I've got a Kahr MK9 (the compact steel version that preceeded the PM9). It shoots very well. It's really accurate considering the small size and sight radius. The steel frame om my smaller model makes recoil very easy to manage. I would expect the larger K9 9093 to be even easier to shoot.

I bought mine about 8-9 years ago when they first came out. I haven't had a bit of trouble with it - it's been very reliable. I've heard that Kahr has been having some quality problems in the last couple years.

I just got a PM 40 and I have found that the quality is very good as is the reliability. I just put it through the 200 round break-in today and the recoil is sharper that the MK 40 steel version but still very manageable. I may someday get a full size steel-framed 9 mm for target shooting.

Originally Posted by waterburybob

I've got a Kahr MK9 (the compact steel version that preceeded the PM9). It shoots very well. It's really accurate considering the small size and sight radius. The steel frame om my smaller model makes recoil very easy to manage. I would expect the larger K9 9093 to be even easier to shoot.

I bought mine about 8-9 years ago when they first came out. I haven't had a bit of trouble with it - it's been very reliable. I've heard that Kahr has been having some quality problems in the last couple years.

I HAD a PM9093 the barrell peaned by 500 rounds. I had to pay to send it in for them to say "YUP IT IS DEFECTIVE', they sent a replacemnt barrell it was pitted so bad the FFL thought they were nuts to send it out. The third barrell was worse. (Three pits) This only took 12 weeks to complete. The only ones that did not quit the Kahr customer dis-service department was the one too close to retirement. Never delt with such a lousy company. Never will again.
Sold it---

Unfortunately, I have heard this quite a bit lately. Many of the Kahr old timers claims the company that once was (when they first started) is not what it is now....

I think many of the problems were with the PM9 and have, for the most part, been worked out.

Originally Posted by falshman70

I think many of the problems were with the PM9 and have, for the most part, been worked out.

Not as of 2 months ago.

I recently purchased a CW9 and have found, after 300 rounds, that no failures of any sorts; shoots anything I put in it. I had to retrain myself abit, as I was shooting low to start with, but after 30 rounds or so, got on target. I found that I can shoot more acurately doing double/tripple taps than shooting slow. Guess shooting slow, I was taking too much time on target, and thereby not really ready. MY other handguns, namely my #1 which is a XD40, I will give the CW9 a 9 out of 10 using the XD40 as a 10. As soon as I get a IWB holster, it will be my carry gun, and put the XD40 off to the side for awhile.

I'm a fan, but sure do see and hear a lot of complaints.

I carry one in my pocket constantly (PM9 Covert) and wouldn't do that if I didn't think it was a good gun. It replaced my beloved J-frames for pocket BUG carry, and that wasn't a hasty decision.

I cut Kahr some slack because, basically, I don't know of a comparable product. Other than the Rohrbaugh (which I haven't actually seen yet) I don't know of any guns in their chamberings that aren't at least wider, if not bigger all over. My first one (MK9) wasn't so great, but I gave them another shot. Ordinarily, I wouldn't give them another chance, but see them as a pretty specialized gun and was willing to bend my rules and try again.

About that troubled MK9 of mine-
The first two basic types of Kahrs were the standard size K9/K40 and the even more compact MK9/MK40. I never had a .40, so have no knowledge of them whatsoever.
The MK9 I owned used a dual, telescoping recoil spring arrangement- i.e. two springs, one inside the other. The K9 used a single spring. Keep this in mind.
My MK9's slide would sometimes fail to fully close when shooting. A little nudge would close it, but that's not something I want to mess with on a carry gun. I noticed that when working the slide by hand the recoil springs' pressure dropped off at about the point where the slide would stop short of closing. It seems that one of the dual recoil springs doesn't exert force over the entire slide travel. I supose it relies on the force of the other spring, and inertia, to close the slide. I hand-cycled some MK9s in the gunshop and found they all worked about the same. As that didn't seem to be working for my gun, I traded the gun back and moved on.
I have since heard that Kahr has made a change there to correct that, but I can't verify it.

Over a year later, I was still thinking the Kahr design had potential and wanted to try another, but I wanted one with a single recoil spring this time. I found that Kahr made a model with the standard length barrel/slide, but with the shorter MK-size grip called the Covert. That gave me a longer slide with single recoil spring and the shorter grip that fit my pockets better. I got one in the polymer-framed PM line when they came out, and it has worked fine.

So, like most pistols, I think the Kahr is best in it's original size. I see some reports of barrel peening, and trouble with the polymer frame guns, but I have had no trouble with my second one.

On the one hand- I think a gun should work without trouble or fear of breakage or not be sold. On the other hand, I know we are talking about a S&W J-frame sized gun that is close to having the same capacity of what the old S&W 39 did (8 rds of 9mm), and you don't mix those two things without something giving. We're asking even more from the .40s.
Kahr is trying to pack a big gun into a really small one, and maybe we all are expecting too much from that.

Bought one new from a local dealer. Out of the box, it was a single shot. 100% failure to feed. Took it back to the dealer; the dealer sent it back to the company. They replaced the whole top end.

Since then, it has worked 100% -- until recently. I started to get failures to close. Tested with different magazines, different ammo, different shooters -- same problem, intermittent failures to close. Emailed the company; they sent me a replacement recoil spring. It takes 3 hands to reassemble the gun once the recoil spring is out -- not an easy operation. Finally got the gun back together, and that did the trick. Everything works fine now.

I had the gun moderately dehorned, by a gunsmith. Rounded the edges off the ejection port, and the slide lock. The slide lock turned out to be a challenge. It is not a single piece, like the Colt/Browning, or like every other slide lock in the world. It is a two piece, and the flat part pivots on the round part. Ergo, it's hard as heck to hold the piece still while you're whittling on it.

The trigger is just a little too light, and the travel just a little too short, for my taste. On a pocket pistol, I want something more like a true DA revolver trigger. I have no hesitation carrying a J-frame in my pocket, but with the Kahr, I would worry that my car keys or Swiss Army knife would get tangled in the trigger, and put a hole in my leg. I wish there were a way to heavy up that trigger a little. I tried the trigger on the new Kahr .45 in a gun store recently. That feels much better to me, more DA-ish.

So, for pocket carry, I bought a DeSantis Nemesis holster. The holster is sized "generically." The Kahr sits too low in the holster; you can't get a firing grip. (On any holster, your middle finger should contact the underside of the trigger guard while the gun is still in the holster.) I cut off the bottom with a pair of scissors, and put a nut & bolt through, underneath the trigger guard, so that the gun sits higher. Works fine in loose pants, like cargo pants, but it's still pretty heavy. I almost always just carry a titanium .38 snubby instead of the Kahr.

For belt carry, I ordered a Sparks Summer Special. Because the Kahr slide is square (as compared to Colt/Browning slides), the width of the gun in the holster is the same as the width of my Colt OM in the holster. If you had a choice between carrying two guns that are the same width, which would you take -- the .45 or the .40?

As I read what I just wrote, I'm wondering if I should just put the Kahr and its holsters up for sale on the Equipment Exchange.