CM9 sight questions - newbie

[GratefulGuy1234]

Hey all - New member here, have a CM9 on the way!!
I have done a lot of reading about all the stuff that is available for them and what holsters to get, etc...

My main question is this - what's the deal with 'bar-dot' sights? I have never used them at all. I have trijicon 3 dots on my other weapon, so I plan to get the firearm, cycle it a bunch of times (for fun!) and send the slide to Kahr to have them install trijicon night sights for me the next morning. Who has done this thru Kahr? I can just send it to the address and they will charge me for the sights and the install?
I know that a lot of folks just add the front and are done with it, but how accurate are you, how's the sight picture in the dark, etc? I still think I am leaning to 3 dots for uniformity, but I am really curious because I know I can install the front sight on my own and not involve kahr.

I have an uncle mikes #3 pocket holster, I have a PJ kydex IWB, and an extra 6 round mag on the way in the mail. Of course - I have some ammo for when I get that sucker back from Kahr. :roll:

Anything else this newbie should know/be aware of? I have a glock 19 now.
I will admit, I am worried about getting a jam master because it's just my luck but I am going to throw the dice. A glock 26 is just too big, and a glock 19 is way too big for anything but winter with a flannel over me. This seemed to be the logical choice and I like that it's an American company.

Thanks all -
Scott

[olympicmotorcars]

I sent my slide to Kahr and got a set of meprolights installed. They did a great job, and only took about a week.

[Tinman507]

I have the front sight on my CM9. Was VERY easy to do it myself. Not sure you even need the rear sight. That isn't something that's DYI unless you have a good pusher.

There's a (semi substantiated) rumor that XS is working on a Big Dot for the CM. There are several other posts here discussing it.
If I was doing it today, I would wait a little bit for that to come out.
YMMV.

[yqtszhj]

Welcome to the forum. I'd shoot a few boxes of good ammo after the prep and lube business:

http://kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1521

http://kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?t=308

and you should have a winner. Then if you want to have Kahr do anything else if you send it to them for sights you can. The sights are good for me. The bar and Dot sight is "just Dot the I" and it will hit whatever you want.

Welcome again.

[CJB]

The "bar dot", aka "dot the i" sights were originally used on the Sig P210. They were called the "pattern Von Stavenhagen". My Sig made Browning BDA45 came with a Sig/Browning manual, and it also listed the sights as Von Stavenhagen sights. Later I got a Sig P220 "American" and they also listed them as Von Stavengagen sights, much to the amusement of good buddy Andy Lis, who called the pistol "der Starvin' Hoggin'"

Think of them as "dot the i", and when used that way, you can shoot very quickly with them by following your front sight, and bringing the rear up under it, effectively dotting the i, and getting very close to where you want the bullet to go, useful for close range fast shooting on human-aggressor sized targets.

I am not sure how much muscle it takes to move the rear sight. I'm tempted to remove it, but gold dot the front - at the time I apply K-Kote to my PM9... weather is bad for that right now, so I got time to think on it.

[GratefulGuy1234]

Thanks for the warm welcome - When I checked out the sights in the store they looked pretty good and intuitive. I could see how just a front night sight could work perfectly but I still think I will go with the 3 dots eventually. Good to hear they have a quick turn around there at Kahr. I marred my trijicon on my glock this morning drifting the sight :eek:... so my Kahr will surely go to someone with the right tools to do it.

Thanks!!
Scott

[O'Dell]

I've never had a real problem with the Kahr bar-dots, but my new MK40 came with night sights, and I like them better.

I too, use an Uncle Mike's pocket holster with my LCP, PM9, and, probably, with my MK40 if I pocket carry it.

I second the advice to follow the Kahr Prep and lube Guide. Follow these and you should be trouble free.

[GratefulGuy1234]

I keep debating in my head whether or not I should try out the gun with the first 225 rounds before I send the slide to kahr for night sights, that way if there are any issues they can be dealt with at the same time. I don't know if I should even think that way, seems the likelyhood of a bad one is pretty low. If I shoot it through the break in period with the other sights, I wasted over 200 rounds of practice I could have had with the sights I am going to carry with instead.

Guess I'll see how bad the itch is once I pick it up...

