I absolutely LOVE my new PM9, but...always room for improvement, eh?!
Let me first say, NEVER operate any weapon contrary to the manufacturers instructions. NEVER.
With that disclaimer, I'm a gun newbie, but long time tinkerer. I'm the person who can't stand it when things don't function 100%...so I usually mess around and tinker with them until they don't work at all!
Given that background, I was a little disappointed that that my brand new Kahr PM9 owner's manual stipulated that the first round could not be chambered by manually racking the slide. The manual explicitly directs that the first round be loaded by releasing the slide release.
Not one to just take someone's word, (after all, it works just fine on my Glock!) I tried manually racking the first round. Sure enough, the round jammed into the feed ramp--just like the manual said it would. In my opinion, Kahr's directions stunk of a "work around" for a poor design.
"What if I want to carry with the chamber empty?" I thought. "Pull the slide back, fumble around to lock it in place with the slide lock, then release...are you flipping kidding!?!" Thus the research began.
Again this little gem works flawlessly when used in-accordance-with the manual--as it ALWAYS should be.
Apparently, others have found this to be an annoyance also. I found lot's of postings on the issue: "Is it a recall serial number?" Nope, new-in-box last week. "Put more rounds through it" Helped some. "Polish the feed ramp". No help. "You should accept it this way...it's in the manual" Probably good advice. "Carry with one in the chamber." Don't always want to. "Send it back." Why? it functions perfectly when used IAW the manual.
Then by chance, I discovered that topping off 5 Corbon DPX rounds with a single shorter Corbon 125 grain +P (NOT the DPX) allowed the first round to manually rack fairly smoothly. This also worked with a stack of 124 Grain Gold Dots, topped off with a shorter Corbon 125 +P. Five "longer" rounds on bottom with a single, shorter, Corbon round on top seems to be the key. As all weapons differ, everyone should find what works for them and their weapon prior to carrying for self defense. If others have tried this, I'd be interested in knowing your results.
Still not satisfied, I examined the chambering of the rounds, and stripping action from the magazine closely. This seems to be where the real issue lies--poor integration between the magazine and feed ramp. The magazine follower has a little hump in it which, along with the geometry of the rounds, allows the bottom rounds to pivot on this hump and lay flat. The more rounds you put in, the more pronounced this becomes. The top round ends up sitting at a pronounced angle relative to the round below it. This allows the rims of the top two rounds to interlock.
As the slide comes forward (if done slowly--ie. manually racking) the slide "catches" on the top of the first round (as it should), and begins to strip it from the magazine. However, the interlocking rims, and the space between the 1st and 2nd rounds, causes/allows the top round to pivot down around the "interlocked" rim, nose dive into the feed ramp and jam. (Load up the mag with 6 snap caps and slowly release the slide while watching the top round, and you'll see what I mean.)
I am in no way advocating the following. In fact I strongly recommend that NO ONE do this. It is extremely dangerous to modify a fire arm. In addition, it can void warranties, and most likely ruin a $40 magazine! I am only writing this, for the purpose of discussion, and to relay my experience, and my thoughts on the possibility of a poorly designed magazine, and Kahr's failure to address the issue.
Again, Do NOT do this! I taped some fine grit sandpaper to a smooth, flat surface (a polished tile), and also wrapped some around a wooden dowel. I removed the follower from the magazine and went to work. I reshaped the follower to move the "hump" toward the front end of the follower and ever so slightly steepened the incline. I sanded a little , reassembled checked for fit and function, disassembled, sanded....etc. This is not as straight forward as it may seem, and you could easily ruin your magazine, or worse! WARNING! Do not do this at home, kids!
Finished product in hand, "first round manual racking", while not perfect, was vastly improved--even without the Corbon on top trick! The lower rounds still tend to sit flatter than the top, but it is less pronounced. I ran 150 rounds through the gun, using this magazine, with no failures or jams.
Point is, if a hack like me can make this much improvement with a little sandpaper, the Kahr engineers, could and SHOULD address this issue.
If enough people ask, maybe Kahr will re-examine the PM9 magazine design.
