Kahr K40 Covert "Elite" with Wood Grips

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Inspiribomb

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I picked this up to be my daily carry, and didn't care for the rough gray finish of the satin stainless, so set out to really polish up the gun nice. I had the sights removed (going to have night sights installed) to make sanding/polishing easier.

Still have some work left to do, some scratches to remove, and the entire right side needs to be worked over, but so far I am extremely pleased with the results, its a classy looking gun :) I think the wood grips really dress it up, and the added thickness feels good in my hands. I'll post up a few more pics, my camera is charging.

Now, do I perform the same work on the frame, or leave that satin???

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y278/Inspiribomb/Fire/P1000802.jpg

P1000802.jpg
 
Wow. I never thought Kahrs looked good, but wow, great job.

I'd say go for it on the frame as well, that mirror polish looks fantastic.
 
The two tone is a pretty interesting look too. Tough choice. That last picture is spectacular.

Is that a factory modification or did you alter a normal K40 yourself?
 
USP9 - If you are referring to the polishing of the slide, its something that I've done. Kahr never produced an Elite version of the Covert, that I'm aware of.

One thing that I have found is that Kahr seems to have significantly improved the quality of its products over the years. Most of the earlier models (late 90's) that I have seen suffer from tooling marks, whereas the new ones have a much more "finished" appearance. Part of my reasoning for polishing this gun was to give it a more finished look.

I'm still debating polishing the frame, I am leaning towards yes, but it will involve many hours of sanding and polishing. I've also been thinking about having the front strap checkered.
 
Most of the earlier models (late 90's) that I have seen suffer from tooling marks, whereas the new ones have a much more "finished" appearance.
Click to expand...

My K40 is a July 1999 model. It's very smooth and has no machining marks on the outside. VERY VERY faint marks on the inside. It's really quite nicely fit/finished. The only problem I have with it is that the bottom of the magwell seems to rub the side of the mag as I am ejecting it, so the mag won't drop free. But that's the only fit/finish issue I have noticed with it.
 
Inspiribomb said;
USP9 - If you are referring to the polishing of the slide, its something that I've done. Kahr never produced an Elite version of the Covert, that I'm aware of.
Click to expand...

No, I was refering to the "covert" modification. I thought Kahr only did that to the P and TP series. I didn't know they also had a K9 covert model. Some people have turned their normal CW or P models into coverts themselves by cutting the grip. I was wondering if you done this yourself.
 
It's looking great. By all means polish the frame. And if you can stand the expense, do checker the forestrap. Did you do the polishing with a belt, wheel, or Dremel type tool?
 
19-3Ben - Perhaps the Kahr pistols that I saw were from a bad batch, or were just well-used. Regarding your magwell, is there possibly a bur that is catching the mag? A light hit with a file may take care of that. The new Kahr pistols have a beveled magwell, which is a nice touch, I think.

owlhoot - I had to take down the machining marks and bead-blasting with sandpaper first, to get a nice, smooth finish to work with. I started with 400, then worked up to 2000. After that, I polished by hand using some aluminum wheel polish. That got the finish about 97% of the way done. I finished up with some white polish on a buffing wheel to really take out the scratches. Oh, the pictures shown here are before I did that :)

I do believe that I will have the front strap checkered, I just need to find a place locally that will do it and do a good job.

I can post a few more of the gun now that the slide is done, just need to pick out my night sights.
 
Inspiribomb- I don't thing it's a burr. Looking at the wear marks on the mag, there's not just one little scratch. it's kinda all over. I'm going to take a very close, good look with the grips removed. May end up filing and beveling it myself to help the situation.
 
Wow, well the simple answer to all good photos is lighting, but I think they came out just fine.

The pistol looks even more spectacular in these photos.
 
That is a great job. I personally would leave the frame the way it is. I like the contrast. I considered doing the same to my CW9 but decided so far to only polish the barrel flats. They polish well but I have tool marks showing that I didn't want to polish too finely for fear of taking off the print on the barrel.
 
Well I decided to polish the frame. It was significantly more difficult to remove blemishes and imperfections. It turned out really nice, and I think it will all look quite good once reassembled (tonight). Stay tuned for pictures of the completed gun!
 
Iv'e always wanted one of those since seeing Playboy Pengiun's on the Firing Line Forum years ago. Turned out stunningly and a great caliber toboot.
 
Thank you for all the kind words. I am looking forward to taking the gun out this weekend for some target practice. I still have yet to decide on what night sights to go with. It's rather interesting/odd looking without any sights at all.

One thing that I am curious about is how my polish job compares to the Kahr Elite models; I've never seen one in person.
 
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