CW45 All Better Now...

[FHBrumb]

I bought the CW45, looking for a smaller poly 45 than my XD. Im at about 350 rounds, and I can't get a good feed with JHPs. I have tried Remington green box, WWB, and PDX-1. None feed well. It's good with ball, but 3 for 3 FAIL on JHPs. Not cool.

What 230gr JHPs do you have good results from?

[TheTman]

I've not had any failures with the PDX-1. So not sure what would work. I've heard Golden Sabers will feed well in a gun that has problems with other hollow points, but I have no experience to back that story up. Mine has ate everything I've fed to it.
Maybe you would have better luck with that Cor-Bon Pow'r Ball.
If you can start documenting the failures, which mag, which round in the mag, etc., perhaps the guys can give you some help determining what the problem is.

[jocko]

we probalby need to know more than " not get a good feed", that is not telling us what it is doing etc,some here might be able to help but we all need to know more. That cw45 should feed all ammo, they are not ammo sensitive.

[FHBrumb]

I end up with the JHP jammed up against the roof of the chamber at a very steep angle. The rim is not up to, or in, the extractor groove.

The ramp and chamber have been polished. The breech face has been polished. The moving parts of the extractor assembly have been polished. Ball feeds 100%. JHPs not so much.

My XD loves all ammo, but not my CW.

[RogerP9fan]

Thanks for sharing your experience here and hope you get it resolved. I like Speer Gold Dot and hope my CW45 has an appetite once I get 'er running right.

[CJB]

One thing I've noticed, is my PM45 does not like LONG rounds. That is, some 1911 shooters like long seated rounds to help feeding. My PM45 works great with short rounds that would not feed in any 1911 I've got, but cartridges that nearly "maxed out" the magazine tended to cause problems. I don't count that as a fault, but just saying, ammo does vary, and the rounds I had were intentionally loaded long. It was a trial on my part.

[FHBrumb]

The PDX is like 1/10 inch shorter than ball, and has a nice rounded nose. No clue why it won't feed. I wish it would, as it is available easily locally, and relatively affordable. Also, I already own quite a bit of it...

Any thoughts on how to get it feeding?

[WMD]

That CW should feed most any 45 ammo. Notice I underlined "most". You should give Kahr a call and have them check it out for you. Probably not a big deal to resolve. Do not waste any more money on ammo, let Kahr have a go at it. They will get it going for you. As an aside, I have found Golden Saber feeds in any 45 I have ever shot. Although, there are other real good HP's out there GS is my personal favorite.

Just my 2 cents!

[FHBrumb]

Well, I guess I can't help bit wonder how many Kahr pistols go back to the factory, just to get them to function correctly.

The second thought I have is maybe it just needs more run time... It is quite possible that I have a little over zealous recoil spring. Maybe what is happening is that the slide short cycles (probably helped along by bad wrists), and friction between the slide and side of the case starts it forward. Maybe the slide never fully opens... Dunno... Maybe...

[gb6491]

Well, I guess I can't help bit wonder how many Kahr pistols go back to the factory, just to get them to function correctly.

The second thought I have is maybe it just needs more run time... It is quite possible that I have a little over zealous recoil spring. Maybe what is happening is that the slide short cycles (probably helped along by bad wrists), and friction between the slide and side of the case starts it forward. Maybe the slide never fully opens... Dunno... Maybe...
I was going to suggest removing the extractor and seeing if the hollow points would hand feed, but after reading the above, I wonder if you might be on to something with the highlighted piece of information. I've experienced stoppages that I know I caused by how I was manipulating the firearm. In the majority of the cases, the failure was a nose up failure to feed.
Regards,
Greg

[FHBrumb]

I cannot MAKE it fail with hand feeding. I might order another spring and see what happens. The CW takes a lot more effort to cycle than my XD does.

[gb6491]

I cannot MAKE it fail with hand feeding. I might order another spring and see what happens. The CW takes a lot more effort to cycle than my XD does.
Shoot hoss, vice ordering it and as you have problems, give Kahr a call. Tell them the thing only feeds part of the time and ask for a replacement spring (possibly an extractor as well).
Good luck with your pistol,
Greg

FWIW, Don't know what you are using, but I've always had better results with grease vice oil on slide rails.

[FHBrumb]

I think I learned that my hypothesis is good. I pulled the slide back over a loaded mag, just to the point where the part of the slide that touches the rounds was over the groove in front of the rim. As soon as I released the slide, I perfectly duplicated the ftf I saw at the range. I did it over and over, each time with the same result. I think the recoil spring is a bit strong. I'll put a few more boxes through it, and see what happens.

I think the extractor is fine.

[FHBrumb]

I found a post in Kahr Tech, and read it. I found a part about a bevel on the bottom of the pick up rail. Mine had ZERO. I added a hint of bevel. I also put a bevel on the front of my recoil spring guide rod and buffed it well. I also buffed out the bottom of the pick up rail again. The thought was to get the slide velocity up. Also, adding the bevel might help avoid the angle at the end of my pick up rail from grabbing just in front of the rim.

