CW45 late sear release

[rkammer]

I bought two CW45s, one for me and one for my Son. I've shot one of them and it functions 100% but haven't fired the second one yet because of an strange condition with the trigger upon dry firing the pistol.

While the first gun's trigger releases the sear (striker) at about the 3/4 point in its travel, the second gun will not release the striker until it is all the way back at the stopping point. In fact, if I push forward just slightly on the back of the slide while pulling the trigger, it will not (dry) fire at all. Is this something that is known? And, is there a way to resolve it without sending the gun back?

As an aside, I love this little .45. It's the smoothest working small 45 I've ever owned and recoil is amazingly light compared to what I expected. I just can't figure out why two guns with serial numbers only 10 digits apart should have triggers that feel so different.

[JFootin]

Sounds like an out of spec trigger bar, IMO.

[gb6491]

Welcome to the forums
This has not been an issue, though somebody posted something similar in the last couple of days about a CM9 (I think). I was going to mention that replacing the striker might be a user friendly option (other components are in the frame and difficult to replace), but that you can push the slide forward at all gives me pause. Have you given it a thorough cleaning and lube? If not, I would do that to include breaking the slide down to components for cleaning. If the problem persists beyond that and you can still push the slide forward, I'd contact Kahr about sending it in.
How To "Detail Strip" the Kahr's Upper!
Kahr Lube Diagram
Proper prep of a new kahr
Regards,
Greg

[jocko]

there

I bought two CW45s, one for me and one for my Son. I've shot one of them and it functions 100% but haven't fired the second one yet because of an strange condition with the trigger upon dry firing the pistol.

While the first gun's trigger releases the sear (striker) at about the 3/4 point in its travel, the second gun will not release the striker until it is all the way back at the stopping point. In fact, if I push forward just slightly on the back of the slide while pulling the trigger, it will not (dry) fire at all. Is this something that is known? And, is there a way to resolve it without sending the gun back?

As an aside, I love this little .45. It's the smoothest working small 45 I've ever owned and recoil is amazingly light compared to what I expected. I just can't figure out why two guns with serial numbers only 10 digits apart should have triggers that feel so different.

be Zero difference in the trigger travel. something is out of whack. I would do what GB6491 stated first. a good cleaning and lubing never hurt anything, if no better results, my bet is you have an out of spec trigger bar. If the slide is going into full battery u should not have a dead trigger or what u are describng. Make sure the slide is in full battery. The slightest bit out of batteryt and you can get what ur describing. Give the back of the slide a tap when u feel it not doing what ur other kahr is doing right. Possably more rounds down range but again if it is the trigger bar, it needs to go back. u need to tryto eliminate all the possables at home before calling kahr. A striker out of spec can cause what ur describing but that would be a very rare thing as I can't remember of one doing that, but again, only getting a new replacement from kahr will tell u that, certainly you would not be able to visually6 see an out of spec striker. If u really feel "curious" just swith slides on each gun, if it duplicates with the other slide then you know it is in the lower frame area, and probab ly trigger bar related. If u put the questionable slide on the good 45 and it duplicates the issues, then u also know it could be in the upper slide "somewhere". You have two of te same guns, one works right the other does not, switch things around to see what floats tothe top.

[OldLincoln]

Kahr is pretty quick with most warranty repairs.

Especially on an unfired gun. Perhaps the question should be asked "How did Kahr do their test fire?"

[rkammer]

Here's what I've learned

I took Jocko's advise and after a thorough cleaning/lube I switched the slides between the two guns. The problem definitely follows the slide and exists when the second gun's slide is installed on either frame. So that, I believe, eliminates the frame components and the trigger bar.

So, should another striker assembly gotten from Kahr be tried next?

By the way, the trigger pull measured with my gauge is a wonderful 5 1/2 lbs on the first gun and a terrible 8 lbs on the problem gun if that weighs into the equation. The pull on the good gun is also very crisp while on the second gun it seems to meet with an additional drag before getting to the breaking point (just a fraction before).

