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I am not sure if this is the proper forum. Oklahoma City Police department is considering authorizing the Kahr pistols as an optional offduty plainclothes weapon (officers required to carry from an approved list). One chief is bucking the approval as he has never heard of the Kahr. I thought input from the countries top gunsmiths on their opinion of the Kahr's quality might put him over the top. Any input appreciated.

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Gary Eastridge
http://www.randgfirearms.com

I can't comment from the standpoint of the 'smiths, but I am a former LEO and carry a Kahr on a daily basis. I prefer to carry one of my custom 1911s, but the bank I work at is pretty casual. We normally wear just 'Docker' style pants and a shirt and tie. My build just won't let me comfortably conceal my pet .45 in that attire.

I was also a little leary of the Kahrs, as I too hadn't heard of them. After a bit of research, it was apparent that they were reliable, accurate and durable. I've been carrying a PM9 in a quality leather pocket holster for about 6 months now. It has been 100% reliable with everything I've fed it... about 1,500 rounds so far. I have never had a jam of any kind with it. Even my youngest son loves to shoot it, and he's very small.

I know that a couple of the Kahr's are on NYPD's very short list of approved off duty arms.

Hope this helps, even if it isn't from one of 'the great ones'

Here's a quote from my website regarding the Kahrs:

" The Kahr pistols exhibit such a high level of quality that you'd swear they were made in prewar Germany and just recently discovered in a secret warehouse-- but they are made here. I see them as desirable for their compactness, reliability, and great ergonomics; I feel they are definitely worth having, enhancing, and personalizing. "

The Kahrs I have, have been very good to me.

I think though that they are subject to the same ups and downs in quality that other brands are. Have heard of some that don't work. They still seem to come with some sharp edges, although not nearly as many as at first. They usually have burrs on the inside-- that probably don't hurt all that much unless and until one decides to fall off and into the works. I guess my final short answer would be that if you make enough of anything, some will not be perfect; I think the Kahrs are good but like anything else it's not impossible to get one that might need a little tuning.

Thanks Ned. I hae had a few of them and they all worked well. Except for a K40 Covert which drops the mag upon firing. Works fine with other 40 mags regardless of size.

_________________
Gary Eastridge
http://www.randgfirearms.com

I have an early PM9. Its a great gun. No malfuncation, ever. Small , light, easy to conceal and accurate enough for 25 yard torso shots.

Good luck,

Mike

I'm not a 'smith, but here is what I've seen-

1...
Expect to "break them in".
The few times I've heard of a problem with a Kahr functioning reliably, in almost every case, it went away after being shot some more.
They are a little "tight" to begin with.

2....
I had an MK9 (the smaller of the steel frame models) for a while, and I liked almost everything about it. The one thing that bothered me was the recoil spring system. It had a lack of "oomph" for the last 1/4 inch of slide travel on closing.

The MK-size has a dual, telescoping recoil spring and spring guide system (Seecamp design, I believe). If I remember right, that last little bit of slide travel that was weak was where it changed over to being pushed by just one of the two springs.

I only had a few failures of the slide to completely close, BUT it was with reloaded ammo that had been stored in our garage for a few years.

Let me be clear on that- It functioned 100% with all the factory ammo I shot in it (CorBon 115 +P, Federal 9BPLE 115 +P, and Winchester USA 115 FMJ).

Still, it made me nervous, and I traded it off. See #4 below, however.

I have heard that Kahr chambers run on the "tight" side, but cannot confirm that. The combination of weak springing, reloaded ammo, and tight chamber could certainly cause the few problems I had.

The standard size K9 and the Covert (short MK grip, standard length barrel and slide) models have a single recoil spring. Any I've shot or handled did not have that "weak sprung" feeling.

3....
I was taking a defensive pistol class last fall, and one of my classmates shot a Kahr. I didn't catch which model, but it was a 9mm.
With class time, we only shot 55-60 rounds the first day. Early in the second day, that Kahr broke. The slide stop pin snapped off.

That was probably a freak thing. I have never even heard a rumor of that happening on them.
But, considering the importance of their intended use, I felt I should mention it.

As an aside, I expected to learn a lot in that class, but was surprised to learn how many guns failed....and so quickly. We fired only a little under 250 rounds, had 19 people, and at least four or five had guns that broke bad enough that they had to use replacement guns.
So that Kahr was not alone.

4.....
I got another Kahr in November or December for carry use. Seeing that one break in the class didn't scare me away.
I did get a PM9 Covert this time. They have the standard length slide with a single recoil spring. I have had zero trouble with it. I haven't had it long enough to put a ton of ammo through it yet, so time will tell. But I have shot enough to have the confidence to carry it.

5....
A lot of people complain that the slide stop's lower rear corner is left too sharp, and cuts their thumb. When I had my first one, I thought that corner was left to sharp, but it didn't bite me.

When I got the PM9, I got bit.
The Kahr polymer frames don't have grip panels like the steel frames. Those grip panels shield the slide stop some. On the polymer frame, it's sticking out there unguarded. I rounded the corner with a stone and it's fine.

6....
Speaking of grip panels, different models come with grip panels made of different material. I know that is important to many. The standard size K9 and K40 have rubber grip panels made by Hogue. The MK9 and MK40 have plastic (really hard rubber probably) grip panels. Any of the "big" ones I've seen, the T9, have wood panels.