- mah P380 is presently at Kahr for the 2nd time for a fix
- it's a jamming lemon
- the 'tight tolerences/you gotta break it in with 250 rounds/you're limp wristing it' BULLOXX is getting OLD!
- never again....

- there's a reason Ruger and SW are #1...
- lesson learned...








.

 

I thought Glock was #1...

 

I thought Glock ̶w̶a̶s̶ #1...

You misspelled is

 

I thought CZ was # 1

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:haha:

There is a disconnect between username and reply. :lol:

 

In the interest of full disclosure, I’d not trust a Kahr any further than I could throw it. With my good money spent on one, Kahr taught me to feel that way in a previous decade. Now with that out of the way, it’s been my impression that Kahr slipped their market position 5-6 years ago. Or perhaps my subconscious decided to not notice any mention of the brand. Whatever the case, they’ve been their own worst enemy based on lousy QC and HORRIBLE customer service. I believe they hire retired civil servants from the license plate bureau, crank them up on bath salts and turn them loose on the Kahr owning public.

For those who have had good experiences, good for you. That’s how it’s supposed to work.

 

While deciding on a micro 9 I considered several manufacturers offerings including Kahr. I evaluated based upon ergonomics, perceived quality of construction, reviews by a few reviewers I have faith in, warranty, and price. The Walther Was on top of the finalist list and Kahr was in last place. What ultimately. One thing that put it there was the 200 round break in spec to assure reliability. I just do not accept that a gun should be reliable out of the box. I do break in a view gun, but that is a reliability test and a smoothing of moving parts and springs. I test fires my final options and $ for $. Walther won out, and it had the best ergo for my hand. Kahr was at the bottom of the list of test firing too.

 

I worked at a Gun Shop years ago where we had more problems with Kahr than Any other brand. One of the Owners had a good one but, a lot of others were having problems.

 

I like the size, balance and trigger on Kahr but, I went 2 for 2 on getting a bad one so I just cannot go back even though I wish I could because I still like the way they feel in hand and the slimness for carry. Both of mine had trigger issues. One went completely dead and the other was a single shot as it would not reset.

 

I must have missed something! I never realized that Kahr was a top CCW! It must be a regional thing!

 

Glad this thread popped up today. I was gonna go looking for a pm9 today.

 

I am reading this thread with interest as well. Never had a Kahr but they are very attractive in size -- seems lots of guys here have them and like them, some not so much. My local LGS guys (very knowledgeable and honest) don't like them at all and won't even carry them in their store. I dunno. Still reading with an open mind.

 

I own a p9 that works fine with defense loads. With Fmj off the shelves from a few manufacuterers it doesn't reliable work unless I really firmly grip the gun. While it is ok, I find other brands work better for me and conceal just as well.

 

All I know is I have had zero issues with either my P380 or CM9. In fact, the P380 is my EDC pocket gun. The CM9 was replaced as my primary EDC IWB gun when I switched to the Sig P365, primarily for capacity reasons. The CM9 remains a back up should the P365 display any problems down the road. As for quality, I can't speculate on whether it has improved or deterriorated with the move to Alabama.

Greg Ellifritz published a couple of pistol comparisons with his experiences with Kahrs. While a few years old, these may be a worthwhile read for anyone considering a Kahr. All I can say is I continue to carry mine without issues. https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/shootout-glock-42-versus-kahr-cw-380

 

I have an older PM9 and it has been flawless!
I have also owned a CM9 and a cw380 which all ran perfect.
I have never shot 200 break in rds through mine.
I would just put on a glove and rack the slide about 500 times.
Always worked great for me. The PM9 is barely smaller than my 365 but lighter due to having less rounds.

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I believe that there are some knowledgeable gun folks on this board who have had bad experiences with Kahr pistols. Even to the point of sending a pistol back to the factory and it still doesn't run. But I think the bulk of the bad rep they have is from people who want to just take the new gun out of the box and shoot it, often with the cheapest ammo they could find. The small polymer Kahrs have tight tolerances and stiff recoil springs to handle defensive ammo. I understand the objection to the need for a break in period, but by cleaning, relubing, and manually racking the slide a hundred or so times, the guns we have run fine. My wife has 3 Kahrs and I have a CW380. They all run 100% now. I know some people are not willing to go through a break-in period, but for me, these are some great little guns. The CW380 for example is more shootable than any .380 I have seen. Just my personal experience with them . YMMV.

 

See posts like yours get me thinking about them again. Mine were both used so maybe the previous owners abused them? Hard to say. Maybe I should just buy a new one and see what happens, or even better buy one from someone who has one that runs well. I would love to try a good example of a CW45.

