Kahr CM 9 broken followers

[Django]

I am new to Kahrs. I recently acquired a CM40 and a CM9. I followed the lube recommendations from the sticky, thanks for that! The 40 is doing fine. I had 1 failure to feed in the 1st 100 rounds. The 9, however, has broken 2 mag followers. I sent an email to Kahr looking for causes and cures. It's the weekend so I suspect I won't get a response until sometime next week, at the earliest. In the meanwhile, can anyone here give me an idea on what to look for and possible remedies.

Thank you,
Django

Edit: After wading through other threads via search, I'll see how Kahr wants to handle it. Sorry, for all intents and purposes, a duplicated thread. I love how these guns feel, c.c. and shoot! Hopefully this issue goes away.

[Buckshotshorty]

Sorry to hear about your trouble. Seems to be a plague I had two followers break in two range trips with a brand new CM9.

What causes this is that when the slide slams back with an empty mag, the feed ramp strikes the mag follower and it gets cracked.

Mine went back to Kahr & they trimmed & polished the feed ramp. I have since been to the range 3 times fired 200 rounds and the gun ran perfectly. No broken followers.

You need to get in touch with Kahr & don't let them talk you in to just replacing the followers; it will happen again. It needs to go back. They will make it right.

[Django]

Sorry to hear about your trouble. Seems to be a plague I had two followers break in two range trips with a brand new CM9.

What causes this is that when the slide slams back with an empty mag, the feed ramp strikes the mag follower and it gets cracked.

Mine went back to Kahr & they trimmed & polished the feed ramp. I have since been to the range 3 times fired 200 rounds and the gun ran perfectly. No broken followers.

You need to get in touch with Kahr & don't let them talk you in to just replacing the followers; it will happen again. It needs to go back. They will make it right.

10-4, thanks for the reply. When I first posted I was hoping for a D.I.Y. fix but it sounds like it may have to go back the Karh dealership, bummer.

[CJB]

There is a do it yourself fix.

Field strip the pistol. Remove the barrel from the slide. Fit the barrel to the frame and put the slde stop partially in. Insert an empty magazine. Push the barrel backward as far as it will go against the slide stop's pin. Depress the magazine follower while holding the barrel aganist the pin. See where the ramp touches the follower. Thats where you want to remove a little material from the ramp... Dremel sanding drum would be perfect for that.... only a wee little bit needs to come off, and.. then you can polish it a bit with a felt wheel and some polishing compound and you're all done. At that spot in the gun things are very tight and close to each other. The ramp smacks the follower on recoil.

[Django]

Thanks CJB! Excellent info and from a fellow Floridian!

Kahr has already replied to my email this morning, which I sent just before starting this thread, impressive. They are sending me followers and said if I have future problems that they would like to see it at the factory.

[Popeye]

If it keeps it up I'd send that Fokker back to them in a heart beat. There is no reason on Gods green earth why you should have to smith a brand new pistol, that you paid good money for, just so they can turn around at a later date and null and void your warranty. That's BS. They know damn right well what the problem is, make them fix it the right way. How in the world are you ever supposed to trust a pistol for SD that breaks the followers the way they do? I'd like to know when he(( it has become an acceptable part of gun ownership to have to take a Dremel tool or file to a brand new pistol to get it to work properly. A fluff and buff I can understand, but grinding material away, are you people Fokking serious? What the FOK is that all about:confused: To think some Kahr owners actually talk bad about Kel Tec's as being an unreliable POS..:rolleyes:
I had and loved my older model PM9 it was a great gun, never had a single problem with the gun or the Mags, but somehow when they switched to the new design slide they screwed the pouch big time, as I never heard anything that I can remember about the older models breaking the followers.

[CJB]

+ 1 on what Popeye said.... in that you should not have to. Total agreement.

Thing is, someone's gonna have to. Take a little metal off the barrel's ramp that is.

So here are four scenarios, all mutually incompatible.

1. Do nothing, don't shoot the pistol - no adventure or glory in that.
2. Sell the pistol - and sulk about because of the loss.
3. Send the pistol to Kahr - and wait two weeks.
4. Fix the problem yourself, and move on with life, enjoying the satisfaction of a job well done, without the wait.

