arizonaguide
Member
I've ALMOST decided on a Kahr CW45.
Anybody have one with happy results?
Anybody have one with happy results?
Kahr CW45 opinions?
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chris in va
Member
Glocktalk has a section for Kahr owners. Just reading their posts I can see a few glitches crop up but Kahr makes it right if something does happen. Personally I wish Kahr made one in all-steel, but they seem to be concentrating on polymer the past few years.
outerlimit
Member
I can't even remember the last steel model Kahr released, it's been awhile.
gb6491
Member
I have one.
My experience with it so far (I'm not commenting on all CW45s, just my experience with my particular pistol):
At about 100 rounds fired, the magazine started dropping out of the gun (almost always with two rounds left in the magazine). Kahr sent me another magazine latch (slightly modified) and that problem has went away. I believe the follower had something to due with it always happening with two rounds in the magazine and have I have modified the follower to preclude that.
Sometime around this point (or maybe I only noticed it then),the magazine became very difficult to lock in place. Increasing the bevel on the bottom of the slide where it picks up rounds out of the magazine fixed this.
A friend and myself also inadvertently locked the slide back several times while firing the pistol. Now, this could be hold related, but the slide stop is fairly large with sharp serrations, edges, and corners. I ordered a non-mim slide stop and thinned it down some, also removing the sharp edges and corners. I have not inadvertently locked the slide back since.
The front sight is plastic. It is held on by two posts with the ends melted to hold the sight in place. It came off very easily when I went to install night sights on the gun. The rear sight was a real bear to get off the slide. I really like the night sights.
At about 500 rounds, it started having ejection failures on the last round in the magazine (sometimes jamming the spent casing back into the magazine feed lips). Several members of another forum had/have this problem. One had his repaired by Kahr; that repair involved a new slide. As I am very satisfied with the accuracy of my current slide/barrel/sights setup, I was reluctant to send it in. Instead, I tried a new extractor and spring; it did not fix the problem, but I noticed that the extractor side feed lip of the magazine was tipping up/knocking loose from the extractor the fired casing before it reached the ejector. I slightly modified the feed lip by removing some material from it. I have not had a single failure in about 175 rounds with the modified magazine. An unmodified magazine had 2 failures in about 25. I pretty confident the magazine mod has fixed this glitch.
To be fair, I believe Kahr would have made all these issues right. I'm a hands on type, could fix the issues myself and did so. Kahr sent me parts free of charge. Only one of my fixes involved a high dollar part of the gun and I doubt that fix is discernible even at the mothership.
All that said, I really like the form factor and accuracy of the CW45. It's a joy to carry and shoots well when running properly. If it goes another 175-200 rounds trouble free, then it goes into the carry rotation and will have been well worth the effort put into it. FWIW, I've gone down this same road with other guns in the past, some platforms just seem to need a few tweaks.
Night sights:
Two magazines at 10 yard and one at 25 yards: all two handed standing.
Regards,
Greg
My experience with it so far (I'm not commenting on all CW45s, just my experience with my particular pistol):
At about 100 rounds fired, the magazine started dropping out of the gun (almost always with two rounds left in the magazine). Kahr sent me another magazine latch (slightly modified) and that problem has went away. I believe the follower had something to due with it always happening with two rounds in the magazine and have I have modified the follower to preclude that.
Sometime around this point (or maybe I only noticed it then),the magazine became very difficult to lock in place. Increasing the bevel on the bottom of the slide where it picks up rounds out of the magazine fixed this.
A friend and myself also inadvertently locked the slide back several times while firing the pistol. Now, this could be hold related, but the slide stop is fairly large with sharp serrations, edges, and corners. I ordered a non-mim slide stop and thinned it down some, also removing the sharp edges and corners. I have not inadvertently locked the slide back since.
The front sight is plastic. It is held on by two posts with the ends melted to hold the sight in place. It came off very easily when I went to install night sights on the gun. The rear sight was a real bear to get off the slide. I really like the night sights.
At about 500 rounds, it started having ejection failures on the last round in the magazine (sometimes jamming the spent casing back into the magazine feed lips). Several members of another forum had/have this problem. One had his repaired by Kahr; that repair involved a new slide. As I am very satisfied with the accuracy of my current slide/barrel/sights setup, I was reluctant to send it in. Instead, I tried a new extractor and spring; it did not fix the problem, but I noticed that the extractor side feed lip of the magazine was tipping up/knocking loose from the extractor the fired casing before it reached the ejector. I slightly modified the feed lip by removing some material from it. I have not had a single failure in about 175 rounds with the modified magazine. An unmodified magazine had 2 failures in about 25. I pretty confident the magazine mod has fixed this glitch.
To be fair, I believe Kahr would have made all these issues right. I'm a hands on type, could fix the issues myself and did so. Kahr sent me parts free of charge. Only one of my fixes involved a high dollar part of the gun and I doubt that fix is discernible even at the mothership.
All that said, I really like the form factor and accuracy of the CW45. It's a joy to carry and shoots well when running properly. If it goes another 175-200 rounds trouble free, then it goes into the carry rotation and will have been well worth the effort put into it. FWIW, I've gone down this same road with other guns in the past, some platforms just seem to need a few tweaks.
Night sights:
Two magazines at 10 yard and one at 25 yards: all two handed standing.
Regards,
Greg
jfrey
Member
I have the CW9 and really like it so far. I shot a friend's CW45 this weekend and wasn't that impressed with it. He has had light primer strike problems in the past and thought it was fixed. I completely cleaned it for him before shooting and round #4 in the first mag was a light strike. I know for a fact that there was nothing in the striker channel to cause it. He has also had problems with ammo length and the slide not closing all the way with bullets seated out past a certain point. I didn't find the gun to be that accurate either. My G36 is more accurate at 10 yards. I also know the accuracy issue wasn't me because I can shoot my CW9 pretty well and it has the same trigger. I'm rethinking my desire to get a CW45 at this point.
arizonaguide
Member
Thanks for the info! GREAT pic's, too. I sure DO like the way they feel in the store.
arizonaguide
Member
jfrey, how do you like the CW9, any problems with IT? I just love the feel of the KAHR's...but if it's a maintenance queen, I'm a bit hesitant. Would like to hear better things about the CW45 before putting down the $$$.
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