[KYCCDWINST]

Hello, I signed up here just to hear from other Kahr owners. I bought a P45 brand new, and have had horrific Failure to Feed and Failure to Fire problems with it from day one!

Background. I have been shooting for 35 years, reloading for 20. I teach several pistol courses including Concealed Carry in my home state. I humbly believe I have enough experience to speak from a position of authority.

I bought the P45 because I wanted a lighter, slimmer carry gun in lieu of the 1911 style I had been carrying. Several other CCDW Instructors here rave about all Kahrs, and between the 5 others I know, they must own 12-14 of P45's, P9's etc. They all love them. I shot several of them myself, and bought one.

Right out of the box, this gun could barely, and I mean BARELY even chamber a round from either mag! Rounds got so jacked up in there that I had to drop the mag and work on the slide for 10 minutes just to pop the round free! I shot only two shots with this thing before it went back to Kahr. The first agent I spoke to suggested right off the bat that perhaps I was not using SAAMI spec ammo. I immediately felt a strong sense of buyers remorse and dread.

Kahr did service the gun quickly, and the returned gun had a note that "Throat reworked. Test fired OK" Well, I got it back and the same dang thing was still happening. Using factory Winchester, Hornady, or Federal in everything from 185gr to 230gr ball or HP didn't matter. This was one of the most frustrating days I ever had with a firearm. I then took all of that ammo the P45 couldn't handle, dropped it all into the 1911, and as I wrote in my letter "BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!!!!"

The 2nd time it went back to Kahr, I told them in no uncertain terms that the Instructor community here was aghast at the problems I was having, and they just couldn't figure out why. Kahr returned the pistol to me with the note "New barrel. New extractor. Test fired OK".

Well now the gun misfeeds/jams at least 2 rounds of every six in the mag. It doesn't matter what mag I use, or what Ammo I use. I have requested Kahr to replace the firearm, as I believe there is clearly something fundamentally wrong....I mean to say that there was a mistake in the manufacture.

Has anyone had a similar experience? I've got $600 wrapped up in this thing, and a whole lot of trouble.......

 

[ron54]

First off welcome to the forum..........Sorry to hear about your bad experience with the gun. I have owned 4 different Kahr guns and outside a couple of ftf's during the first 100 rounds on 2 of them, no issues after that. From what you say it unfortunately sounds like you did get a lemon. I would do the same as you have done ask to have the gun replaced. As you said the others that have Kahrs love them, I feel the same about mine. Sometimes a bad one gets out there. I hope they make it right for you......!!!

 

[Toney]

Howdy!!! Sorry to hear about you problems, send it in again! !!

 

[KYCCDWINST]

Thanks to you both for the reply. The more I talk to people it seems that I did get a "lemon". I do believe something, frame included, is off by 50 thousandths or so, so that no matter what is done now, it won't remedy the problem. I asked the Head of Cust Serv via VM for either a replacement pistol (entirely new parts incl frame) or to buy the gun back, and at this point I think this is fair, after all, the gun HAS been back to Kahr twice already. I will let you know. Thanks,

 

[ron54]

Best of luck, hoping they make it right for you.......let us know how it turns out...........

 

[KYCCDWINST]

I am waiting to hear back from Tim Pearce, head of CS. We will see.

Unfortunately, there is a greater problem here than a lemon gun. It is the fact that the gun has been back to Kahr 2 x already, and is not fixed.........

 

[KYCCDWINST]

Well, here is the update. I called today, being Friday, and I have not heard back from Joe Mayo, or Tim Pearce, or any other person from Kahr regarding my problems. I just left Mr. Pearce a 2nd voicemail and 3rd email. I called the switchboard and was completely stonewalled. All they could say was "send it in". No one would talk to me. I think that I have bought a lemon from a lemon factory. I give Kahr Customer "service" and "F".

I am sending back this P45 POS back for a THIRD TIME with a scathing letter. Time to hit all the other bulletin boards.

 

[Toney]

Really sorry to hear about your problems!!! You could have bought something like my db9!!! Gave mine to my sil cause I wouldn't sell it!!!!
It always sucks to get a bad one, at least when you get it right you will have something.

 

[ron54]

Wow.....sorry again to hear about your ongoing problem with the gun. As Toney said it sucks when you have a problem like that and have to keep sending it in. Hopefully they get it right and it will be a good gun. These things happen with all brands of guns. I look at other forums and see guys have horrible problems with S&W bodyguards & shields, Sig p238s, Beretta nanos, Kimber solos, to name a few specific models. These folks have sent their guns back for much the same reasons you have, multiple times. And while it might be little consolation to you when you are the one having a problem, it can happen no matter what make of gun you get. Kahr is a good gun, you happened to get a problem one, hope they get it right for you this time.......!!!!!

 

[KYCCDWINST]

MY FIRST KAHR WILL BE MY LAST KAHR!

On my P45's THIRD TRIP BACK, I still have no answers. I am at the end of the 3rd week, and I have not heard back from Tim Pearce at all, and you, the stupid customer, are not allowed to ask for anyone else.

