New CW45!

[JohnR]

I finally did it. Finally made up my mind which Kahr .45 to get. The CW.

Acquiring it via Gunbroker was a bizarre experience, but it turned out fine in the end. A LGS had it up for auction or buy now, so I bought now (last week). Picked it up today. It's oh so shiny and sparkly, and the grip is oh so cheese graterey, but I have plans to ameliorate that.

The slide is quite stiff, and I haven't popped out the take down pin yet (not for lack of trying, I simply didn't have a good tool handy). And man, this thing is built tight! I expect good things from this gun.

For some reason, no fired shell was included. I wanted to check the test fire date to see when the gun was made, but ended up emailing Kahr customer service with the SN. The answer came back in literally one minute, it was made last month.

Now, I need some quiet time alone with it, the list of proper prep items, and of course some good mood lighting, backdrop, and my camera so I can post pics. :cool:

[Bawanna]

Ok, good for you. No hurry I'll just sit here and wait for the evidence photo's.

Sort a like, well sorta a like alot of things, you seen one you want to see em all.

[titus1971]

I love my CW45, a little trick (carried over from 1911's) to getting the slide stop out is to take an empty shell casing (or an unfired round but I don't like having live ammo in the same room when I'm breaking one down) and place it between the frame and the slide stop after the witness marks line up and pop that sucker right out. Since the case is brass (usually) and the frame is SS it doesnt mark it or ding it up.

[wyntrout]

Don't forget to watch the video! See the Newcomer Welcome area for the link. I know you're not a newb, but there are a few tricky areas.

Congrats on your new pistol and have FUN with it. I may go to the range tomorrow afternoon, myself. White GMC van and Kahr cap!

I have those two pistols to retest... Wifey's P380(new mag catch) and my old faithful PM9(new extractor)... and new 5-lb striker springs in both.

I may take the ported P40, too. It missed out on the last trip to the range. Four pistols seemed excessive for a "quick" trip on the way to shopping.

Wynn:)

[JohnR]

Wynn, I'd meet you there, but I'm swamped with work this week. If I can slip away for a bit, I will. I'll be the guy with two Kahrs - gotta compare it to my K9!

[PYROhafe]

If that k9 goes the way of the safe.... you should let me know so I can take it off your hands.... :D
O and congrats on the new 45! cant wait to hear the range report and see some pics

[O'Dell]

CW45, my nearly every day carry, replacing the CW40.

[JohnR]

If that k9 goes the way of the safe.... you should let me know so I can take it off your hands.... :D
O and congrats on the new 45! cant wait to hear the range report and see some pics
Hush yo' mouth, Mr. Pryo! My K9 is my Cold Dead Hands gun. One of them, anyway. :D

[JohnR]

All right, it's cleaned and prepped and ready to break in. Breakdown is easy enough, much easier than my K9. The third picture shows the size relative to the K9.The last picture demonstrates why the U.S. Navy has asked to use the CW45 as an emergency landing field for their carrier based aircraft...

[Bawanna]

Welcome to the real caliber gun world.

[Bill K]

I keep lusting after a non-1911 .45 ACP but then remind myself that I really don't need one. Experience with my PM9 would certainly have me looking at the CW45 should I ever succumb to the .45 ACP siren. Good luck with yours.

[JohnR]

Welcome to the real caliber gun world.

Welcome back, that is. "America's caliber." :D This is my third .45 and I love all of them. Haven't had a 1911 yet, though. This is the first .45 that I think I'll be able to carry every day. Got a Ruger P345 (a little large) and a Bersa UC45 (fat, heavy, and prickly, like Jocko's biker chicks). One day I want an M&P 45 too...

[Bawanna]

Welcome back, that is. "America's caliber." :D This is my third .45 and I love all of them. Haven't had a 1911 yet, though. This is the first .45 that I think I'll be able to carry every day. Got a Ruger P345 (a little large) and a Bersa UC45 (fat, heavy, and prickly, like Jocko's biker chicks). One day I want an M&P 45 too...

I want an M&P 45 too. Sort of a Glock with style and refinement. They sure feel nice in the hand too.

