CW45 Range Report

[Abraxxas]

It's 20deg here in central WI today and there's a foot of fresh snow at the range from the last week, so my brother and I jumped in the Jeep and got back there anyways :) We took 4 or 5 of our carry guns and my new CW45 for her maiden voyage. Put 100rds of Remington redbox 230gr ball through it and couldn't be more pleased. Had a couple failures to chamber in the first few mags, one FTE about 2 mags later and it was smooth running for the rest of the 100.

I went through the checklists in the New Member sticky section and addressed everything pertaining to my copy. We're just shooting at 7yds to start with while it breaks in and I couldnt be happier with the accuracy of this little guy. I immediately felt good about this purchase when the very first shot I took with it fell dead center in the 3/4 inch orange bullseye on the center mass circle of the bad guy silhouette. The full 6 shot group only had about a two inch spread, not bad for a brand new gun with unfamiliar sights and trigger. We took turns with it while we rotated between the guns we brought and each of us agree it is a fantastic gun to shoot. It points naturally, recoil is very mild and it is very controllable for it's size. Im 6'5 225lbs and my brother is a couple inches shorter, we both have big hands and love how well the gun handles and feels for its size. Im used to shooting .357 snubby's with full house loads and my .454 Casull so recoil is never an issue for me. We had a KelTec PF9 with us today and shooting back to back the CW45 is much more tame than that. It's a pleasure to shoot.

I wanted to try some of my 185gr hp mild target loads I run in my 1911 after I burned through the two boxes of factory ball ammo I brought. I loaded the mag with 5 of them and hit the slide release only to have it jam up tighter than heck about 1/8" short of full battery. I guess everything about the extremely tight chambers is true lol, my Lee die's size the completed rounds while they're extracted from the crimp die and they do NOT go in. After I managed to get that round out of the chamber I noticed the side cover on the polymer frame was not flush anymore. Something pushed it from inside when I tried to chamber that round and pulled the threads out of the frame for that little torx screw. The repair is drying as I type this, I hope I can get them to run in it after it's broken in fully.

Anyways, by the end of the session I was shooting groups that were one ragged hole from 7yds while standing. I cant wait to shoot it at 15 and 25yds once it starts to warm up a bit. The great accuracy I had read about in so many reviews was one of the main factors in purchasing it, so far it has not disappointed. I wont feel one bit of regret sending the PT145 Mil. Pro that it is replacing down the road, it was a great gun, just wasnt quite accurate enough for my tastes. The CW45 seems like the best of both worlds, accurate enough to bring with and be fun on range days and small enough to carry comfortably. So far it has done everything I hoped it would, I cant ask for much more!!

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f141/Abraxxas/CW45s.jpg

[jocko]

the repair u made was damn smart on ur part . I maybe wanna say that screw was maybe not right in the first place, as the trigger bar is the only thing that could have done that and I can't see how what happened to your gun with the reload had anything to do with that..

anyhow there is no pressure in that area, soyour fix should be good to go . there is no need to take that cover off either unless uhave a direct issue in that area,which is very rare, and even if there was a issue i that area. it probably wouldhave to go back to kahr fo rthe fix anyways, so if it ain't broke don't fix it.

nice shot group and welcome to the forum, .. I hope u can do well at 25 yards, for IMO that is a long way for kahrs looooong DAO trigger. seems u adjusted to it excelent though. My personal thoughts are stay close, get fast at POA shooting, If u can duplicate allthat stuff at 10 yards feel great. If the 15-25 session shows poor results, , chalk it up to the looooong but smooth and ultra safe triger system. Kahrs are truly defense gun more than target guns, accept that and u will never find a better shooter for whatu bought it for...

We don't hear mucha bout kahrs tight chambers, so Iam wondering if maybe OAL of the reloads might have been the issue . They will jam a gun big time. Might check that part out.

[Abraxxas]

I couldn't see any way that a round not chambering could cause that to happen either. I field stripped it to test fit a different one in the chamber with the barrel out of the gun after I got the first one out. It was then that I noticed the side cover protruding about half the thickness of the plastic. I didnt remember it looking like that when I cleaned it last night before the first trip to the range. Perhaps it worked its way out while we were shooting it prior to that and I just didnt notice. Im just glad the side cover is such a tight interference fit to the frame, had it fallen off I would've had a difficult time locating it and the tiny screw in the snow.