Brand new gun out of the box couldn't even chamber Winchester Ball ammo! Forget Hornady Critical Defense! Federal Hydroshok? You must be joking! I fought with it to get only 2 rounds fired before it went back (along with the two ejected cases it was tearing the sides out of!) Kahr said they "reworked throat".

Second trip back for same thing, but improved to 30% reliability. This time, another 2 weeks, came back with "New barrel, new extractor". Well, it still hangs up at least one round per mag of six, and it doesn't matter what brand of factory ammo I try.

3rd trip back! Enough is Enough. I know lots of satisfied Kahr owners, but clearly something is off with this particular gun, so just be decent and admit it. I wrote to Tim Pearce asking for what is reasonable at this point: Buy it back from me, or replace it with an entirely new gun. Whatever paperwork needs to be done is fine. I have no faith in this particular unit.

But NO! They are intent on fixing this POS and sending back to me, hopefully by October! I have no money, no gun, and no answers. Who thinks I should tolerate this? I have sent guns back for work or warranty to other Manufacturers and have never experienced something like this. What's a guy to do???????

 

[Toney]

I imagine their swamped with all the craziness, don't think its just Kahr that's way behind.

 

[KYCCDWINST]

Okay, final update.

ALL IS WELL NOW! I did receive the Kahr P45 back. I do know, as did the company, that something was wrong the first time, but it appears that I am partially to blame. While I have 3 decades of pistol shooting, teaching, and competition experience, this pistol has such a sharp "bark" and short slide stroke, that unless I really squeeze super tight, it will malfunction. (I have larger hands and rather long fingers, making it harder to hold.). One thing I am going to do is buy some extras springs and experiment too see if I can improve reliability without squeezing so hard.

As I mentioned to the Head of Customer service (whom I apologized too) I wanted a compact 45 which is exactly what I got. It might be too small!

But I felt it only fair to come back here and state the result. I do now think that they were buried with work, which is why it took so long, plus, I received a couple of freebies on the way back. Nice touch!

I now see that Kahr is relocating across the border from NY to PA. This may slow things down a bit, but I wish them all the best.

KYCCDWINST, signing off.

 

[Toney]

No need to run off...

 

[ron54]

Glad it worked out in the end for you. Might try Talon grips or a Houge handall on your P45, it may help with your hold on the gun.........

 

[gillygo45]

Greetings, and hang in there! Hope you get the problem resolved.

 

[dougtally]

Need Help with horrible P45 Problems!

Hey KYCCDWINST: Glad to hear you resolved it. I made a P45 purchase Sep 2013 same experience, firmed up my grip for a big difference but I'm still getting 1-2 misfeeds per/50 rounds. I may get to 100% reliability with a 'firm double handshake'. However, I have no confidence I will ever get reliability with single hand firing. I bought it for CC self-defense and it's more likely life threatening contact will be within an arms length. We know how to replace a clip with one hand but no one but Chuck Norris will defeat an armed assault at arms length with misfeeds due to recoil and single hand use.

What is your (anyone reading) experience... P45 single hand firing feed reliability?

 

[Toney]

Howdy!!! I haven't fired a kahr 45.
I haven't been able to get my cm to fail. You really don't have to hold a pistol tighter than you would holding a hammer driving a nail.

 

[clance]

I know that this thread is old but I just felt I had to put my two cent worth in.

I've own 4 Kahrs over the years, the first being one of the early K9s which replaced my Walther PPK/s. If I recall the owners manual strongly suggested that +P ammo should be used and a break in period of no less then 200 rounds should be expected before the pistol would function flawlessly. That pistol has since been traded for a first generation TP9 with the P frame that I followed the same suggestions and have had zero problems. Recently I purchase a P45 and another K9 in stainless, both used but in excellent shape. While I haven't had the chance to run the K9 through its' trials, I have shot the P45 with no functioning problems at all. I to have somewhat large hands and found that it's difficult to shoot the P45 without squeezing the crap out of the grip. I wish that Kahr would come up with a set of grip inserts like my CZ Phantom or P-09 has so that I can tailor the grip to fit my hand.

 

[Garysco]

My fix for the P45 grips

I wish that Kahr would come up with a set of grip inserts like my CZ Phantom or P-09 has so that I can tailor the grip to fit my hand.

My $8.20 Handall Jr. P45 grip solution that works great. Handall standard is for double stack guns. Use a hair dryer to pre-heat it nice and very warm, then wiggle it all the way up the grip (it will be tight) until you like the fit. Stays put forever and feels great in large hands.
http://www.amazon.com/Hogue-Rubber-Handall-Small-Sleeve/dp/B000H6GZI8

 

[ron54]

My $8.20 Handall Jr. P45 grip solution that works great. Handall standard is for double stack guns. Use a hair dryer to pre-heat it nice and very warm, then wiggle it all the way up the grip (it will be tight) until you like the fit. Stays put forever and feels great in large hands.
http://www.amazon.com/Hogue-Rubber-Handall-Small-Sleeve/dp/B000H6GZI8

View attachment 3129

They do work........