Received Flat Magazine Floorplates

[Walter Rego]

I got a notice from Kahr Arms that the flat, stainless steel magazine bottoms & the retainer plates for the standard 7 round K9 magazines were back in stock. I went ahead and ordered two sets, the total with shipping was around $40.

I was hoping to gain a little in the way of concealability over the standard polymer floorplates and I have to say that not only is the difference in length not that significant but they really expose how big the gap is between the bottom of the frame and the floorplate. I guess I don't have enough posts yet to have permission to add photos but for anyone who has also tried them you'll know how they look. I'm seriously considering sending them back. The parts, which are simple stampings look like they should be about $10 total per mag.

I searched some past threads and saw mention of people using O rings around the bottoms of the mags as spacers but that doesn't seem like a great solution. I think a better idea would be for someone with a 3D printer to make up some kind of spacer to fit around the mag body and take up the gap and still allow the mag to seat and latch properly. Maybe it could be held in place with some mild adhesive that would still allow the floorplate to be removed for cleaning when necessary ?

I just thought I'd mention this in case other members received a similar notice and were thinking of placing an order.

[FreeMe]

I have several. I've posted here before the reason why, and I still stand by it. I had the embarrassment of one of my earliest Kahr mags dumping its contents on a friend's living room floor because the plastic floorplate let go while in my holster. It broke down one side, although it was never subjected to any abuse. I think it was simply a result of age and the fact that the Kahr 9mm mags at least having less material around the groove that rides over the mag lip than other designs. I've been reminded by several that mags are considered disposable, but then one has to decide at what point does one replace a whole mag or at least the baseplate? Switching out to the steel floorplate eliminates that weakness, and I've not had any other mag failures, even with mags that get dropped (but not stepped on). BTW - I have had an ongoing program of replacing the plastic floorplates on all of my carry pieces with steel or aluminum where available.

My usual question is - why should that gap bother you? It does nothing harmful to function, as far as I can tell - and I've been shooting Kahrs more than anything for almost as long as they've existed.

[tokuno]

I prefer the look of the flat plates and that's all I use for my carry mags.
The gap never bothered me. I had read somewhere/sometime that the gap is intended to help with mag extraction in case of a sticky mag. Maybe that's urban legend.

[getsome]

I was lucky a couple years ago I saw a PM9 Thin Blue Line pistol at my LGS which has the black metal magazines and baseplates so I talked the owner to swap me two 6 round black mags for my two 7 round mags…..My PM9 is DLC black finish and the black mags and baseplates look so much better……Kahr should stock the black ones but the TBL pistols were limited editions……With the black magazines and black baseplate you don’t notice the gap at all…..

[Walter Rego]

Point well taken that the plastic baseplates could possibly crack and fail while the metal ones wouldn't. And the gap with the metal baseplates certainly could help if the mag was somehow jammed in the mag well.

But my issue is just aesthetic. It looks like the mags are not fully seated. I have owned a lot of automatic pistols and they either had mags that fit flush in the grip frames or the floorplates only had enough of a gap to allow the needed "play" when inserted and latched. I put one of the flat floorplates on the factory 8 round mag that came with the pistol. It looks better than the big hunk of plastic that hangs below the grip frame. I'll save the other one in case one of the plastic baseplates ever shows signs of age cracking or deterioration. But I just don't like how they appear when installed.

As I mentioned, a 3D printed spacer or one machined from Delrin or even anodized aluminum would be a nice option if someone were to manufacture them.

[FreeMe]

Point well taken that the plastic baseplates could possibly crack and fail while the metal ones wouldn't. And the gap with the metal baseplates certainly could help if the mag was somehow jammed in the mag well.

But my issue is just aesthetic. It looks like the mags are not fully seated. I have owned a lot of automatic pistols and they either had mags that fit flush in the grip frames or the floorplates only had enough of a gap to allow the needed "play" when inserted and latched. I put one of the flat floorplates on the factory 8 round mag that came with the pistol. It looks better than the big hunk of plastic that hangs below the grip frame. I'll save the other one in case one of the plastic baseplates ever shows signs of age cracking or deterioration. But I just don't like how they appear when installed.

As I mentioned, a 3D printed spacer or one machined from Delrin or even anodized aluminum would be a nice option if someone were to manufacture them.

I would give a couple warnings. First - a pistol I bought from an individual included with it a magazine with a 3d printed base plate. It lasted a few months for me but then began to split between layers right where it gripped the mag. That one gave me warning that it was about to fail and dump its contents. Second - the Kahr mag I mentioned above that did dump its contents gave no warning. And I give my carry piece a visual inspection every time I put it on.

It certainly would be nice if NDZ would produce aluminum base plates for Kahrs like they sell for others. I've suggested it to them . Maybe if we flood them with requests?

[berettabone]

I would imagine/think that the engineers who designed the firearm took many things into account, and through testing came up with the optimal dimensions of everything to get the maximum performance/operation. That being said, plastic baseplates are just a money saver. I also agree with the aesthetics part. It's not a good look. I owned an older model Kahr that had metal baseplates and metal followers. They were nice magazines. Then everyone started using more plastic. As far as the gap, I'd have to go with the o ring, otherwise it would bother me..........

[FreeMe]

This whole subject strikes me as funny, because when Kahrs first arrived on the scene, they did what no other pistol at the time did so well - and it was hailed as a godsend. Now, we nitpick over appearances. I was raised in the school of form follows function, so the only thing that bothers me about the Kahr mags is that they should all come with those steel bases - just as all box magazines did back when i first started shooting.

[Tilos]

That gap has been discussed many times here.
A member actually made some custom (aluminum) base plates, and I was a beta tester as I have a CW9 and PM9.
What he found was the gap varied from model to model and the base plates had to be custom fit to obtain a zero gap.

What I did was buy a 7 round base plate from Kahr:
7RdBase.jpg
Then cut it down, leaving it long, and filing it to custom fit my PM9 mag.:
PM9.jpg
GAP gone
.

[Walter Rego]

The gap with the standard plastic baseplate on the 7 round mag doesn't bother me. It's just that it becomes much more apparent with the steel baseplate since there is no lip around the top that fills up much of the gap.
Nitpicking, I guess so. I suppose the solution would be an aftermarket part made with proper material where a failure that could be life threatening would not be a possibility. Maybe there just aren't enough standard K9 models in circulation to make it economically viable.