New to Kahr. Just brought home a CW9!

[Plinkerton]

I live in California so I had to wait 10 days. Felt like forever as usual.

I CCW (yes in Cali) a Glock 19 daily and love it, bit it's a little thick for AIWB carry, plus i only get 10+1 rounds in California.

Being a Glock fan, and there being no single stack 9mm Glock, I went looking for an alternative.

Found the CW9 (would have liked the P9 but couldn't justify the extra cost) and it seemed to fit the bill.

Got to shoot it today, and it was perfect.

Wasn't thrilled with using the slide release, as coming from a Glock, I never touch mine.

Slingshotted the slide all day with not one single hiccup. Put 50+ rounds of Freedom Munitions through it, and 7 rounds of Federal HST 147 standard pressure (my normal carry ammo) just for kicks.

It ate it all with no issues.

I have 3 seven round mags and all functioned perfectly. All had the spring the right way too. :)

Anyway, just saying hi. Seems to be a great gun, and hopefully will prove to me that its as reliable as my Glock.

The trigger is great, and its plenty accurate. Seems well made overall.

My wife thinks its very pretty and wants one now.

I have to wait till the end of the month to add it to my CCW permit unfortunately. I'd love to carry it tomorrow.

Glad to join the Kahr family.

[yqtszhj]

Welcome to the forum. You got probably the nicest 9mm for the price. I AIWB my CM9 and CW45. I had the CW9 and traded it for the CM but wish I just kept it and bought the CM9 out right.

If you really want to smooth out racking the slide instead of using the slide release, after 400 - 500 rounds polish the breech face, extractor, feed ramp and chamber, and all the metal to metal contact surfaces and it will run smooth as butter. It will get that way eventually but if you're impatient like me you can work on it yourself.

Again, Welcome!!!

[wyntrout]

Congratulations and welcome to the forum. My first polymer pistol was the PM9, but the P9/CW9 size is the one I carry most... P9 with ported barrel that I "got for my wife"... she can't rack it. It's about 8 ounces lighter than my K9 and hides as easily as the PM9 in the same Cross Breed MiniTuck.

Here's my grouping of info:

Welcome to the Kahrtalk forum supported by K a h r Arms.
Here are a few essential links and things to do BEFORE you take your new pistol to the range, and ESPECIALLY BEFORE taking it apart and trying to re-assemble it! The Kahr is a different design… 6-7 unique patents cover the Kahrs. I’m not trying to imply that you don’t know anything about guns, but many don’t know anything about the Kahrs and some of the things you can do to damage or cause malfunctions of your new, or new-to-you Kahr pistol.

First, if you don’t have a manual, yet, or one didn’t come with your pistol, you can view it and/or download the pdf file here:
http://www.kahr.com/PDF/kahrmanual.pdf

Please watch one of these videos FIRST! These videos can point out possible problem areas and emphasize correct procedures!
Take down and re-assembly videos:
T, TP, CW, P, & PM/CM Series:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=G2cZgVg_SwA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=G2cZgVg_SwA)
MK series:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...mSCnIOaUk#t=0s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zXmSCnIOaUk#t=0s)
K series:
http://www.kahr.com/Pistols/Kahr-K9-Elite.asp

There are many links on fixing problems listed in several places… under the New Member or Kahr Tech sub-forums. To start, a very good one:

Proper Prepping of a new Kahr:

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

A very handy one is the Kahr Lubrication Diagram:
http://kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?t=14750

Many of your questions can be answered in these areas and you can learn how your Kahr works and not damage it with improper handling.

Another great resource for information on Kahrs... Archives of Magazine and Internet Reviews for Kahr pistols by industry experts. They test these pistols and report on their views and the ammo they tested in it. This is a good way to find ammo that might fit your needs along with accuracy and feeding in the pistol... usually from a rest with velocity and energy, as well as penetration and expansion sometimes... very informational.

http://www.kahr.com/product-reviews.asp

Frequently asked questions: http://www.kahr.com/faq.asp?

One very important bit of advice: Hold the Kahr pistol firmly when firing OR CHAMBERING a round. These compact pistols need all of the force they can get from the slide to get a round into the chamber successfully. If you don't hold the pistol firmly, part of the needed momentum is transferred to MOVING THE PISTOL and the top round will DIVE and jam into the right side of the feed ramp. The weak hand, over hand rack method gives the best grip and a firm rack will give you the best chance at chambering a round.

