CW45 Experts please step inside

[officerdave]

Hi all,

I carry a PM9 as my backup on the job. Decided to go with a CW45, to match my new duty P220. Took the NIB CW45 to the range today. I took 200 rounds of White Box 230 FMJ and a ten HSTs in 230+P. OK here goes: loaded mag with 5 rounds at a time. First 20 rounds went off without a hitch. Gun started to warm of course. Mags from then on went as follows, the first round always went bang with the second and often third round FTF. Looks like after the first round, the striker is not resetting? I would rack, push out the round and reshoot. Continual problem all the way through the 200 FMJs. By the end of the range session, I was loading and shooting one round at a time !! just to get the gun to run. I did have 2 stove pipes along the way. Taking the gun apart I noticed a couple of things, The recoil rod is solid, yet on Kahrs' website, the CW45 replacement recoil rod looks hollow? About half way down my recoil rod, there is a groove that was cut today into the steel? Wonder if the recoil spring is binding on the rod and cutting a groove. Your thoughts ? I of course will not use this weapon until I get a handle on the issue. BTW I have shot over 500 rounds in my PM9 with no issues. Thanks Officer Dave

[jocko]

My 21 cents on this: STICK WITH THE PM9

[Armybrat]

I notice ol' Jocko didn't ask if you followed the break-in guide in this sticky of his:

http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?t=14748


Probably because you committed the sin of wanting a man's caliber for your new CW pistol. ;)


Seriously though, did you clean & prep it properly?

[gb6491]

officerdave,
As you mention the recoil spring, is it installed with the "closed" end (more tightly turned) next to the flange on the guide rod?
The guide rod n my CW45 is solid as well.
Regards,
Greg

[Sweaty Bullitts]

officerdave,

Your description sounds just like a problem I had with my new CW9: the cocking cam spring broke.

You can easily tell if this is the problem. Take the slide off, and pull the trigger and see how the cocking cam rotates back towards the rear of the frame. Releasing the trigger does NOT cause the cam to rotate back to its original position, but rather the cocking cam spring does. Apparently that is its role in life.

With the broken spring, when loading the first round from the slide lock position as Kahr suggests, the gun would cock and the round would load when releasing the slide stop, but the gun would never re-cock for the following rounds. I just lied a little here. Rarely, the broken spring would be in just the right position as it haplessly spun around the cocking cam pivot pin, so that it WOULD catch the cam and rotate it back up, which made it more confusing when diagnosing the problem.

Hope this helps,

Sweaty

[jocko]

I notice ol' Jocko didn't ask if you followed the break-in guide in this sticky of his:

http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?t=14748


Probably because you committed the sin of wanting a man's caliber for your new CW pistol. ;)


Seriously though, did you clean & prep it properly?

really, I figured if he had a PM9 he knew the "drill":Amflag2:

[yqtszhj]

You said one 2 things that caught my attention:
The gun started to warm
You thought it wasn't resetting

You described my experience exactly with my CW45.

Do the simple stuff everyone recommends first. Don't give up on the gun. You're really gonna like it.

Next if the simple stuff doesn't work do this:
*Make sure gun is empty
*Rack slide
*Pull the trigger and hold it back (pulled)
*Rack the slide again while the trigger is still pulled
*slowly release the trigger and see if it resets.
*If it doesn't there is your problem

If it does then do this (don't laugh):
*Get a hair drier and a towel (no I'm not gonna say take a shower)
*Place the pistol in the towel and cover it
*Put the hair drier in the towel and lightly warm the gun
*Rack slide
*Pull the trigger and hold it back (pulled)
*Rack the slide again while the trigger is still pulled
*slowly release the trigger and see if it resets.
*If it doesn't reset, pull the trigger back and then slide your finger out of the trigger guard to let it spring forward with force to see if it resets that way.

If it doesn't reset, you have the same problem I had. I won't go into the details on what I did to fix mine at this time. Let us know what you find out.

Like Jocko said the PM9 is nice but just so you know he discriminates against the .45 :)

[officerdave]

Thanks guys

I did the prep same as on my CM9 (sorry not a PM).

Any thoughts on the cutting of the recoil rod? If you run your finger along the rod, you can feel a slight raise where the metal has been cut away. Could the recoil spring be binding up after the first round ? Would that effect the reset of the striker ? I am not well versed in striker fired weapons, so your input is much appreciated.

I will try your suggestions and report back. How is KAHR service at looking at these types of issues?
officer dave

[Acasper708]

My CW45 is flawless!
My guide rod did look like crap. I ended up polishing it really good.
Take a pict of ur guide rod.
I did have a stove pipe do to a aftermarket mag and one soft primer hit.

[yqtszhj]

As long as the slide is going all the way forward the recoil spring shouldn't be causing reset problems. Now if it's staying back a fraction of an inch it could.

I think it's possibly trigger reset and not recoil spring or rod. Mine is well work too.

[officerdave]

Thanks to all
I have the gun apart and clean. No broken anything, all seems to function fine? I will check with the weapon heating up etc. I will try to contact KAHR support on Monday and ask about sending it in. Taking a lot of crap at work about carrying KAHRs.... no love for them I guess but our department is GLOCK country....:rolleyes:

[officerdave]

RMA sent from KAHR and the gun is on its way to them. Hopefully it will come back ready to fight

[yqtszhj]

Let us know how it goes. I think they'll take care of it.

[moosedan]

Got mine back yesterday great customer service. Now rain rain go away. It's the first pistol I had trouble with. I keep you posted on how it works.

[moosedan]

Great customer service it runs like it should. Very accurate too. Me happy.

[officerdave]

moosedan, what was your turnaround time with Kahr service? Just looking to get an idea of how long it will be gone. thanks

[hardluk1]

Do try some different ammo when your pistol comes back. The kahrs tend to have tighter chambers and wwb ammo probably have the worse qc of all American companies. Well them, feds cheap line and now seem pmc cause more than its sure of problem ammo. Umc and mag tech run dirty but tend to shoot well.

Time at kahr?? Contact and ask about current repair times. It does change depending on how many are in at a given time. I had a cm9 go in for a look see only, after I sent in photos of some wear, no problem . Ended up with a new barrel, recoil system , some rounds fired and looked over again . All for some odd wear marks. Took 9 days total time gone from my hands. Not sure a person could expect more.

[moosedan]

Dave mine was a week shipped on 6 -24 back on 7 -5. Paper work said chamber work. Had failure with extraction no issues now. I did send back two magazines after I got the gun back. The magazine that they sent back with the gun ran great. Two magazines out of three had short spring like five inches. I just ask for springs and they wanted to replace the magazines Spring was six and five eights. The other magazine spring was six and nine sixteenth that on works great. I have pictures I can send you if your interested. I'm still getting use to the gun but it shoots great groups.

[officerdave]

ok guys and gals....picked up my Kahr today from the FedEx Regional office and the Kahr Tech note says " reworked trigger bar, replaced trigger bar spring, lubed and test fired, tested good" I cleaned the gun and relubed. We shall see how she runs at the next range trip. Stay tuned.......

[JERRY]

tagged for the results of the factory work x2.

[yqtszhj]

The trigger bar is what I reworked on mine. I think you'll be good to go now.

That is work to try and do yourself.

Let us know.