Scott

[les strat]

I keep debating in my head whether or not I should try out the gun with the first 225 rounds before I send the slide to kahr for night sights, that way if there are any issues they can be dealt with at the same time. I don't know if I should even think that way, seems the likelyhood of a bad one is pretty low. If I shoot it through the break in period with the other sights, I wasted over 200 rounds of practice I could have had with the sights I am going to carry with instead.

Guess I'll see how bad the itch is once I pick it up...

Scott

I would break it in first. That way you know if it there are any issues to deal with before investing in the sights. Shoot the mess out of it the first 200. It will slick up quick.

BTW, usually you can get quicker target aquistion with bar-dot sights. Just dot the eye. Boom.

I replaced my front sight only with a Trijicon night sight. Cheap at Kahr.com and easy to install.

Congrats on the Kahr.

[GratefulGuy1234]

So you like the single glowing dot? I have thought about that too, but not being familiar with these sights I really don't know what to think about that route, but I love the idea of doing it myself and I like inexpensive. Can you see the bar in lower light without much trouble? Seems you could make a big mistake in aim using only the glowing bead on the end if you couldn't see where the bar is to line it up, but again I don't know these things.
Looks like I am taking a day off soon from work, so yeah I will be breaking it in before it goes to kahr for night sights. At least I will get a chance to check out the bar dot setup.
Thanks for the input!
Scott

[jocko]

just remember THEFRONT SIGHT IS UR FRIEND. See it clearly and all else will fall into place. If u think in a SHTF situation ur gonna line up all the sights and target etc, then more than likely ur dead. get good at 7 yards and under with your kahr and a good front sight is really all that is necessary. POA shooting will trump trying to line up those sights every day for defense purposes AND u can get extremely accurate at it also, let alone very fast. In a shtf situation ur just not gonna be lining up all those sights etc. My sx big dot is not a target sight for sure butr it sure is very visble at damn near anytime of the day..

[JFootin]

If you want glow in the dark on the back and don't want to break the bank, try these: http://www.nitesiters.com/Nitesiters_Handgun_Night_Sights.html

[GratefulGuy1234]

Dropped the slide in the mail today - it's going in for trijicons. Stick with what I know. It got here a day later than I expected and ruined all my plans so I decided to just trust that it will have no issues and sent it in before even firing it once.

I hope Kahr is fast! - I'm already in a hurry for it to come back!

Scott

[les strat]

Dropped the slide in the mail today - it's going in for trijicons. Stick with what I know. It got here a day later than I expected and ruined all my plans so I decided to just trust that it will have no issues and sent it in before even firing it once.

I hope Kahr is fast! - I'm already in a hurry for it to come back!

Scott

Pics when you get it back!

[CJB]

just remember THEFRONT SIGHT IS UR FRIEND.

I asked my front sight for a ten bob note, and it handed me two quid and said "don't worry mate... no need to repay after all ya done"... So yah, a friend indeed!

[GratefulGuy1234]

Ugh, talk about stress. I sent the slide, used trackable and insured usps...And now the package is un-accounted for. Called kahr, guy said they should know they have it in a week or two if they have it. I didn't realize they were that behind, ooh well.
I just hope the slide isn't lost. Usps hasn't lost anything on me yet, but this delivery issue hasn't ever happened before. Guy took my name down and a phone number, he said he would call if he hears something from the shipping department. :)
He said they ship it back using fed ex ground...wow and they charge 25 bucks for that?

I'm just going to remain positive here.

Scott

[GratefulGuy1234]

Wow, still haven't heard from Kahr so it doesn't look like I am going to get my firearm to the range anytime soon. Really - I have tried to call Kahr several times and have held on the phone for more than 3 hours combined and have not gotten anywhere. The last guy just said 'I think it's here, you'll just have to wait for us to call for the credit card info' - Come on, really? I can't believe that I have to carry my phone around 24/7 just waiting for the call from Massachusetts....what if I miss the call and have to hold for an hour and a half to get a hold of someone to give them my CC info? Last time I wasn't able to even get a hold of a person, I left a message for them to call me back... still waiting. All this effort, and I have only called three times. So silly, why don't they have a standard repair/gunsmith service form where you input your info and even better - track it's progress along the way? I really hope I don't have trouble with this gun, I'm still thinking good thoughts but with the way the customer service experience has been, I can't say I would rate it very well.
I guess I will just sit tight, enjoy my glock 19 and be patient.
Thanks for listening!
Scott

[cgpeanut]

I keep debating in my head whether or not I should try out the gun with the first 225 rounds before I send the slide to kahr for night sights, that way if there are any issues they can be dealt with at the same time. I don't know if I should even think that way, seems the likelyhood of a bad one is pretty low. If I shoot it through the break in period with the other sights, I wasted over 200 rounds of practice I could have had with the sights I am going to carry with instead.

