First Blood: Tungsten CM9 w/ 3-dot sights (9093TU3)

[SgtStone]

After careful research & study I purchased a new Kahr CM9 w/ factory Tungsten cerakote on the exposed stainless steel parts. It comes w/ removable rubber grips, 3-dot sights & one 6-round magazine with finger extension. I ordered a 7-round magazine w/ the pistol. The subtle two-toned pistol is visually pleasing yet rugged.

After transfer, I scrupulously cleaned & lubricated the pistol & strip cleaned the new mags according to the manual. Testing the mechanism w/ 9mm snap caps* I could feel this was an excellent precisely made device. My instincts proved correct: I fired ~100 rounds of factory FMJ -- including 115 grain Speer & Fiocchi, 124 grain Geco, & 147 grain Speer -- without any failures or malfunctions. Home from the range I stripped, cleaned & lubed the pistol; brushed & wiped the mags, ready for bench rest testing.

One problem: Contrasting w/ the flawless mechanical function, the 3-dot sights seem well off zero. I shot my Beretta Px4 Compact 9mm w/ 3-dot sights & same ammo dead on target. The CM9 consistently hit left & very low. At 7m the bullets hit ~6" to the left & at least 12" low of aim point. Tight groups (~3") out to 10m but way low shooting both left & right hand, various stances & grips. The front sight seems to be too tall for the small frame. It might be the long trigger pull a/o unaccustomed grip angle throwing off my aim but I suspect installation of the 3-dot sights.

I was shooting steel & cardboard at a rifle-pistol-shotgun range w/ the nearest bench at 50m. Next range trip I'll use a concrete bench rest w/ calibrated pistol targets at 3-5-7-10 yards & a fixed rest to determine aim point. Other than this post I'm waiting to complete the 200 round break in before addressing the problem. FTR I'm an experienced pistol hand w/ a preference for small semi-autos. Accuracy is not a problem with my other firearms including smaller pistols such as my Beretta P21a.

Report to follow...

* "First Blood". When gifted w/ a new knife, kids in my family invariably cut themselves trying out the blades. My mother would shout "first blood" & we would consider the weapon christened. While running the first snap caps through my new CM9, I underestimated spring force a nipped a finger at the sharp corner of the ejection port. An inconsequential wound but just enough blood to make the weapon mine :cool:.

[lamppa]

My cm 9 shoots really low too. Some do. You have to align the sights different.


Read this;

http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?28420-Aiming-with-facrory-sights&p=363227#post363227

[SgtStone]

My cm 9 shoots really low too. Some do. You have to align the sights different.


Read this;

http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?28420-Aiming-with-facrory-sights&p=363227#post363227

Thanks for the tips & advice. I tried raising the sight picture to hit the target until past the point where the pistol was obscuring the target. Sure, I can get "hits" by raising the front sight past where I'm essentially firing blind. In order to compensate for drop as it currently appears, I'd have to file off the front sights well into the slide &-).

Observation: with the barrel locked into the slide the bore axis appears to point low & left measuring from the plane of the top of the slide. I'll confirm this with the pistol in a vice, a level & a 9mm bore sight light.

Question: If the bullet emerges with the barrel locked (likely), wouldn't it naturally hit left & quite low of the aim point?

Rare rainy weekend in the high desert. When sunny weather returns next week I'll visit the pistol range with calibrated targets at set distances using a poly-vise and sandbags on a concrete bench rest to get accurate data. Meanwhile, I'm practicing dry fire using 9mm snap caps. JFTR the sight picture does not waver or change when I squeeze the trigger.

[SgtStone]

Observation: with the barrel locked into the slide the bore axis appears to point low & left measuring from the plane of the top of the slide. I'll confirm this with the pistol in a vice, a level & a 9mm bore sight light.

Acquired a 9mm bore sight laser. The small laser pointer is held in a metal case shaped like a 9mm cartridge. With the CM9 held level in a Pan-a-Vise & a target ~5m the 3-dot sights appear to be aligned with the bore axis. Same test but with a Beretta Px4 Compact also w/ 3-dot sights: the sight picture aligns w/ the bore axis nearly identical to the CM9.

From this test both pistols should hit point of aim; the Beretta certainly does. Weather permitting, I'll repeat this test at the pistol range using live ammo. Judging from how well the pistol mechanics function, I expect accurate shot placement. I'll use the vice a/o sand bags to try to eliminate aiming problems resulting from the rubber grips that come w/ the tungsten CM9.

FTR the slide is becoming easier to cycle w/ snap caps.

[SgtStone]

Visited the Clark County Shooting Complex today. Set up a bench rest at ~8m using calibrated pistol targets. Verified the bore sight data: this CM9 shoots true, dead on target. Passed the 200 round break in period -- 220 rounds total -- w/ zero malfunctions.

