Kahr CW9, 10th round catastrophic frame failure

[Railtech]

Evening Folks,
Long time carrier, first time poster. I wanted to see if anyone else has had this issue and see what to expect from Kahr.

Been a long time Glocker, but my wife was wanting a single stack 9 so shopped and tried a bunch at my local establishment. She did great with the CW9 with a nice ragged hole so we ordered one for her and it came in quickly. I followed the manual and checked it out since I have read several pre-check items with Kahrs. Everything was cleaned and put back together as per the Kahr manual.

The wife went to the range today by herself since I was working. She called to report the Kahr broke. Not sure exactly what happened but wanted to see if others had the same issue. We were using standard factory Federal 115gr FMJ. The side of the frame came off in her hand and if not for her gloves would have caused some damage. She was a trooper and didn't drop it. Hand was still sore from the sideplate ejecting. She made it safe and the range officer/attendant stopped shooting so he could pick up the parts for her. Great place BTW!

They got the parts and will ship off to Kahr. I have seen several issues, but none of this type. Especially on round 10 of a new weapon, not sure what Kahr's turn around time is either.

Thanks for the help and ideas!


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[DefensiveCarry.com]

[DooSPX]

I would have to say it looks like a ammunition problem. Looks to me like the case blew apart, causing the side of the gun to burst. Really the only issues with Kahr's that are the guns fault are the followers. Most everything else is user issues (i.e. limp wristing, Kahr's hate that)

[Happypuppy]

I would send the picture to Federal. I agree it looks like a case failure. Don't use any of the remaining ammo save it for Federal,they will want to see it I suspect


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[buckeye .45]

I agree on contacting Federal as well, as it looks like the case failed, not necessarily the gun.

Did she notice anything odd about the round before? And did the round leave the barrel when this happened, or is it still lodged in there?

Glad to hear your wife is okay.

[Eagleks]

IMHO : Uh ... not the ammo per se. I had a problem like that , exactly... in a Ruger. They said "that can't happen , it's impossible" ...... well, they got sent all of it and found it wasn't "impossible" . On mine, the side of the casing peeled back 1/2 down the side of the casing.

Yes, the ammo may have had a bulge in it that didn't let it fully chamber the round..... but .... no gun, should fire if the bullet is not completely chambered.

The only way a 'casing' will do that is if the round went off without the bullet being fully chambered, and I have had one do it. It appears now, you have as well. The firing pin shouldn't release unless the slide is fully closed, and the bullet fully chambered. The release of the pressure, may have been what blew off the side plate... which may not have been installed properly, or may be a reflection of what the problem is that it even fired the round in the first place.

On mine, Ruger could never figure out why it did it ..... and the gun ended up being a paper-weight.

I'ld be getting a hold of Kahr.

[pir8fan]

Again, it looks like ammo failure. I have a CW9 as my EDC gun. It has just over 2,300 rounds through it and I have had no problems with it since the 3rd round (FTE).

[Cougar8000]

Wow. I have pm9 with 500 rounds not a flinch

Have you posted this in kahr forum?


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[archer51]

I'd also lean toward ammo problem. Let both Federal and Kahr take a look and see if they can figure out what caused it.

[slacking]

If I'm not mistaken, that side plate is designed like that to specifically give way under over pressure conditions (a.k.a. Kaboom) when firing. Search google for "kahr side plate blew out" and you will find a number of these incidents. I would have to feel like the round didn't chamber all the way somehow for the case to rip like that. Maybe the slide wasn't completely closed when it fired?

Check this out, it looks like the same thing happened...So my Kahr blew up a little... - INGunOwners

Found this on Kahr's website:

Q. Why does the panel on the side of the grip of my Kahr polymer pistol sometimes "pop open"?

A. When a firearm is discharged, there is equal pressure on both sides of the ammunition, and the cartridge will seek the path of least resistance, which is forward. However, if the rim of the cartridge is cracked, the primer pinched, or any similar damage, pressure builds up and the path of least resistance is backwards causing the grip mount to pop. It is provided as a safety mechanism to prevent bodily injury.

[hardscrabble]

If you go to the main Kahr forum and search for "problem with P9 on first trip to range" there is a post that sounds much like yours. I believe he thought the problem was ammo related, and it seems like he was shooting reloads.

Like was mentioned above, it appears that the case was not fully supported when the round was fired. I would think it would not be possible for the case to rupture like that if it was fully chambered. This points toward problems with the pistol.

The only time I sent one back to Kahr, it was 14 days from the time I took it to FedEx to the day FedEx brought it back to my door.

[ripley16]

A Kahr cannot release the striker, via the rotating cam, unless the gun is fully in battery and the round seated in the chamber. This was an ammo failure and the gun performed as expected. The side plate is designed to blow off like that to release the overpressure in an event such as this.

[gasmitty]

I could write a few paragraphs about things that could possibly have gone wrong, but the most likely root cause lies with the ammo.

The discoloration on the failed case is a clue. It appears to be from soot, and had the round fired with the slide out of battery the soot would have extended further toward the case rim. This isn't conclusive, but just adds plausibility to the bad ammo argument.

By all means you need to be communicating with the ammo manufacturer as well as Kahr.

[foxytwo]

To me it does not look like an ammo problem as the hole in the cartridge case is pretty big. The chamber would be covering most, if not all the hole in the brass. Just my two cents.

[VBVAGUY]

As other's have mentioned, however we are no experts, it looks like ammunition problem and the little Kahr did it's job as intended. Glad that your wife is OK. Keep us updated. God Bless