Well after a lot of debating with myself I finally picked up a Kahr CW9. I have read many glowing reviews of the Kahr line of pistols. I have also read of many horror stories of malfunction prone guns and customer service that is somewhat lacking.
I took my new CW9 out to the range last Friday, along with my Kel Tec PF9 and S&W Sigma 9VE. Kahr recommends a 200 round break in period. After breaking down the gun into its major components, I cleaned the CW and lubed it with Weapon Shield Oil. I put 200 rounds of WWB through it in less than one hour! For me, that is a lot of shooting in a short period of time. The temps were in the 90’s and the little Kahr did heat up real quick. I took a couple of breaks during the 200 rounds to try to let it cool off but it didn’t really seem to. The slide and slide release lever did get really hot. I didn’t have a single malfunction during the 200 round break in period. I was really surprised how easy the gun was to shoot. I don’t really think I could have handled 200 rounds through the PF9 because it is so light weight. Usually after about 20 rounds with the PF9 I am done. I don’t think the Sigma would have been as easy either given the heavy trigger. I enjoy the Sigma but I think the trigger pull would get tiring after awhile. For me, the CW9 is a great compromise between the two other guns. It is heavy enough to handle recoil well and the trigger is light and smooth enough to not be tiring.
I then decided to run some different defensive rounds through the CW9 to see what kind of groups I would get as well as further reliability testing with JHP ammunition. I was shooting at 7 yards with no rest. 5 shots per target. This is right after the 200 round break in period without cleaning.
I shot the following JHP defensive ammunition:
Winchester Ranger 124gr +p
Winchester Ranger Bonded124gr +p
Winchester Ranger 127gr +p+
Speer Gold Dot 124gr +p
Federal HST 124gr +p
Federal 9BPLE 115gr +p+
Here are my targets:
I took my new CW9 out to the range last Friday, along with my Kel Tec PF9 and S&W Sigma 9VE. Kahr recommends a 200 round break in period. After breaking down the gun into its major components, I cleaned the CW and lubed it with Weapon Shield Oil. I put 200 rounds of WWB through it in less than one hour! For me, that is a lot of shooting in a short period of time. The temps were in the 90’s and the little Kahr did heat up real quick. I took a couple of breaks during the 200 rounds to try to let it cool off but it didn’t really seem to. The slide and slide release lever did get really hot. I didn’t have a single malfunction during the 200 round break in period. I was really surprised how easy the gun was to shoot. I don’t really think I could have handled 200 rounds through the PF9 because it is so light weight. Usually after about 20 rounds with the PF9 I am done. I don’t think the Sigma would have been as easy either given the heavy trigger. I enjoy the Sigma but I think the trigger pull would get tiring after awhile. For me, the CW9 is a great compromise between the two other guns. It is heavy enough to handle recoil well and the trigger is light and smooth enough to not be tiring.
I then decided to run some different defensive rounds through the CW9 to see what kind of groups I would get as well as further reliability testing with JHP ammunition. I was shooting at 7 yards with no rest. 5 shots per target. This is right after the 200 round break in period without cleaning.
I shot the following JHP defensive ammunition:
Winchester Ranger 124gr +p
Winchester Ranger Bonded124gr +p
Winchester Ranger 127gr +p+
Speer Gold Dot 124gr +p
Federal HST 124gr +p
Federal 9BPLE 115gr +p+
Here are my targets:
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