Repeat:zero failures of any kind cycling 4 different factory loads from 115 to 147 grain FMJ. Not certain what caused the early apparent lack of accuracy but this pistol shoots as well if not better than my Beretta Px4 Compact, a superb semi-auto. Still adapting to the long trigger pull but it's a great trigger. I can highly recommend the "TU3" tungsten SS finish & the 3-dot sights, improving an excellent self defense weapon.

My advice to future Kahr owners: follow the instructions in the owners manual to the letter. Thoroughly strip & clean the entire
pistol & magazines. Remove all of the protective coating. Apply a thin film of quality gun oil to the pistol mechanism but just polish the mags w/ a clean cloth. Kahr website & Youtube have several good maintenance videos.

As for recoil, the CM9 has even less felt recoil than my Px4 Compact; a soft firing highly controllable pistol. After firing over 400 9mm rounds mostly 147 grain through both pistols, my hands & forearms feel great. Kudos to Kahr on excellent design & implementation.

[robistro]

Just bought the TU3 - Kahr CM9 Saturday, shot it today, Sunday. Ran flawless. 3 different types of ammo, 150 rounds, ZERO issues.
I DID have 1 issue.... I only had 1 magazine so it was a royal pain to keep loading or I would have shot more ammo through it. I think point of aim was accurate, I had no issues with it shooting too low, high, right or left. If I did it was my aim or trigger pull. I shot my XDs after the Kahr and my accuracy is better with my XDs, but both guns fired point of aim. Great gun, I just need to build on our friendship. :)


Caliber: 9mm
Capacity: 6+1
Operation: Trigger cocking DAO; lock breech; "Browning - type" recoil lug; passive striker block; no magazine disconnect
Barrel: 3.0", conventional rifling; 1 - 10 right-hand twist
Length O/A: 5.42"
Height: 4.0" (w/o magazine)
Slide Width: .90"
Weight: Pistol 14 ounces, Magazine 1.9 ounces
Grips: Textured polymer with Pachmayr® Tactical Grip Glove
Sights: Drift adjustable white 3-dot rear sight, pinned in polymer front sight
Finish: Black polymer frame, Cerakote Tungsten stainless steel slide
Magazine: 1 - 6 rd with Pearce finger rest magazine extension

[robistro]

After careful research & study I purchased a new Kahr CM9 w/ factory Tungsten cerakote on the exposed stainless steel parts. It comes w/ removable rubber grips, 3-dot sights & one 6-round magazine with finger extension. I ordered a 7-round magazine w/ the pistol. The subtle two-toned pistol is visually pleasing yet rugged.

After transfer, I scrupulously cleaned & lubricated the pistol & strip cleaned the new mags according to the manual. Testing the mechanism w/ 9mm snap caps* I could feel this was an excellent precisely made device. My instincts proved correct: I fired ~100 rounds of factory FMJ -- including 115 grain Speer & Fiocchi, 124 grain Geco, & 147 grain Speer -- without any failures or malfunctions. Home from the range I stripped, cleaned & lubed the pistol; brushed & wiped the mags, ready for bench rest testing.

One problem: Contrasting w/ the flawless mechanical function, the 3-dot sights seem well off zero. I shot my Beretta Px4 Compact 9mm w/ 3-dot sights & same ammo dead on target. The CM9 consistently hit left & very low. At 7m the bullets hit ~6" to the left & at least 12" low of aim point. Tight groups (~3") out to 10m but way low shooting both left & right hand, various stances & grips. The front sight seems to be too tall for the small frame. It might be the long trigger pull a/o unaccustomed grip angle throwing off my aim but I suspect installation of the 3-dot sights.

I was shooting steel & cardboard at a rifle-pistol-shotgun range w/ the nearest bench at 50m. Next range trip I'll use a concrete bench rest w/ calibrated pistol targets at 3-5-7-10 yards & a fixed rest to determine aim point. Other than this post I'm waiting to complete the 200 round break in before addressing the problem. FTR I'm an experienced pistol hand w/ a preference for small semi-autos. Accuracy is not a problem with my other firearms including smaller pistols such as my Beretta P21a.

Report to follow...

* "First Blood". When gifted w/ a new knife, kids in my family invariably cut themselves trying out the blades. My mother would shout "first blood" & we would consider the weapon christened. While running the first snap caps through my new CM9, I underestimated spring force a nipped a finger at the sharp corner of the ejection port. An inconsequential wound but just enough blood to make the weapon mine :cool:.
must be something to those Tungsten Cerakote guns....mine bit me and drew blood yesterday while working the slide breaking it in... ouch! lil bastard!
Strong spring on that sob

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk