Kahr CM9 is the best pocket gun dollar for dollar. More accurate than Glock and you are not packing a brick.
Kahr CM9 is the best pocket gun dollar for dollar. More accurate than Glock and you are not packing a brick.
Since I have been using good ammo, I have put at least another 200 rounds through it and NO PROBLEMS. I used CCI Blazer Brass, USAammo Brass New, and Ruag Ammotec Zinc-coated Steel. I carry the gun IWB except where I can't (Office, etc.), and it is at my side at night, so it seems to be with me all the time. It really is GREAT for a carry gun: lightweight, easy to conceal, safe enough without safety, and stays pretty clean after use.
I do want to fire some more HP rounds through it to ensure its reliability with HP, but I do carry it with confidence.
Finding a way to carry an extra mag was challenging, but finally got a small enough mag holder for my belt.
If I could improve it, I would add a safety and give it a short, light trigger with short reset. (Would I then have a Beretta Nano?)
Thanks.
I don't think their junk many people own them--some LEO's use them. I think there tolerances are tight and the pistol needs to have a break in period.
My son talked me into buying a PM9. His has worked flawlessly and he carries it al the time. Mine had some FTF's after aobut 150 rounds. Nosedives. And, the magazines would not drop free when ejected. It is now back at the mother ship for diagnosis and treament. I expected a $600 gun to run like a Glock. "There is no doubt that the Kahr is more difficult to field strip and reassemble. It is also difficult (or Verbotten) to sling shot a round (makes a tap, rack, bang difficult to do)
My vote is for all the categories in the poll. If you are lucky, you get a great gun with functioning magazines. If not lucky it could be a POS.
Remember the rules with use of the Kahr PM9 and it will be reliable and a great carry gun and accurate:
1) Always use the mag release to release the slide, and never manually rack the slide;
2) Never put a magazine in the gun with the slide closed EXCEPT when you loaded a round in with no mag and hit the mag release.
3) Always use new ammo, no reloaded ammo.
4) Recommend always loading the gun how you will carry it. I carry with it in 7+1 mode. I do this by removing the mag, putting a bullet in the chamber, releasing the slide with the slide release, and then putting the full magazine in the gun. I never have a FTF if I do this procedure.
5) I use Fed Premium HST and Winchester Ranger.
6) You can use +P, but I don't recommend it. The gun is just too small for it.
I still carry my Kahr every day and practice with it every week.
Guns are like cars...gotta adjust to how to drive them.
Good Luck...stay away from reloads....trust me on this.
I owned a CM9. I really enjoyed pocket carrying tuhe firearm. The one mistake that made me an x Kahr owner was the after market night sights that Kahr installed kept breaking off. I will say Kahr customer service was excellent and they tried real hard to fix the problem. I am going to give the Beretta Nano a try.
I must have bought a lemon. I sold my Kahr after putting several hundred rounds through it, many of which failed to feed. The problem started right out of the box. The gun jammed, and upon breaking it down, I was shocked to see the slide had shaved several long slivers of polymer from the frame. Per my dealer's advice, I cleaned and lubed it, and tried again. It ran a little better, but was still unreliable with several kinds of ammo. I was assured it only needed breaking in.
It finally went back to the dealer, who said it was fine, and claimed it was my fault for limp-wristing it. This was after he kept it for 5 weeks. I have years of shooting experience, especially with small pocket guns, so it wasn't my fault. Others shot it and had the same problems.
It finally started to get better, but by then, the lack of trust had made it impossible for me to carry it. The seed of doubt was planted. I wanted to love this gun. I needed to love this gun. It felt good in my hand, it carried well in a pocket, not to mention the fact that I paid a fortune for it. It even looked cool.
But, and I'm sure this will be knocking the hornet's nest, I found this gun to be the biggest and most expensive piece of crap I have ever owned. The Edsel of handguns. I sold it to a guy I can't stand, at a loss. I couldn't sell it to someone I liked in good conscience. The whole thing left me out several hundred dollars in ammo and range time alone, let alone losing money on selling it.
Bottom line, if I can't get stone-cold reliability right out of the box, it goes bye-bye. I'm not trusting my life to something so unreliable.
It does need breaking in, you let go of a very fine firearm in my opinion... far from a piece of crap.
Did you follow the break-in procedure at Kahr's forum? Seems most of the issues people have are because they didn't break it in properly... Kahr makes a tight weapon, not a loose goose like a Glock or XD/XDM (I have an XDM, love it).
It's small, light, precision made, and a workhorse - you just have to spend a little time with it in some cases. Obviously this isn't for everyone, and definitely not for people who want a perfect gun out of the greasy box.
That said, I'm always glad to find a 'used' Kahr at the gun shop because I have a good feeling I know why it's there. :)
600 rounds + Continual Malfunctions= Piece Of Crap
Definitely a personal decision, and I'm by no means trying to fault you for yours... everyone has their own level of acceptance.
Did you give Kahr an opportunity to make it right, on their dime? Every manufacturer sends out a lemon now and then... that's what the warranty is for. How many Glock Gen 4 owners wrote their new gun off as a piece of crap vs giving Glock the opportunity to make it right with a new spring, for example.
It was gone five weeks, and still didn't work right. That was their opportunity to make it work. Or not. It was returned "or not".
I'm happy for those that have had great luck, but clearly, many haven't. The happy customers always seem to insinuate we didn't do enough or give the gun a fair shake.
Bottom line, I did, and still got burned. I still stand behind my belief that I would never be able to trust this gun to save my life. My peace of mind was gone, and nothing would bring that back. The damage was done.
