I'm having Kahr problems...

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The Reverend

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Cape Coral, FL
Late last year, I was able to acquire a two-tone Kahr E-9. This particular piece was NIB and came with a spare magazine. I was very pleased with the purchace and shot through 500+ rounds of FMJ ammo, with nary a hicup from the gun.

Thinking the gun was at least mechanically broken in, I then began to fire Federal 9BP loads which is my everyday choice for home defence and CCW. Performance with this and other JHP loads has been spotty at best. What I am noticing is the round is getting hung up on the feed ramp. Because the weapon functions with FMJ rounds, I do not think the problem exists in the magazines, although I am not unwilling to focus in that area.

I selected this weapon because of its obvious advantages in the areas of CCW. I am only willing to bail on the Kahr as a last resort. Is it time to contact Kahr customer service, or is there something I can still do.

Thanks, God Bless!
 
Some guns just don't like JHPs because of the shorter over all length of cartridge and/or catching on the feedramp due to the blunt nose.

Have you tried Remington Golden Sabers? These have a longer OAL than most JHPs and so should feed more similiar to FMJs.
 
My Kahr PM9 needed a trip back to Kahr because of the same problem. They essentially did a polishing of the feed ramp to cure the problem. The 500 rds you've fired though your Kahr is certainly enough of a break in.
 
CWL,

Thanks for the reply...

If we were talking about a 1911, I would be more than willing to make mechanical or ammo changes. The Federal's 9BP has been a very reliable performer in all of my weapons, and with the Kahr being a modern auto-loader, I think the problem with the gun shoud be addressed.

And yes, I have tried loads from all the major manufacturers, with all sorts of bullet designs, all of which fail to provide reliable 100% performance.

Thanks...
 
It's the ammo all right. The ramp can be touched lightly to make it more conducive to accept "flying ash trays" (HP). Kahr's the best one to do this since it'll stay under warranty (they touch, they keep responsibility. Another gunsmith comes along & Kahr gets to disavow their work).
 
Hi Rev.

It should be easy for Kahr to make your gun reliable.
I had a MK9, that I traded for my PM9.
With both guns, they fed every jhp that I tried.
I settled on Speer 124gr +P GoldDots.

The gun can be made to work.
It's a bummer that it didn't out of the box.
 
The simple solution appears to be a recontouring of the lip of the feed ramp to allow the hollowpoint round to clear it.

I've got a K9 that has been absolutely flawless with everything I've fed through it.

Give Kahr a call and see what they have to say.
 
My Kahr MK-9 and new PM-9 both function flawlessly with any of the Fed. 9mm or Winchester 9mm HP (Winchester is alot cheaper around here, for me anyway and ballistically almost the same) Unrelated to feeding, the PM9 had some problems when new, but I was able to send only the top half of the gun to Kahr, thus saving alot of shipping. they are really easy to work with IF you can get past the stupid automated phone answering machine. It should run fine with any good quality ammo. Call them on it.
 
Every Kahr Ive owned or shot did very well with most JHP's. The ramp design is an offset design and all Ive seen have been very well polished from the factory. Strange.....
Id polish the feedramp and see what gives after that......best of luck..they really are great guns.
Shoot well
 
Hi Rev, The Kahr E9 is their "Economy" model and it is totally possible that the feed ramp may have not received the degree of feed ramp polishing that the more expensive models received. I feel certain that if you were to contact Kahr they will make it right. If you try to polish it yourself, use jeweler's rouge and a Dremel tool, work very slowly and just polish don't remove metal. If you totally mess up you can get a new barrel from Kahr for around $150, with a highly polished feed ramp.
I own several Kahr products my fav is a K40. Don't care for the "plastic" models as they seem to have more probs than the all stainless ones. I have run several thousands of rounds through my Kahr's with nary a hiccup. My cartridge of choice is any Cor-Bon or Gold Dot.
Good Luck, you'll get it running 100% I'm sure.-----Jed
 
Kahr's are finicky about ammo selection. My MK40 does not like 180 grain JHPs. No biggie, as I always planned to use lighter weight JHPs anyway.
 
I had the same problem with my PM9. I smoothed up the feed ramp and put a few hundred rounds through it. Still had the problem so Kahr sent me a new barrel and a stiffer spring. The problem was instantly gone. The new barrel seems to have a slightly less steep angle on the feed ramp, I think, and someone smoothed it out very nicely to include where the round enters into the barrel.
 
The only ammo my Kahr P9 didn't like was Federal HydraShock. I now carry Federal EFMJ ammo and haven't had any trouble. It shoots to the same point of aim as my practice ammo.
 
Magazine Follower

Does your Kahr mags have the all metal follower. I had two of that style and when I called kahr about a seperate issue they had me replace those with the new style plastics.

(My pm9 covert was purchased used for a ridicously low price. Turns out there was a bur on the extraction arm causing it to stovepipe occasionaly. New extractor and all is golden 3k rounds later.)


Hope this helps,
Dan...

PS. I do my own ramp polishing with a dermel and the little ultra fine rubber (gray) polishers.
 
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