My Kahr factory experaince and what I learned

[Johannes_Paulsen]

That's a shame. I recall when I bought my first Kahr - which was also my first handgun - there was a lady named Dotty who was in charge of customer service. She answered emails quickly, returned calls, and generally went above and beyond to help customers with problems. I heard that she left a while back, and it sounds as though the company has not found someone who can fill her shoes yet.

 

[FITASC]

I know that all companies turn out lemons once in a while, but the ideal company would be one that doesn't need a CS section.

And if more companies in the US had followed the teachings of Charles Deming like the Japanese car companies did decades ago (but now have stopped), QA/QC is built in before manufacturing and thus the product is good going out the door. Unfortunately, it seems in today's market that little bit of upfront expense is sacrificed and then the back door costs eat their lunch.

You do not hear about recalls on Rolls Royce or Holland and Holland, because it doesn't leave the factory if it less than perfect.

 

[oldcabin]

Thank you for the link.
And thanks to all who posted suggestions and things to look at. I will hopefully tear it down in a few days and run down the list of all the tips. All said I do want it up and running again.

Rolls Royce has the quality built into the price. For double the $$ I'm sure Kahr could run 1,000 rounds through it first. Maybe thats an idea.. instead of a performance series, how about a "proven performance" series. Ha.

 

[vyse.04]

Sorry to hear about your experiences with Kahr, it always sucks to feel like you are getting the run around. I contacted them once for an issue I had with my CW45 (spring holding slide lock was out of spec), and they had a replacement sent out in about a week... No problems since. Your issue may not be so easy to diagnose, but hopefully it gets resolved none the less.

 

[Shadi Khalil]

Johannes Paulsen,

I'm remember Dotty, she was very polite and helpful. Her and Victoria at Sig are CS legends in the gun world.

 

[Rinspeed]

I know that all companies turn out lemons once in a while, but the ideal company would be one that doesn't need a CS section.

That's a good point Jim and one I've mentioned a couple times. There is one 1911 manufacturer that in every other post someone talks about how great their customer service is. Well, if their pistols were all that no one would know how "great" their customer service was.

 

[Sequins]

Tight tolerance 1911s have a lot of problems, actually. We hear about how good dan wesson is just as often as how bad kimber is.

 

[Ride Madone]

Never, and I mean never stretch a spring. It will ruin it faster than anything else you can do to it.

 

[Armybrat]

Lucky me - I've been carrying Kahrs for years (PM9, CW45, and CT380) without a problem.
But yeah, have also read about their spotty CS.

Seems like those with complaints on these boards can cover EVERY make of gun. If I relied on Internet anecdotes to guide my purchases I'd probably be carrying a baseball bat instead of a firearm.

And automobiles? Fuhgeddahboutit - ride a bicycle.

 

[skizzums]

outside of a critical failure(broken slide/pin/hammer/trigger) or light strikes, I find it much easier to diagnose the problem myself and see if I have the fix in my toolbox, or at least can just call CS and say I need you to send me a "blankity spring roll indexer pin catcher" and install the failed component myself. it sure speeds things up a bunch and I usually learn something in the process. if you go to the smithy section and tel clearly the exact circumstances of your failures, i'll bet they could help you get back up and running for pennies on the dollar over shipping back to factory.

if the gun worked before and now it doesn't, then something has changed, obviously, and that something is probably simple

 

[oldcabin]

Agreed, all of the replys are great. I am actually looking deeper into learning to fix this and that. I was able to get into it today and look around. After reading several posts on what to look for, it's amazing how much I hadn't noticed before, good and bad.
I like the product and company, just not thrilled with the encounter on the phone. Still waiting on the recoil spring.
#1 polished like crazy. Anywhere i thought there could be drag, and were the posts said to.
#2 my mag follower does nose dive and it does have the new style mag with the rectangular not round mark. Spring is in correctly. And the follower does hit the mag release. I.polished the mag lips too.
#3 cleaned alot. I learned tips from all the suggested posts. after a while I called it a day and will wait on the spring. Any more time on the workbench and I may start stippling the frame.
I will say that this is going to make me a better cleaner and more educated owner in the end.

 

[O'Dell]

I've had eight Kahrs over the last 10 or 12 years, [still have 4] and I have yet to have a function problem with any of them. However, several years ago I had a cosmetic problem with a PM45 I bought used. I called and Kahr said send it back knowing that it was bought used, so I did. They replaced the slide, polished the ramp and generally refurbished the pistol, all under warranty, and shipped it back within 10 days.

From the Kahrtalk forum, I understand that their CS has slipped a few notches since then, and I think that's a real shame. They obviously know how to do it, and I hape they get their act together.

 

[oldcabin]

I hope they do too. I like their pistols and want them around. It will be a week or so until I can get another few boxes of ammo through, so it's hard to know if I have fixed this or not. I have the new spring in, all the things people suggested to look at or poIish, sand, buff, check, clean etc.. For now it is chambering and extracting correctly. It actually feels smoother and easier.


I have become I think well educated on this. Obviously we'd like there never to be problems, and when there are, someone to fix it, preferably right away, and for free....
But thats not how it works. I learned a lot through this. It may have been the hard way, but it got me looking at things in a new way. I guess that is as good as any reason. SO if things happen to one of my firearms in the future, I now know there are things i can do on my end first. Thanks to all.

 

[Sequins]

Oldcabin, way to go man. After a while it's almost fun to go to work on em. I enjoy changing springs and cleaning at this point.

Your attitude in this matter deserves to be emulated.

 

[Hunter0924]

I have had only 1 experience with Kahr customer service with a pistol that misbehaved on occasion.
They paid for shipping both ways and corrected the problem the first trip in.