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Thread: Had a Kahr magazine meltdown yesterday. What the heck happened?

  1. #1
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    Question Had a Kahr magazine meltdown yesterday. What the heck happened?

    I posted this in the TP section but the mag disaster also involved my K9. Took it and my TP9 to the range loaded with my usual Winchester NATO ball ammo. Three of the TP mags and one of the K9 mags had followers break on the initial mag use. That's four of eight mags broken within a few minutes. On three followers both the front and the back tabs broke off. I had experienced one other follower failure in the past. I have to say this has just about ruined my desire to keep a Kahr in my collection. Utter failure is a real turn off. Both of these guns have been used without catastrophic failure over several years, so why now? What happened?

    I have other guns that simply do not suffer from the foibles that the Kahr line exhibits. I'm about ready to give up on them, wondering why after so many years the normal and common problems we constantly read about and experience are not solved. I've never carried a Kahr because I don't have confidence in them and keep them only for a fun range gun. When they become "un-fun" there is little reason to keep them.

    One last chance... I ordered some Lakeline followers. We'll see. After all the light strikes, feed failures, eject failures and now followers destructing for no reason, I'm starting to really dislike the guns. Had to vent.
    Judging by today's left wing, looks like Senator Joe McCarthy was right after all.

  2. #2
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    Dang, I'm curious too as to what changed. And both a TP9 and a K9 at the same time.

    How many rounds do you think have gone through over those years? Shouldn't matter if it's 10 or 10,000, just curious.
    In Memory of Paul "Dietrich" Stines.
    Dad: Say something nice to your cousin Shirley
    Dietrich: For a fat girl you sure don't sweat much.
    Cue sound of Head slap.

    RIP Muggsy & TMan

    "If you are a warrior legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that JOCKO will not come today."

  3. #3
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    I've stopped keeping range logs but I'd guess the K9, bought used in 2009, probably has a few thousand rounds (2500-3000) and the TP9, also bought in 2009 has near the same. The first follower, in a 7 round mag, broke perhaps two years ago and has been stored away since. I use a Lula loader mostly, shoot basically the same ammo and shoot about 100 to 200 rounds per session between the two guns. They go to the range a couple times a year. I mostly shoot my HKs and Berettas and lots of various .22s.

    Springs were all installed to match the angle of the follower. That's correct... right?
    Judging by today's left wing, looks like Senator Joe McCarthy was right after all.

  4. #4
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    That's correct.

    Sounds like the feed ramp is a bit long on both since you broke followers before. Only a couple times a year to the range.

    Doesn't sound like a new development really. Not right and no excuse, they still shouldn't break but the feed ramp is smacking the followers.

    The Lakeline followers should hold up, I suspect they will still get beat up a bit but they won't break.

    Will be interesting to see if they get marked up. If it was mine, I'd stone off a little bit on the lower edge of the feed ramp and see if it helps.
    In Memory of Paul "Dietrich" Stines.
    Dad: Say something nice to your cousin Shirley
    Dietrich: For a fat girl you sure don't sweat much.
    Cue sound of Head slap.

    RIP Muggsy & TMan

    "If you are a warrior legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that JOCKO will not come today."

  5. #5
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    The Lakeline followers will likely take care of the breakage problem, but I'd still be curious as to why it happened the way it did.

    I read somewhere that a way to see if the feed ramp is contacting the followers is to take a silver colored Sharpie and color the front of the follower skirt. Reassemble, and fire the gun with just one round in the chamber and an empty mag inserted. You'll see if the feed ramp leaves a mark on the Sharpie silver colored skirt on the follower - and where it got hit as well. I did this, and it showed me exactly where to perform the "rampectomy". The Sharpie wipes off with some rubbing alcohol when you're done.

    I also use a Maglula loader if I'm gonna be shooting a lot of rounds. Maglula recommends loading the first round in the magazine by hand before using the loader, as they can damage plastic followers. That also might explain the broken front AND rear skirts on the followers.

    Just a few thoughts....

  6. #6
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    I love my 5 Kahrs but they are not perfect. Pm9 being the problem pistol. Having more than a dozen mags of 380, 9 and 45 I've never broken a follower but have split a few 45 mags. Just split one last week, an original 5 rnd from 2010 with thousands of rounds. For the premium price of a Kahr they should be more refined with less hit and mis QC issues.

    Forgot to mention, I use a Lula loader and the damage I notice is a dent in the near center of the follower.
    Last edited by DJK11; 11-16-2017 at 11:23 AM. Reason: ?

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