Finally Got My New CW9 Flashing & Crud Everywhere. Then Front Sight Blows Off!

[Gebe]

I live in Calif. and we have to put in a 10 day jail term on our firearms. I finally got to pick up my CW9 today. I brought it home and dissembled it for cleaning. It looked pretty good at first but on closer examination, it had crud and flashing everywhere!

There was flashing residue in everything and flashing residue hanging off every rail groove and everywhere else. I spent over 3 hours cutting off flashing with a razor and cleaning it alone! There were even tiny pieces of metal in the rails. No wonder people can have some reliability issues with these "economy Kahrs" if they don't clean these things completely.

I scrubbed out the barrel and more crud came out and there was more flashing residue! This thing was a flashing residue garbage pail!

I understand that Kahr makes these pistols "economy" but my gosh, their cuts in the costs of manufacturing of these pistols really are "cuts"!

Tomorrow, I will take apart the magazine to make sure the spring has been properly installed. Another economy cut? Jeez!

I'll take it to the range in the next couple of days and hopefully all my work will result in a reliable pistol. I'll report my findings here. I hope all my work results in a reliable one.

Update 8/15
Well, I took it to the range today and put 2 magazines through it. It looked like all my work paid off as it ran flawless with no malfunctions at all. I loaded up a 3rd magazine and took aim at the target but the front sight was gone! I looked all over for it but to no avail.

I came home and immediately called Kahr and that's when I really got ticked off. A service rep named Ken answered and I explained about all the flashing and crud and he just said that was normal and why Kahr recommends shooting 200 rounds through it to wear all the flashing away. Who the heck wants all kinds of flashing particles floating around in a semi auto handgun?

I then told him about the front sight flying off. He said to give him my address and they would send a new sight that I could solder back on. I told him that was unacceptable as I don't know how to solder and THEY were going to do it. He said send the slide back and they would put a new front sight on. I then said are they going to send me a prepaid return label? He said just wrap it up and send it to them.

After he hung up, I got to thinking, no, this is a brand new gun and again, THEY are going to pay to ship it back! I called back and asked for whomever was in charge but got Ken again and he said he was the only one there. I demanded Kahr pay for the shipping and he finally said they would. He said to send Kahr an e-mail at service@kahr.com and give them my address and they would send out a "one time" prepaid shipping label.

So, as a first time Kahr owner, these are my experiences with Kahr. Not the best for sure and I guess I'm just one of the unlucky ones. I think though Kahr should reevaluate their customer service because any good company would have just said they were sorry for my experience and they would e-mail me a prepaid return shipping label to print out and send the slide in and they would fix me right up.

So, if someone asks me concerning buying a Kahr, have I got a story to tell them. :)

[JMag]

Good luck. Your issues haven't been my experience with the economy Kahrs.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Armybrat]

Guess the final gun cleaner dude stepped off the line for a sandwich. :D

Seriously though, of the three Kahrs I've bought, one was really dirty out of the box, but it cleaned up nicely & runs like a champ. No real problems with the others.

Since yours had an excess of crap inside, be sure your striker channel is clear. There's no excuse for Kahr letting their product ship out in the condition you described. I've read of some horror stories about a few Rugers with major fit & finish problems too.

[MMyers1970]

My CM9 came fromt the factory really clean, but there was flash in the frame "rails". It also had a squeaky and gritty trigger. BUT--I was able to solve both issues myself with not a lot of effort.

Getting a filthy gun from the factory wouldn't make me happy.

[Gebe]

Original post amended.

[gb6491]

Gebe,
I understand your position in this matter.
However, I would like to say that the OEM "C" series front sight does not need to be "soldered" on. The sight is plastic. It has two plastic posts that protrude through the slide. The ends that protrude through are melted to form a head, much like a cooper rivet is peened over. The posts can be melted with a soldering iron. They could also be melted by heating a metal rod/large nail/butter knife/etc. You seem gun savvy. It might save you further frustration to have them send you the sight and you do then install, knowing that it will be done right.
Here's a photo that shows how the posts look. Notice how the ends have been melted down into the countersunk holes to form "rivet" heads.
http://i51.tinypic.com/xp7rsi.jpg

I am not fond of the plastic sight myself and have replaced them on any "C" series Kahr I've owned. MY CW9 and CW45 have metal Trijicon front sights, but I would also consider Dawson Precision's front sight acceptable.

Here are photos from when I removed a plastic OEM front sight. This was done by just rocking it off with pliers.
http://i54.tinypic.com/wgq6v.jpg
It takes longer to tape the slide than it does to remove that plastic sight
rnkR6mHXJC8


Here are the remains of the two plastic posts: you can see how they were melted to form the "rivet":
http://i55.tinypic.com/rthw6s.jpg

The Trijicon sight is held on by screws. My older sights have only one sccrew, current sights have two:
http://i51.tinypic.com/24x2l35.jpg

Dawson's sight are installed by flaring the ends of the sight's metal posts with a tool that they provide with their sights.

Personally, I'd take it as a sign and upgrade to metal, but whatever you course, I hope it works out for you.

Regards,
Greg

[topgun1953]

Sorry you had that experience. I've never had to 'push' to get a prepaid label and I'd say I've returned a gun half a dozen times...P380..A couple weeks ago, the recoil assembly for my cm45 died. I emailed them with a picture and within an hour received an acknowledgement and was told a new one was on its way. I don't know this Ken, though. I usually go direct to Jay.. I'm sure they'll fix you up, though.