While you should not have to do this.... in the reality of life... jeeze... its a 5 minute fix if you're ok with a Dremel. If you're not, just wrap some 120 grit sandpaper on a stick and sand it a little to remove some metal. That might take you half and hour. Sure beats the trip back to the factory.

[Popeye]

I'd sent that Sombit(h back and wait the 2/3 weeks to get it back. Like many others I have more than one gun. It's the only way there ever going to fix there problem, and it is there problem, is if enough people sent them back. I'm sure they don't care if you sell your gun. I'm sure they'd be quite happy if you did sell your problem gun. They already made there money, while getting out from under the warranty.:D I'd love to buy a new MK9 but not with the problems there ignoring.
No sulking here by trading my Kahr PM9 in for a new flawless straight out of the box, Springfield XDS9.:D

[CJB]

different strokes

[Django]

@ CJB,

I can see where the follower is making contact with the ramp. It's where the follower steps out a little just below the pin. That's where the followers broke. Should I take some of the "face" of the ramp or from the bottom edge? It looks like I need to avoid removing anything on the left side where the pin contacts the ramp. I don't mind tinkering with firearms, I'm just building up the courage.

@ Popeye

I agree, I shouldn't have to deal with this but **** happens and I'm taking it in stride. I'm not excusing Kahr, however, anything mechanical can and will break in time. I've had a kaboom with a Glock and I've had a Ruger revolver that had a cylinder that wouldn't lock up. I replaced the cylinder catch and springs. Neither are every day issues but **** happens. I'm not going to throw the baby out with the bath water. I still have a Glock and a Ruger and plan on keeping my Kahr's.

[CJB]

You'll need to judge it, but from looking at my own PM9 and PM45 .... its the most rearward part of the ramp.

There can be a little bit of an angle on the edge of the ramp... no problem, because the ramp is offset a little and will need just a bit of relief to properly clear that follower.

[kerby9mm]

Not the same gun but same principal. My first p238 got a ding at the bottom of the feedramp from hitting the front of the mag. Well known p238 design flaw. I bought a newer model all updated with changes & with the slide locked back it had less back & forth movement of the barrel thus it did not have the feedramp hitting the mag when firing.

[Django]

10-4 Thanks.

[Django]

Already received the followers from Jay, that was damn quick. Kudos for Kahr!

[Django]

There is a do it yourself fix.

Field strip the pistol. Remove the barrel from the slide. Fit the barrel to the frame and put the slde stop partially in. Insert an empty magazine. Push the barrel backward as far as it will go against the slide stop's pin. Depress the magazine follower while holding the barrel aganist the pin. See where the ramp touches the follower. Thats where you want to remove a little material from the ramp... Dremel sanding drum would be perfect for that.... only a wee little bit needs to come off, and.. then you can polish it a bit with a felt wheel and some polishing compound and you're all done. At that spot in the gun things are very tight and close to each other. The ramp smacks the follower on recoil.

I wanted to follow up on this and thank you for taking your time to share your knowledge. I followed your directions and after 2 range sessions and approximately 200 rounds of various ammo I have not had another broken follower.

Thank you CJB!

[Jmark]

I've been lurking here a bit and just got my first Kahr, a CM9, and just thought I'd help. After reading about the issue with the follower and seeing how tight it was where the ramp meets the follower I decided to use layout fluid, also goes by the brand name Dykem, on the ramp. Once it dries put the barrel back in the pistol and rack many times. When you disassemble the pistol any areas that are contacting the follower will be shiny where the dye rubs off. I just filed off the offending areas and then put on another coat of Dykem and re-assembled the pistol and racked it again to verify I had removed enough before doing the final finish and buffing of the ramp. When you are done brake cleaner or acetone will easily remove any traces though it can stain the skin.

http://www.amazon.com/Dykem-CL-BLUE-Layout-Fluid-Ground/dp/B0018ACR6G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376574567&sr=8-1&keywords=dykem