Kahr Handguns

[DRC]

I figure I'll throw my piece in as well.

Kahr K40 here,

One of the best purchases I've ever made. Took several rounds before I became comfortable with the DAO trigger but now I enjoy shooting it more than my HK USP and the USP is fantastic.

I have a different customer service story however. My gun was accidently fed 9mm. When the error was pointed out the shooter (not myself) was made aware of this. Not looking down the barrel the wedged live 9mm round in the barrel was not seen and the propper ammo loaded into the clip and fired. Long story short, BIG MESS but no one was hurt thank God. The gun was totaled to say the least. It was shooter error no doubt about it and I included a letter explain such, but I sent it back to see what it would cost me to replace all the effected parts and if any parts could be reused.Four weeks went by and I had not received word from them so I called on it. It had shipped back to me, completely rebuilt and at no charge and I received it a couple of days later. I can't complain about Kahr in any way.

I've put 1000+ rounds through my pistol and have had no problems. I too like the way it shoots, its accuracy and reliability. Other gun manufacturers will be hardpressed to beat these pistols IMO.

Take care,

DRC

 

[RTFM]

I can't believe this. I'm the first to welcome KahrKarrier!
Howdy KahrKarrier.
Welcome.

 

[KahrKarrier]

RTFM Thank you very much for the welcome, that was very kind of you.
SKUNKABILLY and 10-RING no I'm not related to Kahr Carrier simply a coincidence. I used the "K" in Karrier as a feeble attempt to come up with a cool user name. Until you mentioned Kahr Carrier I wasn't aware that there was another name as close to the one I made up.
To everyone else, Thank You all for the terrific response. Nice to know I'm not the only one who likes Kahrs. I've lurked on this forum, and others, just to see some Kahr Komments either pro or con. I finally had to break my silence and test the waters, so to speak. Again thanks everyone.
THEE BAD ONE tonight when I settle down with a cool Bud I'll read your post, phew, that was a long one.

 

[RTFM]

OK with that post out of the way, I've heard good things about them but never shot one.
I'm in the market for a new small .40 and it's down to the Kahr, Taurus and the Firestorm.
They all fit me great, and point real well for me.. I just have to get where a gun shop rents them (at least the Kahr and Taurus) to see who gets my $

Now about the All American city.
Ever been to Worcester?
Arm pit! (sorry friends I made in Mass, but all of you say the same thing...)
I just came back from a year in Mass. We have offices in Worcester and Boston, also in Cranston, Providence and Newport RI and CT.
PASS

Source:
http://www.fairus.org/html/07272062.htm
When the focus is on the greatest percent change in the foreign-born population, the order is considerably changed. The percentage ranking allows a low-immigration state like South Dakota to be listed, but, more interestingly, it removes from the ranking all of the ‘big-6’ except for Texas. There were 19 states whose foreign-born population more than doubled over the 1990-2000 decade, and in three of those states the foreign-born population more than tripled.


Top 25 States
F.B. No. Change ('90-'00)
State # Change % Change
1 CA:: 2,405,430:: 37.2%
2 TX:: 1,375,206:: 90.2%
3 NY:: 1,016,272:: 35.6%
4 FL:: 1,008,227:: 60.6%
5 IL:: 576,786:: 60.6%
6 NJ:: 509,717:: 52.7%
7 GA:: 404,147:: 233.4%
8 AZ:: 377,978:: 135.9%
9 NC:: 314,923:: 273.7%
10 WA:: 292,313:: 90.7%
11 VA:: 258,470:: 82.9%
12 NV:: 316,593:: 202.0%
13 CO :: 227,469:: 159.7%
14 MD:: 204,821:: 65.3%
15 MA:: 199,250:: 34.7%



Mass, Worcester, Boston, Jamaca Plain, Watertown, even Shrewsbury, Leominster and Fitchburg are no longer the All American towns you create them to be.

KahrKarrier
I realize some folks are wrongly informed thinking that moonies own Kahr, that simply is not true.