The trigger is the best of its kind that I've shot, thats for sure. I find it quite easy to take up about 3/4 of the pull quickly and slowly squeeze the last 1/4 for a shorter feel. I run my loads at 1.230 and find they function perfect in every .45 I've ran them through.

Thanks for the kind words and the welcome!

[Bill K]

Thanks for sharing. It really is encouraging to read positive range reports such as yours. All too often [understandably] we get the horror story range reports. Thanks for sharing.

[yqtszhj]

good fix and welcome to the forum. You're right on the tight chamber too. Hornady CD wont chamber. I use it on my 1911's but it is too long for the CW45. I use Federal in the CW45.

Good to see you have a good range session. Those couple of issues that you have were similar to what I had the first few magazines. Now it runs good. As a matter of fact if it's not raining tomorrow I need to go shoot some also.

[jocko]

Thanks for sharing. It really is encouraging to read positive range reports such as yours. All too often [understandably] we get the horror story range reports. Thanks for sharing.

some of the 45 kahr poly's had some teething issues, but lately it sure seems the bugs have flown south and the nice reports seem to prevail alot more. Course I have to chalk that up also to the many 45 poly kahr owners on this fourm who have done some nice trouble shooting on these little guns and some of their tips have saved a heh of alot from going back when it is such aminor fix sometimes.:Amflag2:

[Abraxxas]

Thanks for the replies and kind words everyone! Perhaps I'll have to try a shorter OAL on some loads just for this gun and see if I can get it to work. Oh well, if I have to buy ball ammo just for this gun for a while I will just have more brass to load for my 1911. We'll give it another try in a couple hundred more rounds, otherwise maybe a chamber reaming would remedy the problem.

I also want to say thank you to everyone for all the great tips and tutorials here, I found two or three problems with my gun before I even fired it for the first time because of reading through the new members section. My mag follower needed a shave and I had to create the guide rod spring recess in the slide. Its great to have a wealth of other peoples knowledge/experience at your fingertips.

[jocko]

damn, we need to move this guy to the head of the class. Most new owners would have g&d damned this and WTf that, ad why should I have to do anything etc.

My point of prior 45 owners made ur gun a winner with realy just a few minutes of effort to.

[Abraxxas]

I dont understand people like that either. Im a tear into it and see what I can improve kind of guy, there's always something you can do easily to make something better without spending any money. The wealth of knowledge to be had from doing a little research for free should be a no-brainer I would think. I know people who have had to send back $1K+ guns from all the big name brands because something wasnt right. Seldom is anything perfect out of the box, no matter who builds it. I look at it as an opportunity to get some personal satisfaction out of using my brain :)

[Booker T]

Welcome to the forum, man. Congrats on the CW45 and nice range report. Always like to hear good range reports.

These are indeed very accurate little carry .45's as you have found out.
Great shooting and hope you enjoy that beauty as much as the rest of us enjoy ours.

[270win]

damn, we need to move this guy to the head of the class. Most new owners would have g&d damned this and WTf that, ad why should I have to do anything etc.

My point of prior 45 owners made ur gun a winner with realy just a few minutes of effort to.

Are you saying that people should be happy with guns that don't function properly without having to work on them? And I'm not bashing Khar, their CW45 is impressive for it's accuracy, it's ergonomics and it's carry comfort. But I expect a new gun to work, and it's common place to see FTF/FTE issues with the CW45 even when the recommended procedures are followed. Admittedly, I may be a bit biased against them right now, but I'm trying to understand what seems to be a blind loyalty to Khar when they produce guns that have a reputation like this.

Anyway, I do hope that the OP has great service with his CW45. Had mine been reliable it would probably be my favorite CCW.

[Rain]

Great report. CW45 is my next Kahr. Just waiting until I get more familiar with my new CW9. Only 70 rounds through it so far.

[Armybrat]

Glad to hear it's running smooth for you.

These are great little pistols with a big punch, aren't they?