CW9 Light Strike and Failure To Fire

[Frank Ingram]

Purchased a new Cw9 and am having a terrible time with the firing pin not striking the primer hard enough to fire the cartridge. I have tried Blazer Brass Fmj, Remington green box jhp, sig sauer elite performance jhp and federal hydra shock ammo and all of them fail at random times with light primer strikes in this gun. I have a Glock 19 and have never had a primer failure. Is this common in this gun?

I bought this gun because i wanted a single stack 9mm and liked the way it fit my hand. Plus, i didn’t see too many issues on the interwebz with this partficular model. Did i just get a lemon? I hope Kahr fixes it. This dud is going back to the factory. I really like the trigger and it carries like a dream.

The dang thing doesn’t do me any good if it doesn’t go boom when i pull the trigger.

[Bawanna]

First thought is maybe junk in the striker channel. Don't see it much any more but in the past there was left over machining junk left behind.

You can take the slide off, hold down the drop safety on the bottom of the slide and push the striker back and forth and see if it moves freely. Should be able to hold the drop safety down shake it and have the striker rattle.

[yqtszhj]

First thought is maybe junk in the striker channel. Don't see it much any more but in the past there was left over machining junk left behind.

You can take the slide off, hold down the drop safety on the bottom of the slide and push the striker back and forth and see if it moves freely. Should be able to hold the drop safety down shake it and have the striker rattle.

Exactly what he said. The CW9 is an excellent pistol. You’ll get it straightened out.

Welcome me to the forum by the way.

[Frank Ingram]

thanks

Exactly what he said. The CW9 is an excellent pistol. You’ll get it straightened out.

Welcome me to the forum by the way.

thank you you for the welcome. where would the drop safety be? is it that small button near the firing pin channel?

[Bawanna]

Yes, I wish I could post pictures and diagrams like Greg here does. It's on the bottom of the slide near the back. It's spring loaded. Easily depressed. This clears the way so the striker can go through its full travel.
Many use brake cleaner to flush out the striker channel and doing this same thing while doing this should help too.
Mine don't seem to accumulate junk and they were clean when I got them new but some have found junk in there.
I'll see if I can find a picture, I know there are some here.

[sharpetop]

Cleaning out the striker channel is a good starting point. If that doesn't work contact Kahr and describe the issue and that you would like a new recoil spring. They'll send you one free of charge. Same thing happened to my CW9 and a new recoil spring solved the problem.

[dustnchips]

Check to make sure the slide is all of the way forward. Just a bit back could keep the striker from hitting hard enough. Sharpetop above mentioned recoil springs as a cure, and that could be a reason for the slide not going all the way forward. If its not a dirty striker channel or weak recoil springs the next thing would be to check for a tight chamber with a "plunk test"

[markman]

I'd also check the extractor tension, too much tension can give the symptoms of a weak recoil spring.

[Frank Ingram]

Yes, I wish I could post pictures and diagrams like Greg here does. It's on the bottom of the slide near the back. It's spring loaded. Easily depressed. This clears the way so the striker can go through its full travel.
Many use brake cleaner to flush out the striker channel and doing this same thing while doing this should help too.
Mine don't seem to accumulate junk and they were clean when I got them new but some have found junk in there.
I'll see if I can find a picture, I know there are some here.

Thank you you for the wealth of information guys. Since this is a brand new pistol I am going to give Kahr the chance to make it right before I attempt any tinkering. I’m hopeful because I want this pistol to be my concealed carry. I’ll update my journey.

So far I have put 400ish rounds through it with one failure to extract (stove pipe) which happened during the 200 round break in period so i take that with a grain of salt. And, twenty or so light primer strikes mostly after the 200 round beak in. I only had one light primer strike during the 1st 200 rounds with the rest coming between rounds 200-400.

[Far East Person]

I had my CW9 for almost 3 years and never had a light strike. Something is wrong with your gun, it is not normal.

[Ikeo74]

Do not oil the striker channel. If you oiled it then that is most likely the problem. If you didn't oil it then powder residue from the first 200 rounds may have got into is and is preventing full movement toward the primer. Other causes may be the ammo you are shooting is slightly out of spec. Are you shooting factory or reloads?

[Frank Ingram]

Do not oil the striker channel. If you oiled it then that is most likely the problem. If you didn't oil it then powder residue from the first 200 rounds may have got into is and is preventing full movement toward the primer. Other causes may be the ammo you are shooting is slightly out of spec. Are you shooting factory or reloads?

Straight factory loads. I don't do any reloading. Blazer brass, federal hst, remington green and white box, and sig sauer elite performance. All of them malfunction at random intervals and all but one of the malfunctions have come past the 200 round break in period.

Did not oil anywhere near the striker channel. I'm very conservative on lubrication. I have RMA'd the pistol back to Kahr. I am giving them a chance to fix it before I move on to a different pistol for my edc.

Customer service to this point has been good. I'll see what the pistol does when I get it back.

I have to be honest though, I don't trust this pistol at this point. There are way too many highly reliable pistols out there and I'm not going to trust my life to something that doesn't go boom when I pull the trigger.

I will put several hundred rounds downrange when I get it back. Hopefully this is a one off quirk and Kahr fixes it right the first time. Until then, I'm back to carrying my Glock 19. Its a brick and it's not light and it pulls my britches down a bit but it also goes boom everytime I pull the trigger.

[bstep]

Straight factory loads. I don't do any reloading. Blazer brass, federal hst, remington green and white box, and sig sauer elite performance. All of them malfunction at random intervals and all but one of the malfunctions have come past the 200 round break in period.

Did not oil anywhere near the striker channel. I'm very conservative on lubrication. I have RMA'd the pistol back to Kahr. I am giving them a chance to fix it before I move on to a different pistol for my edc.



Customer service to this point has been good. I'll see what the pistol does when I get it back.

I have to be honest though, I don't trust this pistol at this point. There are way too many highly reliable pistols out there and I'm not going to trust my life to something that doesn't go boom when I pull the trigger.

I will put several hundred rounds downrange when I get it back. Hopefully this is a one off quirk and Kahr fixes it right the first time. Until then, I'm back to carrying my Glock 19. Its a brick and it's not light and it pulls my britches down a bit but it also goes boom everytime I pull the trigger.

Im in the same boat with my P9! Its at the factor right now getting repaired for the 2nd time. I don't trust this gun anymore!!

[dustnchips]

The light strikes sure sound like a bit of manufacturing junk in the striker channel with powder residue from the first 200 rounds added in. When you get the gun back and start shooting it again make sure to spray cleaner through the hole in the bottom of the striker channel to keep it clean. I've put 200+ rounds through my CW380 in a session without a problem but I did clean the striker channel when new. Good luck, you'll love the gun when you get it shooting.

[Frank Ingram]

The light strikes sure sound like a bit of manufacturing junk in the striker channel with powder residue from the first 200 rounds added in. When you get the gun back and start shooting it again make sure to spray cleaner through the hole in the bottom of the striker channel to keep it clean. I've put 200+ rounds through my CW380 in a session without a problem but I did clean the striker channel when new. Good luck, you'll love the gun when you get it shooting.

Thank you for the words of wisdom. I really want to like this pistol. When I get it back I'm planning on shooting the darned thing a ton to see if I can trust it with my life.