Church's Pistol Firm Exploits a Niche
Washington Post/March 10, 1999
By John Mintz
With parts of its sprawling business empire in decline, the Unification Church headed by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon is finding profits in one of the least-known of its commercial ventures: making guns.
Moon's four-year-old gun company, Kahr Arms, has prospered amid glowing reviews for the workmanship of its small but potent pistols. Last month, Kahr Arms expanded, purchasing the company that manufactures Tommy guns, fabled in Roaring '20s mob shootouts from speeding black sedans.

The ties between Kahr Arms and the Unification Church headed by Moon have received almost no notice, both within the close-knit gun industry and among church members. The business arm of the church, whose members believe that Moon is the Messiah and was placed on earth to restore the Garden of Eden, declined to clarify its involvement in the gun business.

Moon arms factory
His father preaches peace, and he makes guns
Boston Globe/March 21, 1999
By Thomas Farragher
Worcester -- To his church, he is the sinless child of the "True Parents," a scion of an apostle of peace. But his business card could say something else: Justin Moon, gun maker.
At the end of a gritty industrial strip here, sandwiched between a highway and a graveyard, the son of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the self-proclaimed messiah who claims to have conversed with Jesus and Moses, is making small pistols that pack a punch.

The Harvard-educated Kook Jin "Justin" Moon is the chief executive officer of Kahr Arms, whose products are viewed as finely crafted weapons by gun enthusiasts and as shameful symbols of hypocrisy by critics of the Rev. Moon's Unification Church, which preaches peace and love.

 

[Pocket Pistol]

My MK9 has not missed a beat since new in 9/1998.

I love my MK9 and want a PM9 or P9

 

[KahrKarrier]

RTFM Never been to Mass, I hardle ever venture north of the Mason-Dixon line myself, thanks for enlightening me about how bad things seem to be up there.
Did you happen to read THEE BAD ONES post quoting American Handgunner's article and Ayoob's interview with Justin Moon? That article is a couple of years more recent than your newspaper quotes and seems to dispute most of what your articles pointed out.
Some of the most popular imported weaponry seems to come from former communist block countries but that doesn't stop us from recognizing good quality and buying them does it? I just prefer American made products which is why I ride a Harley, drive a Ford F150, have a Johnson outboard motor on my Wellcraft boat and shoot Kahr and S&W oh yes I do have a gun made in Brazil, shame on me. But I prefer my Kahr, made in an American city weather it's "All" American or not is not for me to judge.
By the way, you will pay a little more for the Kahr but the quality is there. Oh yes, by the way, isn't Taurus made in South America? And what about Firestorm, wonder what country that one hails from? Their workers probably work in sweat shops for $2.00 an hour or so, maybe less. But at least they aren't owned by the son of a Moonie Preacher in a plain old American town in Mass.
God Bless America and aint freedom of choice grand?

 

[Fair 'n Square]

My Kahr K-9 is wonderful for concealed carry. And I add my kudos for the trigger pull. It's the best I've ever felt on a DAO (double-action-only) handgun. When I can conceal a full-size handgun (most of the time) I carry a Springfield XD-40. But when I'm in a suit, which is fairly often, I carry the Kahr.

 

[usnavymasterchief]

Come on now Kahr Karrier, I sence a little patriotic hostility in your reply to RTFM. IMHO, it wasn't very nice of RTFM to welcome you aboard and then fire away at you in his next reply, I couldn't figure that one out either.
I could care less about Justin Moon's country of origin, my Dad was from Ireland and Mom's from Norway, I was born in the USofA and I served in the US Navy for 32 years, I loath communism and I don't agree with the Moonie philosophy but I bought a Kahr K40 anyway. Why you ask? Because it was made in the good old USA by Americans trying to earn a decent living.
My Kahr is of very high quality and reasonably priced when compared to some of the other big name gun manufacturers.
I tend to believe Ayoobs comments and his interview with Mr Moon.
Just my .02 worth.

 

[txgolfer45]

My Kahr PM9 has been a great addition to my small collection of handguns. It definitely took 200 rounds to loosen it up though. After that, it has been very smooth! I highly recommend it.

It is in my front pocket holster as I type!!!

Scott

 

[fastbolt]

I thought I'd already posted an opinion in this thread ... Must've been one similar ...

Anyway, my hands-on familiarity with Kahr pistols is limited to those that have come through our range, and of those, as I recall they were a K9, K40 & a new PM9.

