About to purchase a CW9, but want night sites. First post.

[rkirk]

Cw9

The longer grip on the CW9 is exactly why I bought the CW9! While I like both pistols CW9 and CM9 I prefer the CW9 for the grip and barrel length. Both are light thin accurate pistols. I agree that the Colt style single action trigger is easier to shoot faster and accurately I have learned the long smooth double action trigger pull on the Kahr. I now prefer the Kahr as a self-defensive pistol! Draw and pull the trigger, nothing else to operate, very simple!

Shoot safe,

-- Richard

[davecustommade]

Well, after holding a CM9 at the store, I had to go with the CW9 for it's excellent feeling grip. I had them order one for me. Hopefully it will come in soon so I can do the "breaking in" period with it.

[MO_Soldier]

Dave, for low light shooting, or any for that matter, you might consider the Crimson Trace laser grips special made for our Kahrs. They can be bought for anywhere from 125-210 depending on your connections. IMO, a red dot on the target is going to be FAR more effective than distracting glowing dots near my face.

Welcome to the best gun forum ever!

[davecustommade]

Thanks for that bit of advice. I may search out one for the Kahr I get.

[davecustommade]

I picked up a CW9 today. Has an unusual serial number, which is pretty cool. It IS a bit stiff, so I imagine I will have to do the couple hundred round break-in period.

One thing. I was hearing something about the magazines not dropping free. Is this just on SOME of the Kahrs, or do most have this issue? I'm just asking because my magazine DOES drop free. The other one at the gun store released about 3/4" then stopped.

I'm looking forward to the break-in. I really love how low this gun sits in the and. Weight is very good. Thin profile, and nice feeling grip makes it a great carry gun, as soon as I'm done with the break-in. I will post when that is done.

Thanks for the input guys.

[davecustommade]

One thing I have noticed while playing around with this gun. After dry firing it, the slide sometimes [about 40% of the time] seems as though it is getting stuck on something inside and stops [about 1/2 of an inch into the pull back] when I pull it back [it is very hard to pull it back]. I can only assume that the striker spring is very stiff. If I don't dry fire, the slide pulls back without any resistence. It IS a tough pull, but not like after a dry fire. Is that one of the things that needs to be broken in too?

While I'm at it, is it okay to dry fire this gun without a snap cap?

[MO_Soldier]

I was told it was fine to dry fire our Kahrs with no snap caps.
I couldn't criticize the answer however, because the whole concept of damaging a firing pin by doing that has never been explained to me.

About that extra stiffness, I don't remember ever experiencing that and my Kahr PM9 is relatively new with under 500 rounds through it. I just pulled mine out to really analyze it. The ONLY difference that I detect after a dry fire, is a small click after pulling the slide back about 1/4 inch after a dry fire. I think that's simply the striker resetting on the striker block.

[davecustommade]

Does it seem like something that I should have sent back to Kahr for? In other words, best have it fixed before putting rounds through it?

I updated my post [above this one] with more clear words.

[MO_Soldier]

It sounds like the trouble you're experiencing is right where my striker resets. MY GUESS would be that's all you're experiencing. But I am new to this whole thing and would rely on one of the more seasoned fellows to touch base with you on this one.

[jocko]

nothinbg beats the actual BANG thing from making a gun work and smooth out. One can dry fire, hand rack the slide until hells freezes over but again nothing smooths out any high spots or ruffness than the actual cycling of the slide faster than the eye and ones hand can make that happen. So put a couple hundred rounds down range, shoot good ammo, the recoils springs when new are stiffer than a well diggers pr-ck but after a couple hundred rounds the springs take their designed set and u will b e able to hand rack with ease and more than likely shoot any type of ammo for range fodder.

If u get a few failures to lock open in the first 200 rounds, just ignore it, that normally is the cause of very stiff recoil springs that until they get that set in them might indeed cause failure to lock open. Many many onwers report that after a couple hundred rounds the gun totally feels different, and I think they are right. Call ur fi9rst 200 rounds or so what ever u want to call them. Most owners feel a gun should be shot anywhere from 100 to 500 rounds to be considered good to go. I call it also range fodder.

