Kahr T9 maintenance

[GVMan]

I just bought a Kahr T9. I know that for some guns a third party has produced a video or a book that covers everything you would want to know about maintaining such and such pistol. Has anyone seen one of these for the Kahrs?

I'd appreciate any advice from anyone out there on any things they know of that are unique to the maintenance and longevity of a Kahr T9!

Thanks

 

[LooseGrouper]

GVMan

I've got a little K9 that I love. I've had two things that caused me frustration. First, the combination slide release lever/takedown pin seems very tough to remove relative to the S&W pistol the K9 replaced. I have to hold the gun in my right hand in a shooting grip, then insert my index finger into the ejection port (is that the proper term?) to hold the slide open at the proper place to remove the pin. Then I have to tap the pin with the rubber handle of a screwdriver because it's a tight fit. My blood pressure is usally pretty high before I get it to work.

Second, keep in mind that the recoil spring is DIRECTIONAL. It has to be put back in the same way it came out. I put mine in backwards once and the guide rod slipped down into the spring after a few shots. It proceeded to protrude from the muzzle end about 2 inches when the slide was closed. The spring was wedged in and I couldn't get the gun apart to fix my error. Luckily the on-site gunsmith was there at the time, and he didn't even laugh at me...at least not to my face. I do have to have to say that the Kahr functioned flawlessly even with the guide rod sticking out.

Other than that, I love that heavy little booger.

LG

 

[DR]

I have to hold the gun in my right hand in a shooting grip, then insert my index finger into the ejection port (is that the proper term?) to hold the slide open at the proper place to remove the pin. Then I have to tap the pin with the rubber handle of a screwdriver because it's a tight fit. My blood pressure is usally pretty high before I get it to work.

Two things that should make your life easier:

Get a takedown block from Kahr. This holds the slide at exactly the right position to take out the slide stop. It may not fit GVMan's T9 but it will fit your K9.

Use a Sharpie to push out the slide stop. The bottom of a Sharpie is just concave enough that it won't slip off the end of the slide stop pin.

Using those two things it now takes me about five seconds to field strip my Kahr.

 

[orionengnr]

DR--that is so cool...

...too bad it won't work on my P45

 

[GVMan]

Thanks Loosegrouper for the Spring tip. The manual mentions the spring having a smaller diameter at one end, but frankly it looks the same to me. I do notice that the spring is, for lack of the proper term, "double wound" or “compressed” at one end. I assume that end goes over the guide rod?

Thanks DR for the sharpie tip. It worked great. They don't sell a block for the T9 and I think the reason is that when the witness lines are together on this model the chamber is barely open at all. Maybe an eight of an inch. I wonder if a closepin would work. The ones I have are a bit tapered and I might be able to find the exact width by sliding it slightly in and out.

I am having a problem with disassembly though. I think it has to do with when I pull the trigger. I line up the witness marks, Pull the pin, then I let the slide forward (but I am not sure how much to let it forward before I pull the trigger) then pull the trigger and try to push the slide off. Sometimes it slides off and sometimes it doesn't. Any ideas?

Anyone have any cleaning recommendations? The manual is a bit brief. I have a basic Hoppes kit with Powder Solvent and Lubricating Oil. Do I use the solvent on everything and then use the oil on everything?

I hate to be a bother with these newbie questions but I really want to take great care of this gun. I tried to use the search to find some answers but I either get zero or I get a million returns none of which seem to answer the questions I have.

Thanks for the help!

 

[LooseGrouper]

I believe the "double wound" end goes over the guide rod. Just make sure the nail head-shaped part of the guide rod isn't able to slip inside the spring and start screwing itself out.

As far as the trigger pull/slide takedown issue, try pulling the trigger with the slide completely in battery. Next, pull the slide back a little and then ease it forward again (all with the trigger still depressed). May take a little wiggling, but I've never had any big issues with it. And always double, triple, and quadruple check that the chamber is empty.

DR, thanks for the info on the takedown block and sharpie...great stuff. I had no idea such things existed (well, I knew sharpies existed, but I didn't know you could use them like that). Still, it irks me just a little that I need extra pieces of equipment to field strip a modern handgun. Guess I'm just spoiled by Sigs, Berettas, and Glocks.

Regarding cleaning, maybe someone could point you to a good website on taking care of semiautos, but here's what I do:

I usually just use CLP (or similar), a boresnake, and a rag. First I disassemble, spray cleaner down the barrell, and use the boresnake. Then I make sure the feed ramp is clean and shiny using the rag and CLP. Same treatment to the outside of the barrell, muzzle, and any other relatively flat surface that have fowling or grit (inside of the slide, inside the frame, slide rails, etc). Sometimes I run the rag carefully down the magazine well if it's cruddy.

Then I reassemble, lube contact parts with CLP, and wipe off the excess CLP. I spray a little on the rag (which is sort of saturated by now anyway, and wipe down the exterior.

I cycle the action a few times to make sure it's put back together right and then wipe it down again with a clean part of the rag.

Hope that's useful info. I'm not a neat freak about it, so you may want to look at special tools like picks, compressed air, etc.

LG