Use the weak hand fingers over the slide(clear of the ejection port), thumb along the slide and pointing to the rear. Use the gun hand to simultaneously firmly push the gun as you give a vigorous rack with the weak hand and cleanly release the slide as it reaches the rear limit and is "snatched" from the weak hand. This approximates a real rack from firing and beats the slide release method WHEN executed properly. Much more strength can be exerted when this is done closer to the body.

Here's a video on that. The first part is what I'm talking about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=hjLbFOw8sow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=hjLbFOw8sow)

There are many helpful members here most of the time who might be able to help you, but as anywhere, there are many opinions and not all are correct. Be mindful of this before doing anything drastic to modify your pistol!


Wynn:)
Aka wyntrout

PS: I keep thinking of stuff to add and help new members... and am trying to cover most of the popular subjects. Yes, it's repetitious to many, but possibly not to all new members. This approach is easier than having to look up every tidbit for each new member or question that arises. :)

[jocko]

welcome aboard.' before u go out and buy ur wife this "purdygun". let her work with yours to see if she can. #1 rack the slide toload the gun, or clear a jam, or to unload the gun. If she can't doitproperly,then pass on it. Kahrs are tight, they have strong recoil springs 18#+ and alot of womenjust cnnot handle it.If she can't do any of the trhee things I mentione,d then IMO pass on the purdy gun.

good forum here to. nice people, including "ol jocko"

I was there by theway when Moses parted the sea:amflag:

[otium]

Congratulations on your pick up.

I sure do like the cw9. The combination of weight, width and a grip height that is just right, it is a pleasure to iwb. Just add a good belt and holster for comfortable all day carry.

[Plinkerton]

Thanks for the links Wyntrout!

I'll definitely check those out.

I did go through and do the prep before shooting it.

The feed ramp looked very polished so I left it alone.

I cinched down the torx screw on the spring just a tad.

[wyntrout]

welcome aboard.' before u go out and buy ur wife this "purdygun". let her work with yours to see if she can. #1 rack the slide toload the gun, or clear a jam, or to unload the gun. If she can't doitproperly,then pass on it. Kahrs are tight, they have strong recoil springs 18#+ and alot of womenjust cnnot handle it.If she can't do any of the trhee things I mentione,d then IMO pass on the purdy gun.

good forum here to. nice people, including "ol jocko"

I was there by theway when Moses parted the sea:amflag:
Hey! You talkin' to me? I went to the gun store to look at a CW9 and found the P380's on sale, too. They had half a dozen or more, so I looked all and chose the one with the bad extractor and failing magazine catch! It had the latest or highest serial number, though! It didn't cost me anything to take care of those and Wifey never fired it, so I sold it to a friend here.

Except for the K9, all of my new Kahrs have needed trips back to the factory... 2 out of 3 polymers more than once, but they are fine now.

Wynn:D

[Plinkerton]

Except for the K9, all of my new Kahrs have needed trips back to the factory... 2 out of 3 polymers more than once, but they are fine now.

Wynn:D

Stories like this made me a little nervous about the CW9. I kind of expected to have some issues since it was a new gun firing cheap FMJ's.

As I said, I'm like Glocks, so I'm not used to having to consider an unreliable gun.

But everything went well.

[wyntrout]

We see a lot of new buyers with problems here, and sometimes, they are induced by incorrect disassembly/re-assembly. But, stuff happens and sometimes they need to be fixed at the factory, but a lot are addressable at home.

The Kahrs are worth the trouble, though. They really are about the best for CCW... the reason Justin Moon designed the Kahrs.

It's good to find out how your SD weapons and ammo work together. I think that too many people buy guns, load them, and then expect that the combo will work without having tested them.:eek:

One mag, one magful of $1 each SD ammo and they are "good to go"! Too much can go wrong and one should really know that the pistol and ammo work work together reliably.

I just got "into" Glocks this January, but I find them too thick and just too large for good concealment. With my Kahrs, I don't have to keep asking myself, "Does this concealed pistol make my ass look bigger?"

Wynn:D

[Plinkerton]

I would keep carrying the Glock if California would let me have my 15+1.

But for 3 more rounds, the size isn't worth it.

When Glock makes a single stack 9mm though, I'll be first in line.

I hear good things about the Shield too, but they seem impossible to find still.