Whew...a little long winded!
Let me first say, NEVER operate any weapon contrary to the manufacturers instructions. NEVER.
With that disclaimer, I'm a gun newbie, but long time tinkerer. I'm the person who can't stand it when things don't function 100%...so I usually mess around and tinker with them until they don't work at all!
Given that background, I was a little disappointed that that my brand new Kahr PM9 owner's manual stipulated that the first round could not be chambered by manually racking the slide. The manual explicitly directs that the first round be loaded by releasing the slide release.
Not one to just take someone's word, (after all, it works just fine on my Glock!) I tried manually racking the first round. Sure enough, the round jammed into the feed ramp--just like the manual said it would. In my opinion, Kahr's directions stunk of a "work around" for a poor design.
"What if I want to carry with the chamber empty?" I thought. "Pull the slide back, fumble around to lock it in place with the slide lock, then release...are you flipping kidding!?!" Thus the research began.
Again this little gem works flawlessly when used in-accordance-with the manual--as it ALWAYS should be.
Apparently, others have found this to be an annoyance also. I found lot's of postings on the issue: "Is it a recall serial number?" Nope, new-in-box last week. "Put more rounds through it" Helped some. "Polish the feed ramp". No help. "You should accept it this way...it's in the manual" Probably good advice. "Carry with one in the chamber." Don't always want to. "Send it back." Why? it functions perfectly when used IAW the manual.
Then by chance, I discovered that topping off 5 Corbon DPX rounds with a single shorter Corbon 125 grain +P (NOT the DPX) allowed the first round to manually rack fairly smoothly. This also worked with a stack of 124 Grain Gold Dots, topped off with a shorter Corbon 125 +P. Five "longer" rounds on bottom with a single, shorter, Corbon round on top seems to be the key. As all weapons differ, everyone should find what works for them and their weapon prior to carrying for self defense. If others have tried this, I'd be interested in knowing your results.
Still not satisfied, I examined the chambering of the rounds, and stripping action from the magazine closely. This seems to be where the real issue lies--poor integration between the magazine and feed ramp. The magazine follower has a little hump in it which, along with the geometry of the rounds, allows the bottom rounds to pivot on this hump and lay flat. The more rounds you put in, the more pronounced this becomes. The top round ends up sitting at a pronounced angle relative to the round below it. This allows the rims of the top two rounds to interlock.
As the slide comes forward (if done slowly--ie. manually racking) the slide "catches" on the top of the first round (as it should), and begins to strip it from the magazine. However, the interlocking rims, and the space between the 1st and 2nd rounds, causes/allows the top round to pivot down around the "interlocked" rim, nose dive into the feed ramp and jam. (Load up the mag with 6 snap caps and slowly release the slide while watching the top round, and you'll see what I mean.)
I am in no way advocating the following. In fact I strongly recommend that NO ONE do this. It is extremely dangerous to modify a fire arm. In addition, it can void warranties, and most likely ruin a $40 magazine! I am only writing this, for the purpose of discussion, and to relay my experience, and my thoughts on the possibility of a poorly designed magazine, and Kahr's failure to address the issue.
Again, Do NOT do this! I taped some fine grit sandpaper to a smooth, flat surface (a polished tile), and also wrapped some around a wooden dowel. I removed the follower from the magazine and went to work. I reshaped the follower to move the "hump" toward the front end of the follower and ever so slightly steepened the incline. I sanded a little , reassembled checked for fit and function, disassembled, sanded....etc. This is not as straight forward as it may seem, and you could easily ruin your magazine, or worse! WARNING! Do not do this at home, kids!
Finished product in hand, "first round manual racking", while not perfect, was vastly improved--even without the Corbon on top trick! The lower rounds still tend to sit flatter than the top, but it is less pronounced. I ran 150 rounds through the gun, using this magazine, with no failures or jams.
Point is, if a hack like me can make this much improvement with a little sandpaper, the Kahr engineers, could and SHOULD address this issue.
If enough people ask, maybe Kahr will re-examine the PM9 magazine design.
Whew...a little long winded!
