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Another Kahr CM9 Problem Right Out of the Box!!

26K views 68 replies 42 participants last post by  Buckeye63 
#1 ·
Just got my CM9 home last night and tried to disassemble it for cleaning. Took me forever: slide overly stiff, take down pin wouldn't budge,etc., etc... . FINALLY got it apart, cleaned it and then the" fun" began. No way in h--- was I able to get it back together. Slide was a literal pain trying to get it to the right spot; pin would NOT advance in the hole; finally I gave up and took it to a gunsmith this morning. He struggled with it and, finally, got it apart and together again.Diagnosis: possible burrs inside the frame that wouldn't allow the slide to function properly. Advice: put the recommended 200 rds. thru it and see what results. Thankfully, I bought it from a Davidson'e dealer so I can always send it back for repair or replacement; but what a PAIN! Never had so much trouble with any of my guns right out of the box, so I can empathize with those who have had similar problems. However, I love the size, feel and convenience of this gun and hope things will eventually work out without too much frustration. One plus: the gunsmith wrestled with the gun for about an hour and didn't charge me a dime! Needless to say, I'll go to him next time and make sure he charges me. Comments?:scratchchin:
 
#2 ·
P.S. I did rack the slide 200 times BEFORE I even tried to disassemble it and, in addition, watched a video in which the person moved the slide like greased lightning and popped the pin out with a slight push of his left thumb. That really PO'd me when I saw that and went back to my struggle!LOL.:yup:
 
#3 ·
I think it is still a good company. Right now people are purchasing guns at near record levels. I think Kahr is just trying to keep up with demand and maybe is cutting (or not cutting) some corners. they need to keep the quality level up or people will purchase other brands that do.
 
#6 ·
Mine was also very stiff when I bought it, just due to the spring mainly. I couldn't find any defects other than a small plastic burr on the rear of the frame that was only cosmetic and quickly removed with a dremel. The take down is a little tough at first but once you find a good way to hold it, it's pretty cake. No tools needed.

Not trying to insult your intelligence but you realized there was a little half moon shaped key hole above and to the back of the pin you have to line up with the hole in the slide to get the pin out right? I apologize if I'm not explaining this in an easy way. I just need to take a picture lol.
 
#7 ·
Kahrs seem to be a 50/50 deal
some are good right out of the box others are DOA and need to go back for work
the good news is that they usually get it right when you send it back to them, the thing that stinks is that you have to send it back.
 
#10 ·
Sure wish i could mass produce something, make gobs of money off of, and only have a 50% rate of success. I guess it can happen with anything you purchase in life, but it must be a bummer when you spend the time researching, and then spend hard earned money only to find out it does not work well. GOod luck with it, and hope you get the bugs loose. Bunker
 
#8 ·
When I first got my latest PM9, the takedown pin was nearly impossible to remove without a punch. Now, 700 rounds later, I can remove it with my thumb.

I watched a YouTube video last night of another owner having an issue with his CM9 - seems the barrel was sticking at a certain point when sliding back and forth in the upper. I know Kahr outsources some of their parts - might be a bad batch of barrels and/or slides out there. Probably not related to your issues, but interesting nonetheless.

Now that you've got it back together, shoot the 200 rounds, and see what happens. Good luck!
 
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#9 ·
A common mistake that people make is to believe that a PM9/MK9/CM9 is like any other semi-auto, and that is totally wrong. These sub Kahrs are very tight pistols, and since the recoil spring is very strong it can be hard to disassemble and assemble them again, as well as to rack the slide. I do not have any experience with the CM9, but I do have with the PM9 and the MK9, and they are awesome firearms. The CM9 and the PM9 are basically the same pistol. I strongly recommend you to read the owner's manual carefully, and if it is not enough visit KahrTalk Forums.
 
#14 ·
- Because we all know that all of the money goes there and not one dime goes to the workers in Worcester, MA. Sounds as good of a reason as any to avoid a firearm.
 
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#20 ·
I've owned 4 Kahr pistols, including my current PM9. Of the four, three of them (including my current one) have had issues. The other three are long gone.

It really does not matter if it is 50/50 or not - the larger point is that Kahr pistols tend to be finnicky little beasts...or at least, you are much more likely to have issues with a Kahr than with other brands such as Glock. My own experience bears that out.

The Kahr pistols do indeed have tight tolerances. You can have all the individual components be within spec, yet still have issues. This is called "stacking of tolerances." Put a low-side-of-tolerance slide together with a high-side-of-tolerance frame...uh oh. High/high and low/low are ok...high/low and low/high are not ok. Kahr has to make sure their parts are sorted and put together according to where they are within the spec variance. If they get it wrong, you get a pistol that won't work.

Other (larger) pistols have a larger margin for error, and such parts sorting is not necessary. As long as the parts are within spec, you are ok.

The only Kahr I will tolerate is the PM9, because it will (barely) fit in a pocket. I have zero tolerance for the larger Kahr pistols. If I'm going to go larger, I'm carrying a Glock.

OP - Hope you get yours sorted out.
 
