First Kahr Arrives--a K40

[Bongo Boy]

This one arrived at the club on Thur and I picked it up this morning. It looks to be about a 1998 model per the DF1436 serial number, factory refurbished at some point per the 'U' stamped on the trigger guard. Disassembly and inspection revealed a gun that looks, to my eye, like it's not seen 1,000 rds in its entire life, although I believe it's been bead blasted at least once after it first left the factory.



First up, I loaded 6 rds of handloads into the magazine. These were 180gr lead bullet loads with 1.125" overall length, truncated cone. None of these would cycle properly, with the slide not able to go fully into battery after the first shot. So, dropping the slide initially, no problem--but after the first shot it looks like the bullet ran into a very short leade.

The only other ammo I had on hand was two boxes of Federal Champion (Walmart) ammo, and all 100 rds fed without any issue. I started out shooting fairly slow, trying to put together some groups at 7 yards. I had everything in 2" groups with a few fliers--nothing great, nothing terrible for a first showing either.

Ejected brass looks to be battered worse than I've ever seen in any auto--with a severe flattening of the side of the cases from the mouth back about 1/4". Could be maybe the ejector needs to be shortened up a bit? I can get the cases through the press--it just makes no sense to let the gun run this way and risk a failure to eject.

When I got to shooting from a low ready position--raising the gun and firing at 7 yds as quickly as I could, the first 3 rds hit about 6-8" low--real nasty trigger jerk, I assume. After I settled down a bit, things looked good.

The small grip is having a few undesirable affects right now--the first is the strong hand (right) middle finger knuckle area is really taking some abuse from the trigger guard. The second is the weak hand forefinger, just behind the big knuckle--the skin on the finger being rubbed nearly raw from that sharp-edged slide stop. The 3rd issue is that the trigger reach is so short that my trigger finger keeps wanting to wrap around the trigger--I found myself pressing the trigger at the first joint of the finger.

Anyway, the slide stop I can fix easily by putting a nice radius around the edge, and I can see myself getting a spare one to do this with. I might even remove the serrated area entirely--I really have no need for the slide stop in terms of using it as a slide release, and see no need for it sticking out so far.

I'm likely going to buy the wood grips after all because I've read here that they're a bit fatter than the stock rubber ones, and I'll be taking a shot at making a set from some beautiful black linen Micarta I've got on hand. If I go that way, I'll be shooting for some significantly fatter grips in an effort to make the gun a bit more comfortable. My hands are 'average' with fairly short stubby fingers--even so, this thing is mightly small-feeling in the hand.



So...so far I'm extremely happy with it--it's all I expected and then some, and I have no doubt I'll be able to shoot it well enough for it to be a carry gun here shortly. I'll likely just go ahead and order 1,000 plated 135 gr bullets for handloading, but may also try running a shorter OAL on the lead bullets so there's no exposed shoulder ahead of the case mouth at all. That should stop the failure to go into battery.

LOVE this little gun. I have no doubt it will grant me much smaller groups than I need with some practice and better trigger finger positioning.

[Bongo Boy]

...and now she's ridin' high in my 2nd attempt at a kydex OWB unit. This one's a bit tight so the heat gun will have to come out again, but other than that it sits quite snug to my handsome form, and is a familiar draw for me.

[TucsonMTB]

Awesome rig! Easily as nice as most commercial offerings, maybe nicer. The copper (or is it brass) fasteners are a very nice tough.

[CJB]

The battered cases are normal fare for Kahr... it says that in the manual... so don't shorten that ejector.

[jocko]

what cjb stated is normal for kahr brass. Don't mess with the ejector to try to solve that. It is what it is. It an still be reloadable.. I reworked my slide stop lever with a full contour with my dremel, a no brainer. I left the groves in though as I just felt it looked better that way and caused no issue either. I am going to guess ur older kahr might even have the all rubber grips which is the most desirable grip u can find for the K series. The new K series are no longer the rubber grips. The wood grips are Ok but I peddled mine and wnet back tot he rubber grip, which is indeed thinner and forme nicer. The thing about th wood grips is that right grips works a tad loose adu won't notice it, u can get light strikes due to this, as that grip also holds that triggert bar in correct alignment and the slihtest slp in the right side grtip can cause an issue. Mine just kept working loose. Probalby could have locktited it a tad but then a bit-h to get off, so I just moved on. Wood grips are fatter and if that is what ur looking todo, go for it. Just giving u some plus's and minus from my perspective. The K kahrs are their bread and butter gun, u should have a dandy in the K40.

[Bongo Boy]

Thanks guys. Yes, this one has the rubber grips and in pretty-much like-new condition. They seem just fine--I mean it's a smaller-framed gun and there's no sense trying to make it feel like something it's not. I'm happy with the grips because I don't seem to notice they're there--which to me is about as good as it can get.

[Ol'coot]

Congrats on the K40 a solid performer I love mine.

[Bongo Boy]

I've been carrying it about 4 hrs a day for the past few days and from time to time, clearing the shirt and drawing from this new holster. While I haven't done any range practice drawing and firing, still, I know I made a very good decision indeed in this gun.

For me, it has the right weight and the right amount of grip length to get hold of, and yet is considerably more compact than my M&P 45c for those times when comfort and lightweight clothing is important. It's not too big, it's not too small...it's juuust right. I like 40SW quite a bit, shoot it a lot, and am comfortable with be able to place good hits with it (especially with those targets that are standing perfectly still, facing me squarely, well-lit and not shooting back).

[eltee]

I think the K40 handles the .40 recoil better than any other compact. I can't really tell the difference from my K9.

[Bongo Boy]

I put together some max loads running Nosler 135gr hollow points and got to the range today with maybe 100 rds or so.



It's been several weeks since I've shot the K40 and I was excited to get 'er warmed up again. Now, I wasn't shooting for the absolute best shots, but was really just trying to see if I could properly hold the gun with a severe tennis elbow condition in my left arm. In any case, my impression is that the 135 gr bullets are indeed a good accuracy choice in the K40, as was suggested in an online review I'd read some time back.

The loads, by the way, felt relatively 'soft' (Universal), and easy-shootin'. I think these were actually 6.7gr Universal, vs the actual published max of 6.8 gr. In any case, it was a surprising pleasure to shoot these.

I still don't have even 500 rds through this solid little gun but I'm completely okay with saying it is, for me, about as ideal a compact 40SW as I can imagine, and a good bit more than I expected as far as shootability. With a bit chubbier grip it might even be more comfortable, but not an issue. I wanted an easier carry than my polymer .45, but wanted to stick with a round I already know, load and love: the 40SW.

The K40 is a real winner in my book--I expect to have even more admiration as time goes on.