New CM9 - Range Report & Broken Follower

[bozemanman]

Just a heads up in case anyone is interested. I just purchased a brand new CM9 from RSR on 10-15-2014. The gun itself has been a dream to shoot. No malfunctions during the break in. I was shooting Geco 115gr FMJ during the break in period. Somewhere around the 200-225 round count I noticed the front of the follower broke. I ran a couple more mags through without malfunction. I then took the magazine apart and removed the broken piece of plastic. Proceeded to finish the box of 50 without an issue. Total round count 275.

After finishing shooting yesterday, I called Kahr. I was on hold for less than 5 minutes and spoke with a gentleman who didn't give me his name. I was unaware of the follower issue until reading on this site last night. He offered to send me a new follower, but I asked if he thought that it would be a band-aid fix and he agreed that I should just send the gun back to them. They promptly emailed me a prepaid overnight FedEx label. He said the turn around time will be 2 weeks. That is all. I just want to let people know that the brand new models (or at least mine) are still having this issue with the broken followers. My serial number is IS09xx.

[muggsy]

You must have been very polite on the phone. The A-holes who call Kahr have to threaten a lawsuit to get a prepaid mailing label. I got one for my P380 without any problems, so contrary to what a certain sheep herder might tell you, I guess I'm not an A-hole either. Great report. :)

[Gbarber010]

I have a thread I started about a week and a half ago about broken followers. the CS was great they didn't afford to pay shipping until I questioned them and they immediately paid for shipping. No threats made just asked. fix was pretty simple, just a little of the feed ramp. Turn around was 1 week. All is perfect now. Very happy with service

[Bill K]

Thanks for the range report and heads up.

Glad Kahr is taking care of you but disappointed that the follower issue hasn't been completely resolved with new production.

[tony k]

I'm surprised Kahr hasn't solved this feed ramp issue. Based on what I've read on Kahrtalk, It seems that it has been a problem for a few years with the CW9. Now some of the CM9s are having the same problem. Sorry to hear that.

Well Bozemanman, Thanks for the great report. Hopefully they will take a little off the feed ramp and everything will be golden. FWIW, My CM9 has been flawless.

[DavidR]

It seems to be an easy fix and fast turnaround for Kahr but there's no excuse for continuing to manufacture guns with a known defect.


Dave

[MBSL500]

Kahr STILL hasn't fixed this?
Absolutely unbelievable.

[Rubb]

I got mine in March broke a follower, flawless through it all without breaking another...it's an IQ****

[b4uqzme]

Kahr STILL hasn't fixed this?
Absolutely unbelievable.

Yeah! Why don't they make 'em loose and sloppy like a Kel-tec or a Jennings...:confused:

[jocko]

even though this fella had an issue, I think the follower issue has really slowed alot in the past months. This one must have slipped through.

[MBSL500]

Yeah! Why don't they make 'em loose and sloppy like a Kel-tec or a Jennings...:confused:

Kahr doesn't need to make them like a a Keltec or Jennings.
They need to start giving a da*n about their customers and stop selling a gun they know has a good chance of needing to come back to the factory.
In my forty plus years of owning handguns, I have never heard of any other gun manufacturer who has let something like this go unresolved for this long.

[b4uqzme]

Ya missed my point...but that's OK.

[JERRY]

I thought the broken follower was a .40cal issue due to machining errors in the feed ramps. has this spread to 9mm too, or has it always been there just not as prevalent?

[RRP]

I thought the broken follower was a .40cal issue due to machining errors in the feed ramps. has this spread to 9mm too, or has it always been there just not as prevalent?

It's been around for a while, Jerry, way longer than it should.

I agree with Jocko; reports of broken followers appear to be on the decline. This leads to me believe that Kahr has addressed the issue in current production. It may be the problems we hear about now are guns that were manufactured a year ago (or more) and have been slow to move through the distribution chain. Maybe the gun sat in a stockroom somewhere, and was only sold recently. Or perhaps the problems we hear about today are guns that were purchased months ago, but not shot until recently.

You'll remember that at one time, nosedives were a common problem in some Kahr models. Bullet tips would lodge under the feedramp, causing a serious stoppage. I can only speculate that Kahr tried to remediate this problem by making the feedramp a bit longer, to keep bullet tips from dropping below it. The unintended consequence is the follower now impacted the lower feedramp, leading to failure of the magazine follower. The fix Kahr provided is a rampectomy.

I hope this is behind us. It does not instill a lot of confidence in a brand, when reliability problems are so common.

[MBSL500]

It's been around for a while, Jerry, way longer than it should.

I agree with Jocko; reports of broken followers appear to be on the decline. This leads to me believe that Kahr has addressed the issue in current production. It may be the problems we hear about now are guns that were manufactured a year ago (or more) and have been slow to move through the distribution chain. Maybe the gun sat in a stockroom somewhere, and was only sold recently. Or perhaps the problems we hear about today are guns that were purchased months ago, but not shot until recently.

