Any women have opinions on the CM9 or CW9?

[rvanpelt]

Hi. A newbie here and hope to help my wife own a Kahr after this weekend. Our son is in law enforcement and recommends the 9mm over the 380 for self defense. My wife is considering the Kahr CW9 and/or the CM9 for a ccw. They both fit her hand ok but I'm wondering about the recoil. Is the CW9 the choice of more ladies because of its couple extra ounces or is there a significant difference? Also, the CM9 that we looked at in the store was a little stiffer than the CW9 for her to rack a shell. Has this been a problem for any ladies? I'm thinking after the 200 round break in period, this may not be a problem but thought I'd ask. She likes the smaller size of the CM but sees advantages of both. She has shot my 45 Glock model 36 but it is physically too big for a women's ccw and recoil is too much for her and eventually may cause her to flinch.
Thank you for any advice and opinions.
Rod van Pelt

[toddmog]

My wife and I both had CW9's and she liked it a lot. She doesn't care for my new CM9. She found the CW easier to manipulate and shoot. I like the CM better for carry, but the CW was a little more fun to shoot. Although I really enjoy blasting with the CM.

[cjjohn]

Rod,
I just got a CM9 and I can tell you my wife hates it. The size and trigger are all ok, but she can't rack the slide. I don't know if it iwll ever break in / loosen up enough for her to be comfortable with, time will tell I guess.

[Bawanna]

If your wife can manage the slide racking, mag changes etc I suspect the smaller would always be the better choice far as carry comfort and concealability. For just plain shooting any size increase is a plus. While there's not a lot of weight difference the CW does give more to hold onto.
I suspect after lot of rounds, maybe more than 200 the CM will be more manageable but that being said many woman and quite a few guys have trouble running the slide.

I kind of feel like if she can shoot it relatively comfortably she'd be fine as most woman I know don't carry spare mags and as long as the gun is stone cold reliable she'll be ok. A lady at the gun show I spoke with, she was behind a table where I bought my wifes 638 said to tell her that when/if she needs it for real, she won't even notice the recoil.

The main thing is let HER decide what she wants. Ok to give her good options, and the logic behind your choices but let her make the final decision. If she don't like it, it'll still and always be YOUR fault but if you've been married for more than a month your used to that anyhow.

[CJB]

The slide rack is the make/break for women. Its finger strength. They go the arm strength, but not the fingers... cant grip the slide.

FWIW, during my years of doing instruction for the NRA, I always counseled ladies (and those that buy for them) that the safest way to go was the hammerless, or concealed hammer revolver. Consider - double action only, so it cannot be left "cocked", go off accidentally, or need to be "uncocked". Consider, you open the crane and swing out the cylinder, its safe, and you instantly know if its loaded or empty.

There may be a time and place for her with an autoloader... but please consider my points made above.

Also... thinking on it, Beretta used to make a nice .380 with a tilt barrel. Again, easy to use, tilt the barrel and chamber a round. Easy to make safe. Easy to see if its loaded. That pistol was DA/SA... so, there are some issues with that for newbies who might feel the need to decock a cocked hammer. Thats pretty much why I prefer the hammerless revolver for newbies and ladies with strength issues. Its the safest way to go.

[AIRret]

I bought a pm9 in November, eventhough I was aware of the tight slide. It was a big decision for me because I have nerve damage in my left arm which makes it weak and my right hand has a bad thumb (I shoot left handed). But with dedication, the gun works great for me.
I believe the slide is tight to make the recoil more manageable.
It took 500 rounds for the gun to loosen up enough for me to be able to completely disassemble and reassemble the gun by myself. My suggestion for your wife is to do lots of dry fireing. The gun will cock even if the slide is not pulled all the way back and it will build strength and familiarity. When I pull the slide I drive my left hand forward and lock out the arm while my right hand pulls the slide back. I also tilt my left hand to the right. It seems to let me use my limited strength more effficiently.
It was around the 350 round mark when I was able to lock back the slide by myself. When I lock the slide I brace the gun in my right hand and with my left fingers I grab the slide near the muzzel (being careful to stay CLEAR of the barrel) and push until I can lock the slide. With dedicated practice it can be done! The small Karh 9s are great carry guns. Lots of BANG, easy to conceal, and really fits a woman's hand.

