Kahr quality
- Thread starter bspillman
- Start date
I've owned four Kahrs in my time. a K9 and MK9, both were excellent but heavy.
a PM45 had to eat through twice the amount of break in ammo before it would run right.
my PM9 has been a jewel since day one.
the CW or CM guns are the econo-versions. as with any gun lately, you get a lemon or a gem. visit Kahrtalk.com for tips on how to kitchen table gunsmith your gun if its not working right from the factory. I recommend it should go back to the factory but some folks like to tinker. be careful on that site though, there are some thin shinned worshipers.
a PM45 had to eat through twice the amount of break in ammo before it would run right.
my PM9 has been a jewel since day one.
the CW or CM guns are the econo-versions. as with any gun lately, you get a lemon or a gem. visit Kahrtalk.com for tips on how to kitchen table gunsmith your gun if its not working right from the factory. I recommend it should go back to the factory but some folks like to tinker. be careful on that site though, there are some thin shinned worshipers.
I have a CW40. I like it a lot, it shoots very well. I've had a couple of issues during the break in period--the first 200 rounds. Issues were a couple of failure to feeds, all second rounds from one particular magazine. They occurred around round 90-110, after that I've had no issues. May have been a burr or something in the mag that caused it that smoothed out by itself.
The long DA trigger pull takes just a little to get used to if you're not familiar with firing a revolver DA. Feels like a tuned S&W to me.
Round count now is at 500. It's good to go in my opinion.
It conceals easily. I don't even know it's there in my IWB holster. The only modification that I've done is taken a fine file and "broke" the corner at the front of the ejection port. It was sharp and would catch on the holster on the draw stroke. Breaking the edge slightly stopped that.
The long DA trigger pull takes just a little to get used to if you're not familiar with firing a revolver DA. Feels like a tuned S&W to me.
Round count now is at 500. It's good to go in my opinion.
It conceals easily. I don't even know it's there in my IWB holster. The only modification that I've done is taken a fine file and "broke" the corner at the front of the ejection port. It was sharp and would catch on the holster on the draw stroke. Breaking the edge slightly stopped that.
My first two Kahrs (PM9 & CW45) have run just fine from the getgo. Bought a new CT380 last month but haven't been to the range to shoot it yet.
All three guns are very well made, very slim & compact, and seem to have quality materials. The most common problem I read about on the Kahrtalk forum was the extended 7 round mags had feeding issues. Had a couple FTF to start with my 7 rnd .45 mag, but those quickly smoothed out & no problems since. The standard mags all worked great.
Might get a CW9 too... just what fer.
All three guns are very well made, very slim & compact, and seem to have quality materials. The most common problem I read about on the Kahrtalk forum was the extended 7 round mags had feeding issues. Had a couple FTF to start with my 7 rnd .45 mag, but those quickly smoothed out & no problems since. The standard mags all worked great.
Might get a CW9 too... just what fer.
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Cheapshooter
New member
I have the "economy" version CM9. It has been 100% reliable from the first round fired. Rather than a "break-in" period, I would say I gave it a 100+ round "shake down". During which time it functioned flawlessly. The first 100 rounds was with WWB range ammo. After affirming it functioned perfectly with the range ammo I started trying various defensive ammo. Again, all shot reliably, and I settled on Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel for my carry ammo.
I am very pleased with the quality, and performance of my "economy" model Kahr.
I am very pleased with the quality, and performance of my "economy" model Kahr.
Big4Freedom
New member
I can only speak to cm40 but maybe somewhat applicable.
Mine had to go back to factory due to FTF/E issues from my first mag, even after 150 rds, still needed to go back. Once it came back. No dysfunctional issues.
I wish now I would have gotten cm9. The 40 is just too snappy, waaay more than my Glock 27 40 cal, imo. I can fire the g27 more accurately with one hand than I can with two hands on cm40, for comparison. Trigger is really funky and long for me, but smooth. If I were to shoot only that, I'd probably get pretty accurate, but it's so much different from all other semi-auto's that I rarely shoot it as to not mess me up with the other stuff. To me, the trigger is more like a revolver than semi-auto.
The positive is that it probably provides the most power and economic value for the smallest, lightest, narrowest package out though! Unfortunately, for me, since I can't hit anything with it, it's not for me. Hope that helps some.
Mine had to go back to factory due to FTF/E issues from my first mag, even after 150 rds, still needed to go back. Once it came back. No dysfunctional issues.
I wish now I would have gotten cm9. The 40 is just too snappy, waaay more than my Glock 27 40 cal, imo. I can fire the g27 more accurately with one hand than I can with two hands on cm40, for comparison. Trigger is really funky and long for me, but smooth. If I were to shoot only that, I'd probably get pretty accurate, but it's so much different from all other semi-auto's that I rarely shoot it as to not mess me up with the other stuff. To me, the trigger is more like a revolver than semi-auto.