Didn't like the K9. Too heavy for its purpose, size & caliber. The owner experienced more than their fair share of malfunctions, specifically feeding malfunctions where the pistol's slide wouldn't fully return to battery. The head armorer made a couple minor adjustments where sharp edges appeared to be involved, but it's also possible the small stature and lesser grip/arm strength of the shooter was involved, as well ...

Liked the K40. Still heavy for its size, carry-wise, but considering the perceived recoil of its caliber, it may well be justified for many shooters. Like the balance & accuracy when I shot it, and I found the trigger to be decent ... even considering I dislike DAO & "related" pistols.

Didn't like the PM9. Opposite situation from the K9, though, because here I thought the pistol was perfect as far as carry-weight went ... but I disliked the snappy, muzzle-rise for a 9mm pistol. My CS9 isn't all that much larger ... I know, I know, ASIDE from the rubber grips ... ... and the CS9 is much easier to control (NOT that it has anything to do with the ugly rubber grips, mind you), and has significantly less perceived recoil impulse and muzzle rise ... for ME. Entirely a subjective issue, I realize. All things being equal, I'd still go for the faster SA reset of the DA/SA cycle of operation of the CS9. Matter of familiarization, training, and an embarrassingly high number of rounds fired downrange through S&W DA/SA pistols.

I know folks are really pleased with their selection of PM9's for lawful carry, and I'm certainly not going to tell them ... or even imply ... that they're wrong. If it works for them ... it works for them. Simple as that. When it comes right down to it, one of my responsibilities is to HELP folks become better skilled shooters with their selected off duty weapons, NOT tell them they're wrong for their selection. How is demeaning their choice of a potentially life-saving off duty weapon supposed to help build their confidence? I don't have to like their choice in weapons, any more than I have to like their choice in cars, beer, books or women.

I just wouldn't spend my money on a PM9. Maybe if I handled and tried a MK9 I'd have some other standard of comparison.

Okay, I also dislike the way the polymer frame apparently exhibits the close-to-the-surface presence of the trigger pin cross-pin on one side, and wonder how well the frame will hold up in that area for long term use, considering how thin the frame dimensions are in that area. Time will tell, and I expect to hear one way or the other from PM9 owners on this, and other, forums. I'm not trying to say it's a potential problem, either. Not at all ... but I've nodded my head in agreement with some folk's thoughts that it seems to be a bit "noticeable" on some pistols.

Lastly, if I allowed the country of origin, or the personality of the company's owner ... or their politics, sexual preference, religious or spiritual beliefs, etc ... to be a PRIMARY consideration in selecting which firearms I was "willing" to deign to own ... Well, I wonder how many I'd be able to find whose maker/designer/company owner met my exacting criteria???

What if a firearm company wanted potential purchasers to fit within a specific type of demographic? How many of US might be denied the privilege of purchasing their products?

I won't presume to tell someone that elects not to purchase a Kahr, because of the nature of the religious organization of the company owner's father, that they're "wrong" in their determination ... for THEM. I also wouldn't be interested in their opinion of whether I should consider buying a Kahr, either. Not unless it has something to do with the actual mechanical advantages/disadvantages of the pistol design. I take such freedoms seriously ...

ASK me, and I might tell you what I think ... but I won't generally try and force an opinion down your throat. TELL me how YOU think I should think, especially if I didn't invite your opinion, and you'll probably find you suddenly have yourself a very receptive "audience" ... because you'll only be talking to yourself.

I suppose what I should've just said is that the only Kahr I've handled and shot which would remotely interest me is the K40 ... ... The owner of that K40 likes it a LOT, though, and I respect his opinion.

Enough said ...

 

[bad_dad_brad]

They are generally considered good to excellent pistols. I have an older MK9. I like it a lot. FYI, replace the recoil spring after every 2000 rounds to assure return to battery (I read that somewhere). Cheap insurance anyway. I have yet to come close to 1000 rounds after seven years so what the heck.

The all steel models are a bit heavy, but I prefer my MK9 to a PM9. Easier to control.