The county sheriffs transitioned to the M&P 45 a couple years ago and most I've talked to like them a lot.

[O'Dell]

Welcome back, that is. "America's caliber." :D This is my third .45 and I love all of them. Haven't had a 1911 yet, though. This is the first .45 that I think I'll be able to carry every day. Got a Ruger P345 (a little large) and a Bersa UC45 (fat, heavy, and prickly, like Jocko's biker chicks). One day I want an M&P 45 too...



As I mentioned the CW is my almost daily carry although I have ten other 45's to choose from. Last night I carried my Kimber UC II because I knew a friend would be there and that's what he always carries. I had a P345 but I sold it because, as you said, it's too large for anything but HD and I have that covered. My compact M&P 45 was stolen, and I replaced it with an M&P compact 40 because it was much smaller. That was a mistake as the small size didn't make up for the fact it was a 40. I got rid of it.

[JohnR]

Dimensionally, the MP45c is pretty much the same size as the P345. I had a Glock 36 that was almost as large as the Ruger, and since it held fewer rounds I sold it. The P345 is a great combination of size and round count.

I think if I could only have two pistols, it would be an M&P 45 and the CW or PM45.

[yqtszhj]

Congratulations on the CW45. I really like my CW45 and it's a good shooter too.

Hey John, side question. Did you ever get that fail to extract problem on that 9mm Bersa that you had resolved? or do you still have it. The reason that I ask is the semi-issue that my wife had with hers is fixed.

[JohnR]

Congratulations on the CW45. I really like my CW45 and it's a good shooter too.

Hey John, side question. Did you ever get that fail to extract problem on that 9mm Bersa that you had resolved? or do you still have it. The reason that I ask is the semi-issue that my wife had with hers is fixed.
I had a local smith offer to look at it, but haven't had a chance to bring it over there yet. How did your wife's get fixed?

[yqtszhj]

I sent it to Reynerson's for warranty work. They did a good job. I sent it to get the safety fixed which was stuck and had them look at the extraction issue and smooth the trigger out some.

For the extraction issue basically all they did was tweak the extractor (not very much) and polish the chamber to a mirror finish. Shot 100 rounds through it yesterday without a single hiccup. I think the chamber polish was what made it reliable since now it's slick as butter inside.

I paid the shipping but the warranty work was free. I should have sent it 2nd day to save some money since that's legal but live and learn. Anyway it runs smooth now.

[veevans01]

Congrats on your CW45. I am enjoying mine. I'm going to pick up an extra mag today and go to the range.

[JohnR]

Here's my break-in report:

200 rounds of WWB.

30 minutes of range time.

0 failures of any kind.

My right palm is a tad sore, but the front strap cheese gratings didn't bother me like I expected. However, they were a distraction and I'll probably take some sandpaper to them.

Recoil is an imperative shove backward, but nothing wild. My K9, by comparison, is a polite tap thanks to the weight and rubber grips. The K9 feels more controllable than the CW45, but they're different guns.

Overall, the CW45 is pretty much what I wanted, no disappointments at all!
6489

[JohnR]

A couple hours later, and recoil bruises have appeared on my 2nd thumb knuckle in the same place where about 50 rounds from a PF9 leaves a worse mark.

[Bawanna]

I found a wood burning pencil a better fix than sandpaper. I just kind of melted off the sharp edges. I eventually just melted it down semi flat and stippled the whole grip.

Very easy, a little scary until you do a little bit and then not scary at all. Works great and zero regrets.

To me much better than the innertube or the hogue wrap.

[JohnR]

Yeah, I wouldn't mind it totally smooth.

[wyntrout]

All it takes is a piece of bike tire tube for a cover... smooth and a good gripping surface... inexpensive, too. You can make dozens from one tube. I used a 1.75" that I hadn't used, and put one on each of my 5 polymer Kahrs. The XD45 doesn't bother me.

I use my weak hand thumb to hold my shooting hand thumb away from the slide lock lever and the magazine release. I don't like recoil banging my thumb with those things.