[jocko]

well ur getting somewhere, not realy sure where, but you seem to know what the eh ur doing, so one more thing u can test out before calling kahr is to take the internals from the good slide and install in the bad slide, I mean the striker assembly and that is all, no need to put extractor parts etc, just the striker should tell you if u need to call kahr for another one. There is a tutorial over on the kahr tech sectrion on slide take down. It is not rocket science either. This will tell you for sure if it is abad striker assembly, meaning striker spring also and if not, then the slide is the culprit. Then it has to go back to kahr. and I would think u should send the entire gun back to kahr also. If this be the case call kahr and ask for Jay or eion and u can then explain fully what you have done to both guns to trouble shoot what u think is the culprit and then get their feedback. I would think they would want the entire gun back, if that being so, ask them to send a pre paid pick up on the gun. They will make it right. You did well so far, IIMO, ur slide is out of spec and more than likely changing the striker internals is not going to make any difference either but it won't take very long to do it and u will also be learning alot about your kahrs to. very strange on the poundage variation, That should not be like that either. Might just be worth the effort to try the good striker system in that bad slide.

[gb6491]

When you cleaned the slide did you check the striker tunnel for any burrs/damage? You could swap strikers to see if that fixes it.
Regards,
Greg

[kayl]

I'm the guy who posted the similar issue with the CM9 - I haven't had time to play around today; I'm curious to see what happens with you- I'm tagging along

[jocko]

but unless u have another cm9 that you can switch slides around etc, to see iuf it is the upper or lower causing the issue, ur issue couldbe the same but you aren't sure whi9ch part is the issue. He has at least eliminated the lower, now he needs to dig further t0 see if it is in house solveable or if it hasto go back.

[rkammer]

When you cleaned the slide did you check the striker tunnel for any burrs/damage? You could swap strikers to see if that fixes it.
Regards,
Greg

I haven't taken the slide completely down yet but, that's my next step. I'll probably do that tomorrow and report back.

By the way, what determines the difference between the 5 lb trigger pull on one gun and the 8 lb pull on the other. What parts determine that?

[jocko]

kahr triggers come with what kahr willsay 6-7.5# trigger pull, it is the striker sprng that determines the pull wieght. Wolffs gun springs makes a dropin 5# striker spring for kahrs that works absolutely fine. I have had it in my PM9 for over 30K rounds and never a glitch. Your gun should not IMO have a 5+ spring in it from the factory but again not knowing what kind of trigger poundage tester u have, it can vary from tester to tester. 8# seems very high for any kahr trigger out of the box but again springs can vary.

Now that we know you have not taken the striker channel down to inspect it. defihitely u need to do that and give that channel a damn good spray cleaning to. Then test out the striker buy just merely dropping it loosely in the channel with no spring tension on it and see if it is smooth as glass, I recommend no lube in thchannel, Ur striker is nickel coated (I think) or at least it is all stainless, It ain't gonna rust, U can if it feels ruff on the outside give it a nice polishing to. Look for any burrs or areas in the channel that might hold up the striker. I do think I would take both slides down and do the cleaning first off to see if that does anything and inspect the strikers etc, then just switch them in the slides including the springs and retest on the gun. If this all fails, go bacto first base, call kahr and proceed to send one back, as u have done all u can. If the slide is out of spec, u can't see it, kahr has the priveledge of just puttng on another slide and being done with it. Take ur time ,I would suggest looking at the kahr tech section and there is a fine tutorial on how to take that slide down. some of these geniuses on this forum have made it far more simple than normal. Keep us posted.

also on the slide that you tested at 8#, if by chance that striker is indeed grabbing on to something in the channel etc, it will increase trigger poundage.

[rkammer]

I took the slide down yesterday and thoroughly cleaned out the striker and channel. It seems there must have been a burr somewhere in there as there was a "hitch" in the striker travel at first. I ran 600 grit inside the channel, lubed the entire gun, and then racked the slide and dry fired it about 500 times. Now, it's much smoother and the trigger pull is down to about 7 lbs. And, the gun still hasn't been fired.

I think this pistol will be fine after all. I want to thank everyone for their help and input.

Now, I wish someone would answer my other post about shooting lead semi-wads in the CW45? Or, do I need to stick with round nose bullets? If you have some thoughts, please answer that post. Again, thanks.

[jocko]

nice work rkammer, ur getting there..

[TennSCN]

CW is a grooved barrel. If it will feed 'em, do so in generous amounts.