CM9 Initial impressions QC issues

[mightymouse]

Initial rackings were rough, and not in a good way. I expect new tightness, but this felt like i was running plastic through a cheese greater. Looking at the plastic frame rails near the front and left you could see some material being removed. Not severe enough for concern, but
I'm sure it would have been ugly had I not caught it. Examining the corresponding channel on the slide revealed two very sharp areas with burrs curling into the channels causing the hang up. Thin enough to deform with a fingernail, yet stout enough to damage the plastic. I'm not opposed to working on a new gun,and usually spend a lot of time doing a mild polish of slide, rods, ramp. this looks like a balls out production QA issue. Looking through a loop there were lots of knife sharp material hanging from the edges of channels. I've since run needle files through the channels and followed up with a 600 grit on all mating surfaces. Its a world of difference, much more effective than hand racking 100s of times. Other areas that seemed rushed in production are the rear sight, obviously off to one side and the large recoil spring hacked off leaving a very sharp end. Plenty of time to address the little things. My first Kahr doesn't scream quality. I has good parts, tight, just rushed through the production. I'll deal with it, but No excuse for this.


http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g22/BowtiedZ/CM9010.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g22/BowtiedZ/CM9007.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g22/BowtiedZ/CM9008.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g22/BowtiedZ/CM9009.jpg

[BEARDOG]

They are super tight when new for sure... I have been "grooming" mine for the last month, I did not have any damage done to the plastic rails like you (If it makes you feel any better they really don't do much anyway, the real rails are in the front under the barrel) Also my sight is centered.

I Have made improvements to mine by filing and stoning/polishing lots of areas. First place that had to be addressed was the ejection port, mine had a razor sharp edge at the top where the chamfered edge meets the top and down around the curved part.

I also had to sand and polish the inside of the mag well to get it to drop empty mags, polished the mag to a bright finish also. The floor plate had some sharp edges and it has also been smoothed rounded and polished.

Also the slide release, I rounded the rear corners and made them smooth and comfortable after wearing a small open wound in my thumb during break in.

Also I had to file down and polish the slide hold open post, as it was hitting the nose of some H.P.bullets (I did have 2 pre-mature slide locks at the range before doing this)

Add in about 400 rds fired through it and mine feels like a different gun now. Hopefully yours will impress you soon.
I suppose all this is not a "must" but mine is much improved from doing these things and honestly I like to do stuff like this.

[mightymouse]

Just for the record. I dealt with these very minor glitches and its no longer of any concern. Three minutes with a jewelers file, a quick touch up with some 600. Racking feels real nice now.
Beardog, I can relate to what you're doing. Its a great feeling when everything is looking, feeling, and working as it should.

[OldLincoln]

I started off polishing the ramp and got polish fever, sop I polished all mating surfaces and the action smoothed out to feel like my Colt 1911. In essence, rubbing you finger over anything that feels cutting sharp not just square got a light hit until it felt right.

According to the Book of Jocko, shooting it like you stole it a few thousand rounds will do the same thing but I'm one of those who tend to fix what ain't broke if I think I can make it better.

[jocko]

anythinhg u can do at the kitchen table to make ones gun nicer, smoother, and better all around is the right thing to do. I someties think we expect to much from the gun makers. We can all polish the feed ramps and inside the chamber to make them look better, but we all know that kahr does an excellent job on those two area, but we can do better. Doesn't mean they did a ****-y job either. Proablaby what they do is more than enough but again when at the kitchen table, WHY NOT.. damn near every J frame Smith I have owend I have had a action job done on it and it totally changed the way the gun felt, but it was OK for 90% from out of the box, but not good enugh for me.

We know how far most gun companies go with finalizing a gun and some of us want to take it to the next level. These gun companies are never going to put a gun in the box that will ever match the work that some of us gun owners can do and certainly what some of the good smittys around here can do either. If they did, we would bi-ch like hell at the cost. Course there are some who feel a gun should be as good out of the box as some of the work these good smitty's can do, which to me is ridiculous..

[mightymouse]

Finish up this thread. First range report was perfect, flawless, 100% I am very impressed with the entire shooting experience. Trigger was unlike any of my previous guns. I won't gripe about a gritty 13 lb pull, (not talking about the CM9, but another pocket gun I own) I'll just learn to deal with it...but this was amazing. Smooth, linear, so light.For the price I can't compliment Kahr enough for this product. Yeah, I had a few glitches, but minor at that. Followup stripping after my break in rounds show all is good inside. Really looking forward to dumping a few hundred downrange to really get things settled in.

[jocko]

are usaying this kahr or any kahr has a 13# pull, that is amazing. glad the gun is right for u ..Now just shoot it like u stole it.

[Bawanna]

are usaying this kahr or any kahr has a 13# pull, that is amazing. glad the gun is right for u ..Now just shoot it like u stole it.

Thats not the way I read it.

[jocko]

ok, just ask

[mightymouse]

are usaying this kahr or any kahr has a 13# pull, that is amazing. glad the gun is right for u ..Now just shoot it like u stole it.
Nope.
I was saying that if I have a gun with a 13 lb pull, I will deal with it. My NAA comes to mind. What ever is riding in my shorts that day, I'll still get my shots off where I'm aiming.
The Kahr has an extremely light, linear, smooth pull. Its a pleasure to experience this kind of engineering.
Got some boxes of 124 +P Gold dots on the way. I'll do a feeding of these, after the 200 break ins, before I call it good to go. So much lighter and compact than my .40. With 90 degree weather coming, the Kahr will be a welcome addition. Need to sort out a nice IWB. Pocket is already reserved for the LCP