CW9 & Kahr Service Complaint

[mr.72]

The gun came back yesterday. They replaced the barrel and slide. I think this will improve the chances that it's "really fixed" by a large margin. Heading out to the range this weekend to break it in again.

[laker1]

light strikes

I had the same problem of light strikes with a P45. Sent it back in and they placed a new striker and slide spring in. It still did the same thing but I was using reloads. I tried factory ammo of several kinds and they fed without flaw. Some of the reloads were causing the ammo to not fully seat in the chamber, thus you get a light strike. Give yopur barrel a very good cleaning and try factory ammo. When I reload correctly to factory specs, reloads feed fine. Kahrs are tight chambers.

[mr.72]

I have never used anything in it but factory ammo. No reloads ever. I had shot about 200-300 rounds of Winchester White Box 115gr, 50+ rounds of Federal BPLE +P 124gr (never any failure with the Fed), and probably 50ish rounds of Blazer (no failures). I originally suspected that the Winchester primers were harder than the Federals (CCI uses Federal primers, right?). But when the failure rate went to like 70% it became a moot point.

If the rain holds off I'll be out testing it tomorrow.

[mr.72]

77 rounds of WWB in a row without any hint of any problem. about a third of the way to "broken in" again.

[Cappy]

I hope they handle this issue for you. Seems like all the right efforts have been made on your part.

[steve459]

ive had my cw9 for about 8 months now. no problems of any kind. feeds everything i load in the mag.

[O'Dell]

I have never used anything in it but factory ammo. No reloads ever. I had shot about 200-300 rounds of Winchester White Box 115gr, 50+ rounds of Federal BPLE +P 124gr (never any failure with the Fed), and probably 50ish rounds of Blazer (no failures). I originally suspected that the Winchester primers were harder than the Federals (CCI uses Federal primers, right?). But when the failure rate went to like 70% it became a moot point.

If the rain holds off I'll be out testing it tomorrow.

I have two pistols that will not shoot WWB. One has failure to feed on every other round. The other a FT feed about every other mag. They will both shoot anything else including HP's and defense rounds. BTW, my Kahr is not one of them - 225 flawless rounds so far using WWB and GA Arms HP's. I measured the WWB and they are slightly longer than other FMJ's, so maybe that's the problem.

I plan to use my 300 rounds of WWB in my Kahr, Sigs, and Brownings, which will all shoot it, and never buy any more.

[mr.72]

Well I did make it out to the range, shot 77 rounds of WWB with no problems. Need to go out and shoot it some more, but finding the time has not been easy. I shoot WWB in my other guns with no problems. I have about 700 rounds of it kicking around so I am not anxious to quit shooting it.

[mr surveyor]

mr. 72

I've been following your dilema for...weeks...months? You have had a real hassle obviously, and I think you have handled the "emotional side" very well (speaking to your posts on the "other boards"). Since I bought a CW9 in July after having shot a buddy's CW40 a few times, I started following all the reports of problems. Seems like most of them have been pertaining to the PM9and posted numerous times by the same 3-4 "unhappy campers" across the spectrum of the internet. There are all too many gun enthusiasts that expect 100% reliability right out of the box and end up with break-in issues and make every nasty comment possible. I think you have been an exception in your "quest" to make your pistol work. I hope you will keep the updates coming as I would like to think the problems have been remedied. For what it's worth, I finally reached the 500 round mark in my CW9 this past weekend. I've shot a real mixed bag of ammo, and had 6 females (ages 14-55) shoot at least a magazine each, as well as males (ages 15-60) shooting at least as many rounds, and not a single problem. I fully expected some FTE problems from the ladies limpwristing...none.

I hope your need for CS is over and you enjoy the reliability I have seen thus far, and I hope I don't repeat your experiences in the near future.

surv

[mr.72]

Thanks, surv. As you know, I really like this pistol. So I am willing to stick it out. In fact, I would quite happily buy another one just like it, or a P9, with no qualms whatsoever. But I do think Kahr could have gotten this right the first time and I think this idea of trying to repair guns with these quirky, hard-to-find problems is a fool's errand. I think it would be cheaper and result in happier customers overall if they'd just replace the whole gun right off the bat.

