O6nop wrote:I'm one of those who is disappointed in my CW9. My problem is that it continually has failure to fire issues. The striker hits the primer but it doesn't go off. I've tried all kinds of ammo. The only ammo that is reliable thus far is factory defense ammo. I'm not well off enough to use that as my practice ammo and am afraid to carry it as it may eventually give me the same response as the practice ammo when I need it.
I sent it in to Kahr and they got 100% reliability, but they used only the highest quality ammo. Their recommendation was to not use ammo that doesn't fire. I also went shooting with a coworker who had a a PM9 and his gun fired a full mag of my ammo with no issues. Also, mine had FTF with his ammo.
Oh, it never started having trouble until well after the 200 round break in. I even bought a new striker thinking that it may have gotten damaged. And, I've cleaned it thoroughly.
I'd give good money to get it working because it is as accurate as any gun I've ever shot.
The first Kahr I bought was my PM9. I found it used in a pawn shop, with night sights, and in practically new condition for $550. It has been dead nuts reliable from day one. Never a jam of any kind. I actually have a great deal of confidence in this gun. My wife—who owns a Glock 19 and a S&W 642 and EDC'd the 642—tried my PM9 and really liked it but wanted a slightly larger grip.
We went to Euless Guns and Ammo where we found a CW9 for $419. Not a particularly good price, but not outrageous either. She really liked the way it fit her hand, the light trigger, and the shorter reach to the trigger. We got it to the range, and it has run flawlessly from day one also. Nary a hiccup. I've used it in my Basic Pistol class with female beginner shooters, and
they've liked it. I liked it too but I am also partial to .45 ACP, so I bought myself a CW45 ($399). That makes three Kahrs purchased over the course of less than a year.
The CW45 is the first Kahr I've had which has really required a break-in period. It has had at least 200 rounds through it. At first, it was a bit rough, and I was moderately concerned. At the time, I was not aware of any history of Kahrs really needing a 200 round break-in. I break-in all of my pistols before carrying them by running a couple of hundred rounds through them, but the CW45 is the first one that actually
needed breaking in. All of my other pistols have (with the exception of my 3" Kimber which shipped with a defective part) ran flawlessly right out of the box, and the Kimber ran flawlessly as soon as I dropped in the replacement part. My wife's G19 has been stellar from day one. Ditto the others. So I was actually a bit surprised that the CW45 has needed so much break-in. Now, about 200 rounds later, it is much better....but it still isn't perfect. I will still get an
occasional FTF. My guess is that another 200 rounds will have it running pretty flawlessly, but I don't want to keep going down that road for a $399 pistol. I was looking at the Glock 36 too when I bought the CW45, but the G36 was $569 at the same store where I bought the CW45, so I bought the Kahr. If I have to buy $170 worth of ammo to get the CW45 running the way the G36 would likely run right out of the box, then the G36 might turn out to have been the better deal. I still prefer the ergonomics and trigger of the Kahr, so I'm willing to go the distance to make it as reliable as our other two Kahrs have been.
My biggest complaint about Kahrs is the quality of their magazines in .45 caliber, and that seems to be the issue with my CW45's reliability. On a Kahr forum, I saw that you can take a rebuildable 7 round officers size 1911 magazine, replace the spring and follower with the units from a Kahr magazine, and it will function in the Kahr pistol better than the Kahr magazine does. The problem with the Kahr .45 mags is that the metal they use in the magazine body has a bizarre finish to it, and the edges of the feed lips are particularly roughly finished. So the cartridges don't strip off the top as cleanly or as smoothly as a 1911 magazine. The 9mm mags appear to be made out of a different metal, and they have a better finish on them. Anyway, I'm going to pick up a couple of 7 round officers length 1911 mags and try the modification to see if it works. Maybe that will speed up the break-in process.