I can remembrer when I bought my Para carry 9 and was haiving start up iissues and when I called them to discuss it they basically said to call them back after 500 rounds through the gun if the issue persists. Funny thing, they went away earlier \than that.

It is OK to dry fire a kahr, I prefer using the snap caps just because I feel better about it. but rememberit only takes about a 1/4 pull back on the slide to reset the trigger system, so u can dryfire without totally racking the slide..snap caps are cheap and another thing or reason I recommend them is if u have a half dzen snap caps, throw them in with 30 rounds of 9mm range ammo and let someone load ur magazine for u where as u don';t now if u have one or 4 snap caps or none, TRUST me,this willshow your shooting ills real fast when u come upon that snap cap. Also it is great for the TAP RACK AND BANG DRILLS to..

[davecustommade]

Where my problem is. . . .is that about 50-60% of the time, the slide [after dry fire] will pull back normally. I can dry fire it again and then get that "it's getting stuck" feeling. If I muscle it back, it goes, but it takes a lot of effort. And when it DOES do that, on the way back, it seems like it doesn't come back as "clean" as when the pull is normal.

If it is just a part of the break in, I'm fine with experiencing some range issues for a while. I just don't want to break something [especially if it ends up being my own hand].

[gb6491]

One thing I have noticed while playing around with this gun. After dry firing it, the slide sometimes [about 40% of the time] seems as though it is getting stuck on something inside and stops [about 1/2 of an inch into the pull back] when I pull it back [it is very hard to pull it back]. I can only assume that the striker spring is very stiff. If I don't dry fire, the slide pulls back without any resistance. It IS a tough pull, but not like after a dry fire. Is that one of the things that needs to be broken in too?

While I'm at it, is it okay to dry fire this gun without a snap cap?

Take the slide off, turn it upside down and depress the striker block (should depress very smoothly and without much pressure). Holding the block depressed, try moving the striker fully forward (tip should protrude from the breech face) and then back; there should be a small amount (3/16"?) travel between the the fully forward position of the striker and the point to the rear that spring pressure becomes evident. This small amount of "free play" should be just that, the striker should move freely between extremes without hindrance. Release the striker block and push the striker fully rearward: there will be spring pressure, but the striker should move smoothly.
Even if the above checked out, I'd be inclined to break the slide down and clean the striker channel, also giving the associated parts a thorough inspection; looking for burrs, damage, and such. There's a sticky in the Tech section that describes the procedure.
Regards,
Greg

[kahrinca]

Dave, for low light shooting, or any for that matter, you might consider the Crimson Trace laser grips special made for our Kahrs. They can be bought for anywhere from 125-210 depending on your connections. IMO, a red dot on the target is going to be FAR more effective than distracting glowing dots near my face.

...

I'd have to second that. Why get night sights for a CW9 when you can have the whole enchilada with CT LaserGuard, which I purchased recently? You can't beat laser on a SD handgun, IMHO.

Shoot a rental gun with suitably aligned laser at the range and you will likely be convinced of the foregoing.

[yqtszhj]

Yep, do what Greg just said and clean it up then follow Jocko's suggestion to shoot it. You have yourself a good gun there, the CW9 has the best grip of the 2 you mentioned, shoots well in my opinion, and you're gonna like it. I have had both. Had the CW9 and traded it for the CM9. Both shoot good. I sure miss the CW9 but love the pocket ability of the CM9.

Go enjoy it.

[davecustommade]

Not sure what I did, but it seems to be working correctly now. I took the slide off and checked it out. It doesn't seem to be having the issue with getting stuck.

After looking at this, with slide off, it is the most simple gun I have ever owned. What is the normal break point on these that has been discussed on this site? Or are they pretty reliable long term?