Difficult to charge the Kriss

joewil1215 wrote:Sent mine back to Kriss for the hard charging issue. They said they could not find any out of tolerance issues. I asked them to carefully look at the spring. They said everything was ok, so they sent it back. Amazingly when I got it back it charged with half the force when I received it. They must have done something, but don't want to admit they have some charging issues. Call them and ask for a RMA and a UPS label and send it back.

I sent mine back and they said it works fine. So now I will wait and see how it is. Some guy named Charlie said he will add a video showing me how easy it works.

Charlie is great. He is the head gunsmith.

So I got my KRISS back yesterday and even though they said it was fine I know they did something to it because now I can pull that charging handle back. All is well. Charlie is the man.

The SBR I orderd in Feb. arrived at my local dealer last Thursday. Friday morning I was there early and inspected it. Looked first class, but I, like the rest of you had a hard time cycling the action. After asking the dealer about it, he said it'll loosen up with use. I went ahead and did the paperwork for it and a Gemtech Blackside can. It's in the mail to BATFE. I later emailed Evan Mcnamara, with Kriss. He had one of their smiths email me and instructed me to give it a good cleaning and "grease" everything good, and it should get better after shooting it some. Unfortunatly I have to wait for my stamps to come back, to give it a try. He also said to grasp the charging handle as close to the receiver as possible and it would be easier. Maybe one of you can give it a try and let us know if it helps. Thanks

I should have been more specific on my prior post, the smith recomended light oil not grease. sorry

Mozzer101 wrote:...Some guy named Charlie said he will add a video showing me how easy it works.

Did this video make it over to you? If so, it would be good to post it up so others can see how easy it is supposed to work.

Just watch any of my Action Pistol match videos. You can see when I "load and make ready" that it is rather easy.

Solscud007 wrote:..it is rather easy.

Yes, but if Charlie sent one, I'd like to see his... just for sport.

No they never sent a video.

O.K. so has anyone officially found out what the charging issue is - I can't move my bolt at all seriously ridiculous...

Mine was extremely stiff to start. I've only had a chance to shoot around 50 rounds through it. After I took it apart and oiled and cleaned it once more and it seems to be looser. Still a little stiff, but I'm sure it'll wear in.

MIne was hard when I got it, been that way my whole life but my wife loves it.....

Seriously though, mine is difficult to charge and even after..oh..say 3K rounds it aint got no easier. What I did discover though is that it defintely likes a simple gun oil like CLP. I tried all the hi speed greases, moly this teflon that and plain old CLP helps the most with the charging issue. Dont ask me why.

I noticed mine is not to bad

This going back simply unacceptable for a +$1500 rifle to be like this ... Sent back today, done with Kriss ...

I picked up my California vector CRB Wednesday evening. Put another 100 rounds through it. 200 in total. Off the shelf I could barely move the charging handle. The last quarter inch was even harder. I soaked it in O85 the first time I shot it. A little better but still a pain. Plus i'm not a fan of getting lube all over me every time i shoot off my guns.

Tonight I completely broke it down. Lots of particulate matter inside. Gritty. I gave it a supper thorough cleaning and greased the charging handle, all the tracks for the bolt assembly, and oiled/greased the recoil spring. Charging handle takes strength but it's running like butter now! So glad I don't have to send it to Kriss.

One note, the geometry of the charging mechanism with pivoting handle does tend to put a great deal of the force towards the ejector side of the weapon instead of directing it all rearward. If this had a fixed handle (like a 10/22) we wouldn't have this problem. Minor sacrifice but I hope the folks at Kriss look into improving this. As others have mentioned, if you move your hand closer to the body you can better direct the force vector rearward.

When you have it apart, make sure and apply some good slide grease to the front and back of the block the bar goes in and out of. It will get better.

I was unimpressed with gaping uneven joints on the exterior body, but I have to say, the engineering on the inside is actually pretty good. Solid metal parts everywhere it matters. Although my ejection port is already showing signs of wear.

I whipped out my calipers and measured out the light port. I'm planning on putting up some measured illustrations on that and my Surefire E1B. More on that to follow.

- happy shooting!

Again, for over $1500 this should be a precision firearm not full of quirks and bullshit problems. It's like a Taurus at Wilson Combat prices...

Agree with you completely, Paladin.

