MK9 slide locking back prematurely with JHP

[rreynol]

Has anyone run into an issue with a Kahr locking the slide back prematurely with JHP ammo? It doesn't do it with FMJ rounds. The best I can tell the nose of JHP ammo runs the possibility of catching the slide stop when the previous round is chambered. What I've noticed is that once the top round is fed, the next round in the clip won't be seated against the back of the magazine. I've found a few posts with people mentioning such an issue and their resolution was to file down the snagging part of the slide stop just a bit. Does anyone else have an experience with something like this happening on their Kahr?

[slowhand23]

Juat curious what JHP ammo you are using? I just picked up a lightly used MK9 Elite and put 3 mags of Winchester Ranger HP with no problems.

[JimBianchi]

My MK9 has lots of JHP (WWB, Rem, WinRan, SliverTips, a bunch more..)through it with out a hitch. (Gun is two years old)

Sorry I couldn't help.

[xcop]

Not sure the vintage of your gun but I did have a similar problem initially with my MK9. Kahr told me they had made some changes to the magazine follower which would solve the issue. They sent me two free magazines and the problem went away.

[The Reach]

I had the identical problem with my used MK40 (probably why the last owner sold it). You can send it to customer service, stone off some of the slide stop, or buy a new stop and hope it fits better.

I shaved some off of the stop it came with, and ordered a new one in case it pooched the job. The worst that can happen if you take off too much, the slide won't lock back on an empty mag but can still be manually engaged.

Disassemble the gun and put the lock into the bare frame. Next, insert a mag with a few rounds of your problem ammo. With the slide off, you'll be able to clearly see the problem (if it actually is the slide-stop). Just take a little off at a time till the rounds clear it.

I now have two stops that work- one I fixed, and the new one I purchased from Kahr (that has the same tolerances as the one I stoned). Another thing to consider, there's a chance that your ball ammo is just kissing the slide stop as they feed, but the spring is snapping the lock back down as each bullet passes by. If this is happening, your slide stop spring is going to weaken prematurely. It might be a good idea to replace it as a precaution.

Hope this helps.

Picture shows mag partially inserted.

[rreynol]

It's pretty new and based on the serial number, I believe it was made last year. I've tried Winchester Ranger-T (two different weight), Speer Gold Dot 124Gr +P, and Federal Hydrashock. It happens 4-5 times in a 100 rounds so statistically, putting 3 mags through isn't enough to guarantee an occurrence. I got Kahr to send me a replacement slide stop and the associated catch spring. That hasn't fixed it. It happens on all 3 of my mags (1 that came with it, 2 more I bought, all 3 are Kahr-made). I have the feeling that I'm just going to have to end it back to them which is a real bummer.

Edit: One more thing I should point out. If the round is seated completely against the back of the magazine, there is plenty of clearance with the slide stop. A lot of the time, however, the stripping of the top round leaves the next round slightly forward in the magazine (i.e. not seated against the back). It is this that is danger of clearing the slide stop.