[TheTman]

Is the CW9 as bad as the CW40 as far as hanging up when limp wristing it? That's something to consider for lady shooters that are often very inexperienced, plus many that I know have pretty weak wrists.
I would consider Bawanna's advice about a revolver, unless she is going to practice alot with the pistol, which many women don't. A good .38 special revolver has very mild recoil, and easy for the ladies to manipulate. I'd try and have her pick one with some heft to it, so it soaks up the recoil some.
Most important, is let her choose her own gun, and if it's a bad choice then explain why and let her pick another one.

[falcondriver]

I love my CM9 but it is hard to rack for me and would be impossible for my wife to rack it. Never shot a CW.
FD

[rvanpelt]

My wife and I really appreciated all of you who took the time to respond to our thread. My wife will weigh all of the pros and cons tomorrow as we go to Cabelas to look one more time and perhaps come home with a new handgun. I want it to be her decision as I've learned after almost 44 years of marriage. She is the type who is very determined to stick with her choice..good or indifferent. Being with me for that long is indicative of this..LOL
Thank you again for all your help.
Rod

[BroncoAZ]

My wife is petite and likes shooting the CW9. She can and will shoot my PM9, but prefers the CW9 because the slide is easier to manipulate. However she does not carry a semi automatic, a revolver is much less prone to user error in times of high stress, so she carries a Ruger LCR in.357 magnum.

[jocko]

oh for sure buy here a wheel gun, make her feel comforatable with the gun in all areas, be that loading, unloading, clearing jams etc A wheel gun will not let her down and there are lots of good defense round sout there that won't go throgh the bedroom wall and strike on of the kids sleeping. A woman is gonna think of alltis sh-t so make her comforatable. IMO a wheel gun is the absolutel best choice for 95% of all women. I sure would not stick a 357 round in that puppy though. Corbon makes the silver tipped glazer round that is supposed to be one super defense round. U gotta remember that 99.995% of the time that gun is going to lay in the bottom of her purse or clothing somewhere, so make that range trip for her a pleasantone, meaning, good hearing protectors, and not rounds that is gonna pop her back 10 feet. make the shoot fun and close up as hell, again she more thn likely ain't gonna hit jack **** at 10 yards so why put her there get her close with mild rounds and forget the bullesyes, get her some of those silhouette man type/illegal aliens targets, she can keep umn all in those type targets and not get frustred over not hitting the bulleye. If she really take sto this bang stuff, thenbuy a nice 22 semi for her to go to the range with and to shoot along with her wheel gun. confidence is #1 in a woman carrying a gun.... Just sayin.

[BroncoAZ]

My wife carries the LCR .357 loaded with some Federal low recoil 110 gr .38 JHP rounds. The recoil is about the same as .38 spl target ammo that she practices with. I fired a box of .357 JHP through the LCR, it wasn't bad for me but I doubt she would be comfortable with it. She does practice at least monthly with her carry gun, and she is game to shoot anything else we take to the range. She uses one of the Coronado Gunleather CCW purses with a separate holster equipped pocket in the side. She does practice drawing from the purse when we are in an appropriate place for that kind of drawing.

[jocko]

My wife has one of those coronado purses, they are super. she now never carrys it or the gun, . pisses me off, they are not cheap but they are certainly quality. good for ur wife. I would think that federal round would be nice. u might lok up on the corbon webb site that glazer round. I have them in my Model 60 smith and also in my K9 which is my home gun mostley..

[BroncoAZ]

Mine has carried daily for the past 10 years or so. I started her off with a Ruger SP101 (all steel gun was a bit heavy for daily carry), then a Glock 26 (her hands are really too small to properly grip a Glock), then a Kel Tek PF-9 (thinner and fit the purse better), next a Ruger LCR .38 (worked well), and now the Ruger LCR .357 (the extra 4 oz makes the gun much nicer to shoot).

She's had a good year or so for guns, she got the following:

Remington 1187 youth model 20 ga. for trap/sporting clays
S&W Model 60 performance center (3.5" barrel, test fire date is her birthday)
Ruger LCR in .357
Kahr CW9
14.5" barrel AR-15
Ruger SR-22

I'm debating on getting her the Ruger LCR .22 as a trigger trainer for her CCW gun, but the trigger on the .22 is significantly heavier.

[Wayne Nelson]

For weaker hands and wrists, I would recommend a 380 over a hard to handle 9mm. Some will say that a 9mm is a better choice over a 380 but if you can't handle or manage a 9mm, for a women, a 380 is the next best thing. One well placed .22 short will get the job done when 6 scattered 9mm's may not.