New CW 45

[jdcjr]

I bought the gun Wednesday and was going to pratice having it eject rounds from the magazine and on the second round the bullet is stuck and won't allow the slide to go full forward and it won't let me pull it back to eject the round thats stuck in the chamber. Any ideas or should I just take it to a gunsmith to address this issue. I am uneasy knowing there is a live round in it that I can't seem to get out.

[Bawanna]

Was it a factory cartridge or a hand load? The won't fire if its out of battery but of course don't count on it. My first thought is the cartridge is too long. The bullet hit the lands in the rifling and is now stuck.
First I'd really tug like I mean it on the slide, if nothing I'd find a dowel or a brass rod or even a cleaning rod. Put it down the barrel and either using the floor or a solid wall, work bench, whatever, tap the gun/rod against the hard surface while pulling on the slide at the same time.

Your driving the bullet back out of the rifling.
Once its apart, take the top end off and drop a fresh round in the chamber and push with your finger. Tip the barrel up and it should fall out easy. If not the round is too long.

[Bill K]

Bummer! Dare I say welcome to KahrTalk?

So you've dropped the magazine and now just have a single round, in the chamber, that is stuck? The bullet appears to be fully chambered?

[patbelly]

That happened to me too. Don't worry, someone here will help you out. I couldn't get the round out either so I finally pushed the end of the slide against the floor and the round popped out. The gun needs to be broken in. Try racking the slide a couple hundred times, then go shoot it. And don't forget to clean and lube.

[OldLincoln]

First I'd use reasonable pressure to force the slide open. If the round is too long (i.e., not factory) it should back out without beating it about the head and shoulders. You can place a wooden dowel in the barrel and push that against the floor to back it out of the chamber.

This doesn't happen as a normal course of things with factory ammo. One may use reloads that work fine in one gun but be a tad long in another so it is advised not to use reloads initially.

I'm not accusing you of using reloads, it's just a likely cause as Bawanna stated, and many of use reload and they shoot just fine. Please let us help and we'll all learn something.

[Bawanna]

Yup, nothing wrong with reloads but I found on my own that the reloads I use in my other guns were just a nano long in the Kahr. I pushed more than a few out using the stick method. The really get jammed in there and sometimes takes a pretty good beating to get them out.

Just shorten the load so it drops in and out and your good to go.

I do like to use factory only at first on any gun, just to eliminate any variables with the ammunition. There are some factory loads that seem to be towards the long side also, so that isn't always a for sure thing either.

[jdcjr]

The bullet is a brand new factory Hornady 200 gr XTP. I don't think the bullet fully seated in the chamber as the slide never went fully forward and I can not get it to pull back. It only has about an 1/8" travel in either direction.

[Bawanna]

Put the slide up against a padded but firm surface and push while pulling on the slide. It's gotta move. If it's that close to going into battery everything is lined up, should be nothing but the bullet hanging up.

Post a picture if you can of the top of the slide so we can see where it's at.

Was this the first run thru cycling rounds thru or did it, reloaded and did it again. Might have pulled the bullet a little bit on the first trip through and got stuck on the second.

[jdcjr]

The first round did ok and the second round is the one thats partially (mostly) caught in the chamber.

Hope these pics help.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78/xMongerx/IMG_0395.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78/xMongerx/IMG_0394.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78/xMongerx/IMG_0393.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78/xMongerx/IMG_0392.jpg

[jdcjr]

OK. I just pulled the snot out of the slide and got the round to eject. Thank you all of the assistance. The bullet looks pretty beat up now and has a lot of scratches all the way around it.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78/xMongerx/IMG_0397.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78/xMongerx/IMG_0396.jpg

[Bill K]

At this point I think I'd field strip and inspect the chamber. If the chamber looks good maybe try feeding some other .45 bullets, by hand, into the still field stripped barrel.

BTW, nice pics.

[Bawanna]

Man you made my day. I absolutely hate having a jammed up gun with a round in the chamber. The heats off.

Now do just what Bill K said. Drop one of those same rounds into the barrel, out of the gun and push with your finger. Then tip it upside down and see if it falls out. Any resistance at all is a long seated bullet or the chamber needs cleaning up some.

If you were at a range you can sometimes smack the back of the slide with the palm of your hand and force the slide into battery. I didn't want that to happen here since it sounded like you were home and may not be able to fire a round. If you have to do that, that's a red flag that something is not right with the world, stop, look things over, try the bullet in the chamber trick, figure out whats wrong before you proceed.

I'm glad you got it open, I feel way better now.

Major renovation going on in my man cave, I'll go back to that with a smile on my face now.

[OldLincoln]

Please keep us informed. I keep adding new items to my education and am eager to keep abreast of this one. BTW, I don't believe I said WELCOME to the forum. We're glad you're here.

[jdcjr]

Thanks again for all of the guidance and for the warm welcome.

I took the gun down and gave it a good check and a good cleaning. I did notice that the throat of the chamber and top of feed ramp had a few rough spots on them. I took my dremel tool and polished both enough so they now feel smooth. I plan on going out the in the next day or so and run some FMJ rounds through it to see how it does. I haven't had the chance to take it out and shoot it yet.

I also own a KelTec PF9 so I am somewhat familiar with the break in period and the need for a little fluff and buff to make it run smooth. Hopefully my CW45 will turn out to be a reliable weapon.

[jdcjr]

Update- Took the gun out today and ran 36 rounds of Federal 230 FMJ through it with no issues what so ever. Sweet little shooter that actually has less "felt" recoil than my KelTec PF9.

[jdcjr]

Just another update.

I went out to the range today and fired 50 rounds of WWB 185 gr FMJ and 50 rounds of Federal 230 gr FMJ through my CW45 and everything worked perfectly.

From my original post, seems that others have had issues the Hornady ammo as well. Reason being stated is they are a little longer that most other ammo and this prevents the CW45 from digesting them well. I think I will wait and try them again after I have about 400 rounds down range. I am at about 200 rounds so far. I think this is going to turn out to be a great EDC weapon.

[jocko]

myu bet is that lateron those Hornady rounds will be just fine to.

[Ljutic]

Thanks again for all of the guidance and for the warm welcome.

I took the gun down and gave it a good check and a good cleaning. I did notice that the throat of the chamber and top of feed ramp had a few rough spots on them. I took my dremel tool and polished both enough so they now feel smooth. I plan on going out the in the next day or so and run some FMJ rounds through it to see how it does. I haven't had the chance to take it out and shoot it yet.



Welcome jdcjr. What you experienced with the XTP bullet is actually normal for the CW45 and P45. I wanted to use Hornady TAP .45 for my CW45 and P45 since I use it in a G21, but something about the Kahr chamber spec doesn't like these bullets and it will lock up the gun as you described. Stick with Speer Gold Dots, Federal EFMJ, or Rem/UMC HPs. I have yet to find a 230 grain FMJ load that won't feed and fire in the CW45 or P45. If it ever becomes available again, I'd like to try the Federal HST 230 grain, but they have been very tough to find.

I recently did a blog about the Kahr 45s and mentioned avoiding XTP bullets in these guns. http://mousegunaddict.blogspot.com/2011/10/not-really-mousegun-but-it-was-my.html

[JFootin]

Rub, rub, rub some good quality gun grease into that feed ramp, and also the inside front part of the slide where the barrel pivots and rubs against it during the recoil cycle.

[OldLincoln]

^^^ What J said! It worked for me with my HST's.