New CM9, The 9mm I Should Have Bought 10 Guns Ago

[Kal0348]

Just wanted to say that I picked up my new CM9 this afternoon, and after taking it apart to clean out the 1-1/2 qts 10W30 and putting it back together, I'm really impressed with the way it's put together.

Can't wait to shoot her (the gun), but before I do, I have a couple (maybe 10) questions for you all.

First, can I dry-fire the pistol? I have snap caps if ok.

I'm gonna pick up a couple of 6 rd Kahr mags from Midway, since I don't want to mess around with any of the possible feed problems some are having with the 7 or 8 rounders. I want to get the exact same mags that came with the pistol. Are the $28.xx 6 rd sale mags at Midway the ones to get?

I want to put something on to soften the front and back of the grips without adding much to the size of the grips...what have some of you used for this?

And lastly, how do you all carry your spare mags?...none of my Don Hume clip on leather mag carriers will fit the CM9's mags...the ones I have for other guns are too large.

And lastly (#2), is Hornady One Shot spray cleaner/dry lube ok for my new Kahr?

Thanks for any help with these questions.

[MikeyKahr]

Just wanted to say that I picked up my new CM9 this afternoon, and after taking it apart to clean out the 1-1/2 qts 10W30 and putting it back together, I'm really impressed with the way it's put together.

Can't wait to shoot her (the gun), but before I do, I have a couple (maybe 10) questions for you all.

First, can I dry-fire the pistol? I have snap caps if ok.

I'm gonna pick up a couple of 6 rd Kahr mags from Midway, since I don't want to mess around with any of the possible feed problems some are having with the 7 or 8 rounders. I want to get the exact same mags that came with the pistol. Are the $28.xx 6 rd sale mags at Midway the ones to get?

I want to put something on to soften the front and back of the grips without adding much to the size of the grips...what have some of you used for this?

And lastly, how do you all carry your spare mags?...none of my Don Hume clip on leather mag carriers will fit the CM9's mags...the ones I have for other guns are too large.

And lastly (#2), is Hornady One Shot spray cleaner/dry lube ok for my new Kahr?

Thanks for any help with these questions.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Kahr. The manual says dry-fire away to your hearts content. Some still use snap caps, though. The Midway ones are OEM, good to go. Cheaper than Dirt is usually comparable price-wise. For the grip, a bike tire inner tube is probably the way to go for a free solution. Hit up a bike shop if you need some scraps free. A user here (Beardog) hooked me up with an awesome holster for two mags, I highly recommend him. Otherwise, a pocket knife sheath works well too. As for the Hornady spray, someone else can speak more definitively but I would guess it's perfectly fine. Hit up the lube chart and proper prep stickies in the Tech section before you do anything else, good stuff there. And also read up the manual. Happy shooting!

P.S. When you eventually find the notch in the rail and the bulge in the frame, don't worry it is perfectly normble. O and I'd consider sending your CM9 back as Kahr totally screwed up - I had at least 2 Qts of 10W30 in my PM9 when I got it!

[Kal0348]

MikeyKahr, thanks for your really quick late-night reply. I'll look into those double mag holsters by contacting Beardog.

I'll place the order at Midway for the mags. I just found an old slip-on grip sleeve, probably from an old KelTec that I've long since parted with, and it seems to fit the CM9 great.

I swear that every gun owners manual I have read, I must miss half of the really important stuff...the safety warnings keep dragging my attention from finding the info I'm really interested in (like dry-firing).

Well, thanks again, and have a great evening.

[MikeyKahr]

MikeyKahr, thanks for your really quick late-night reply. I'll look into those double mag holsters by contacting Beardog.

I'll place the order at Midway for the mags. I just found an old slip-on grip sleeve, probably from an old KelTec that I've long since parted with, and it seems to fit the CM9 great.

I swear that every gun owners manual I have read, I must miss half of the really important stuff...the safety warnings keep dragging my attention from finding the info I'm really interested in (like dry-firing).

Well, thanks again, and have a great evening.

Glad to be of help. If the grip sleeve you found is the Hogue Handall Jr, quite a few on here use those with good results. Some even prefer using them upside down, give it a try. If I had to guess, most who like something on the grip go the bike innertube route for thinness. Just a guess though. I like mine just how Kahr sent it to me.

And I hear you about the manual aka CYA section. Once you get through that, the good stuff comes. And if you hang out here with jocko, wyntrout, Bawanna and the other old guys, you'll pick up real quick. O and keep an eye out for the professor (aka gb6491) - he's wicked smart and his posts are very informative. Ask away if you have any questions, and let us know how your new CM9 runs.

[Short Bus]

For a nice thin grip try a Quik Grip size 3 for CM/PM or 2 for CW/P

http://www.tacticalinc.com/qwik-grip...del-p-602.html

[skiflydive]

Instead of adding a grip sleeve I took a piece of fine sandpaper, folded it twice and ran it back and forth a few times in the grooves of the grip to "break" the sharp corners and edges of the "bumps." I figured if that didn't help I could still add a grip sleeve. Haven't had to.

