Kahr Arms
I haven't been on this forum in a while, but I was looking at a Kahr K-9 and K-40. The price new was around $465.00. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with these pistols in the usual categories, reliability and accuracy?
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I own a small gun business. In the last two years I've experienced a number of serious failures with Kahr Handguns.
1. PM9 - Slide would not retract with live round in chamber.
2. PM40 - Could not be reassembled. Something was stopping the slide approximately 1/32-inch short of being fully on slide.
3. PM9 - Cartridge exploded venting gases down through the magazine and into the frame. Frame destroyed. Magazine destroyed.
These failures occured out of a total of about two dozen Kahr pistols sold over the period.
During the same time frame I had the following failures with these handguns:
1. S&W Airweight revolvers - none
2. S&W M&P pistols - none
3. Springfield XD & XDM - none
4. Springfield 1911 pistols - none
5. Glock - 1 gun exploded from using lead-bullet reloads.
6. Kel-Tec - One gun locked up tight due to incorrect reassembly by owner; another would not close on cartridge due to crimped extractor spring.
7. Taurus pistols - One missing grip screw; one cracked barrel (!).
8. Colt (all) - none
9. Taurus revolvers - none
10. All other makes - no failures
I am considering dropping Kahr Arms from my stock.
Any comments or advice?0 -
I've had my P-9 Kahr for about 5-6 years now and have had no problems with it. My P-45 had some problems when new, but Kahr fixed it right away. No more troubles with it for the last three years.
The PM-9 that blew up was most likley bad reloaded ammo. Mabe same with other PM-9. I've run across some 9mm brass that have a bulge near the rim that won't resize, and is weak in that area.0 -
I feel Kahr is over priced! 0 -
The PM40 sounds like incorrect reassembly. I have a PM9 that had a bad chrome job in the barrel chamber, but Kahr replaced it. 0 -
The PM9 that blew up was firing police issue new ammunition on the police range. It was the 21st shot fired in that pistol. I inspected the cartridge, and it had indeed blown out at a point about 3/16-inch forward of the base of the cartridge. The firing pin indent was dead center in the middle of the primer.
I compared the barrel from another Kahr with barrels from S&W M&P, Springfield XD9, and 1911. The Kahr had much more unsupported or unenclosed cartridge at the back of the chamber when the round was seated than did the other three.
The police armorer in a nearby major city stated that both the Kahr and the Glock do not fully enclose the base of the cartridge thus making them more susceptible to this type of failure. He indicated that he no longer recommends Kahr as a back-up pistol, and instead recommends the Walther PPS or Kel-Tec PF9. He told me that he has also recommended that his PD replace their Glocks with the M&P, XD, or XDM.
Thank you all for your replies. I believe I see a pattern here of excessive failures even though Kahr after-market customer service seems to be very good.0 -
hmmm i feel the same way about taurus..so i refuse to sell them anymore to many complaints[xx(] 0 -
The early model Kahrs would fire out of battery. At least the first one I bought did. I found out after it blew off the extractor. The new ones don't fire out of battery. I carried one for backup for years (not the one that blew up) and fired a lot of rounds through it with no problem. 0 -
quote:1. PM9 - Slide would not retract with live round in chamber.
2. PM40 - Could not be reassembled. Something was stopping the slide approximately 1/32-inch short of being fully on slide.
#1 & #2 can happen easily if you do not reassemble correctly.
Go on any Browning Hi Power forum and you'll read of similiar locked slide problems caused by incorrect reassembly.0 -
Have a 40 cal Kahr and no problems[:)] 0 -
I've got a CW45 that we are not exactly happy with. Last time out it was doing light primer strikes, I need to try it again with different ammo to see if it was the primers or the gun. After that, its a goner. [:)] 0 -
quote:Originally posted by dogtown tom
quote:1. PM9 - Slide would not retract with live round in chamber.
2. PM40 - Could not be reassembled. Something was stopping the slide approximately 1/32-inch short of being fully on slide.
#1 & #2 can happen easily if you do not reassemble correctly.
Go on any Browning Hi Power forum and you'll read of similiar locked slide problems caused by incorrect reassembly.
I checked both guns. In fact, I spent about an hour trying to reassemble the PM40. It simply would not go together. The PM9 slide was finally retracted by putting the pistol in a padded vise and tapping the slide at the muzzle with a brass drift and hammer. (I put a box of newspapers in front of the muzzle just in case.) After extracting the round, we tried to work the slide; it remained very hard to move.
The gun was returned to Kahr. They fixed it an returned it to the owner with no explanation.
The PM40 that would not go back together was also sent to Kahr. They reassembled it and returned it to the customer, again with no explanation. However, prior to issuing a return authorization, they stated that they would charge the customer if they found nothing wrong. No charges were forthcoming.
Look, I'm not an idiot. I've been in the firearms/ordnance industry since 1968. I know pretty much what can go wrong with an automatic pistol. What I'm looking for is a possible indication that others have had problems with Kahr pistols in excess of what would be normal for a high-priced, high-quality handgun.
I appreciate your efforts, but these three pistols were definitely defective. For what it's worth, I've had virtually no problems with the other manufacturers.0
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