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boing · December 18, 2000, 05:17 AM

For no particular reason, the 4 handguns I bought this year have all been second-hand. They've also all had problems from the get-go, some minor, some not so minor.

Glock 19- feed failures from a bad mag spring (easily replaced)

SA1911- bent trigger bars keeping the trigger from re-setting (easily unbent), weirdo slide stop that wouldn't engage the follower (easily replaced, but requiring fitting, which was a pain), still might need a reliability job (extensive function testing got put on hold for various reasons)

Glock 30- Just Plain Sucks (going back to Glock Inc)

Anyway, last week I got my CCW

, so I bought a Kahr K9 to celebrate. It beat out the Kahr P9, Kel-Tec P32, and G26...largely because of feel. The grip sold me.

I took the K9 into the range with some ball (commercial reloads) and CorBon. When I tried to chamber the first round of ball from slide lock, the gun went to 1/4 inch out of battery and locked up. I could jiggle the slide back and forth a bit, but it wouldn't budge any more in either direction. My dealer finally whacked it open, and I tried again; same thing, except I cut my hand whacking the action open myself (pinched between the rails, ouch). The CorBon would chamber, but mis-fed twice. Here we go again...

But here comes my dealer/smith to the rescue! Apparently the older Kahrs had really tight chambers, something the company fixed in later production runs(?)
He kept it overnight to ream out the chamber, polish this and that, and generally do his thing. I came back the next day and spent the afternoon putting lead downrange. Hey, he fixed it!

The little gun ran as smooth as could be. It's quite accurate, and easy to shoot, even with the CorBon. The rubber Hogue grips fit well and soak up the recoil. The trigger takes some getting used to as compared to the short Glock trigger, but the Kahr's is much smoother.

I have two issues with the K9. First, using my normal grip, my trigger finger bumps into the thumb of my support hand. I either have to point my thumb downrange (which is a very un-natural feeling), or pull the trigger with just the tip of my finger. Still an un-natural feeling, but not nearly as much, so that's what I'm practicing.

Second, there are some sharp corners in bad places. The rear of the frame digs into my thumb knuckle after awhile, and the slide stop lever is no joy to press. I'm going to have both those areas taken down by my dealer soon.

Oh, and the trigger itself seems a little wide, but that's not really a big deal.

So right now I stand at 2 pistols made reliable (G19 and K9), one as yet undetermined (Springfield), and one POS (G30). I don't go out and search for used gun deals, they just happen to be there when I am. I start to wonder if the previous owners dumped the guns because they had problems with them. I dunno. What I do know is that if I buy a gun from my dealer and it doesn't work as it should, he will make it right, free of charge. And after all the horror stories I've heard about ignorant, unethical FFls, that kind of service has earned him 100% of my business.

December 18, 2000, 05:17 AM	#1
boing Senior Member Join Date: December 24, 1998 Location: WNC Posts: 1,072	For no particular reason, the 4 handguns I bought this year have all been second-hand. They've also all had problems from the get-go, some minor, some not so minor. Glock 19- feed failures from a bad mag spring (easily replaced) SA1911- bent trigger bars keeping the trigger from re-setting (easily unbent), weirdo slide stop that wouldn't engage the follower (easily replaced, but requiring fitting, which was a pain), still might need a reliability job (extensive function testing got put on hold for various reasons) Glock 30- Just Plain Sucks (going back to Glock Inc) Anyway, last week I got my CCW , so I bought a Kahr K9 to celebrate. It beat out the Kahr P9, Kel-Tec P32, and G26...largely because of feel. The grip sold me. I took the K9 into the range with some ball (commercial reloads) and CorBon. When I tried to chamber the first round of ball from slide lock, the gun went to 1/4 inch out of battery and locked up. I could jiggle the slide back and forth a bit, but it wouldn't budge any more in either direction. My dealer finally whacked it open, and I tried again; same thing, except I cut my hand whacking the action open myself (pinched between the rails, ouch). The CorBon would chamber, but mis-fed twice. Here we go again... But here comes my dealer/smith to the rescue! Apparently the older Kahrs had really tight chambers, something the company fixed in later production runs(?) He kept it overnight to ream out the chamber, polish this and that, and generally do his thing. I came back the next day and spent the afternoon putting lead downrange. Hey, he fixed it! The little gun ran as smooth as could be. It's quite accurate, and easy to shoot, even with the CorBon. The rubber Hogue grips fit well and soak up the recoil. The trigger takes some getting used to as compared to the short Glock trigger, but the Kahr's is much smoother. I have two issues with the K9. First, using my normal grip, my trigger finger bumps into the thumb of my support hand. I either have to point my thumb downrange (which is a very un-natural feeling), or pull the trigger with just the tip of my finger. Still an un-natural feeling, but not nearly as much, so that's what I'm practicing. Second, there are some sharp corners in bad places. The rear of the frame digs into my thumb knuckle after awhile, and the slide stop lever is no joy to press. I'm going to have both those areas taken down by my dealer soon. Oh, and the trigger itself seems a little wide, but that's not really a big deal. So right now I stand at 2 pistols made reliable (G19 and K9), one as yet undetermined (Springfield), and one POS (G30). I don't go out and search for used gun deals, they just happen to be there when I am. I start to wonder if the previous owners dumped the guns because they had problems with them. I dunno. What I do know is that if I buy a gun from my dealer and it doesn't work as it should, he will make it right, free of charge. And after all the horror stories I've heard about ignorant, unethical FFls, that kind of service has earned him 100% of my business.