Hello everybody,

it's the first time I'm getting into touch with the Kahr community and service employees who work at Kahr Arms (I've opened a request form a view days ago). As I already mentioned in the title, I'm a firearms collector who lives in Germany. I first got into contact with Kahr Arms when I visited the IWA Outdoor Classics (second-biggest gun fair after the Shot Show) many years ago in Nürnberg and I felt in love with their product line.

"A picture tells more than a thousand words" and therefore I made some videos to introduce myself and my collection.

Different Feed Ramps (comparison between TP40 and T40):
Link

-> I already got feedback from Kahr Arms and they told me it's normal that the TP40 and the T40 have different barrels. Has anybody of you also a T40 and can confirm this weird look of the barrel?

Overview Of My Collection:
Link

So beside of my collection, it would be nice to get some feedback how to solve the issues I have with my T40. To be honest, I wouldn't be here if everything runs smooth (like it was in the past - many years and purchases went by until I got a gun which didn't run smooth out of the box).

Have a great day, and thanks for the feedback in advance!

I know Kahr recommends 200-250 rounds of a break in period for a new gun.

I know from first hand experience Kahr can be picky about the ammo it eats.

I had some Winchester silver tips that just would not cycle, but worked fine in every other gun I had.

I feel it likes ammo on the hotter side as well.

As for your problems I only have the 9MM versions

I only have a .380 but my buddy bought a .40 the same day and it took that gun a while to become reliable.

Guten tag, OP, your English is excellent.  Do you lack a Dremel?

I wouldn't call myself a collector but I have quite a few Kahrs in my collection, all 9mm and .45ACP though.  

Every one has required an extended break-in of 200+ rounds to be reliable, and even then, there are types and styles of ammo that are not a good match.  Particularly, all of my guns shoot better with the heaviest bullets I can find - in 9mm that is 147's, and in .45 that is 230's.  With lighter bullets, I almost universally get all sorts of failures to feed and eject across the product line T, P, CM and CW included.  Both my 9's and .45's also hate short OAL rounds, to the point that when I rotate my carry ammo, most brands experience a bit of setback after repeated chamberings, so I end up putting those rounds in the practice ammo bin.

You can cut a bit off of the break-in with scotchbrite if you really don't have the quantity of ammo required, use oil, and polish the metal contact areas.  

Also, there is this:


As far as the variations, I note similar design differences in my 9mm Kahrs, even between different generations of the same model, produced years apart.  In some cases this has lead to the need to do some extra polishing, and one factory replacement slide stop, but nothing more serious.  These are not Glocks but neither are they hand-built one-offs.  You should expect to see some variation, and I personally consider it normal.

Thank you all for your feedback!

Fingers crossed that I will receive the replacement parts from Kahr Arms (they haven't decided on my warranty request yet). Here in Germany we have a 24 months warranty by law and the guy who sold me the gun bought it brand new directly from the dealer and sold it to me after one year full of frustration. So it was somehow a good deal for me, but only if Kahr shows responsibility and sent me the necessary parts for free. For a premium product (it is the T series not the C series) which was only one year in service, it's also a question of damage limitation in my opinion.

@jamie930
I had good experience with Geco ammunition, but sadly it's not available on most of our shooting ranges, so I have to order it from a gun store a few towns away. But very interesting to hear that Kahr is somehow picky with other brands and bullet types.

@barrysuperhawk
Thanks a lot for your detailed explanation! Getting ammo is not an issue here, most of our rules are based on common sense and if you are honest to the officials here they'll give you a permit to buy or reload ammunition.

@backbencher
Guten Tag, yes, I have a Dremel, but this isn't how things are running in Germany. Please don't get me wrong, I like your DIY culture, but modifying the barrel is strictly forbidden unless you have a manufacturer's license (only view experts and gunsmiths are able to obtain such a license). Replacing springs and other parts is not a problem, but modifying so called "wesentliche Teile" is strictly forbidden under our law.

Ah, you can't even polish the feed ramp?  Is that considered part of the barrel?  Can a gunsmith polish it?

Well, polishing the feed ramp is, in my opinion, some grey zone area it is not clearly mentioned that it is forbidden and highly depends on the perspective if this action would be classified as "modifying the barrel because they are somehow connected" but goes in the same direction like full auto switches, bump stocks and so on - they are also not mentioned clearly by our law so it is not forbidden to possess such stuff but it is like going as a sheep to a hungry wolf (chances are high that your action take consequences). Going to a gunsmith or replacing the whole barrel is, in the long term, the better investment.

Well, that is one area where scotchbrite shines (pun intended), because, unlike a dremel, if anyone WERE ever to question you, it's clearly a CLEANING product, not a gunsmith tool...  Plus it has the added benefit that its next to impossible to actually damage anything beyond repair with a handful of scotchbrite.

Thanks for your feedback I will definitely try this out, but before I do this, I will exchange the following parts:

T40 Slide Release Lever Screw (SKU: 030M9S)
https://shopkahrfirearmsgroup.com/pistol-parts/kahr-030m4e-slide-release-lever-screw-030m9s.asp
T40 Slide Release Lever (SKU: 028M4S)
https://shopkahrfirearmsgroup.com/pistol-parts/kahr-028m4e-slide-release-lever-028m4s.asp
T40 Slide Release Lever Spring (SKU: 029M9S)
https://shopkahrfirearmsgroup.com/pistol-parts/kahr-029m4e-slide-release-lever-spring-029m9s.asp

I'm not sure if the screw also needs to be exchanged (better safe than sorry), but the spring is definitely destroyed, and the slide release lever (these two parts are pretty loose and not stiff) needs to be exchanged as well. The customer service from Kahr Arms gave me a reply and wants my shipping address, so I'm optimistic about receiving the replacement parts and repairing my T40.

What I've heard so far is that the slide release lever spring is held up with a T6 torx screw. Is this a regular T6 Torx screw or something more special like a Torx Plus screw? I'm just asking to be on the safe side and not destroy the replacement screw with the wrong tooling. I also know that, for example, for Allen keys, there a difference between the Allen keys for the metric system and the Allen keys for the inch (SAE) system. This confusing and wrong handling could be avoided if Kahr and other gun manufacturers provide proper tooling, but this is a dilemma in general. Also, German gun makers are no positive example. They use special screws and also don't provide the proper tooling.

Here the latest episode of my Kahr maintanance project

Short maintanance update + Kahr PM45 latest purchase

I ordered a new screwdriver - same model Kahr is offering in their shop:
https://shopkahrfirearmsgroup.com/case-and-tools/kahr-torx-plus-driver-for-side-cover-kaspsdr.asp

Hope this one will be the right choice

Happy Easter!