orel

I am the proud new owner of a P9 and I am having a little trouble getting hollow points to feed when I pull the slide back slowly, I rack it quickly, else the first round gets stuck. I was thinking about taking out the Dremmel and polishing the ramp. Has anyone had any success doing this?

dfariswheel

You're loading your Kahr the WRONG WAY.

Kahr specifically recommends loading the Kahr by locking the slide back, inserting a loaded magazine, and pressing the slide stop.

The test for whether to polish the feed ramp is: How does the gun SHOOT.
If your Kahr is reliable after the 200 round break in period, there's no need to polish anything, and doing so risks making problems where none exist.

MANY guns will not feed properly if the slide is racked slowly, and the Kahr works best when the slide stop is used.
This is somewhat contrary to many guns, and many methods of reloading auto pistols, but the Kahr is "different".

Again, load your P9 the way the factory recommends.

excalibur

Still amazes me that SO MANY Kahr owners complain about their Kahr not feeding properly when they "rack the slide quickly", or "rack the slide carefully", etc. All I can figure out is they either can't read or don't bother!! Kahr guns feed perfectly if done the way Kahr says to do it. Lock the slide back, insert mag and press the slide lock down.
Can anyone tell me why that is SO difficult???? :roll:

orel

This gun does not load with either a soft rack of the slide or from a locked back position, only a "hard rack". I would not be posting here if other ways were working so if someone has some advice on this topic other than sarcasm it would be most welcome.

dfariswheel

If loading with the slide stop is failing to properly feed, AND YOU'VE GOT THE 200 BREAK IN ROUNDS THROUGH IT, you have several options:

FIRST, try a different brand of ammo. Some guns just don't "like" some ammo, and may work 100% with something else.
Some people get hung up on "I'm gonna use THIS ammo, or the gun is junk".

Second, if different ammo still gives problems, personally I'd send the gun back to Kahr. They built the gun, and they're the experts.
You paid for a reliable gun, they should make it so on their dime.

If you just can't bring yourself to do this, you can polish the feed ramp.
The idea here is "smooth", NOT "like a mirror".
People misunderstand us when we say "polish" and they hear "polish until it shines like a mirror".
The idea is to de-burr the feed ramp to smooth over any machine marks that might cause the bullet nose to catch.

Polishing until the ramp is like a mirror risks removing metal or changing the angles and this may cause MORE stoppages.
Just polish enough to break any sharpness or roughness. When the ramp is smooth...STOP.

Also, see the above again about different ammo. Some hollow point defense ammo tends to catch on even fairly smooth feed ramps.

tblt44

Mine was polished from the factory

brentfoto

It's kind of a waste of bandwidth when people are not operating the firearm according to very clear recommendations on page 12 of the Manual. GGGeeesssssshhhhh.... follow the manual, PLEASE??? :roll: :wink:

tblt44

After spending some time with my CW9 using the slide realese for the slide ,it works perfact.Pulling the slide back works but it almost hangs up.With a rounds in the mag the slide realese is not hard at all.IMy Kahr is very very accurate,Its my favorate gun to shoot.

PM9

There is a polishing compound called "Flitz" that is very effective at quckly polishing feed ramps, even just on a Q-tip. It is sold in most gun stores.

But, yes, release from a locked-back position and make sure to hold your wrist SOLID. Don't let your wrist jump forward when releasing the slide release. In fact, you CAN "slingshot" the slide and it will feed reliably IF you hold your wrist absolutely solid.

Stoble

I wanted to share my Flitz experience. Bought two tubes so it did not get used quickly. Flitz can separate and trying to stir it back into a useful form did not work. I was aggrivated that when I needed it, both tubes went into the garbage. I believe I ordered mine. If you use it regularly all will be OK. I have since been using MAAS, "A fine polishing creme for all metals" which has been great for firearm polishing.

handgunnut

What? Well I wouldn't be taking a dermel tool too a brand new gun that I just paid a decent amount of change for. I would send it back to kahr.. and mine came factory polished it looks like a mirror.. but hey it came that way and it makes me happy. Now if I could just get used to this i sight it came with.

Brian D.

Handgunnut, check Kahr's website, there are several sight options available, even for the CW series guns now.

Mister G

On Page 16 in my manual....I had same issue 1st time at the range. Now know how to do it correctly.

crkt

First of all, if you polish metal with a cotton buffer you are not going to diminish the metal. 2nd, don't waste your money on a tube of Flitz for a 1/4 inch area of stainless steel. One guys says de-bur but not to a mirror shine.. Did your 700 hundred dollar gun arrive with burs on the barrel?? Sounds like a piece of junk to me. Oh and the other guy who reccomends using a qtip to polish with Flitz.. Yeah, that will get the burs out for sure. Right?

Alabaster

crkt, did you come to share a better way to do what they're speaking of or just to criticize what others had done. If it works in one guys experience, why does it matter whether or not you think it's worth or not. Unless you've tried it and found it to NOT work, I'd ask that you leave others advice alone.

one eye joe

I MUST advise you to stay away from the Dremel tool. More weapons have been ruined by the use of a Dremel tool in the hands of a kitchen table gunsmith than have ever been fixed.

JohnnyT

And that bit of misinformation is precisely why hacks with Dremels ruin so many feed ramps.

A cotton mop spinning at 30,000 rpms generates a lot of heat in an unbelievably short time. Heat anneals steel, and the "mild" abrasive becomes more aggressive, removing a thin layer...exposing the harder steel to the mop...and the process starts over.

In 1943, there was a relatively small block of Ithaca pistols that were parkerized after the finish cut was made on the feed ramps. IIRC, there were about 300 pistols that were caught by the inspector, and he was ready to reject them and return them for repair when a Staff Sargeant suggested test-firing a few to see if it caused any problems. They selected 30 at random...test-fired...and no feed issues were noted.

They selected another 30 and got the same results. The pistols were entered into inventory and the matter was forgotten.

Mirror-polishing feed ramps isn't necessary. Custom builders do it more because it's expected than anything else. If the frame and barrel ramps are within spec, the pistols will do just fine.

My decades-long mantra:

The 1911 pistol was designed to function. If it's correctly built to spec and fed decent ammunition from proper magazines, it will function. It doesn't have a choice. It's a machine.

crkt

If you can de-bur stainless steel with a q tip, you are either a very good magician or you are the son of God! I bought a Kahr pm9 that sucked out of the box. I deburred and polished the shit out if the feed ramp as well as other parts of the barrel that had burrs. I can see my reflection in that feed ramp. You know what? It shoots fine now. So now when I sell this pistol, someone else will have a pm9 that is reliable, and I will have a Smith and Wesson that was done right the first time.

CCF

Johnny T - I love your mantra!!!

california leo

kahr is definaely a finicky firearm. For what its, worth I have had feed problems with mine. I polished everything, and it seems to have helped. The biggest factor is ammo selection. Remington has come out with the Express pistol and revolver line of ammo. It has a very round bullet nose. The hollow points are working very well for me now. Wrth trying.

one eye joe

Finding a brand / load of SD ammo with a feed ramp friendly ogive can resolve your problems in the majority of instances w/o reaching for the tools---at least that's been my experience. For instance, CorBon PowRball has a wide cavity in which rests a ball of some type of polymer (maybe Teflon). The ball is smooth and slippery, and gives the round an ogive that will feed in the most finicky of semi-autos. It also prevents plugging of the cavity when passing through heavy clothing, and aids in reliable expansion upon impact. CorBon makes quality ammo, which --for me at least--has been problem free through the years. Golden Saber has also always functioned well. Stay away from the very impressive looking "flying ashtray" designs.....