[Gebe]

Man Greg, you're the best and most helpful moderator on any forum, gun or not that I frequent! Always so helpful and I truly appreciate it.

I didn't have to worry about removing the front sight because when it blew off, EVERYTHING was gone including the posts. :). I did find some bits of plastic inside the gun when I removed the slide after it blew but the two holes where the posts go were completely clean.

You're right on saying not to send in my slide and thanks to your explanation, it would be relatively simple to replace the stock plastic sight. The guy at Kahr definitely stated "to solder" it on but he should have explained it further. Anyway, why tie up my gun for 3-4 weeks when it's an easy replacement?

I'll tell you though and like you said, after this incident, why would I even want to risk this happening again with the plastic sight and the cheapie, unsecure method of just melting posts to secure the front sight to the slide. I'm amazed front sights aren't flying off of economy Kahrs everywhere!

So I think I'd be wise to replace it with a metal sight that's held on with screws or metal posts. Greg or anyone know if the Trijicon front sight is available anywhere else besides from Kahr? Trijicon doesn't even list sights for Kahrs on their site. Also if I went with the Dawson sight, what height should I order to match the stock sight? When the stock sight was still on the pistol, it was working very well for me.

Thank you for all your help!

[Bawanna]

I don't have a good answer for you on sight height but the folks at Dawson are awesome to deal with and they will know what you need.

We've used them several times to determine sight heights, they were very helpful.

[gb6491]

I don't have a good answer for you on sight height but the folks at Dawson are awesome to deal with and they will know what you need.

We've used them several times to determine sight heights, they were very helpful.
I think this is good advice http://www.pic4ever.com/images/129fs238648.gif

FWIW: some years back, Muggsy measured his CM9 front sight (CM/CW sights are the same) at .175" or 4.45mm (http://www.kahrtalk.com/showpost.php?p=279597&postcount=2). I have a take off Kahr CW front sight and my measurement is similar to Muggsy's.

Regards,
Greg

Thank you for you kind comment Gebe...it is very much appreciated.

[Gebe]

Thanks for the help gents!

[skiflydive]

You didn't by any chance cut the "flashing" off those front sight posts did you? Just asking...

[Gebe]

You didn't by any chance cut the "flashing" off those front sight posts did you? Just asking...

No, I didn't touch the front sight posts "mushrooms" at all. I probably should have paid more attention to them on my initial cleaning as they probably weren't mushroomed or flattened enough from the factory.

[Alfonse]

Thanks for recognizing Greg. You're right, he's fantastic to have around here.

[skiflydive]

Thanks for recognizing Greg. You're right, he's fantastic to have around here.

+ + + + + + + +

[Gebe]

I think this is good advice http://www.pic4ever.com/images/129fs238648.gif

FWIW: some years back, Muggsy measured his CM9 front sight (CM/CW sights are the same) at .175" or 4.45mm (http://www.kahrtalk.com/showpost.php?p=279597&postcount=2). I have a take off Kahr CW front sight and my measurement is similar to Muggsy's.

Regards,
Greg

Thank you for you kind comment Gebe...it is very much appreciated.

Greg

Greg,
Thank you as always but I went to the Dawson site and using your measurements, I couldn't find anything. I then e-mailed Dawson and said I wanted to replace my front sight with the stock CW9 front sight height from the factory and what they would recommend? To his credit, Dave answered back very quickly but said there were too many variables involved and to use their Sight Math section of their site to choose the correct height.

To be honest, the Sight Math section is too confusing to me, (I'm not the brightest bulb in the room! :)). I just know that before the stock sight blew off, my gun was shooting point of aim and that's all I'm after.

I'm wondering how Kahr can sell the Trijicon Tritium or night sight and the fiber optic sight and not ask what height you want like Dawson Precision does?

I really have no need for Tritium or night sights but the fiber optic sights appeal to me. However, the stock polymer sight was fine with me and supposedly Kahr sent my replacement a week ago, (I'm still waiting for it to arrive). If after I install the stock sight and it blows off again, I'll consider aftermarket.

Thanks as always Greg. You're the best!!!

[Armybrat]

I ordered the replacement flat steel base for my new CW9's magazine on Tuesday, August 22nd about mid-day. It was delivered to my mailbox this afternoon at 1pm. Installed it after removing the standard plastic base plate - took about one minute. it's a nice improvement over the bulky original, and the mag looks a lot more flush (still sticks out a little bit). Expensive little piece of steel, but I just don't like plastic base plates on my CCW magazines.

Need to get out to the land & shoot the gun pretty soon to make sure it works ok. Have a bunch of the crappy WWB, a couple of boxes of Remington 115 fmj, and will get some AE to break it in. Need to buy some Gold Dot, Hornady CD, and maybe Buffalo Bore to run through it to see which SD it likes.

[Gebe]

The sight finally arrived. I decided I'd just go ahead and use it since the original that blew off was shooting point of aim nicely and I don't really have a need for a tritium sight and save $50.00 to boot.

First I coated the posts and the bottom with a light coat of Gorilla Glue. Pushed it in and let the glue set for 24 hours. Then I heated the posts with a little butane torch and pushed them flat with a flat point punch. Cleaned everything up and assembled the pistol.

Headed for the range in a couple of days and I'll put a hundred rounds or more through it and if this one blows off, I'll bite the bullet and go with the Trijicon from Kahr. :2rolleyes:

Again, thanks for all the help Greg!