Kahr Owners - Check Something For Me

[ree]

With the slide is locked back on an empty mag, press the magazine catch. How far, if at all does your empty mag drop.

On my pm9, the mags used to slide out about an inch, but recently they will only move about 1mm and that's it (same thing for 4 mags). Looking up the mag well, I can see that the trigger bar presses against the side of the mag. If I press the trigger a bit, it moves to the right and the mags will drop freely.

I've been going around and around with Kahr over what "factory spec" behavior is or should be. IMO, if I need to do an emergency reload, the mag should drop at least a little (say an inch) to give me a little something to grab. With my 6 round mag, I have to grab at the little baseplate with my finger nails to get purchase on it, not something I expect to be able to do under pressure.

I understand there must be some spring force against the slide release to get forceful ejection, and that with the slide open, the slide release is raised there isn't much spring compression. But I'm thinking that the trigger bar is simply interfering too much.

FYI, this post on pistolsmith.com indicates a similar problem, but I haven't had any luck figuring out if person's issue was resolved.

[tt3]

On my p40 the slide drops right out. I have to catch it falling or it hits the ground.

How do you like the pm9 otherwise?

[IDPA Shooter]

I have a P9 and a P45. The mags to both drop free.

[ree]

Just double checking, the empty mags drop free on a locked back slide, right? This is the only time my mags do not drop free.

Other than this issue, I love my PM9. I've had the edges on the slide stop polished and sanded the checkering a bit to make it more comfortable to grip. It's small and light for carry (Mary, DonL's assistant, called it a "cute little thing"). For the size of my hands, it's probably the smallest gun I can manage to shoot reliably. Now that I'm used to carrying, I'd consider a bigger gun, but I'm in absolutely no rush to replace it.

[tt3]

Yup, empty magazine drops from a locked back slide. (I just picked up the uplula and was looking for an excuse to reload the mag)

[MsT]

empty magazine drops right out with slide locked back - P9

[cobb]

On my pm9, the mags used to slide out about an inch

That's about how much the mags drop from my PM9, not a drop free here. Mine is older, one of the first Black Diamond slides that came out.

[prushin]

Take a look at your mags. Do you see a polished line about 1/4" from the back on the right (ejection) side of the mag? That's the mold mark from inside the mag well. About an inch from the top of the mag I'll bet you see another mark that runs parallel to the bottom of the mag. That's the mold mark through which the mag release is cut. When you push the mag release you'll likely notice a frayed patch of plastic around the mag release.

I bought my CW-9 used with a single mag. Test firing it at the range the first time the mag dropped free every time. I bought 2 new Kahr mags for the gun and every time I tried to eject the empty the new mags got stuck. One mag dropped about an inch and the other barely moved. After a thorough inspection I found and removed that little bit of plastic with an emery board and I've had no problems with mags dropping free since.

[ree]

Take a look at your mags. Do you see a polished line about 1/4" from the back on the right (ejection) side of the mag? That's the mold mark from inside the mag well.

Yes.

About an inch from the top of the mag I'll bet you see another mark that runs parallel to the bottom of the mag. That's the mold mark through which the mag release is cut. When you push the mag release you'll likely notice a frayed patch of plastic around the mag release.

No, I don't have that.

I'm 99.9% certain the only obstruction to release is the trigger bar on the top right. My mags used to come out about an inch, and at that point were probably dragging on the mag catch catch. But now my mag catch is fray-free and perhaps the spring is broken in some. If I press it, and then press the trigger a tiny bit, the empty mags do drop completely free of the well.

[prushin]

I'd lay my bets on the trigger spacer or the trigger bar spring then. Those are the only parts I can see that would wear and cause the mag to hang up.

[Pat]

Hey Ree!

I'm certainly not a "Kahr guy (though I love their radio program...)," but if your mag doesn't hit the floor when you push in the release, get another gun. That just has to happen, quickly and smoothly, every time and right now.

Honestly, given the price of Kahrs, I would just move on.

[Tabsr]

To many posts on gun websites mentioning Kahr problems, decided not to buy one until the mfg problems are fixed.

[flyt100]

Mine drop free. I had one mag with problems a while ago, but squeezing it slightly with a pliers took care of it.

[aviator]

I also have a Kahr PM9 and had noticed the mags would not drop free. Following this thread, I was able to determine that the trigger bar on the right side is creating enough drag against the right side of the mag that is inhibits the magazines expulsion. While depressing the magazine release button and moving the trigger fore and aft slightly, the magazine will work past the trigger slide and drop. Now, why is the trigger bar creating a problem? Is there a buildup of some sort behind it forcing it to the left? I have had this problem since the gun was new but it's possible something is behind the bar. Know your target. Hank.

[ree]

I originally asked because I had a customer service rep in agreement that it did not sound like normal behavior, yeah! I shipped the gun to them, with a note stating very concisely, steps to reproduce and, steps to demonstrate the trigger bar interference. They returned it after a week, nothing done to it, with the comment "working to factory spec // mags will not drop without spring force from slide so slide will have to be closed." The never bothered to contact me and, apparently, didn't choose to consider my steps to reproduce.

Instead of calling customer support, I used their directory to call one of the folks listed over on pistolsmith.com as being good support staff (in 2004 however). I got a hold of Dottie Herold first and, while she no longer does customer service, she heard me out, agreed it didn't seem to be working to spec, referred my issue to the head of customer support who called me. He said he "wanted to make me a happy customer," heard me out and, unfortunately started feeding me the 5 year old line about the mags are not supposed to drop free of the gun...not quite listening to my real issue. When I explained that when the mag only ejects 2mm, it's really hard to do an emergency reload; that others here have drop-free mags and that NIB guns in the store have drop free mags, he reluctantly gave me an RA# and their fedex account number to return the gun to them.

So off it has gone. I'll report what happens.

I'm not completely down on Kahrs. A lot of people have "perfect" guns, a lot of guns that needed some work before they were right, and a few have had issues. Which do you hear more about? The problems of course. So with an open mind, if the gun comes back working as I expect, I'll shoot a crap load through it, and if it's still working I won't hold it against them.