 

For a long time Kahr was the only game in town for a good, small single stack 9 or 40

The Shield, G43, 48, P365 (I know its a double) and others have really put a damper on Kahr.

At one point in time almost everyone I knew had a Kahr, now most are carrying something that matches the flavor of their bigger guns.

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Kahr has innovated any of their product line for how long?

It's a stagnant company that offers nothing new while other manufacturers develop new pistol designs that work and sell.

 

Keeping my CM9 but Kahr isn't innovating



I think this is the main problem for Kahr. They are a lot like Glock was, very little innovation from one generation to the next just little tweaks. However, Glock embedded itself with law enforcement departments around the USA with deep discounts and buyouts of their previous brands. So Glock had a huge market.
Kahr does not. When Kahr debuted its single stack pistols, it was the only game in town. They made CCW much easier. But others quickly followed. Now they aren't special in anyway.
That said, I am keeping my Kahr CM9. It's reliable, easy to carry and conceal, and very accurate (with the right ammo). It looks like a wallet when I carry it in a Recluse holster in my right front pocket.

I see no reason to replace it. I live in the terrible progressive haven NY so higher capacity is a moot point. Technically I can only carry 7 rounds in mag (+1 in chamber) therefore the Hellcat or P365 would be of no benefit.

 

I have never been into small guns. Between that and Kahr's poor reputation, they never made it into my top twenty-five list of self-defense handguns.

Kahr also owns Thompson, Auto-Ordnance, and Magnum Research. I have owned a Desert Eagle 50AE and a BFR 50AE from Magnum Research.

 

I've had 2 Kahrs that never gave me a lick of trouble, a K40 and a CW9. I retired the CW9 from active duty because some of the internals rusted from my sweat (should have opted for the P9 with more stainless), but functionally the gun never bobbled or hiccupped in any way. It never needed a break-in period to be reliable and slingshotting worked all the time to chamber rounds (vs using slide release lever).

The K40 was heavy for its capacity, but I loved the solid feel of the gun. Sadly, it was stolen.

The worst thing about Kahrs for me was their "magazines by Gilette" - their dang mags had the sharpest feed lips I've ever encountered.

 

Between reputation, the crazy cult roots (in the past but still), the "break in period", being ammo picky and just all around ugly, I never considered them.

Before the other manufacturers caught on with slim small CC pistols, I carried a Glock 26 for some years.

 

I have always wondered how it is that people don't seem to realize that it was "Moonies" cult money that got Kahr off the ground. This more than anything else is why I never even considered buying a Kahr.

 

At one point they were it for a small compact pocket size over 380 gun ..But now a bunch of other companys make better and easy to clean pocket guns

I have owned a K9 a cm9 and others ..The metal ones I like but

1. Most people now dont want a gun that in the manual states you need to expect issues out of the box till 200 + rounds and
2. It still might not work after that ..Might in fact never work ...Why get that when you can get a shield or glock or ... that works out of the box no break in needed
3. The ego for me are iffy the plastic models I hated too snappy the metal was fin but the mags are crappy looking and at times iffy on working


Really my issues was take down too tricky for a gun that small and too needy. I needed three hands and hard table to knock the pin loss ...I rather have a glock or sig then a gun that much of a pain to basic strip

 

I never owned a Kahr, but my old Police Department authorized them to be used as a BUG or off duty weapon. They had so many problems that Kahr was no longer authorized. Constant jamming was one of the big complaints, but I'm not sure of the Official reason for the discontinuation?---Sturgis

 

NYPD revoked the Kahr from its authorized gun list because Kahr couldn’t get the trigger weight up to where the brass wanted it. I think most officers traded to the Glock 26 with the heavier trigger.

As others mentioned, at one time they were the only game in town. No need to tempt fate with Kahr any more. And their warranty is sub par. Fuhghedaboudit.

 

Our two PM9's made multiple trips back to Kahr and were still unreliable turds.

They've since been sold and we'll never own another Kahr.

 

I thought Luger was the #1 maker. All my 9mm weapons seem to be Lugers???

:rofl:

 

I never owned a Kahr that ran without any issues out of the 4. I bought over the years. A break in period on a gun is total nonsense a gun should shoot right out of the box after a good cleaning. Any break in should be done at the factory before the gun leaves. I learned my lesson the hard way bought Glocks and never looked back.

 

Kahr was in a one horse race .. Then came the S&W Shield... and others followed ...alot of options out there ..
Im mostly a Glock guy ... I do like my 43 ... But I always come back to a Shield.. I now have both ... The Shield is just so dang shootable... and affordable!!!
I have owned a few Kahr's in the past CW45, CW9 x2, CW40 ... The CW45 is the only one I had a bit of trouble with ....
All ended up going in on trades ...