CW40 Kahr Slide lock problem (solved)

[diastiss]

Edit: Problem solved. The slide lock spring was bent into the slide and not hitting the protrusion on the slide lock. Kahr is sending a new spring. I bent the one i have in now and it works great Thanks for all the help guys hope this can save someone else some headache :)



Hey guys,

Anyone else having a problem with thier Kahr CW40 where the slide lock will stay open after just about every shot? I shot @90 rounds today (fired for the first time after 11/23/09 purchase new) I have the reciept from gun show purchase through a retailer at a gun show. I just registered the gun at khar.com, and will call tommorrow to see if I can send the gun in.

Brand new gun purchased for self defense and can only shoot one shot then have to press the release to get it to chamber the next round. I did have about 3 shots that chambered themselves but for the most part had to press the release. I had to pull the slide back a few times too. Pretty damn aggrivating at the range today

Any suggestions?

[Greybeard]

First thing I would try would be using another magazine. But, I realize the "econo CW version" may not have but 1 in the box.

[mossytxn]

I seem to remember a 200 round break in outlined in their manual. Did you clean all the gunk out first?

Also, I'll echo the new magazine advice.

[TheBrit]

Check the follower on the magazine. I had a similar problem with my Kahr PM40 when the follower cracked and would miss-feed the next round.
Kahr had a batch of bad followers when I bought mine (early 2007 I think) - they rectified the problem by changing the material used to make the follower.

Whilst I'm sure your follower is not made of the same faulty material mine was, it may simply be broken. Its a quick check too.

FYI, to truly see where mine was broken you had to disassemble the follower. It wasn't obvious a piece was broken until you examined the follower out of the magazine - in my case the follower would tilt because a piece was broken off that normally was inside the magazine and not visible.

[diastiss]

yea the cw only has one mag, im gonna buy another soon for extra anyway. I didn't clean it yet cause it wasn't fired from new except when i just brought it to the range. There is a 200 round break in but i don't think it's supposed to have this happen, it's ridiculous.

i'm not sure what a follower is i'm a newb with the terminology :/

[WildBill]

yea the cw only has one mag, im gonna buy another soon for extra anyway. I didn't clean it yet cause it wasn't fired from new except when i just brought it to the range. There is a 200 round break in but i don't think it's supposed to have this happen, it's ridiculous.

i'm not sure what a follower is i'm a newb with the terminology :/

The follower is the metal or plastic piece on the top of the magazine spring that pushes the cartridge up. The proper force and angle of the cartridge is required for proper feeding.

[Excaliber]

Hey guys,

Anyone else having a problem with thier Kahr CW40 where the slide lock will stay open after just about every shot? I shot @90 rounds today (fired for the first time after 11/23/09 purchase new) I have the reciept from gun show purchase through a retailer at a gun show. I just registered the gun at khar.com, and will call tommorrow to see if I can send the gun in.

Brand new gun purchased for self defense and can only shoot one shot then have to press the release to get it to chamber the next round. I did have about 3 shots that chambered themselves but for the most part had to press the release. I had to pull the slide back a few times too. Pretty darn aggrivating at the range today

Any suggestions?

You didn't indicate if you were shooting two handed or one handed. If you were shooting two handed, try shooting with only one hand and see if the problem goes away. If so, the issue is probably caused by part of your support hand (most likely the thumb) putting just enough upward pressure on the slide release to cause it to lock back the slide as it cycles. This is easy to do with the small Kahr guns, and happened with my PM40. I had expected this might be an issue due to my big mitts on a small gun, and made a few subtle adjustments to my grip technique that fixed the problem easily.

After several hundred rounds, I also experienced the same broken magazine follower issue TheBrit described. It didn't cause the slide to lock back, but rounds would not feed reliably from the magazine. In my case also, the magazine had to be disassembled before the break could be seen and the two broken pieces removed. The break was on one of the follower legs that then allowed it to tilt and change the feed angle to one that wouldn[t work.

You disassemble the magazine by pushing and holding in the round pin on the magazine floorplate and pushing the floorplate forward off the magazine tube. This will allow the spring and follower to be removed. Reassembly is accomplished by the same steps in reverse order.

If that turns out to be the problem, just call Kahr - they'll send out a new follower without the need to send back the gun or magazine.

[Aggiedad]

My wife's CW9 fails to feed with a fully loaded magazine so I leave out the last round (so it's loaded with 6+1 instead of 7+1), and my spare mag is loaded with 6 ...

[TheBrit]

You disassemble the magazine by pushing and holding in the round pin on the magazine floorplate and pushing the floorplate forward off the magazine tube. This will allow the spring and follower to be removed.

If you have not done this before, please do this carefully! The spring may fly out, so make sure you are wearing your safety glasses! (it is not under a lot of pressure, but enough were it could hit you in your eye).

[Cosmo 9]

I'm not sure where I read this and it's been awhile but I think I read that some of the wrong slide releases were used (9 vs 40)
The slide release may be hitting each round instead of the follower when empty. If this is the case you can fix it by filing or since it's new just send it back and let Kahr deal with it.

[diastiss]

i completely disassymbled the gun and mag yesterday, same problem. I shot a few rounds with just one hand (only to test my arm strength at the range and it still locked. I do believe it is either a mag problem or the slide lock is malfunctioning somehow.

when i load the mag, i chamber the first found with the slide lock. when i pull the slide back and it ejects the round it should slide back forward and chamber the next round right? and not get stuck again?

[Cosmo 9]

Give this a try. remove the slide from the frame, reinsert the slide release. Now insert an empty mag and you can see the part of the slide release that hits the mag follower. Now insert a mag with a round or two in it and see if that part hits the side of the bullit rather than clearing it and catching the follower. I'd still let Kahr take care of it but atleast you'll know they're doing what needs to be done and you will know how these parts funtion in the future.

ps. it was the XD's I read this about not Kahrs.

[TheBrit]

when i load the mag, i chamber the first found with the slide lock. when i pull the slide back and it ejects the round it should slide back forward and chamber the next round right? and not get stuck again?

Well yeah kinda. In action (when shooting), YES. When doing it manually you have to simulate the action, pulling back the slide slowly will not make a clean ejection, so the theory breaks down - if you are unsure at all (as you admitted you are) I would not concern yourself with how it operates when racking the slide by hand, with little experience its easy to mess this up.

[NTexas_V-Star]

I don't have any personal experience with it, but a friend of mine who is a police officer in Denison Tx had the same problem you're having.

I'm not sure how it was resolved; just letting you know you're not alone.

[diastiss]

Give this a try. remove the slide from the frame, reinsert the slide release. Now insert an empty mag and you can see the part of the slide release that hits the mag follower. Now insert a mag with a round or two in it and see if that part hits the side of the bullit rather than clearing it and catching the follower. I'd still let Kahr take care of it but atleast you'll know they're doing what needs to be done and you will know how these parts funtion in the future.

ps. it was the XD's I read this about not Kahrs.

Good info! thanks i checked it out and it does clear. I think i might be just holding the damn gun wrong like Excaliber mentioned I noticed that if i just have the slightest pressure on the slide lock with my thumb it'll cause the slide to lock.