Kahr Arms - Kahr Design

Kahr Design

The Kahr action is a Browning locked-breech design featuring a striker-operated firing pin with a passive firing pin safety, making it a true hammerless action. When the trigger is pulled, the trigger bar begins to rotate a double-lobed cocking cam. This cam simultaneously begins to draw the striker to the rear, compressing the spring behind it, while depressing and deactivating the firing pin block. At the end of the trigger's travel, the lobe contacting the striker slips off the striker and releases it; the other lobe has, by this point, completely depressed the firing pin block and permitted the striker to snap forward and strike the primer. This single piece takes the place of more complicated and fragile designs employed in other pistols. It is similar in principle, though very different in execution, to the action design of Glocks. It also allows the firing pin block to be located further to the rear of the slide and therefore further from possible contamination by combustion gases and powder fouling. For this innovation, Justin Moon was awarded one of the five patents he owns on the Kahr pistol design. This system is employed on all Kahr pistols, regardless of frame material, size, or caliber.

The Kahr trigger is similar to a double-action revolver, with a short 3/8 inch trigger travel. On polymer-framed models, the slide travels on steel inserts that are permanently set into the polymer frame. There are also polymer rails, which are not structurally functional, but aid in keeping out dirt, and with aligning the slide when reassembling the slide onto the polymer frame. In steel framed versions, the rail design is traditional and very similar to that of the M1911 pistol. Kahr pistols have their feed ramps offset to the left, which allows the trigger draw bar to lie flatter against the right side of the frame. This feature helps the Kahr pistol line to achieve a slide width of .90 of an inch in 9mm and .40 S&W models, and 1.01 inches when chambered in .45ACP, narrower than many popular pistols.

The initial Kahr offering, the K9, provided a full-power 9mm Parabellum pistol that was virtually the same size, and in some dimensions, smaller, as widely accepted "Pocket Pistol" .380ACP and .32 ACP handguns such as the Walther PP and PPK/S, as well as the Sig-Sauer P230/232, and the Beretta "80" Series.

With the introduction of the K9's brother, the P9 (and soon thereafter, the P40) they not only matched size, but offered these service calibered weapons in a format sometimes weighing several ounces less than these respected arms.

Kahr offers a line of "economy" pistols which are identical to the P series of pistols except that some luxury features are eliminated to cut costs. The polymer-frame CW economy models have fewer machining operations, pinned-in front sights rather than dovetail, traditional rifling rather than polygonal rifling, engraved rather than "rolled-on" lettering, and come with only one magazine. CW pistols generally retail for approximately 20% - 30% less than the full-featured P series. The E series is a discontinued line of Kahr economy pistols with stainless frame; the E series was discontinued in 2004.