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I've been a long time fan of Kahr pistols. I bought the K40 in my avatar pic way back in 1996. It's been a great little gun. I stopped counting rounds fired through it somewhere north of 7000. The ONLY malfunction it's ever had was an MSO error when I reassembled it with the recoil spring backwards. (Kahr fixed it right up for me at no cost.) I usually carry it IWB in a self-made hybrid rig. When the K40 isn't riding on my hip, it's usually my MilPro .45 in another self-made hybrid holster, this one OWB. It's hard to argue with 11 rounds of .45 caliber goodness, with 12 more servings waiting in reserve. The Heinie "Straight Eight" sights (much maligned by most MilPro owners) are very similar to Khar's bar-dot sights, so they seem very natural to me.

However, with warmer weather approaching, I've been feeling the need for something I can pocket carry. In particular, I wanted something I can leave in the truck while I'm working (no carry on the clock), and then carry into a store on the way home without having to fidget around in the parking lot to strap on a holster and then conceal it. I personally consider the 9mm as the minimum defensive caliber (just my opinion, you're welcome to your own), so the various pocket .380's out there were out of the question. I checked out the Diamondback DB9, but the negative reviews, even by those who love the gun in spite of it's horrid unreliability turned me of very quickly. I've been digging the PM9 for a while, but the price was a bit more than I wanted to pay right now. Enter the CM9. All the good stuff that Khar packs into all of their handy little pistols, de-frilled to the tune of about $250 less. So, after a little price shopping, I ordered one through Davidson's, along with a spare 8-round mag. It just took one day for it to arrive, and I took it home yesterday.

Now I just need to pick up a couple hundred rounds of 9mm ball ammo to break it in and then start playing with carry ammo. Hopefully, I'll get to the range in the next couple of days to start wringing it out. I already have a DeSantis Superfly pocket holster for when I'm confident enough in the new gun to put it on duty, but I'll probably make a holster or two for it as well. I know TAM loves his PM9, and I'm sure I will be equally happy with my budget version. Of course, never one to leave well enough alone, I already have plans to do a little "fluff & buff" on it, such as polishing the feed ramp, an A-Grip wrap, Pearce grip extension... I know, I know, it's a sickness!

I could barely rack man when I bought it. Lubed her up...racked her about 6-700 times...she's now GTG. I was not happy when I first purchased it...but changed after shooting a few Wally World boxes. I use my CW 9 for air travel. Its cheap enough, I wont blow a gasket if it gets stolen by the TSA.

Also follow Kahrs advice and use the slide lock to chamber the first round vs pulling the slide back and releasing it, when clambering the first round of a freshly inserted magazine.

03Lightningrocks wrote:Also follow Kahrs advice and use the slide lock to chamber the first round vs pulling the slide back and releasing it, when clambering the first round of a freshly inserted magazine.

I'll have to experiment with the new CM9 when I get to the range. However, in 16 years of shooting my K40, I've never had a problem slingshotting the slide to strip the top round from the mag. I think that Kahr's instructions, which post-date the manufacture of my K40, were a simple fix for operator error that would go over better than just telling their customers to practice more. (Nobody wants to be told that the problem is himself, not the gun.) If you don't short-stroke the slide, there should be no difference between using the slide lock and slingshotting the slide.

I have both the CW9 and CM9 and never worry about "sling shot" charging. Never had the first problem with either of them. These are relatively small pistols, with stout recoil springs, and Kahr recognizes that a lot of inexperienced purchasers might have learned to (actually how NOT to) rack the slide from watching too much TV or too many movies. Rack it like you mean it, and don't ride the slide, and all is well.

Gratuitous pics of the new gun:

6-round mag with modified base plate in the gun, spare 8-round mag.


8-round mag installed.


The 6-round mag originally had the steel pase plate, which looked unfinished sticking out just below the grip (Khar mags are not flush with the grip) and wasn't very comfortable on the pinky finger. I swapped the steel base plate to the 8-rounder, since the polymer base plate extension on it didn't come all the way up to the grip anyway. Then I chopped and fitted the poly base plate to fit the 6-rounder and not interfere with insertion. Overall, I like this much better.

I still haven't made it to the range yet; probably won't get to until Sunday or Monday. I have 200 round of Winchester White box just waiting to break this little guy in. For those who are already carrying a pocket 9, what do you use for carry ammo? I'm leaning toward Hornady Critical Defense right now.

love my CW9 and carry it everywhere.