Help...PM9 wont go back together

[drummerguy73]

I am having trouble inserting the slide stop in my new PM9. The slide will not match up with the rear of the frame enough to allow the slide stop to go through the frame and barrel lug. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[J_Curd]

Try pulling the trigger as you push the slide against the stopping point. Also, check the recoil springs for alignment and positive battery.

[Moshe]

Originally posted by J_Curd
check the recoil springs for alignment

Repeat:

CHECK THE RECOIL SPRINGS FOR ALIGNMENT

That was what caused me those problems before I figured it out. Use a Q-tip to wiggle the front of the recoil spring assembly while you are trying to push the slide back. Te recoil spring assembly bit is probably catching on the slide and not going through its hole properly. Once you move it into place properly, you should be able to move the slide back properly.

[steve86]

My new PM9 Black finish was doing the same, took it to the gun store & they could not either. Called Dottie & she send send it in, they were going to just give me a new frame but I said ther was a scratch on the slide so they are going to replace the whole gun. I have another PM9 it goes back together with no problem. I compared the two frames it seems some of the poly is shaped different forward of the trigger & smaller where the slide rides & looks chewed up.

[GSarmed]

I have the same problem with my PM9. I am not certain of the cause of the interference that causes the slide to have a "hard stop" before the back of it is lined up with the rear of the frame (the point where you'd be able to insert the slide stop. I have found that simpling pushing up and down and back on the slide will result in the interference beng overcome and the slide going back. There's quite a bit of "play" between the steel frame rails and the slots in the slide that they ride in that causes tis to happen. Mine has had this pain in the ass since day one and I hate to say it but you just need to mess around with it until the slide goes back. This approach is in my opinion better than having it sit at Kahr for 4 weeks.

Good luck and shoot straight.

[drummerguy73]

Thanks for the suggestions. After playing around with it last night, I noticed that the half-moon cutout for the guide rod on the barrel lug is cut too shallow to allow the guide rod to pass completely over the frame. I just have to push the guide rod past the half-moon cut-out, and the slide goes right on. I guess Kahr's QC is not that great. I also don't like how I can't really sling-shot the slide on the intitial load. I don't know if I'll keep this one. Thanks again!

[warmrain]

Originally posted by drummerguy73
Thanks for the suggestions. After playing around with it last night, I noticed that the half-moon cutout for the guide rod on the barrel lug is cut too shallow to allow the guide rod to pass completely over the frame. I just have to push the guide rod past the half-moon cut-out, and the slide goes right on. I guess Kahr's QC is not that great. I also don't like how I can't really sling-shot the slide on the intitial load. I don't know if I'll keep this one. Thanks again!
You CAN teach yourself to do the sling shot method for initial chambering, I did. I refused to take the ridiculous suggestion that the slide stop drop was the only method.

It helps a little if the feed ramp is polished...

So, you have to be VERY brisk and VERY aggressive. YOu must yank that sucker back so hard that your hand slips off the back of the slide and smacks you in the chest (I'm using the overhand, not sling-shot method...). After you get it to work you can stop bruising yourself up. Then every time I reload (e.g. when changing rigs from the 1911, etc.) I test myself. Once I learned to do it I've never had a failure to chamber the initial round this way with my PM9 or MK9.

[cal45]

I also just encounterd this today. Yesterday I had purchased a brand new PM9 (DLC finish) - this is not the first PM9 I have owned so I am fairly familar with these mini 9's. Anyway, this morning I took it apart and gave it a cleaning and also Flitzed the barrel. On re-assembally, the slide locked half way on the frame where I could not fully retract it to line up the taked down lever. The trigger was not cocked as I did pull it to vfy that this wasnt the hang up. After trying to rack the slide front and back repeatedly - it finally gave and let me rack it to the rear and able to insert the take down lever. I never had this happen to any of the previous PM9's I have owned. Is this a new caveot of the VC3xxx SN guns?

Edited to add that after I did get this back together I hand cycle two mags thru it to make sure it fed and ejected properly...and it did. No hang ups at all. Hopefully I can get to the range next weekend to let it run. ;)

[mecenas1991]

Just a little caveat: manual cycling the live ammunition through a pistol never indicates that when fired, it will cycle the fired cartridge case or chamber the next round properly. Although these micro Kahrs are designed to help ejecting a live round (see the front of the ejection port that has a semi-circular relief to allow for a live round extraction) - a semi-auto pistol is really designed to eject fired, empty catridge case which, of course, is shorter than the whole cartridge. Besides, entirely different pressures and forces come to play when you fire the gun than when you cycle a cartridge by hand.
In this case, six does not equal half a dozen.
Just my two cents.

[cal45]

Thanks for your 2cents but I never stated that hand cycling is the same as live fire. I only stated that it fed and ejected two hand cycled mags. That's why I posted that getting to the range was next. I have had problem-matic guns in the past that would not even do this. So for me, the PM9 passed test # 1.

[warmrain]

Originally posted by mecenas1991
Just a little caveat: manual cycling the live ammunition through a pistol never indicates that when fired, it will cycle the fired cartridge case or chamber the next round properly. Although these micro Kahrs are designed to help ejecting a live round (see the front of the ejection port that has a semi-circular relief to allow for a live round extraction) - a semi-auto pistol is really designed to eject fired, empty catridge case which, of course, is shorter than the whole cartridge. Besides, entirely different pressures and forces come to play when you fire the gun than when you cycle a cartridge by hand.
In this case, six does not equal half a dozen.
Just my two cents.
That is a good point. I have a baby Browning that has a difficult time ejecting live rounds (the ejection port is to short), but when fired the empty cases come out fine.

It is a decent first test though...

Best, Cars

[steve86]

Update on my brand new PM9 sent back to Kahr because the slide would not go back on after cleaning, Dottie called at 7:40PM to say it is being shipped back. The only good thing about Kahr is Dottie, originally she told me they were going to replace the whole gun but it seems she is only the messenger now as the techs said nothing wrong, according to her they polished the mag well but I never complained about that, they also replaced the slide & new recoli assembly but the same frame & barell. I complained about the slide in that compared to my other PM9 the poly front rail right side is smaller then on my working one also that one looked chewed up (never fired yet as I could not take it to the range without the slide on. I have had it with Kahr, the product (poly frames) is horrible & their customer support stinks, yes Dottie does good but she is only the messenger & only does what is told, she does not fix the guns & it seems that the rechs know even less. First thing after I get the gun back is to take it apart, if I have trouble putting it back together then I will request it be sent back & money refunded.

[Moshe]

that's a shame you've had such a bad experience with it.

I've had problems with the slide locking up on both of my pistols (PM9 and Keltec P3AT), but every time I'll bet it was something I did wrong.

On my PM9, I couldn't figure out why the slide wasn't going back on the extra little bit all the way to the back. I just would wiggle it and move it back and forth and eventually it would go back on. Then after maybe the 4th time taking apart and putting it back together after cleaning, I noticed the recoil spring front wasn't flush with the front of the slide.

That was when I realized that at least on my PM9, the cause for the obstruction was the recoil spring. So now when I put it back together, if it has that problem, a little nudge with a Q-tip to align the recoil spring assembly front fixes it every time.

Also, I've so far had mixed feelings about Kahr's customer support. On one hand, they took forever getting back to me and were a little rude on the phone, but on the other hand when it came to sending out a replacement part (magazine follower that snapped on the second use), once they got back to me they were fast to send a replacement, and they sent 2 just in case.

I have to admit that I really like shooting my PM9 and its been so good that I'm considering getting either a second one, or just another Kahr chambered in .40 S&W. (not the PM40 though - something bigger) instead of a Glock equivalent.

Sorry to hear of your trouble with your PM9. :(

[tslex]

That was when I realized that at least on my PM9, the cause for the obstruction was the recoil spring. So now when I put it back together, if it has that problem, a little nudge with a Q-tip to align the recoil spring assembly front fixes it every time.

When I had trouble with re-assembly, I noticed this exact thing. Front of the recoil spring assembly was not flush will the hole on the front of the slide (recessed maybe 1/8 to 3/16 inch). Hadn't noticed it other times b/c either there was no problem or I was concentrating on the rear of the slide.

Ensure the front of the recoil assembly is properly seated (a touch of lube, a wiggle with a wooden dowel (so as not to scratch) and you are good to go.