[mr surveyor]

mr. 72

I can't disagree with that. I have had a few KelTec pistols, of which a couple had to go back the the mother ship....one 3 trips before it was right.. another only one trip, and an new gun with my original SN stamped was returned. I also have many other maker's guns in my collection (Kimber, S&W, Beretta, Sig, Ruger....) and am aware that any of these can have problems. Buying the KT's, I knew up front the possibilities, but wanted the attributes in their particular offerings. I fought the temptation to buy my first Kahr for several years... all the while knowing they had to be very good quality, and offered a higher quality product in the compact handguns I was searching for. I'm not quite ready to trade my Kimber Stainless Compact, or Sig P239 for an MK9, but after my experiences thus far with the CW9 I may consider a second mortgage to get a MK9, T9, PM9......


surv

[jocko]

sent

mr. 72

I can't disagree with that. I have had a few KelTec pistols, of which a couple had to go back the the mother ship....one 3 trips before it was right.. another only one trip, and an new gun with my original SN stamped was returned. I also have many other maker's guns in my collection (Kimber, S&W, Beretta, Sig, Ruger....) and am aware that any of these can have problems. Buying the KT's, I knew up front the possibilities, but wanted the attributes in their particular offerings. I fought the temptation to buy my first Kahr for several years... all the while knowing they had to be very good quality, and offered a higher quality product in the compact handguns I was searching for. I'm not quite ready to trade my Kimber Stainless Compact, or Sig P239 for an MK9, but after my experiences thus far with the CW9 I may consider a second mortgage to get a MK9, T9, PM9....


surv

my 3 kel tecs back 17 times before I could get them reliable enough to sell. Lemons come in all sizes and brands.

[paul0660]

What bugs me is that Kahr seems to replace parts willy nilly when you send a pistol back to them, and it does not always fix the problem. I had something similar to Mr. 72's experience with a CW9, and although Kahrs service was excellent, paying freight both ways twice with quick turnaround, it still wasn't a pistol I wanted to depend on. I have a K9 now that is a thing of beauty and reliable. Someday I will find a MK40 to pocket carry, but I won't buy another plastic Kahr.

[mr surveyor]

I have learned one thing in the past 5-6 years of buying tupperware.... the small, concealable varieties can, and will be finiky. By their very nature, they are designed to be on the very cutting edge of technology...considering the power to weight ratio. Sub-compact models from any manufacturer are subject to fail.... some of us get lucky with one....some don't. Personally, I prefer metal firearms, knowing the normal drawbacks of the polymer offerings, but the CW9 just kept calling my name. I have high hopes for my friend mr.72 getting his CW9 conditioned to the necessary state of reliability for daily carry. And, the statement about "part changers" is verey true. Those of us over 50 probebly remember when "technicians" could diagnose a problem and make actual repairs rather than do a text book recommended component/part change. Life goes on.

surv

[johnh]

I don't know how many times the original poster has dealt with various gun makers for service, but I can testify that the level of service Kahr provides and did provide him is far beyond normal for the industry. Very few makers will send the end customer parts to replace on their own. Doing so opens up the possibility for mistakes during the install and even damage to the firearm, with the customer then blaming the maker for not installing them at the factory. Shipping is normally paid by Kahr, so I would strongly suggest calling and asking about that Fedex issue. When guns come back to Kahr I know for a fact they are test fired extensively. If the ammo type used is different it might not demonstrate the specific issue the customer has. There is no easy way around that given the high cost of ammunition. I know of one rifle maker that has struggled with that for a couple years now as they want to test their guns with the ammo customers typically use. To replace an entire sub-group of components is also far from typical. Many manufacturers would tweak the existing parts and leave it to the customer to test fire thoroughly. Again that would raise the difference in ammo used issue. Kahr provided a repair/replacement that had the best odds of fixing that gun so that it would work for the end user. Replacing entire firearms is beyond what I feel vendors should be expected to do as long as another solution is likely to work. It sounds like the parts swap did in this case.

John