult to extract; particularly the 2nd FTF round.

The Kahr chamber is tight. Factory goes in easily, but the expanded brass after firing, even after resize, once loaded with a bullet is tight. I spent a long time getting the bullet seating depth right to even get it to chamber. I had to add the Lee crimp/resize die as a 4th step because no round would seat other wise. Even with the slide fully closed, there must be just enough of the casing not being fully seated to cause light strikes.

Because of the Kahr tighter tolerances (it is what makes it such a compact firearm), I am concerned I will have to use factory ammo only from now on.

Riz

Use Federal primers.

My Kahr CW9 had lite strikes when I used Remington Gold Saber ammo, my MK9 on the other hand had no problems with lite strikes. When I first bought the CW9 I fired 200 rounds of WWB with no problems and the 2 mags of the Gold Saber flawlessly as well. When I fired the rest of the GS later I had lite strikes every other round.

71 Commander - thanks, I will give it a try.