[APSKahr]

Sounds like they have everything covered. Just want to add that I use the don hume 200.B single mag clip on holder. You can glue a small piece of foam or leather at the bottom if you want the mag to ride higher.

[JFootin]

Welcome to the forum! There is a wealth of valuable information in the New Member Area and the Kahr-Tech sections of the forum.

And welcome to the CM9 Owners Club! Our official symbol is the wide grin smily because we are so happy with our purchase that we can't wipe the smiles off our faces!

Here is your club badge.


For the bare minimum to tame the cheese graters on the front and back of the grip, I used some hockey tape. It is woven cloth tape that is exactly the same color as the frame. It is 1" wide - the perfect width. Pressed down, you can still see the bumps, but they don't bite. Two carefully trimmed strips took care of it and you have to look close to tell it is there.

That said, I like the Qwik-Grip rubber sleeve. It fits perfectly and doesn't have any palm swells or finger grooves so it adds minimally to the bulk and provides very sure handling.

[Giraffes]

I put on the rubber stick-on grips from Talon Grips and really like them. They soften the front & back strap checkering without any loss of grip.

I use Hornady One Shot on all my guns when I carry them but I use regular CLP and some grease on the rails when I take them to the range and put more than 50 rounds through them. However, I only use non-chlorinated brake cleaner in the firing pin channel. Don't want any sort of gunk or buildup in there.

[MilesDavis]

I did the bicycle inner tube on the grip of my cw9 and it's great, the tube I bought even had a small "ribbed" section which was the perfect size. Before I put it on there I tried a tennis grip, which worked pretty well and had a nice feel, but I decided to go with something a little more durable

[itsthelaw]

Two things that I got from this forum after buying 2 CM9s that have rung true to date...

Skip the extended mags and pinky extensions and get used to the small grip. This came from Jocko. Stick around long enough and you'll know Jocko. That's a good thing. Just sayin.

Skip anything that makes the grip thicker and get used to it too. I bought 2 different Vogue and Hogue-type grips. They just made the gun stick to my skin. I would shoot the gun through the break in 200 and until 500 to decide on the grip. At the most, add the hockey or electrical tape to the front or sand them down a bit. In my opinion, the gun is perfect out of the box. Sometimes it is best for you to adapt to the gun instead of changing it.

Enjoy the badge from JFootin. You now own an amazing gun. IMO...best polymer Kahr.

[les strat]

OP, congrats on a fine lil' weapon, welcome to the forum, and Roll Tide (I guess... after last week )

[Cubby]

So far the only thing that I'm not crazy about mine is having to use the slide release to load the chamber. That thing is really hard to release! My thumb was bleeding after the initial trip to range. Hopefully it will loosen up with use...

[Kal0348]

Thanks all for your welcomes. itsthelaw, I decided that I really don't like the finger groove style of the Hogue Handall Jr sleeve, and I'll probably just put a few hundred rounds through the pistol before I decide whether I want or need to get a grip sleeve at all. If I do, I'll probably get a qwik-grip sleeve, like others have suggested.

Cubby, I just field-stripped my CM9 (just to get used to how things come apart and go back together), and I re-chambered another first round from the magazine, using the slide release. It was a little hard on my thumb, and I could see how it might be a pain to chamber a bunch of "first" rounds during reloads at the range. I think that maybe, like you mentioned, it will smooth out with use.

I don't know what it is, but I just can't stop looking at this CM9...or quit picking it up from the desk as I type this. I've had other sub-compacts, but none has had this effect on me...I think I'll keep the thing unloaded except for carrying (after break-in) and going to the range. In the mean- time I'll chamber an A-Zoom snap cap while I'm fondling the pistol.

Thanks for the badge JFootin. I've started looking at the New Member and Kahr-Tech sections here, and I'm beginning to learn.

I guess I'm always wondering, with a new gun, whether I'm using the right cleaners and lubricants...everybody seems to have a favorite. When I was basically into revolvers, maintenance was pretty straight-forward, except maybe for scrubbing out a leaded bore from cast reloads.

These small pistols, many of which function on the very edge of practical mechanical and physical design, simply amaze me. I know that these guns generally function very well, and I want to make sure I do all I can to keep them that way, using good cleaners, lubricants, and replacement springs and parts.

Well, thanks again for all your help.

[Ferrari]

I bought a CW45 first... I certainly do like the way a 45 shoots and that one has the best double action trigger I've ever shot. It also handles recoil far better than would have expected... so I went right out and bought another Kahr.

I've enjoyed carrying the CM9 that resides in my right front pocket so much that I paid $425 for a used PM9 down at the gun store the other day.

I came to this forum late in the game.. Nobody told me that Kahr"s require special treatment.... So I had no idea that "slingshoting" the first round wasn't recommended or that the pistol is designed to run relatively dry.

I can't tell anybody what they ought to do, but I can report that I've had no problems at all through about 300 or so rounds with the 45, 500 rounds through the CM9 and 50 through the PM9 while slingshoting the first round on every magazine, cleaning the bore and wiping down the barrel and slide with WD-40 and then reassembling the guns with just a dab of grease on the rails.

I'm not one to baby a pistol... My Kahr's get about the same treatment as every other gun in the safe and so far my Kahr experience has been very positive.