Early flat sided frame vs. later contoured frame K series.

[FreeMe]

I was told the “gilding” is primer smear from soft federal primers. Maybe a bunch more in the striker channel.

That might make sense. I cleaned quite a bit of it from the striker tunnel.

[Zeke38]

FreeMe: Thank you for your excellent photos an tutorial. I have an old K9 that was made in first year production and it runs fine. Went back to the mothership last year for a "physical" and she passed with flying colors. Kahrs are a unique handgun, but when they run right, they really run.

[FreeMe]

Nice photo, Zeke. Yours is the first EN K9 I've seen other than mine, outside of magazine articles. I wonder how many they made. Mine has had so many rounds through it (several thousands) that I lost count years ago, and only failed once - due to a faulty reloaded round. It's a safe queen now, since I have the Elite K9, but could still be pressed into service if needed. And no - I will never sell it.

One thing I remember about these EN models, is that they had a significantly smoother trigger than those first black K9's. IIRC, all the parts were finished in E-nickel - including the internal fire control parts. At least that's what was reported at the time.