Suzi does the same thing:

http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/m620/wyntrout/overlappedthumbsgrip.jpg

Wynn:)

[jocko]

sharp gal to..

[Bawanna]

Love the color coordinated holster and mag pouch.

[JohnR]

I tried the inner tube on my PF9 and didn't like it. I'm with Bawanna, naked guns are best. This morning I took some sandpaper to my CW and smoothed the spikes down to nubs, and it made a world of difference in how it feels.

[wyntrout]

:eek:

Wynn:D

[jocko]

Love the color coordinated holster and mag pouch.

its very obvious, u have lived a sheltered and protected life.:eek:

Fokk I never even seen the holster and pouch:D. This gal is total class,she would fit on the back of my trusty Harley anyt day and I WOULD RIDE HER WITH PRIDE. Just sayin.

[Bawanna]

Looks alot like JohnR's CW now I imagine, just nubs.

[JERRY]

i dont know if the PM45 and the CW45 have a different type of stippling or not, but my PM45 grip is noticably more aggressive than that on my PM9. But considering the increased recoil i actually appreciated the more aggressive grip on the PM45.

[jocko]

probably meant to be the same but different molds probalby produce different texture. ine has been stipplled for so many years that I can't really rememberif mine was ruff or not.I have a used PM9 blunt nose that I bought about 4 months ago that fees fine. Some people hands are more delicate than others "dishwasher hands vs parts cleaner hands..:D

[JohnR]

Yep, my hands are dainty white-collar air-conditioned office worker hands. Nubs for me.

[wyntrout]

I love the K9 grips, but when I got my PM45, I knew before shooting it that I wanted some help with the cheese grater! I put the bike tube grips on it and then the PM9 and the P380, as well. I just like the feel and they look good, too. When I added the P40, of course it got the same treatment, as did my wife's P380. Without adding bulk, the tube adds a good feel like the K9 grips... the soft rubber ones.

Wynn:)

[BluesHarp]

JohnR is my buddy. I just joined the forum. I bought the CW45 today during my lunch break. Can't wait to get home and unpack it. I've been carrying a K9 for 10 years and I want to see how this CW45 rides. I've tried carrying my full size 1911s, and while they make me feel powerful, they also pull my pants down. This may be the answer. I saw this picture, and I said--HEY! THOSE ARE MY GUNS! Looks like you've been using that K9 for a while too. Have you ever tried the grip extender on the K9 mags? Made all the difference for me so my pinky had a place to go.

Good story about Kahr: a bad round blew out the side of the brass, and the extractor on my K9 went into the next county. I sent the gun to Kahr, and it came back all fixed and no charge in 2 weeks.

I'll report later on my range experience with my new CW45. It does, after all, fire my favorite round of all time.

[JohnR]

Welcome to KahrTalk!

I wish I could say I was the one who gave my K9 all it's "character," but I bought it used from a New York cop on Gunbroker. I haven't felt the need for a pinky extension.

Having carried the CW45 for a few days now, it definitely feels thicker than the K9. I weighed it with 7 rounds of ammo, and it came out 1.8# compared to my K9's loaded weight of 1.9. One less round, but each round is twice as heavy :D

I know all the science says 9mm is as good as .45, but there's just something about carrying .45ACP that makes me feel good inside.

[jocko]

damn and here my custom PMJ9 blunt nose version loaded with power ballweights 18 ounces. I'll take my chances on that littler hole for at least it is pocketable..Just sayin

[Bawanna]

I'm just happy to hear that JohnR has a buddy. We all need one ya know.

I better check and see, maybe he's my buddy too. Can't have to many ya know?

I didn't read the last line, he's definitely my buddy.

[jocko]

naw he's nut ur buddy, keep lookin. U might try looki down on the texas border. Just sayin..

[JohnR]

Let's not get all mushy here. :o

[Bawanna]

:(:001_huh::(:( No mushy?

[JohnR]

Ok, time for some Kahr girls.

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Not-Mass-legal-.-.-.-yet-courtesy-kahr.com_.jpg

[jlottmc]

And on my laptop that is my wall paper. I still look at that and say mmmm yummy.