# Second Hand PM9 First Trip to Range



## Smitty79 (Oct 19, 2012)

Picked up a PM9. 5 extra mags, a Crimson Trace, 2 good quality IWB holsters, tritium sights. All for for $100 less than a base model new in the LGS. What's not to like.

Got to the range. Despite the fact that this is a 9mm and not much bigger than an LCP, it's easier to shoot than an LCP. Sights were on target. I can hit somewhere in the scoring area on an IPSC target at 25 yds out of the box. No FTFires in 100 rounds of cheap FMJ ammo.

Now the bad news. Most of the mags had FTFeeds first time through. I am thinking, darn, I've heard bad things about Kahr mags, I can never trust this gun. I had loaded all the mags with a generic Butler Creek 9mm to 45 call LULA loader and things didn't sit right. If I hand load the mags, everything, even the 7 rounder and 10 round Promag, fed perfectly.

Can anyone recommend a single stack 9mm specific loader? I want to put lots of rounds through this gun. My fingers thank you in advance.

BTW, I love the trigger for a mouse gun.


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## S9999R (Jul 29, 2013)

I REALLY like my CM9. Crazy accurate and a pleasure to shoot. I had no problem adjusting to the trigger, either. 

As for your "first round FTF problem" (I assume that you meant "failure to feed", right ?).... if that is so, I have a solution. I just went through this with my CM9, which is essentially the same pistol as the PM9. 

Check your magazines - how difficult is it to load the last round ? If it is quite difficult, as compared to the rest of the rounds, then you have the same problem as I had. To fix this, just remove TWO coils from the mag springs, then re-bend the cut end to match the original shape. This will relieve the excess spring force on the top round, which should then strip out of the mag perfectly. 

My CM9 is now 100 %. Feeds perfectly, every time.


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## Smitty79 (Oct 19, 2012)

I cleaned up all of my followers and made sure the springs were oriented correctly. This didn't help at all. What I have found is that if I chamber the round by using the slide release I never have a failure to feed problem. It's not mag related. I found this solution on the Kahr forums.


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## S9999R (Jul 29, 2013)

Smitty79 said:


> I cleaned up all of my followers and made sure the springs were oriented correctly. This didn't help at all. What I have found is that if I chamber the round by using the slide release I never have a failure to feed problem. It's not mag related. I found this solution on the Kahr forums.


Sorry to contradict you, but the problem IS "mag related". Using the slide release is what Kahr recommends. The reason it works, in SOME pistols (it changed nothing for my CM9) is because the recoil spring in the PM9/ CM9 is a relatively heavy 18 lbs..... and the slide slamming closed with such force essentially rams the cartridge into the chamber. This does not work in every example of these pistols. It only caused a more severe jam in mine, with the additional issue of damaging the bullet noses against the feed ramp, as well as jamming the bullets further back into the cases, some of the time.

Believe it or not, the specification of the magazine spring is wrong. Too many coils. This is not the first time I've seen this - it is a well known problem with the reduced capacity (10 round) mags for certain Smith & Wesson 3rd generation semi-autos. As it happens, removing two coils from those mags is the perfect solution. It happens also to eliminate the problem altogether in the CM9 - with both the standard 6 round and the longer 7 round mags.

For some reason, Kahr has yet to address this problem, since the introduction of the PM9/CM9 series a few years ago.....despite it being the most common complaint about these pistols. Perhaps the magazine supplier (or spring supplier) is the cause of the problem, not Kahr directly....I do not know.

But, you are not the first person to dismiss that idea as some sort of "voodoo". I believe that most people on the Kahr talk forum also regard this concept as something akin to craziness.

Regardless, I am glad that using the slide release works for you. Enjoy your PM9.


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## Smitty79 (Oct 19, 2012)

I guess I have to try it.


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