[jocko]

IMO if u shoot that kahr more u might change ur opinion about standing in line for a glock. Nuttin wrong with glocks but certainly nuttin wrong with kahrs either. Ur always gonna read of owner complaints on a gun forum. It is what it is, don't really care who makes um either, the complain ts will come and then u have to decide is the complaint valid. I have always said that some people shouldnot own a gun and definitely some people should not own a kahr. They are more difficult to hand rack thanmost any semi but to make that a complaint tells me u did not do your homework--good enough. I own a G19, great fokking gun. most accurate I have ever shot. I carry my PMJ9 24/7, there is a difference in a safe queen and a ccw gun --for me anyways.. The G19 does a nice job of guarding my safe to.. Just sayin

[Plinkerton]

I actually didn't even think about the difficulty in racking the slide.

I don't find it much harder than most.

My main concern was not being able to slingshot the slide, but it appears it's not an issue, as I haven't had any with it.

My thoughts though, with guns that can be finicky, or have tight tolerances, are that it may not take too much to make them malfunction.

The little torx screw that holds the tiny spring, causing mags to drop out, or slides to lock back, etc.

Or magazines causing nosedives.

I haven't had any issues, but I don't hear about things like that with Glocks.

I really like the CW9 so far, and it's much more comfortable to carry, and my G19 will probably take a back seat.

But I'd still love a single stack Glock. :)

[jocko]

at best leave that little torx scew alone. it screws into polymer so unever tighten it or u will strip the threads. Un lessu improperly reinstall the slide stop lever that area will remin OK with no service required. I alays when cleaningmy kahr put a dab of gun grease on that little tab on the slide lock lever that pops under that little springhy tip..

[Bif]

Over a year ago I was in a shop when a customer brought a CW40 back. He'd put one box of 50 through it, had several malfunctions and couldn't take the recoil. I bought it before they could hardly log it back in (they did give me a deal), took it out to the range and had 2 failures to cycle in 50 rounds, not a stutter since.

So some months later I was in that same shop when they put a CW9 out in the case. It followed me home and I had no failures to cycle properly in the first 100 rounds, none since either, but it did have a very rough gritty trigger. That got better as I fired it more and finally it smoothed out.

I carry either (or sometimes an MK9) in a Galco JAK slide holster, the CW's are light and comfortable, easy pistols to deal with all day long.

Other pistols I sometimes carry: Colt Lightweight Commander Model, Glock 26, and sometimes a Glock 19 with LaserGrips.

[Plinkerton]

It worked! :)

I use a PHLster Access holster for my G19 for AIWB carry and I really like it.

I was bummed they don't make one for the CW9, so I fogured is try my hand at making one, when I couldn't really find one I liked.

I cooked it a bit too hot, which is apparently why it turned shiny on the outside, but I don't mind.

Did it in the super cheap. Bought one piece of foam, which I cut, one piece of kydex, and used an old oven, and a Dremel, and a mini torch.

"Made" a "press" with plywood and the foam. I didn't even glue it on, and didn't use clamps.

I sat on it for 10 minutes as it cooled. :)

It's a little rough, but it came out perfect. Better than I would have hoped.

http://imgur.com/xQaTFjk
http://imgur.com/THH2f2u
http://imgur.com/aq0WTwM
http://imgur.com/zBHDMjz

[Armybrat]

Pretty cool!

Looks like you "hatched" out a good one. :D

[jpshaw]

Great gun. I carry the P9 but only because CW did not exist when I got mine.

[franco45]

The CW and CM series are some of the best values on the market. I own a CW9 and a CW45. They have been 100%. I followed the sticky on cleaning and breaking in a new Kahr on both of them. I really think that sticky is invaluable when it comes to prepping these guns.

[muggsy]

Thanks for the links Wyntrout!

I'll definitely check those out.

I did go through and do the prep before shooting it.

The feed ramp looked very polished so I left it alone.

I cinched down the torx screw on the spring just a tad.

There is no need to go through a lot of gyrations. Most Kahr pistols will slingshot just fine after the break-in. Some, before. Kahr offers that suggestion as a fool proof method of chambering the first round. Both my CM9 and P380 slingshot just fine.

[downtownv]

Welcome from the Jersey Shore.

[AIRret]

Plinkerton, welcome to the Kahr family forum, you'll love it here!

How hard was it to get a carry permit in CA, and what finally made them give you the go ahead?