I responded to an officer shot call, where the officer's gun failed and she only survived by drawing a backup gun and shooting her assailant. It was a big wake up call. My every day carry guns have both gone bang every single time I have fired them. The Kahr didn't. Which would you carry?
I'm not trying to be confrontational toward you, Thunder71. I try never to knock another guys old lady, his gun, or his pickup truck. But my experience was terrible. Glad yours was better.
My Kahr MK9 Elite has been a very good companion. It was tight when new but always functioned properly. It's broken in now and just as pleasant as ever, just easier to rack.
Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones but I've owned my PM9 since 2005 and when I tell you I have shot over 13K rounds thu it without incident I'm not kidding.
I think to be honest I've had one or two stove-pipes or jams since 05 but other than that this gun has been incredible and flawless is an understatement.
Now with that said when I was first looking at these due mainly beause of the size & weight I found numerous posts by people from different gun sights saying it was junk but I took my local gun dealer's word and he said " I love mine and if you don't like it I will buy it back for full price".
Well I know most people don't have a guarentee like that to fall back on so it was a no brainer to buy it and as of today, 7 years later I'm completely satisfied.
I owned a Kahr CM9 (low budget version of the PM9). In my opinion the magazine makes the gun a no go. I sent my gun back 3 times in 4 months and the nose dives would be a non issue in my opinion if Kahr would use the same supplier Beretta uses for their Nano when it comes to the magazine.
The whole magazine issue is very well documented at Kahrtalk.com but for what ever reason Kahr does not want to address the magazine short comings.
Sorry my Beretta Nano is a superior ccw over the Kahr CM9 beginning with the magazine.
Russ
My Kahr PM9 has been more dependable than my kimber pro raptor 1911 ..
And more concealable.
I don't know about the PM9, but on my CM9, when you insert a cartridge in the chamber, there is no part of the casing exposed. It is fully supported all the way around. I wonder if this is a difference between the standard barrel in my CM9 and the "match" grade barrel in the PM9? I would ask Kahr about that.
Early generation Glocks were notorious for going kaboom, for the same reason. The barrel did not fully support the case. You could see a large section of the case exposed. But they redesigned the barrel and newer Glocks give much better support around the cartridge.
As to the difficulty taking the gun down for cleaning, my CM9 does have one odd little quirk. If you line the notches up on the frame and the slide exactly, it is a royal pain to push the slide stop out. If not impossible. I found that when the notches are lined up exactly, the raised lip on the slide stop doesn't line up with the cutout in the slide. So I learned to ignore the notches and line the slide cutout up visually with the tab on the slide stop. The slide stop then pops right out with just a slight push. And when it does this, the notches on the slide and frame aren't even close to being lined up.
I'm stating to think buying a KAHR is like buying a CAR back in the 70's. Don't buy one made on a Monday or a Friday! Mine was clearly an off-day model.
For those having trouble with their Kahr dropping magazines while shooting, I did some playing around with my CM9 at the range. With most autos, the magazine release is positioned on the frame, or recessed, so that it can't be easily pressed while maintaining a normal grip on the gun. But with Kahrs, the magazine release sticks well out from the frame and its positioned where its very easy to press while maintaining a normal grip on the gun. If I grip the gun with a low thumb grip, my thumb is resting right on the magazine release. I normally use a high thumb grip on my Kahr, with my thumb high along the side of the frame, just below the slide lock. But if I lower my thumb on the grip, I found that every now and then, when I shoot, the recoil would cause me to hit the magazine release with my thumb and release the mag.
Not saying this is the cause of anyone's problem, but it's certainly something to consider.
I polished the feed ramp on mine(PM40), and she runs great. It's my main carry.
@ Shipwreck
Do you like the Kahr PM9 or the S&W "Shield" best?
:mrgreen:
I read many reports on the Kahr PM9 before I bought one. I was very impressed during the initial break in period. It has been a very reliable, accurate and easily concealed handgun.
It carries very well in a pocket holster. I also often use an IWB holster. It is light enough that my elastic shorts stay up fine.
There are always people that complain vocally about products. I do not dismiss the complaints completely. Many have found the PM9 to be great.
Right now, the Kahr PM9 is usually my primary carry gun. It is also small enough to carry as a backup. My normal carry guns are a Glock 27 or a Glock 19.
One thing I want to note: I think one should never place a round in a chamber and slam the slide closed. The extractor may not be able to withstand the higher speed impact. I load my first round from an inserted magazine, remove the magazine, load another round in it and reinsert the magazine. So far, that works fine in all my semiautomatic pistols.
One thing to realize is that the smaller the handgun, the more demanding the shooters skill set must be. Do not let ego blind you if you have a problem.
Anyway, the Kahr PM9 has been great so far.
Well, things changed since my earlier comments. I had the shield for one week when I sold the Kahr. The Kahr was 100% reliable. But, I like the shorter trigger pull of the shield... Easier for doubletaps. And, the Shield has noticeably less recoil.Quote:
Originally Posted by dondavis3
Things have changed for me, too. I kept my Kahrs, but my favorite subcompact is now the XDs. It is the same size as my K series Kahrs, and shoots a .45 ACP with no more violence (to the user) than the K-40. Reliable and accurate, too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shipwreck
In the past couple of years there have been some great small guns come out.
XDs in 9 mm & .45 - the M&P Shield in 9 mm & .40 - Kahr CM9 and more.
Kinda boggles the mind.
I like my S&W M&P 9c and my M&P Shield - I carry the 9c most of the time, but the "Shield" if the occation warrants.
:smt1099