Difficult to charge the Kriss

I understand some peoples work just fine and dandy and the whole procedure for charging it. Im just saying mines fucking rough as hell and hard. I have it stripped right now with Gunzilla soaking into every moving part. Tomorrow ill reassemble and store with bolt back for a week or so. Put another 200 through it and see where im at.

My Kriss was hard, the LGS guy couldn't even pull it back. I had the same complaints all of you had, seemed to bind, was hard to pull etc.

I took the weapon apart and cleaned all the oil off and used a dry lube spray and grease on the grooves.

I then locked the bolt back for 24 hours.

I then fired over 600 rounds at a single range trip.

Cleaned weapon and lubed the same way I did before.

Now it charges way easier.

I plan on putting 200 through mine, next time out. But its hard to find around here and i dont have my lee dies yet. Also ive got mine reassembled after cleaning and soaking and the bolt locked back. Itll stay that way for a while till i go out again.

Read several reviews and decided I wanted one of these. Funny how none of the reviews in magazines mentioned this charging handle issue... Anyways after searching for one for months I finally found one.  I bought mine yesterday at a gun show that requires the guns be tied, so I could not check this at the show as the action was already ajar with a strap down the magwell out the ejection port. Got it home yesterday and discovered this horrid issue with the cocking handle. Packed within the case was a checklist claiming whoever (looks like YWB) packed this guns had charged the handle at least three times.  They must have been built like Arnold Scwartznegger back in his prime. This thing is a beast to charge back. What is stunning is that someone checked this and shipped it in this condition. Appalling to see this is not a new issue but has gone on for over a year.  You pay $1850 for a gun you can't use without Herculean strength.  Very disappointed and I have not even shot it yet...

Sorry to hear you are having this issue gopguy, but it is truly a joy to shoot. Once you put some lead down range you won't be disappointed anymore.

Magazine reviews are, sorry to say, full of shit. I dont know if it is a sense of duty or something else to the manufacturer but I find most reviews online to be very bland and politically correct. A few people like Nutnfancy are not afraid to pull their punches in reviewing a weapon system.

This is one of the core values of this forum. To pool our collective knowledge and bring to light issues, like the charging handle, so other KRISS owners are aware of them. KRISS USA does their best, but from a few encounters with KRISS ARMS switzerland employees they tend to strangle bad information.

You will find unbiased information here along with biased groupies here haha.

After aprox 500rds my sbr has become considerably easier.... hope this provides some encouragement

Gopguy, I posted a video on this take a look
http://www.krisstalk.com/t199p60-difficult-to-charge-the-kriss#6140

made a new video

Having taken it apart, cleaned it again and lubed it again, charging is getting better but is still a bear even following all the advice.  I left the action locked back a few days too. Hopefully this will get better with time.

It takes a while. Be patient.

I have joined what I suspect is a rather small exclusive club, the multiple Kriss CRB owners group. After searching for a Kriss for awhile with no luck and finding one last weekend, I have stumbled on another for sale and added the second gun to the stable. An acquaintance needed to raise some funds and decided to sell his at a pretty good price.  So I now own an earlier production gun in the 6K serial number range bought originally around Xmas and a more recent production in the 10K serial number range.  Here are the visible differences the newer gun and in the photos its easy to spot as I put a Knights fore grip on it, has the diamond sights. The newer one's manufacturing plate is different too. The lettering is slightly smaller and though harder to see it has the dark anodized finish in it. The older one, the lettering is in the white and bright. 

The big difference is charging the bolt back. On the earlier gun its easy, you can do it with two fingers as some folks have said here, with no problem whatsoever. The newer gun is a bear to cock, hand close to the frame and using the entire hand full force. It can be a struggle. Even after tearing it apart and cleaning it and lubricating it several times it remains difficult to run the charging handle back... its getting just a little better but not by much.  I am debating if I will send it back for warranty work as it is obvious when you compare the two this just does not seem right at all.    

I have shot the newer gun. Its accurate at 25 yards punching a tight group though slightly low and to the left. 


My buddy's gun was NIB and is still unfired as I just got it last night. I will have to report back after shooting it.  


As you can see from this shot the earlier cases the guns were shipped in were much smaller. 
 

in this you can see the old style sight on left and new style on the right. 
 

Newer gun on top and older at the bottom.




As a note to moderators, I was going to post this as a new thread but every time I tried I was automatically logged out... Not sure what is going on there.

You are too new. I cant recall the rules. But newbies have to be here for a short amount of time and have a certain amount of posts before they can start new posts.

