Kahr's Fine Craftsmanship

[Jebus]

I admit, I was a little hesitant in buying my PM40 after reading everything here in the forum. So far I am not too confident in my decision to go ahead and make the purchase. Aside from worrying if the pistol is going to function properly during a life-threatening situation and if, or rather WHEN, I am going to have barrel issues, I have already had some bad luck concerning Kahr's lack of craftsmanship. Just after one session at the range where I only shot 200 rounds, my 6 round mag has started to peel apart down the backside. Now, during these 200 rounds I had about 6 failures to return to battery. I believe these failures all might have occured on the last round of this 6 round mag. Another thing I noticed was that I had major indentions on most of the rounds that were loaded in this 6 round mag, just from being in the mag overnight. Could these issues all stem from too much tension on the spring of this 6 round mag? I did notice that it took a greater amount of force to fully load this mag than it did my 5 rounder. Has anyone else encounterd the same issues??? I'll put another 200 rounds through the pistol before I completely dismiss it. Pics below

SN WA44XX - 11/29/2005 (Date on the case-collection envelope)

-Bert
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h150/Bert_Riojas/MVC-015F.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h150/Bert_Riojas/MVC-014F.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h150/Bert_Riojas/MVC-016F.jpg

[XIII]

I had a mag do the same thing (on the second range trip) with my PM40. It was a flush fitting 5 rd mag though. I thought mine had to be a fluke because that seems to be a weird location to split, but its identical to yours.

I asked Dottie if this was a common failure and what could of caused it and she repeatedly ignored my questions. She did send me a replacement mag without arguement though.

[mecenas1991]

From your photos it is quite clear that your magazine is splitting apart at the top of the spine. Not a good thing. It may cause a serious jam. You need to send it for replacement immediately.

[Jebus]

Yeah, I really wasn't planning on using this mag in it's condition. Just thought I would share my pleasant experience and see if anyone had similar issues. I'm heading to the range later today and only using the 5 round mag which is in good condition. I pray that I won't have any failures or barrel problems. I'll be sure to update.

[ecmills]

Ick. My 9mm mags have been dropped onto the hardwood floor at home and the cement floor at the range at least forty times each. No issues.

Guess I've got something to watch out for, now.

[warmrain]

Originally posted by Jebus
...Another thing I noticed was that I had major indentions on most of the rounds that were loaded in this 6 round mag, just from being in the mag overnight...
I'm trying to imagine how the magazine (not clip ;) ) could have caused this and I cannot... Have these rounds never been chambered? This is the truely weird part of your tale... that magazine though borders the limits... Interesting too that Dottie avoided the issue, I've been there too.

Give it a chance... It may work for you...

What rounds are those?

Best, Cars

[hogship]

Question......

Is the magazine splitting along a welded seam, or is the metal itself splitting?

I've had a K40 for about 5-6yrs and have never had any problems with my magazines. My magazines have a single welded seam running vertically down the center of the back of the magazine. Is this construction the same as for yours?

hog

[warmrain]

Originally posted by hogship
Question......

Is the magazine splitting along a welded seam, or is the metal itself splitting?

I've had a K40 for about 5-6yrs and have never had any problems with my magazines. My magazines have a single welded seam running vertically down the center of the back of the magazine. Is this construction the same as for yours?

hog
That's a good question. My PM40 magazines are constructed just like my MK9 and PM9 (and yours); a single seam down the middle. I wonder if this is just a metal fatigue issue...? Yikes :shocked:

[Jebus]

Sorry for the late response. I don't think anyone mentioned the word "clip" ;). The MAG has a single weld down the middle of the backside. It's not splitting down the weld, but rather the metal itself. The rounds have never been chambered. The rounds are Federal Premium 135 grain Hydra-shok. Below is a pic of the mag before it started splitting.

I went to the range a couple of days ago and still had about 7 feeding issues out of about 50 rounds. The problem I encountered was the round getting jammed as it went up the feeding ramp. A slight pull on the slide would clear the jam and chamber the round. I did notice that the likelihood of this happening depended on how intensely I stiffened my wrist. If I allowed more of a break in my wrist from the recoil this problem did not occur. At the range I use Remington UMC's 185 gr.

I'm still getting use to this pistol. I'm just not use to all the mis-feeds. I love the idea of a 40S&W in such a small package. I carry it in either a DeSantis Nemesis pocket holster or a Galco Cop Ankle Band. I also have a HK P2000 SK and a Beretta Px4 Storm, both in 40S&W and they have function flawlessly through a few thousand rounds each.

Thanks for the feedback.

-Bert

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h150/Bert_Riojas/magbeforerange2.jpg

[hogship]

If the bottom of the bolt area on the slide is touching/catching on the rear of the magazine, I can see how it might result in the splitting of the metal there. Also, when the slide is moving forward and touching or binding on the magazine, misfeeds and failure to come to battery could happen as well.

From your pics, I see no evidence that is happening. It could very well be that it needs to be used more before that kind of thing is apparent.

It would be interesting to see if you have these kinds of failures if another magazine were used for test purposes.

Just a thought.

hog

[SearTripper]

I have a PM-40 and have had it back for a few things but now after Kar worked on it and I have polished the heck out of my entire outside of the barrel including the little feed ramp. All of the polishing I mention herein is to the point of "bright." Also the outside of the chamber and the slide stop pin and inside of the chamber - polished. I reshaped the outside of the slide stop lever and polished it so it is rounded quite a bit and polished bright. I polished the outside of the magazines and worked the magazine well over at the mouth with a file and emory cloth to get the magazines to eject as smoothly as possible.

This gun now feeds with perfect reliability after 200 rounds. At first I really didn't like the little sucker very much. But after all that work and its demonstrating that it is now very reliable added to the fact that it's a joy to carry in my Kramer ankle rig, how can I help ut love this little sucker - especially having the authority of the .40 S&W ctg. ? ? ? ?