#21 ·
Start a range report thread about how great your new gun is [insert brand], and you'll get responses about how other folks love them too. Start a range report thread about how you dislike a new gun because of this or that and you'll get responses about how other folks have had issues too. Just the way things are. It's my humble opinion that Kahr makes a pretty decent gun, and that their micro 9's work well, but hey, maybe something got tweaked an now they have an issue, who knows.
 
#23 ·
All little auto's have there issues.I'm sure the 50/50 comment was a little much.No reason to hang anybody.lol.Some people start negative threads about guns they don't even own.That's the parts that gets me.
Reports on the Beretta Nano are coming in... welcome to reality.
 
#28 ·
Dare I offer a suggestion to the OP, instead of trying to figure out the exact percentage of Kahr's that are flawed out of the box?

To take down a Kahr, I may have a suggestion. I have found that the take down pin comes out much easier when the index marks are NOT lined up. I can pop that pin with the marks lined up, but its a pain in the rear. Try this... push on the exposed end of the pin with your thumb as you slowly pull back the slide (most easily accomplished by wrapping your hand behind the "beaver tail" and over the rear sights. Then just squeeze to slide the slide backwards. Make sense?) You will feel a "click" as you are pulling the slide back. (kinda makes you feel like a safe cracker :rolleyes: ) At that point, the pin will come right out with hardly any resistance. When putting it back together, again, dont line up the index marks. Pull the slide back as you look in the hole. Once everything lines up, put the pin back in. I have no idea why, but the index marks seem to make it more difficult. Took me a little bit to figure that one out.

I've said it before, i'll say it again. Having a new gun with issues out of the box straight up sucks. It's almost as frustrating as getting mayonaise on a hamburger. The good news is that Kahr customer service is excellent, and they stand behind their product. Once you work out the kinks, it's the best 9mm carry gun you could ever wish for. Like a good hunting dog...it takes a little patience, time, and frustration, but when trained, well worth it!

Dont give up on it... Good luck!
 
#32 ·
I am sorry to say my CM9 is back to Kahr for repair. I was lucky in getting one of those gun's that the slide sticks back after almost every shot. 225 rounds at the range Monday after going to the Kahr forum, cleaned, racked the slide 750 times went to the range and had big problems. Range on Monday received by Kahr factory Tuesday at 10:00am EST. Three weeks they told me. On the bright side I love the feel and for sure it is VERY ACCURATE. I hope it all works out. Mine did not stick when racking but this it what it did 4 of 6 rounds at the range. Stick back without slide stop engaged. :frown: new kahr cm9 slide sticking - YouTube
 
#34 ·
At this time, I have three Kahrs---two CW9s and a P45---all run 100% and shoot to point of aim---the PM/CM series are smaller and seem to be very stiff when new---I would just apply oil in the usual places and run some rounds thru them before trying to take them apart. There are tradeoffs with small guns---the smaller the more tradeoffs.
 
#35 ·
I just do not get it with this stuff, I purchased three different Kahrs in the last 4 months or so;

TP45
CW9
CM9

Other than couple of FTF with 165 grain 45 ACP I have not had one issue with the guns they fire and function well they are very accurate and they have very consistent triggers. I have put many hundreds of round through each gun they just run like clock work.

Another thing sure they may out source, but each part is inspected and has to come in within specifications of the print or they are rejected. That is the way all Mfg run and almost all have outs sourced parts.

To say they have 50% failure rate is ignorance and irresponsible unless you have concrete evidence of such I wouldn't be saying such foolish thing.

No one should have issues with a new gun, but it is common knowledge that Kahr arms are tight guns and they need break in, do the break in, I took apart the first two but didn't even touch the 3rd until I had 200+ rounds through it. All performed well except the 2 FTF with the 45. I am just baffled by all this negative press on these guns.
 
#36 ·
kb2wji: Thanks for your comments; I'll give it a try. Plus, having grown up in Philly. the formula was ALWAYS: MUSTARD on a 'dog; KETCHUP(Heinz's, preferably!) on a 'burger. Wifey drives me nuts when she asks for mayo on a 'burger! Now I'm going to post some comments on my first trip to the range today(See you there!?).
 
#37 ·
I am just baffled by all this negative press on these guns.
Seems like the bad press and the 50 percent DOA rate started on this forum a few days ago. Up until then most folks around the country seem to be happy them. Hey, My wife's first car was a Toyota Camarie. Suppose to have been the #1 car at the time. Her's broke down every other month it seemed like. She also had a friend that had problems with hers. She didn't start yelling to the heavens don't buy one and they have a 50 percent fail rate. She just felt it was bad luck and bought a different vehicle.
 
#40 ·
I am not a fan of them simply due to their affiliations..... and choose to not give my money to them, but that has nothing to dow ith their reliability.... but I am sure this bad press didn't help things much:

NYPD brass to cops: Stop using Kahr K-9 pistol - New York Daily News

One would assume that if NYPD could keep their officers from fingering the bang hook when they were not suppose to, it would fix the issue. then again that may explain their 17% hit rate as compared to the Salt lake City hit rate of 70+% or LAPD's still low but much better 40% hit rate.
 
#38 ·
See my new thread's update on the "problem" cm9 thanks!:35:
 
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