I'm going relate this to Honda vs. BMW. I had absolutely no problems with my accords compared to the loads and loads of issues I've had with my 530 and my 550. The BMW's cost more than twice what I'd dropped on my Accord LX and EX. However, Honda sells more Accords in less than three months than BMW sells 5ivers in a year. Sometimes it takes BMW an entire model change before they can remedy an issue. Honda can usually retool and fix on their next production run.

I still love my ultimate driving machine. BMW made up for their issues by bringing superior products to the the market place and through stellar customer service. As a result they crawled out of being a small boutique car company and a legitimate force to be reckoned with.

Hopefully Kriss's customer service will make up for their shortcomings and the end product will be worthy of some of the issues their customers must go through as part of the ownership experience. I have not dealt with them personally... yet. Sounds like others have had less than satisfactory interactions.

It's double dissappointing that my CRB came with a cheezy hard plastic case that doesn't even close properly (Like the Plano case you can buy at Walmart for $10 on sale), only one mag, and a harbor freight quality folding toolkit. Just doesn't match the weapon - or maybe it does? Kudos to Kriss for including the Otis kit. Big points! too bad it didn't come in the Otis zipper case. Can't win em all.

Sho530ia wrote:It's double dissappointing that my CRB came with a cheezy hard plastic case that doesn't even close properly (Like the Plano case you can buy at Walmart for $10 on sale), only one mag, and a harbor freight quality folding toolkit. Just doesn't match the weapon - or maybe it does? Kudos to Kriss for including the Otis kit. Big points! too bad it didn't come in the Otis zipper case. Can't win em all.

Am I glad you said all that - that was another problem I had with this weapon - in a nut shell "Just plain Cheesey" - not remotely indicative of what you should get for paying +$1500.00 for a rifle.

Place the Kriss next to a Daniel Defense DDM4 V series rifle and it's like NIGHT & DAY - Daniel Defense blows them away in every respect and for $300 less per rifle... Just sayin...

that plastic case is shitty for sure, sbr case is same case as 16" also. im just going to fold the stock and keep it in backpack, if my stamp ever comes back...

I gave my case to my son so he could put his airsoft gun in it

I use it for my AR.

This is what worked for me. I had my KRISS CRB for about 8 days & already put 600 rounds. I have to admit that the 1st day it was difficult to rack it back..Read the manual & lubed as instructed . When I first shot the Kriss It was difficult to rack it back but once I did & released the bolt forward with a full mag. I did not do any rapid fire. I was just shooting at 15-25 yds at targets. After an empty mag I never released the bolt forward. Changed mags & continued firing at targets & again no rapid fire. Once I was done with about 150rds, I left the bolt back after the last round. Once I got home I cleaned & lubed especially the spring on the slider assembly, last thing I did was charged it back, it was about the same but left the bolt locked back. 3 days later went to the range & went through 50rds & left the bolt locked back after the last round. Repeated the cleaning when I got home & racked it back noticed a difference as it was easier than the first time & locked the bolt back never sending it forward. Today 3 days later I tested some different ammo, 30 rounds rapid fire, mag change & 13 rounds rapid fire X 3. Just seeing what ammo works well with my KRISS & also practicing mag changes, clearing jams & charging it back which gotten A LOT easier than the 1st day of shooting. Also was able to charge the handle back & depress the bolt catch lever all in one pull. After cleaning and lubing I just practiced charging it back & Releasing, Also depressing the bolt catch lever while pulling the charging handle...Easy day no charging issues.

DV8 wrote:This is what worked for me. ...left the bolt locked back after the last round...

Thanks for sharing! It would be interesting for others with the hard charging issue to try keeping their bolt locked back as you did to see if it helps them too.

Well I stopped into my local LGS today to get some gear for 3Gun next week. They restocked and got another carbine. I asked to see it and racked the charging handle. It definitely takes a lot more force than mine. Not so bad that I was struggling with it, but it was indeed noticeable.

Hey everyone well when i went to DROS my carbine the initial racking of the slide was easy. Then i tried it again...easy...then again and wow that thing was stuck. I asked the guy at the LGS and he said you cant really be scared to rack it. So i pulled and there go! But if you had to rack it like that in self defense i hate to think of the outcome. I pick mine up tuesday and after i strip it down and lube it ill let you all know what the outcome is maybe a range test as well, just got a 1911 also and what a perfect time to try out both!