I should think that would make the site rather stagnant. It would make more sense to get a message saying I can't start a new post rather than just log me out... Which it is still doing as I look around the site.  I actually have to clear my cookies to get logged back in.

I just got my Vector CRB yesterday NIB.  When I got home and took it out, I could not pull back the charge handle to save my life.  So, I did a search and came across this video from the Kriss warranty department.  It's been out for a while so sorry if it has already been posted.  

Doing what he demonstrates using a single finger, I started to be able to pull back the charge handle easily, but if I get my finger even a quarter inch away from the gun or try to use three fingers, the charge handle completely binds up.  I hope over time, it will get to the point that I can just grab the charge handle and yank it back, but at the moment it is too restrictive between doing it exactly right or it completely binding up. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d2-6p1DGMs

Thanks for posting that. Following the advice in the video still does not help much. One and two fingers don't cut it. Tried and tried, now the hand is sore. Three to four are a must. I can get the bolt back on my newer (10K serial number range) one but its still a bear.  I did finally shoot the older gun I a few days ago, its not as accurate, the group was OK but not the tight cluster the newer one that is hard to cock gives me. However the older one (6K range) functions fine...  If I am going to use this as a house gun I think the older one is my better choice... 


It might help if we talk about serial number ranges where this becomes a problem. Maybe we can isolate roughly during what time this became an issue. Or if there is no correlation we can establish its a hit/miss issue with the entire production.

My Kriss is in the 9200 range, and was very hard to charge. Following the videos did not help, the springs on mine were very stiff.

The video only helps with one problem. Charging handle binding issues. The stiff recoil buffer spring is a completely separate issue. And there are only a few solutions. Shoot it a LOT or send it back to KRISS.

I think if one studies the technique of charging and follows tips, the issue absolves itself. I have close to 3000 rds through mine and ALL ISSUES OCCURED WITHIN FIRST 250 rds. Since then, no FTF, NO FTE, Charging is easy......Of those rounds, 7 different manufacturers and only 2 "kriss approved" types, all factory new.

Most people I hand the Kriss to, cannot charge off the bat but once shown properly , it can be easily accomplished with 1 finger.......like Solscud stated, shoot it a lot.  Read the forums. Kriss makes a solid product, but its not what you are used to. Like any new weapon system, study, familiarization and TRAINING are required. I put my life behind this gun, literally!  It's solid or I wouldn't carry one down range.

TwigPig wrote:I think if one studies the technique of charging and follows tips, the issue absolves itself. I have close to 3000 rds through mine and ALL ISSUES OCCURED WITHIN FIRST 250 rds. Since then, no FTF, NO FTE, Charging is easy......Of those rounds, 7 different manufacturers and only 2 "kriss approved" types, all factory new.
Most people I hand the Kriss to, cannot charge off the bat but once shown properly , it can be easily accomplished with 1 finger.......like Solscud stated, shoot it a lot.  Read the forums. Kriss makes a solid product, but its not what you are used to. Like any new weapon system, study, familiarization and TRAINING are required. I put my life behind this gun, literally!  It's solid or I wouldn't carry one down range.

My experience is quite the opposite. My KRISS Vector has over 4k rds thru it. It degraded slowly. Having FTE at a ridiculous rate toward the end. Then i sent it back in. From day one it was easy to charge.

Oh, I'm not upset that it started off with springs that are a little too strong. I just didn't know before my first time at the range. I'd much rather ones that were a little too strong to start than ones that were too weak.

Mine is literally months new Solscud.........POINT IS......technique and break in makes the difference.

TwigPig wrote:Mine is literally months new Solscud.........POINT IS......technique and break in makes the difference.

True. However mine is over 4 years old. I baby it. Clean it and lube it religiously. And still it had issues. But that is in the past. Since it was upgraded, I havent had any issues yet.

I just picked up my SDP and my FFL had my vector broken down and couldn't figure out how to charge it and thought something was wrong. I agree that brand new it is difficult to charge, but with my tangodown stubby quick release grip it makes charging the SDP easier. With my right hand on the grip and charging it with my left I cycle the bolt about 100 times a day and notice each day is easier to charge. Bullets are expensive, I'd love to shoot and break it in more, but this is working and 100 rounds went by in like 10 mins yesterday $$$$$!

You have a QD vert grip on your SDP? 

This thing?
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/2252236386/tangodown-quick-detach-stubby-vertical-forend-grip-ar-15-polymer

If so you need to remove it ASAP. Any VERTICAL grip on a pistol makes it an illegal weapon. Unless you have SBR'd the SDP, you cant have a VERT grip on a pistol.

You can use a modified Angled Foregrip on a pistol.