You'll remember that at one time, nosedives were a common problem in some Kahr models. Bullet tips would lodge under the feedramp, causing a serious stoppage. I can only speculate that Kahr tried to remediate this problem by making the feedramp a bit longer, to keep bullet tips from dropping below it. The unintended consequence is the follower now impacted the lower feedramp, leading to failure of the magazine follower. The fix Kahr provided is a rampectomy.

I hope this is behind us. It does not instill a lot of confidence in a brand, when reliability problems are so common.

I called Kahr yesterday and asked them if any changes have been made to the feed ramp and if so, would they provide a serial number
cut-off when the change was implemented.
I was told that there has been no production changes made to the feed ramp and if I have an issue, call them for instructions.
Bottom line, the feed ramp problem has not been corrected....regardless of the production date.
If anyone would like to hear that from the horse's mouth rather than by me.... 508-795-3939

[RRP]

That is disappointing to learn.

[bozemanman]

It is disappointing to learn this as well. Kahr received the CM9 yesterday as there was a delay on FedEx side. I'll keep you all posted on how it goes.

I have been carrying a Glock 23 & 19 for the past 18 years and wanted a lighter carry gun and something with a little more power than my Ruger LCP (backup/primary if it's the only gun I can carry). I will need to count on the CM9 as it will be a carry gun, not a range toy.

I hope my original post is helping people make an educated decision on the current CM9 (ser# ISxxxx). Like I said the gun runs great and a joy to shoot. I just hope that it retains it's function (zero malfunctions) when it returns from the factory. Out of the 30 years I have been shooting and collecting firearms, this is only the second gun that has had to go back to the factory for work. My LCP had to go back to Ruger for FTFeed issues and the solution/fix was a new barrel (been perfect ever since).

[bozemanman]

I received an email with FedEx tracking today (I requested this on the first call to Kahr). They stated it would take two weeks to get the gun back to me.

They received the CM9 on Monday and shipped it yesterday FedEx 2 day. It will be here in Montana tomorrow, Thursday! That is a super fast turn around time. I will try and take it out tomorrow if I can find the time. So far I'm happy with the fast turn around time from Kahr!

[jocko]

I think it was more prevelant in the 40 cal guns and my 21 cents on that was that there is a terrific explosion when that 40 cal goes off and I think in itself was not allowing enough clearance in the feed ramps. We have seen it in 9's to but not near as much as the 40's. so it is what it is. Kahr will make it right. I seriously doubt if they will tell anyone if they have since fixed that issue and expecialy to provide a serial # where they have done this mod, as IMO every person under that number would think his gun should go back, and we know this is not prevelant in all 40's or 9's. They will fix um as they hear of an issue from an owner.

My personal thoughts and no proof behind it it that, Indeed kahr has done some rampectomys on their later shipments...

[codegeek]

I think it was more prevelant in the 40 cal guns and my 21 cents on that was that there is a terrific explosion when that 40 cal goes off and I think in itself was not allowing enough clearance in the feed ramps. We have seen it in 9's to but not near as much as the 40's. so it is what it is. Kahr will make it right. I seriously doubt if they will tell anyone if they have since fixed that issue and expecialy to provide a serial # where they have done this mod, as IMO every person under that number would think his gun should go back, and we know this is not prevelant in all 40's or 9's. They will fix um as they hear of an issue from an owner.

My personal thoughts and no proof behind it it that, Indeed kahr has done some rampectomys on their later shipments...

When I got my CM9 back, they didn't even say they did anything to my feed ramp? They fixed something. That's for sure.

Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk

[bozemanman]

UPDATE:

I was able to take the CM9 out yesterday. I shot 100 rounds of 115gr FMJ and 14 rounds of Federal 124gr HST with zero malfunctions. I won't be 100% confident until I shoot at least another 200 rounds without breaking a follower. However, as of now I am happy with the quick turnaround time from Kahr. If anything happens in the future I will post it here. Thanks for the replies to this thread!

From the Kahr Technical Service Work Sheet:

Problem Reported:
BREAKING FOLLOWERS, EMAIL TRACKING NUMBER 1 MK620

Action Taken:
CK- REWORKED FEED RAMP REPLACED 1 FOLLOWER LUBED AND TESTED GOOD WITH 31 ROUNDS

[SmokyT]

Great! Do you know/Can you tell how they actually "reworked" the feed ramp? I'm very curious about "factory fix" because I fixed the same problem with my PM9 myself by performing a very minor rampectomy, and I'm now 100% confident carrying the gun.

[bozemanman]

Great! Do you know/Can you tell how they actually "reworked" the feed ramp? I'm very curious about "factory fix" because I fixed the same problem with my PM9 myself by performing a very minor rampectomy, and I'm now 100% confident carrying the gun.

It's easier for me to post pics of how the work was done, rather than explain it. Hope this helps.

http://i59.tinypic.com/vwvgi8.jpg

http://i57.tinypic.com/59wjn7.jpg

http://i60.tinypic.com/vq1wuf.jpg

http://i61.tinypic.com/2dguekh.jpg

[SmokyT]

Thanks for the pics. Yes, I can see what they did to the feed ramp.