The positive is that it probably provides the most power and economic value for the smallest, lightest, narrowest package out though! Unfortunately, for me, since I can't hit anything with it, it's not for me. Hope that helps some.
Shadi Khalil
New member
I had some issues with poly Kahrs but nothing but good things to say about the steel versions.
I've had good success with three 9mm models and the pm.380. However, the interwebs do display a lot of dissatisfaction with the Kahr guns and the Kahr CS department. I've enjoyed good CS, both on the phone and email.
I believe my success with the guns is due, in part, to following the break-in procedures recommended on the Khartalk forum. In short; proper lube and a lot of hand cycling of the slide.
The extended 9mm mags from Kahr, however, do not function well.
YMMV
I believe my success with the guns is due, in part, to following the break-in procedures recommended on the Khartalk forum. In short; proper lube and a lot of hand cycling of the slide.
The extended 9mm mags from Kahr, however, do not function well.
YMMV
I can say that my CM9 needed no break-in. I merely cleaned and lubricated it and it performed flawlessly from the first round.
Agreed. Stick to the flush mags with the steel baseplates. The flimsy polymer baseplates of the extended mags are easily broken under very little stress.
My Kahr CW9 has been good to me but they are hit or miss. I personally think that their overall QC is just OK. There are a lot of people out there with Kahrs which are not 100%. Some models seem to run better than others. I personally believe their 9mms are more reliable but that might be just because I have more experience with them.
I would not buy one used for this reason.
I would not buy one used for this reason.
jaytothekizzay
New member
Never owned one... but my good buddies always malfunctions when he brings it with us to the range...
Safestuffer
New member
I had 3 Kahrs, a pm9, a pm40, and a cw40.
The two pm' were traded away as I could never get them to run reliably.
The cw40 started dropping the mag every shot at the 200 round count and had to have the mag release replaced.
After having had the opportunity to tinker with them and get a good idea of build quality and design, my opinion of them is they are poorly designed and severely lacking in QC.
The two pm' were traded away as I could never get them to run reliably.
The cw40 started dropping the mag every shot at the 200 round count and had to have the mag release replaced.
After having had the opportunity to tinker with them and get a good idea of build quality and design, my opinion of them is they are poorly designed and severely lacking in QC.
Overall, I think there is quality in the Kahr pistol line. There should be for the asking MSRP of some of them!
I think what is lacking is quality control before a lot of them leave the factory.
I bought a NIB all black PM9 w/night sites (PM9094NA) in 2011. It had an MSRP of $958.00 at that time and they have since gone up in price.
My PM9 has gone back to Kahr twice for "issues" that could not be corrected by just simple parts replacement but, these "issues" could possibly have been prevented with better quality control before being shipped.
Kahr customer service did a good job of correcting the "issues" at the time.
Along the way, Kahr CS has had to send me various replacement parts due to unexpected breakage.
None of this has cost me one $.
I still don't trust it for EDC.
I would never buy another Kahr product.
I think what is lacking is quality control before a lot of them leave the factory.
I bought a NIB all black PM9 w/night sites (PM9094NA) in 2011. It had an MSRP of $958.00 at that time and they have since gone up in price.
My PM9 has gone back to Kahr twice for "issues" that could not be corrected by just simple parts replacement but, these "issues" could possibly have been prevented with better quality control before being shipped.
Kahr customer service did a good job of correcting the "issues" at the time.
Along the way, Kahr CS has had to send me various replacement parts due to unexpected breakage.
None of this has cost me one $.
I still don't trust it for EDC.
I would never buy another Kahr product.
Cheapshooter
New member
Doesn't it seem odd that all the complaints are about the PM "premium" model while everybody says their "economy" CM works great.
Ace_Breaker
New member
I posted a few years back about my Kahr 45, I believe it was a P series. I had nothing but problems with it. The plastic felt very cheap and hurt the hand when fired. It had constant failure to feed, extract, and mags dropping while firing issues. Kahr asked me not to send it back until after a 500 round break in period. Who wants to spend that kind of cash just to see if a gun will fix itself? We pay for these weapons with our hard earned cash and should not have to have a break in period before a weapon will work. Lastly, getting back to the plastic. The metal slide rails appeared to melt down into the frame from the heat of firing. I was getting globs of plastic build up at the rear of my slide that I had to cut off when the plastic cooled down. The rails were clearly below the level of the frame causing this. And it was a significant amount of material. So, I bought the gun used and Kahr wanted me to pay for the fix, shipping, etc. What a way to stand behind you product. Other major gun brands have done fixes no questions asked. I dumped it with full disclosure. Never again.