 

[harrydog]

Almost every thread with Kahrs as the topic eventually reverts to the same thing. So predictable. I personally could not care less about the Kahr/Moonie association. So what. They're good weapons and that's all I really care about.
And while it's nice that they're made in the USA, that's also not a consideration on my part either.
By the way, I used to work in Worcester. Springfield also. I commuted from New Hampshire. I firmly believe that the reason why so many MA cities have such large immigrant populations is because MA is an extremely welfare friendly state.
Drive a few miles north accross the border into New Hampshire and you'll notice a distinct absence of foreigners, or even most minorities. The main difference? New Hampshire is not a welfare friendly state.
So blame the liberal politicians of MA for that situation, if it bothers you.

 

[Kahr carrier]

Welcome Kahr Karrier to THR

 

[txgolfer45]

The Kahr PM9 is a great CCW. Definitely worth looking at if you are looking for a CCW. I practice with my PM9, but it is not my range gun. I leave that to my Glock 19 or 23. My Glock 26 is my preferred CCW if concealment situation allows due to higher capacity and accuracy.

Scott

 

[Jeff OTMG]

I have a Kahr MK9 (ankle gun), K40 Covert (fanny pack gun), and P9 Covert that spent 13 hours in my pocket today. Someday I will have a PM9 as well. Great little pistols.

 

[RTFM]

OK blame it on too much coffee yesterday. KahrKarrier I did not mean to come off like that, the more people we have here on TFL the better we all are.

Your right, Taurus is manufactured in Brazil.
Firestorm/Bersa (FABRICA de Armas Bersa SA of Ramos Meija) is manufactured in Argentina.

None of that bothers me in the least. My money goes to what works for me the best; it does not bother me in the least where a product is made, by whom or under what conditions, whether it’s shoes or pistols or trucks.

I’ll have to be honest with you, until yesterday, I did not know that Kahr was a Moonie gun. Does it bother me, nope. That Taurus is from Brazil nope. That Firestorm/Bersa is from Argentina negative. What works for me I purchase.

None of this changes my out look on Mass. though,

U.S. Navy Master Chief, Thank you for serving America for 32 years. I have 10 years in the Army my self, and hate communism as well.
And I also do not agree with the Moonie philosophy. I’ll presuppose that most of us here can trace our lineage to some where other than these shores.
I am still considering a Kahr as a new purchase, but that’s where it stops for me, as I said above, basing my consideration on anything’s country of origin will never, ever, make it to my thought process.

So, if I torqued’ off any one, sorry. A Kahr pistol is still in my top three, along with two non- American manufactures.

 

[tetchaje1]

I owned an MK9 Elite and while it was certainly small enough it was heavy and lacked stipling on the front and backstraps. Thus, it was too heavy for pocket carry, and I figured that if I am going to carry it on my belt, I might as well carry my USP Compact or my SIG 239.

I also wasn't impressed with some of the QC issues with my gun. Kahr QC has been a really big issue lately. My gun had one side noticably thick on one side that the other, and the thinner side was sharp enough that you could shave with it. I also had several spots where the casting pores were not milled off correctly giving an uneven finish -- nicely smooth and well finished, and then you'd see the ugly, rough, raw casting marks.

I haven't really regretted selling it, though I might look into a PM9 in the future if their QC issues get mopped up by then.

 

[FunYet]

I used to have an MK9 Elite. Used it as part of a trade for another gun. I often wonder exactly what I was thinking that day, 'cause I miss that shiny little gun.

I have a PM9, which now has close to 1400 rounds through it. No problems. Every time I take it to the range the accuracy of the PM9 surprises me. CCW here in Ohio stands for "Can't Carry Weapons" so I can't comment on Kahrs as carry guns. My decision to buy them was based more or less on the wow-that-looks-cool-and-fun-to-shoot factor. Now that Kahrs have become a little more common in local gun stores the prices seem to have relaxed just a bit.

 

[Glockrat]

Just picked up a used K9 on Monday, and have put 100 rounds thru. It shoots great and no problems. I am going to give it a good workout this weekend and turn it into my new carry gun. I like IWB and I think this is what I have been looking for in a carry gun. Just ordered a High Noon IWB holster off Ebay for it. I am happy with it so far!