[FHBrumb]

New recoil spring looks and feels 100% the same. Except for the wear on the old one, there is no perceivable difference.

[jreXD9]

dang, I've had 4 Kahrs and they all ran like a top...cw45, cw9, pm9, mk9.

[FHBrumb]

It gets better each outing. As soon as it will run through a box or two, without choking, I'll be pleased.

It shoots straight as can be, hand fit is excellent, and it sits well on the hip. I just need it to run, and eat.

[FHBrumb]

As indicated by the title change, my Kahr is running well now. Today, I put another 160 rounds of mixed 230 grain ammo downrange. It was about half FMJ, and the other half JHPs, including Remington Green Box, WWB, Win PDX-1, and three mags of Double Tap that I bought back when they were Gold Dots.

I had exactly one failure. One time, the slide did not lock back on an empty mag. That's it... Maybe my thumb was riding the slide stop, dunno... Not one single failure to feed ever...

A few things I felt helped.

1: My pick up rail had a sharp edge on it. I felt like for whatever reason, I wasn't getting a full rearward motion on the slide, and the pick up was catching the round anyway, and as it hit the ramp, it stood up to a nose high angle. I put a slightly rounded bevel there, and removed the angle.

2: I polished the bottom of the pick up rail and the recoil spring guide rod. I did this to get the slide velocity as high as possible.

3: I polished the breech face to allow the rim to slide up under the extractor well.

4: I cleaned and polished all moving parts of the extractor.

5: I polished the feed ramp and the chamber.

6: Run time.

Thanks for the help along the way!!!

[FHBrumb]

Next up is a set of Night Sights and a mag well bevel...

[RogerP9fan]

Glad to hear all your efforts paid off and yours is ALL BETTER NOW. My new one had a trigger reset issue but a little trigger bar replacement love from the Mothership made it all better. Feeds WWB and Speer GD 230g just fine. Couldn't be happier with the awesome shooting CW45 :D

[FHBrumb]

Another 250 rounds downrange. This time, yellow box Remington UMC, which is the dirtiest stuff I've fired in a long time... Today, zero failures.

The last string was 33 rounds (6, 6, 7, 7, 7), on a dirty gun, as fast as I could fire and swap out mags. At the end of all of this cruddy ammo, it ate all 33 without a hiccup.

[TucsonMTB]

As Yogi Berra would say, "It's déjà vu all over again."

The experience with my first PM40 was nearly identical to yours. I did everything you did, but in a different order. Polishing the breech face was the final step for me that made the most difference, leading to 100% reliability.

Congratulations!

Oh, and I should mention that I recently bought a second PM40. The breech face looks great and it has been flawless since the first round. Go figure! :D

[Bawanna]

Another 250 rounds downrange. This time, yellow box Remington UMC, which is the dirtiest stuff I've fired in a long time... Today, zero failures.

The last string was 33 rounds (6, 6, 7, 7, 7), on a dirty gun, as fast as I could fire and swap out mags. At the end of all of this cruddy ammo, it ate all 33 without a hiccup.

Nice to see some dirty pictures once in a while. I'm glad you got this thing cured of all hiccups.

[RogerP9fan]

Congrats. I just put another 40 rounds through my CW45 last night after a new trigger bar from the Mothership. Got 170 through now! YES! :D

[FHBrumb]

So who manufactures a short throw trigger bar?

[jocko]

NO ONE, that to me would be a very dangerous gun


congrates Roger P:9fan. hopefully things willget betterfor you. U have certainly paid ur dues. I am thinking that if u didn't love the kahrs and had faith in them, that you would have moved on a long time ago.

[Iron Worker]

Well they have my CW.40 now. Maybe I'll get an action tune up on their time. If I loaded just 3 rnds in the mag it worked fine.

[bamaman]

Glad you got it running good.

[CJB]

1: My pick up rail had a sharp edge on it. I felt like for whatever reason, I wasn't getting a full rearward motion on the slide, and the pick up was catching the round anyway, and as it hit the ramp, it stood up to a nose high angle. I put a slightly rounded bevel there, and removed the angle.

2: I polished the bottom of the pick up rail and the recoil spring guide rod. I did this to get the slide velocity as high as possible.


I think #1 was probably your best move. #2... didn't really do anything, but polished looks nicer! One of the "problems" is high slide velocity - through lack of weight of the moving parts - so you really dont want to increase the velocity. Look at it this way: With the slide all the way back, there is only so much room between the breach face and the round in the magazine. Very little room when compared to a nice slow moving 1911 slide. As the Kahr slide passes over the top round in the magazine on its way backwards, the round can move up that last bit, only in the amount of time its uncovered, the slide goes fully rear, and starts moving forward again. Thats the magazine rise time. Very very short in a Kahr. Very short by any pistol standards. Hence strong magazine springs are a given. The recoil spring is made very strong on purpose, weakening some with break-in. Hopefully it all balances out when its broken in. Anything you can do to help that rise time problem (like #1) is a good thing!