Kahr MK40 Came In Today

[Short Cut]

I just bought a new small pistol and got to shoot it today for the first time. I bought a Kahr MK4046 Elite 98. It shoots accurately or at least I was able to be satisfactorily accurate out to 10 meters which is the furthest out I shot it today.

It did have one jam, out of 200 rounds, which I attribute to poor crimping of the ammo because it hung up on the neck of the brass. The other negative is that the small, butt flush, 5 round magazine that came with the Kahr would routinely eject the mag prematurely before it was spent. This would cause the gun to cycle but it would fail to pick up a new round so the mag had to be reseated and the slide racked to fire another round.

The larger 6 round magazine, that also came with the gun, had this same problem once in the approx 190 rounds I shot with it today. This could have been a real bad problem if I needed to depend on it for immediate protection.

At first I thought that I was inadvertently hitting the mag release because the Kahr is so compact that my second finger is pretty close to the button. However I continued to have the problem with the 5 round mag even when I was certain that I wasn't hitting the release button.

The spare mags that I ordered with the Kahr have not come in yet so I wasn't able to experiment more to see if the problem was more mag related or gun related.

Other than these teething problems, which my Glock did not have btw, the Kahr is still an impressive piece. Fit and finish is excellent particularly on the Elite version and the Elite's shorter trigger pull is noticably better than the K40 I recently rented. The size of the gun is astonishing considering it is a .40 caliber.

[pocketman]

They are great little guns, I have a mk-9 which I use for pocketcarry.

If you are possitive you are not hitting the mag release you may want to return it to kahr because something could be wronge with the mag release it self.

On second thought experiment with your grip and maybe have anouther person shoot the gun, the hard polimer grips do not give the best control esp. with the hard thumping 40rd. The gun maybe shifing in your hand under recoil and your inadvertantly hitting the mag. release. (I'm waiting on my checkered wood grips that I ordered through kahr)

Good luck,its a sweet little gun.

(I would love to see a glock mk-size)

[tall terry]

The Kahr pistols need a 200 round break in period, after that they are really reliable, I had no problems with an MK9, but the MK40 was a whole different story, at around 300 rounds it settled down and is 100% now.

[riddleofsteel]

You can replace the mag release spring on your MK series Kahr with a mag release spring from a 1911. Stronger and cheaper too.
I highly recommend you shoot the weapon at least 300 to 400 rounds before you attempt to fix anything.
http://www.yerfrockethellhound.com/mk40inholster.JPG

[Short Cut]

Lookin' good with the wood grips! I'll definitely put some more rounds through it however they will have to be with my 6 rnd mag because the 5 rounder can't click off two shots in a row with the mag ejecting. :( When Kahr opens for business on Tuesday I'm going to order some extra mags and the rubber grips.

Also failed to mention earlier that I'm really pleased with the factory installed Trijicon night sights. Now my pocket gun has the same action and sight picture as my G30.

[Prvt. Toter]

Shoot an mk40 as well....nice weapon.

I had the same problem with the clip dropping, but found that I was in fact hitting the clip release. The grip is so small, you tend to really milk it when pulling the trigger, both to overcome the Long Pull, and to handle the kick that is coming out of that little barrel. I took mine out on saturday and shot a box through it. Found it likes the PMC 165grain best for range. Anyway, I was able to hit 6inch plates fairly consistantly at 20 yards with it. Not bad for a pocket gun....

By the way, after seeing that pic with the wood grips, I might have to explain another purchase to my wife....;g

If your looking for an inexpensive but reliable hoslter, Greg at Comp Tac makes a real nice model called the Shirt Tucker. It virtually makes the gun disapear under a tucked in TeeShirt....The only thing exposed is a black clip and even that hides quite nicely on a black belt.

http://www.comp-tac.com/

[Tennessee Jed]

Can I ask you all about the recoil on your MK40's? Is it bad, tolerable, "ain't no thang"? Thanks.

[Short Cut]

Originally posted by Tennessee Jed
Can I ask you all about the recoil on your MK40's? Is it bad, tolerable, "ain't no thang"? Thanks.

Sure it recoils but I guess it isn't as bad as I expected it to be. It is plenty manageable.

My wife and I just got back from the range and she was able to shoot it just fine. In fact she was like Annie Flippin' Oakley hittin' the bullseye with the MK40 my G30 and our S&W .357 Chief's Special revolver for which we used .38 and .357 cartridges. I was really impressed with how well she shot all three guns considering it's been over 5 years since she's been to the range.

That said she did say that the Kahr was her least favorite to shoot of the three because of the shortened grip and perceived recoil. Her favorite of the three was the Glock 30 which surprised me a little. I've got to get her to try a G21. I'd like to buy one of those with night sights to replace the S&W as a bedside gun. Then I could put the revolver in a lock box downstairs for better daytime access. ;a

[Prvt. Toter]

Kicks somthing Awful....you wouldn't like it a'tol.....;g

Might as well just send it to me now, save yourself the pain...:cool:


Just kiddin....Actually it is very ammo dependant. I have shot Lawman and the 155gr american eagles...both crono over 1100FPS.
These rounds can catch you off gaurd. I actually dropped the mag I was squeezing the gun so hard shooting the AE. Muzzle flip was really bad. Since then I have added the Pierce Grip extension to the short mag and cured the problem. That pinky finger makes all the difference. The Lawman rounds might work well as a signal flare too, sort of like a short burst flamethrower...You kinda see spots for awhile after shooting those.

You can control this quite easily by shooting lighter loads though. I generally shot PMC 165 Grain ammo with light recoil and excellent accuraacy out of the Kahr. For defense rounds I use the Federal Hydrashock Personel Defense rounds. These are actually neutered by Federal for home defense to give a "low recoil" and at 135 grains they are still zippy enough to do the job if ever needed, oh yeah, they are really accurate too.

Hope that rest your fears...;)