CM9 Ammunition Sensitive But Still 5 Stars UPDATE PG2

[elde]

Bought one of Bud's CM9 sale guns a couple of weeks ago. Did all the cleaning/fluff & buff things that Kahrs need prior to break-in. Fired 400 rounds thru it for the break-in: WWB, Speer Lawman, my own 124gr reloads, Gold Dots (124 & 124+P), 115gr. 9BPLE and HSTs (124 & 124+P). No issues other than with the HSTs - pull the trigger and get a click. As most know, some Federal primers tend to be "harder" than most other brands. That appears to be the case here as there is an easily seen indention on the primer, but no bang most of the time. Always a good idea to fire a fair amount of your proposed carry loads before thinking a new gun is good to go after break-in. Looks as if I'll be inventorying Gold Dots in addition to my old standby HSTs.

On another note, this gun is just about as easy to shoot and as accurate as my five year old MK9 Elite. Very happy to have added this one to my collection & the price was awesome.

[yqtszhj]

Congrats. My cm9 has bedn flawless and carries gold dots or Hornady and never a problem. I do have some HSTs for another pistol that I may have to try out in the CM9.

[bugs]

Elde, interesting observation on Federal primers; let me relate my experience with Federal primers. since I've had my CM9 (6000 RDS. ago) I've shot almost exclusively Federal 115gr.,aluminum case, for practice and IDPA matches without a single misfire. in the past month, I've continued practice and matches (same ammo) with a Galway reduced striker spring, without any misfires.
with a S&W M10-HB, that I sent to the S&W Performance Center for the Master Revolver package, I was able to reduce the trigger pull to the point that it would only FIRE W/FEDERAL PRIMERS; all other brands FTF.
anything is possible, but Feds have always worked for me. P.S. my carry load is C-D 115gr. no FTF w/these either.

NRA LIFER
IDPA BELEIVER

[finpro]

I have always read and observed that Federal have normally soft primers. I can't recall an ammo-related problem with Federal rounds ever. American Eagle is my preferred range and competition ammo and Federal HSTs in 9mm and .45 ACP are my exclusive carry ammo. My primer problems have always involved Eastern European ammo, which is noted for hard primers, because they associate harder primers with safety. This may have been true when guns were not so drop safe as now. Maybe you had a bad batch of Federals. It can happen.

[berettabone]

I shoot Federal pretty exclusively, both regular, Champion, and Hst's................in 9mm, .40 cal. and .45 and have never had an issue with any of them.

[Ikeo74]

I reload with Federal Primers and have never had any misfires, none with CCI primers either.

[elde]

Good to hear everyone's positive comments re Federal primers. Happens that this same lot of ammunition works fine in my HKs, Glocks & Sigs....just not in either of my Kahrs. And I've tried another lot of the same ammunition with the same result. Guns are clean, firing pins & channel spotless. Just an observation - somewhat interesting in that the failures only occur with 124gr HST.

[340pd]

At least you have an easy solution to that issue.

[SgtStone]

I have yet to find a 9mm load that my CM9 will not handle. I've carried both Gold Dot and HST for self defense; zero glitches.

[elde]

Another range trip today with one last try with HST 124 HPs. Same result.....dented primer, no bang. Gold Dots, Critical Defense & PDX1 all perfect.

[yqtszhj]

Interesting. Shows you never know about some things. Glad you found s good carry load though.

[DavidR]

Were all the HSTs from the same box? Did you try them in another gun?


Dave

[elde]

Dave, I used three different lot numbers of HST just to ensure I didn't have a random box with "bad" primers. Interestingly, these same lot numbers fired successfully thru the G43 & PPS yesterday. I gotta say though.....the CM9 is more fun to shoot than either of those guns and I seem to be a wee bit more accurate with it. I really like my MK9 Elite but the CM9's weight advantage and accuracy makes me wonder why the heck I didn't buy one sooner!

[DavidR]

Elde - that sure is strange. Thankfully there's a lot of great ammo available that isn't HST.

My CM9 did fine with 124 grain and 147 grain HST.


Dave

[elde]

Update: Not wanting to be without the gun while the factory examines it & not wanting to take the chance that their remedy would not alleviate the issue, I ordered a new firing pin and spring from Kahr. Today, after 200 rounds of HST 124 & 147gr JHP I experienced no issues. I'm now calling the gun "fixed" and fit for carrying!