broke in the PM9 today

[craig_o]

took my VC60XX PM9 to the range today! shot 299 rounds (lost 1 somehow) of Monarche 115 FMJ.

I had a total of 12 failures (at least one of those was my fault).

Of the 12:

5 happened within the first 7 shots.

9 happened within the first 50 shots.

12 happened within the first 201 shots. :thumbsup:


I did not clean the gun AT ALL besides my initial intensive cleaning when I brought the gun home. I'll be cleaning her now.

VERY impressed with the shootability and accuracy. I have zero professional training and I did not grow up with guns whatsoever... I am literally self taught and have been shooting handguns for less than a year and even I could keep the groupings in the red at 7 yards with minimal effort (and no contacts in!). I noticed my second 50 rounds were drifting to the left, but this was due to my grip (which I promptly corrected and the problem resolved itself).

I found the bar-dot sights to be totally adequate.

I have my CHL class this coming Sunday and qualification the following Monday. I have no worry at all that my gun will:

a) preform flawlessly after the upcoming cleaning
b) will shoot MORE than well enough for this rookie to qualify after some in-class pointers for the 15 yard portion of qualification.


I am totally satisfied with my first gun! Pictures of the mangled targets and the SmartCarry platform to follow later this evening.

[TommyTomTom]

Remember, with new Kahrs it's essential to keep the entire barrel's surface lightly lubed. (Use the best stuff you can...I use TW-25B). Lube according to the diagram posted here:

http://glocktalk.com/showthread.php?threadid=398500
(It's the 4th sticky in Kahr Club)

Finally -- light weight guns requires a man's grip. I have witnessed full grown men grip pistols so loose that it practically flies out of their hands when they fire it. It's disgusting to me! That's limp wristing by definition and it's a recipe for all kinds of maddening failures.

If I were you, I would auger 3 more boxes through that bad boy before going to a class! Now get out there! ;o)

[craig_o]

yeah, that puppy was still a little on the drippy side when I shot her... she was THAT lubed!

I just finished running through about 6 cleaning patches alternately soaked in Hoppes solvent through the bore and wiped down the entire barrel and slide assembly as well... DIRTY! It's doing a spray-can CLP soak now, then it's wipe-down time followed by some grease and oil.

Yeah, I'll feel 100% confident after about another 300 rounds. In the meantime, I don't feel UNconfident.... especially 'cause I've got 13+1 rounds of Speer Gold Dot 124 ready!

[aaronrkelly]

12 failures......and you think that cleaning it will make it reliable. I have my doubts. Thats quite a few failures....I wouldnt trust it or carry it until it was thru the break-in period and performed flawlessly.

I have a KelTec product (say what you will about them) that had zero failures so far ever in 400 rounds.

I expect more out of Kahr.....the one I had (MK40) was utterly flawless....never failed, ever.

I suspect your gun either needs more breaking in or has issues.

[craig_o]

I believe a number of the problems were due to improper grip at the beggining.

While I had a solid grip on the gun, I noticed my hand wasn't rotated around the gun properly... that is it say, the web of my thumb wasn't where it needed to be.

12 failures doesn't seem over the top to me, especially considering literally all of them occured within the normal break-in period for the PM9. It's expected and, as I mentioned, most likely aggravated by my limp-wrist-prone grip.

If I wanted a gun that did not require a break-in period to be reliable, I would not have purchased a Kahr.

As it is, I am very satisfied with how the gun shoots and, yes, it remains to be seen if it will function as realiably as expected until I actually go shooting again. I can't prove that it will, obviously, but I am confident :thumbsup:

[Tough Guy Levi]

Howdy:

Another visit to my indoor range during my lunch hour yesterday. My Kahr (VA 59XX) purchased June 05 (mfg June 03) has digested over 7500+ and is 100% reliable.

Tough Guy Levi
NRA Pistol/Per. Def. Instructor

[craig_o]

something to keep in mind:

I had just finished the post-range cleaning and I had chambered a round, ejected the magazine to insert another for the 6+1 configuration.

I noticed some oil on the side of the gun and pulled out a gun cloth, briskly rubbing away when I thought to myself "Holy s***... I was actually thinking about getting that spot down by the trigger!"

Moral of the story: no matter how brief or how minor a cleaning you're doing, UNLOAD THE GUN UTTERLY AND COMPLETELY!

[GlocknGeezer]

I bought a new PM9 on 12/28/06. After getting it home, I field stripped it and discovered several polymer shavings, evidently provided by the slide's action on the rails during test firing. The right front section of the rail looked distessed enough that I was seriously considering returning the pistol to the dealer. I then conducted a bit of Internet research and discovered that Kahr pistols generally 'eat themselves' during the 200 round break-in period. Encouraged somewhat that I was not suffering alone, the next day I fired 100 rounds of WWB 115 gr FMJ through the pistol with absolutely no stoppages of any kind, alternating the 6 and 7 round mags. Field stripping then revealed another massacre of the polymer rails. The shaving were again removed and the pistol was thoroughly cleaned and lubed.

On 01/03/07, I fired 100 rounds of various ammo including Remington 124 gr BJHP, WWB 115 gr FMJ and JHP, WWB 147 gr JHP, UMC 115 gr JHP, all without any failure of any kind. The pistol was rapid fired without a hitch. All the firing was done at ten yards. The Remington BJHP produced the best accuracy with a slow fire 5-shot group of approximately 3/4 of an inch. A subsequent field strip and cleaning revealed that the pistol's appetite for itself had just about disappeared. Now I have hope.

I bought this gun for CCW, perhaps to replace my SW 642-2 and/or my G27. Even with no failures so far, with all this break-in drama it ain't gonna happen for a while.

[badge4436]

I have fired over 600 rounds through my PM9 and never had a failure to feed, stovepipe or other problem. I love it for concealed carry. Accurate.