Guess I'll see how bad the itch is once I pick it up...

Scott

and get the free shipping :) if your kahr has some issues. I believe it costs $25 extra to ship to kahr if there's nothing wrong with it plus $40.00 for labor and $80 for the night sights wow! that's $145 right there :eek:

made me wish I bought the model with the night sights already installed :( oh well, maybe I'll save up for the laser instead at least that we can install 'toot suite' :D

[GratefulGuy1234]

Well, I got the slide in the mail and I was able to take it out. Phew.
It performed pretty well, I would say. I had probably 8 total failures, the majority were this nose dive **** I read about, and two were 'stove pipes' - near the end of my 325 rounds at the range so I could blame fatigue at that point. The majority of the nosedive failures were when the mag was attempting to feed the first round after the one in the barrel was fired - and with the 'cheap' federal 9mm rounds 100 pack (115 gr) from wal mart. Seemed that S+B 124 hard ball was flawless from what I remember, I really like that ammo. I also used a bunch of the remington white box (115 gr) and didn't have trouble with that.
I then moved to hollow points and ended up having a failure (stovepipe) and one nose dive, but was otherwise good. Sort of frustrating because this was well after the 'break in period' where I expected some failures.

I need to put a few more rounds of the 124 gr +p hollow points (rem golden sabre) that I carry with before I am 110% comfortable with it.

Why is it that the magazines seem lame? I just notice that the rounds don't seem to lay in there as comfortably as they do in other mags I have. For example, loading the 6 round mag - the second round always looks like it's not pointing in the right direction (seems pointed down a little bit - normal?) and it makes me want to mess with it before I load the mag, and I shouldn't have to do that.
Also - I have two magazines, I shot both of them an equal amount of time, they are both the 6 rounders. Neither drop free, tried to squeeze them a bit and it didn't seem to fix much, if anything at all. What's up with that?

Does S+B sell a decent hollow point in 9mm? I just love their ammo for everything I shoot, I just have always seen hardball stuff. (Nevermind, I used google. Anyone use them and like them?)

Other than the above 'things' - I will say the gun is hired. When I did my part, that thing seemed MORE accurate than my G19(!) When I was sloppy, it still did ok, where as my G19 will shoot 10" off when I am being sloppy. I could just point and shoot and it went where I wanted it to. That was great.

Well, that's my report. I need to clean her up before I carry her around in place of the G19, but otherwise I am all good with it.

Thanks -
Scott :cool:

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o157/ScottyP5947/IMAG0548.jpg

[wagon]

When I did my part, that thing seemed MORE accurate than my G19(!)

Wow .. that is ... IMPRESSIVE. I wish I would do the same with my micro Kahrs.

Good shooting, no doubt!

[GratefulGuy1234]

Thank you very much. I really don't know what to attribute it to, maybe the fact that I have fired more rounds through my polish P64 'makarov' (small, two finger grip, short barrel) than any other handgun, and I am otherwise inexperienced with handguns. I had another post on THR on how I can't shoot my G19 (all low left!) to save my life. Well I put the time in and got good with it but nothing like this Kahr... as long as I believe that it won't have a nosedive, this WILL be my favorite pistol.

Scott

[jerstolp]

do the follower mod:):):)

[jerstolp]

its like a broken reckord with the follower mod thing:)

[GratefulGuy1234]

Ha, I'm going to have to take a look at that mod... :)

So I took my cm9 Apart today to clean it for the first time since I got back from the range.......... Guess what? My newly installed front night sight fell off!!! Ugh, this is just wild. So why did I have them installed by Kahr? Geez. One of the screws was missing, the other fell pdf in my hand.
I called them up, they are sending me a replacement at no cost. Nice and all, but wow.

Thanks!
Scott

Oh and wow was that pistol dirty!!!

