New Kahr CM40 Follower Question

[me239]

Hey everyone! I just picked up a new CM40 the other day and have yet to fire it. I read a lot about the pistol before buying (I really wanted that .40 S&W to go along with my G23) and one particular problem stuck out to me, that is the broken follower issue. I have two mags for the gun and both seem to function fine hand feeding them, but my worry is how do I tell whether or not my pistol will have the broken follower issue? I tried putting a strip of paper between the follower and feed ramp and it pulled out with some resistance, but certainly wasn't stuck. I also tried "painting" the ramp with a sharpie (I don't have any oil paint) to see if the ink would rub off, but it didn't. Is there any way to tell if I have the issue, before I go and break two followers, or was the issue resolved in a later update with the pistol? Thanks everyone!

[me239]

UPDATE: Found a way to mark the ramp. I lit a match and let the soot collect all over the feed ramp, carefully reassembled, and now I see marks on the little lip on the feed ramp. It took a good portion off of the soot. Should I try filing/sanding the follower?

[hardluk1]

I would not worry about it . It may happen a 1000 rounds from now or never. Or you could check in to a lakeline metal followers . You could take a small rat tail file in a small and groove the face of the followers where the feed ramp might hit .
Many of use have never had a issue with them .

[leftysixty]

Notching the follower will just give it a better chance of failure. The correct fix is to take a few thousands off of the end of the feed ramp.

Buy a couple of mag rebuild kits it has spring and follower. Then if you should break a follower you will have the replacement part and you can then worry about trimming the feed ramp.

[Redfish]

PM 40. Aprox. 1700 rounds. 8 followers. The real problem, aside from compromising what has been an otherwise 100% reliable firearm functionally, is that followers are not the only things that break. It has also broken the back out of a magazine and two frames. While the follower takes the brunt of the hit, it seems to telegraph into the rest of the gun. It sounds like you've found a good way to find the hits on a Kahr follower, something I was not able to do. It left fairly deep marks in the Lakeline followers. While their shape is not exactly the same as the stock follower, it still shows left/right and how high. As previously advised, grinding on the follower will only weaken it so probably not a good idea. I would shoot the gun and see if it breaks followers. From reading here, it sounds like not everyone with a small frame 40 is having this issue. Mine has had the feed ramp ground once at Kahr and is back there again for the same problem at this time. One other thing, if it breaks one, ask Kahr for two.

[Alfonse]

PM 40. Aprox. 1700 rounds. 8 followers. The real problem, aside from compromising what has been an otherwise 100% reliable firearm functionally, is that followers are not the only things that break. It has also broken the back out of a magazine and two frames. While the follower takes the brunt of the hit, it seems to telegraph into the rest of the gun. It sounds like you've found a good way to find the hits on a Kahr follower, something I was not able to do. It left fairly deep marks in the Lakeline followers. While their shape is not exactly the same as the stock follower, it still shows left/right and how high. As previously advised, grinding on the follower will only weaken it so probably not a good idea. I would shoot the gun and see if it breaks followers. From reading here, it sounds like not everyone with a small frame 40 is having this issue. Mine has had the feed ramp ground once at Kahr and is back there again for the same problem at this time. One other thing, if it breaks one, ask Kahr for two.

Yes, if there is quite a bit of contact with the barrel and the follower, something is going to give. The aluminum followers do give a pretty good indication of where material should be removed and are very tolerant of a small bit of interference (they get a ding in then, and everything clears!). But, I had one customer who bent the back leg of the aluminum followers and his were getting hit pretty severely. Some pistols have pretty much zero contact with the followers.

While developing the followers, I made some in steel and the magazine would fail and if I kept at it I might have broken more internal parts. The follower is the least expensive thing to have fail if something has to give.

[hardluk1]

If you have follower issues then have kahr fix the problem as they have been doing to those few problems pistols . They will take a little material off the tip of the feed ramp . Problem solved regardless of what make follower is in the pistol . I have 4 kahrs up to 10 years old with about 8,000 rounds fired between them and not a single broken follower .

[pyrobooster]

Yes, if there is quite a bit of contact with the barrel and the follower, something is going to give. The aluminum followers do give a pretty good indication of where material should be removed and are very tolerant of a small bit of interference (they get a ding in then, and everything clears!). But, I had one customer who bent the back leg of the aluminum followers and his were getting hit pretty severely. Some pistols have pretty much zero contact with the followers.

While developing the followers, I made some in steel and the magazine would fail and if I kept at it I might have broken more internal parts. The follower is the least expensive thing to have fail if something has to give.

Good advice thanks for keeping us on point, also thanks for an important aftermarket part(s) !