CM9 Tips

[KoolBreeze]

Here is a dry fire drill that will smooth out your trigger pull.
Place an empty cartridge on top of your front sight (I know the balance will be tough at first) and while maintaining a sight picture pull the trigger. The goal is to keep that empty cartridge balanced on your front sight. When you are consistently successful you will notice a significant improvement in your range results.

When I was a kid, my dad use to do that with a dime on the end of a rifle barrel.

[wyntrout]

I just put 5-lb striker springs in all of my 7 Kahrs. To my knowledge, no one has had any problems with the 5-lb springs.

Wynn

[newCW45guy]

Start slowly, pulling smoothly all the way through the trigger. Concentrate on keeping the sights aligned, and avoid rapid fire until you are consistently getting hits where you expect them to be.

Unfortunately a lot of shooters align sights by focusing on the rear sight and try and bring the front into the notch. It works ok for slow shooting but not rapid fire. Those complaining of grip/grip angle on guns are IMHO always focusing on the rear sight and trying to align the front with it. It's a lousy way to aim.

Focus on the front sight and forget the rear as it seems to magically align somehow. Once you know your gun you'll be squeezing before the sights are even aligned and magic happens.

Yep start at really short ranges to avoid frustration.

[Mike Brownhouse]

Good advice. I'd say dry-firing is good, just pay attention to what happens to the sight picture while you're going through the trigger pull. Even though they're small, they're definitely accurate. You should be able to get better with practice. I've got less than 200 rounds through my CM40 and I'm able to get 2" groups at 7 yards. The only minor problem I've had is getting used to the dot and bar. When I'm aiming, the tip of the front sight gets lost in the target, and I'm putting the dot just a little too high, so my groups are a little high.

[ktmrider]

If I can pile on here..... what is the proper sight picture on a Kahr sights? I started using the 6:00 method with my front dot right under the the bullseye and I was shooting way low (and a lil left, but I'll blame myself for the left part). I found that to hit center of a 8.5X11 paper target at self defense range 7yds I would have to aim almost at the top of the paper.

[justin81]

Thanks for the advice everybody!! I'll try dryfiring with cartridge on the front sight and see how it goes. I'm planning another range trip this weekend if I can find some ammo.

I wasn't sure about the sight picture either? Is it front sight bellow or on the target?

[Flincher]

Welcome to the forum from North Dakota, and congrats on the new Kahr

[wyntrout]

If you're having to aim high, you may be "anticipating" the recoil, as my son did here... and I do... too often:

http://s1134.beta.photobucket.com/us...amber.mp4.html

Wynn

[KoolBreeze]

If you're having to aim high, you may be "anticipating" the recoil, as my son did here... and I do... too often:

http://s1134.beta.photobucket.com/us...amber.mp4.html

Wynn

That would be my guess as well. I do it all of the time, especially on the very first shot of a magazine. It's an awfully difficult habit to break.

[IP32sailor]

I'm going to throw out a slightly different perspective. The NRA recently sent me a DVD called Combat Focus Shooting. It made me rethink the purpose of my CM9 which is not competitive target shooting but stopping BGs at likely close range. Speed being as important as aim. So rather than taking my time trying for that sub 2" group I'm now practicing with 2 or 3 6" targets at 5-7 yards. I try to put 2 or 3 rounds in each as quickly as I can. Figure that's a reasonable simulation of a center mass target area and changing my sight picture helps simulate multiple BGs. I get about 85% on targets and the misses are usually within an inch.

Now I'm not saying I don't want to be able to shoot 2" groups at 15 yds one day or that ability wouldn't be even more of an advantage with the BGs. But for now seeing holes where I would need them to be has made this newbie more confident. And I think the speed factor keeps me from over thinking things, my only thought is "focus on the front site" and I don't have time to think about recoil.

Only downside is this eats up ammo really quickly!!

[wyntrout]

A good technique is to aim... an unloaded pistol... at something on the wall... like the light switch or one of the screws in the plate. Focus on squeezing only the trigger and see what your barrel/sight does. You can easily see any movement that throws off your aim. I can do this and get steady after a few tries, but still yank, jerk, and whatever else it takes to use a lot of the letter-sized target... not wanting to waste space!

Wynn

[Keltyke]

IMO, you don't want to know where the trigger breaks. If you do, you'll be anticipating it. On a gun with a long heavy trigger, a rapid. smooth pull is what's needed. The longer it takes you to pull the trigger, the more the gun will move around on target. Just make your pull in one smooth motion without wasting any time about it. Don't jerk it, of course, but don't make it creep, either.

[jocko]

agree keltyke. thats why kahrs are so so smooth..

[wyntrout]

Yeah, I do that, but most of the time the quick squeeze becomes a yank or jerk. I'll point the pistol at the target and try to do that on each trigger pull... and once in a while the bullet goes where I intended it!

Wynn

[muggsy]

I'm going to throw out a slightly different perspective. The NRA recently sent me a DVD called Combat Focus Shooting. It made me rethink the purpose of my CM9 which is not competitive target shooting but stopping BGs at likely close range. Speed being as important as aim. So rather than taking my time trying for that sub 2" group I'm now practicing with 2 or 3 6" targets at 5-7 yards. I try to put 2 or 3 rounds in each as quickly as I can. Figure that's a reasonable simulation of a center mass target area and changing my sight picture helps simulate multiple BGs. I get about 85% on targets and the misses are usually within an inch.

Now I'm not saying I don't want to be able to shoot 2" groups at 15 yds one day or that ability wouldn't be even more of an advantage with the BGs. But for now seeing holes where I would need them to be has made this newbie more confident. And I think the speed factor keeps me from over thinking things, my only thought is "focus on the front site" and I don't have time to think about recoil.

Only downside is this eats up ammo really quickly!!

Now your talking, sailor. I know you said that this type of practice uses up a lot of ammo, but what's the down side? Carry on, lad.