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First Experience with Kahr CW9.... so far, not a good one.

11K views 12 replies 9 participants last post by  84dime 
#1 ·
Ok, I bought my first Kahr, a CW9. I went finally to the range to shoot it and do the break-in. I shot it, then another gun , and alternated until I had put over 200 rounds thru it.

When I got home I disassembled it to clean it. It was FULL of black gunk and shiney little specks. It was "everywhere". As I was cleaning this all out.... I notice what looks like flaking in the lower section of the barrel above the feed ramp, and get looking.... and 1/2 or more of the plating in it is gone and in the top section the plating is also gone and it has a pitted, rough look to it that didn't look good at all. That explains all of the black (from the plating) and all of the little shiney specks it was loaded with.

What I found out is, Kahr used nickel plating on the feed ramps and portion of the barrel that the cartridge sets in (intial area of the barrel ) in an attempt to extend barrel life. Although no where in any literature, manuals, etc. does it say they did this to their barrels.

What I found out (from them) was..... they had problems that the nickel plating was coming off and they were 'replacing ' barrels, as well as ... it apparently did nothing for extending barrel life. So, knowing this, they have been using up the nickel plated barrels and the one's that are not plated at all until they run out of the plated ones, and then all of them will be non-plated barrels.

However, it must have been costing them, as they told me ... (remember , new gun straight out of the box and first time ever fired), that I could pay to send it in and they would fix it and charge me for the repair and the return shipping. :aargh4:

So much for backing up their product and the quality of their parts and workmanship. If they knew there was a problem with this barrel, why are they still putting them on their guns ? :gah: I have found a couple of people who have the plating on theirs and have had no issues, and 2 who don't have the plating on theirs... but they are PM9's.

If you buy one, inspect it and refuse to take it if it has the nickel plating on the feed ramp and initial chamber of the barrel. Don't plan on the Mfgr warranty meaning much.
 
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#4 ·
Couldn't tell you, one rep said 1 1/2 yrs. Dont' know if they did it on the CW40, all I can talk to is the CW9 .... and even then, as said, not all of them going out have the nickel plating. The one I have was manufactured in Feb 2011.

They said they have had LOTS of them with the problem and is the reason they quit doing it. So, I think if a manufacturer knows it has a flaw in the manufacturing process, or a condition they created in manufacturing it, they should back up their product. I am still pushing the subject, but shouldn't have to.

Update: have since talked to a different Kahr Rep, and they sent me a label and said they will replace the barrel. We'll see how this goes and if they do, as my confidence in them now is low. To me, it should never have been a question.
 
#5 ·
No plating on my K40 or CW9 barrels.

I'm surprised at the less-than-helpful response you got from their customer service people. However, I can understand their case - your gun didn't malfunction, and cosmetics don't count on internal parts.

What I find odd is the explanation given for plating in the first place - to extend barrel life? The barrel is hard steel, and it would take a few lifetimes of running copper-plated or lead bullets to generate any wear on the feed ramp. Also, nickel plating is typically used to protect from corrosion, and not from wear. Hard chrome is used when wear is a consideration.

I would write them and state that you find their offer over the phone to be a disappointing level of customer service, and use your persuasive powers to convince them to at least replace the barrel - which will minimize the cost of returning the gun via Fed Extortion or United Pistol Stealers. I'm pretty sure the Kahr barrels are drop-ins which don't require fitting.
 
#6 ·
I'll never understand them using nickel vs chrome, vs using either at all.

Parts of the 'chamber' looks very pitted and very rough .... like deteriorated metal appears. It did not look typical of just plating coming off. There is nothing that looks good about it.

One good thing I can take out of this.... with that much "JUNK" in there and the gun didn't FTE, FTF, etc. .... then you must be able to pack mud in them and they'll still shoot. I've never seen that much 'junk' in a gun, in fact, never even imagined ever seeing that much junk in a gun.
 
#7 ·
Hmmm, was the shiny plating there before you shot it? There was a batch of bad plating but that's been quite some time ago and they issued a recall for it - no hassles. You didn't say if you cleaned the gun before your initial shoot, but the gunk you found sounds like a mix of factory debris and the normal break-in residue. As the manual states it takes at least 200 rounds to get all the parts mated and running smoothly together, much like most well made guns.

As for the nickle plating, the story I got is that, while not necessary for performance, it does extend the life of the barrel and makes it easier to clean. You can learn a lot more about Kahr guns at kahrtalk.com. Also, you may want to review the two threads Proper Prep For New Kahrs and Kahr Lube Diagram. It's important to get them started out right and even very experienced shooters learn new things about Kahrs over there.
 
#8 ·
I read your issue extensively, are you sure you didnt hear them wrong? reason why I ask is I know their barrels are coated with a nickel teflon coating, if one uses a cleaner such as hoppes on it then it will flake the coating, in all reality it has nothing to do with actual functionality. I would suggest using a cleaner that says its nickel teflon safe. Also I find it very odd that they wouldnt cover the repair, they usually wont cover if it is something to do with cosmetic or something that was done flat out by not following instructions.
 
#10 ·
Update :
All I know is, they say it's nickel, and it looks like typical plating. No Hoppes or any other damaging cleaner / chemical was used on it. I have a nickel S&W, and have used Hoppes on it, and it has never harmed it. It's not left on the gun.
But none of that was used on this gun.

1. They replaced the barrel finally. Second barrel did the same thing... exactly... only shot 100 rounds in it.

2. They took that one back , and then replaced it with a 3rd barrel in which they had polished and removed all of the nickel in the chamber area. Then test fired it. So, that's one way to solve the problem on the nickel plating... just remove it.
 
#9 ·
Hard chrome is used when wear is a consideration. I would write them and state that you find their offer over the phone to be a disappointing level of customer service, and use your persuasive powers to convince them to at least replace the barrel - which will minimize the cost of returning the gun via Fed Extortion or United Pistol Stealers.
 
#11 ·
I had a CW40 that consistently had ftfead problems even after 700 "break in"rounds.Paid to send it back when I got it back it was worse.Sold it.About 6 months ago I got to thinking about how good the 40 felt in hand and how slim it was and how .40 inherently has more feeding issues because of the flat nose bullets.So I bought a CW9.After 550 rounds it was still stovepiping like crazy.So I traded it in on Gen 4 G26.
 
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