[GratefulGuy1234]

Can you imagine? uh-oh arms still has not sent my replacement sight. It will be 2 weeks on Tuesday from when I first called. I now have a firearm that I am still not able to carry 'safely' and I bought it something like 2 months ago. Ho humm. I'll be calling Monday to see what happened, again. There is really no excuse for all this, someone is going to tell me I was holding the phone wrong when I called about my sight falling off and that's why I didn't get it yet? :rolleyes:

I really think the firearm is going to work out for me, some aspects of the firearm are just amazing it's just wild what you have to go through as others have said... It just needs to be documented for those looking to buy.

Thanks -
Scott

[GratefulGuy1234]

Took her to the range today, all cleaned and greased up... 3 out of 30 hollow points (golden saber 124+p) were FTF due to the slide locking back when it shouldn't have. :eek: Ugh, I didn't have ANY of those failures in my first 325+.
Otherwise, it performed very well. 150+ rounds of TMJ 'cci clean' ammo 124 gr with zero trouble and absolutely stunning accuracy with both the JHP and the TMJ. I just don't have the bucks to keep sending $pendy JHP rounds down range just to make sure it will work.

I guess I should report this to kahr when I call tomorrow and see if they want the gun back for inspection. I tried two different mags and they both had the same issue. Is that what I should do? I can wait to get it back I suppose if they cure it. ;) Will they test it with JHP's that you specify?

Thanks -
Scott

[Gliderguy]

slide locking back: Make sure the slide lock lever is UNDER the slide lock lever spring when you re-assemble. The manual suggest putting the gun back together with the slide lock lever in the 4 o-clock position and then carefully rotating it up to the 3 o-clock position keeping the spring above the finger on the lever. You might have bent the spring a little if you managed to put it together the other way. I did the same thing the first time I broke down my PM 40.

[GratefulGuy1234]

Wonder if it would only happen 3 out of 150 plus rounds if so, but I will surely check it out, thanks!

Scott

[Gliderguy]

other problem often discussed is occasionally bumpimg slide lever with thumb while firing. Depending on exactly how gun was put together, slide lock lever spring may be holding lever down as designed, doing next to nothing causing random lockbacks, or exerting strong upwards force lockong slide back each time. If the slide is locked back on anything other than an empty magazine,a pull back o
n the slide should produce a clean, definite click as the slide lock lever snicks clear under spring pressure. can check this without field stripping. obviously empty mag will lock slide back as designed...

[GratefulGuy1234]

After describing things to the rep today, he said to send it in. :ohmy:

Fun times.

Scott

[crazymailman]

Before you send it in, try shooting single hand, making sure that your thumb is clear of the slide release. That may just reveal that it's a grip issue and not a gun issue. I don't like to be without my pistol, so I try to ensure that it's truly a gun problem first.

[Kahrbonized]

So... 475 rounds and problems start to show up. Not the first report of this nature.
Says a lot about the so-called 'break-in' procedure. I guess I have this to look forward to since my CM9 is only 125 rounds down that road. How can one gain a sense of confidence if the gun might break at any time?

Hope they fix it for good this time but all these returns and time and money wasted on ammo common these days across brands is just not right. Maybe everyone should have a reliable J frame as a backup for when their main squeeze is in the shop.

[GratefulGuy1234]

Just wanted to update on this. After a third trip back to the factory, I had the slide lock back prematurely on round 35 or so... first range trip. This time for repair they 'polished the slide stop' --->That means that a firearm I have purchased months and months ago has not yet yielded me an error free range visit. I have put nearly 750 rounds through it now and each range visit has resulted in at least one issue or up to 7 in the case of my first visit. I am glad they finally put some locktite on the front sight for me, the sight falling off was getting old. As for hitting the slide lever and locking it back - I have this in my mind and I have made absolutely sure I have not been hitting it. Again, I have tried to hit it and lock the slide back on purpose but of course it has never locked for me.

Well, there we have it. My mind is made up, I joined NWfirearms so I can start looking to buy a used j frame or an LCP... or even trade this thing away under full disclosure for a Glock 26 + loot. I can't afford much, JHP rounds are expensive and I have shot a lot of them lately.

I'm done with this Kahr game for good. Thanks for all those who offered helpful advice, I appreciate it.

Scott