Kahr CM9 (2nd visit with Kahr)

[Trooper Joe]

Had a Kahr 9mm several years ago and could not get it to work. If I remember correctly it would FTF about 1/2 way through each magazine. Sent back to Kahr on their dime, got it back, and it did the same thing. Thought, oh well, I guess they are not for me. Think I traded for another Sig or something.

Some of my retired LEO friends have the real small 9mm Kahr's and love them (PM 9 and CM 9).

My local dealer has two 2-tone CM 9s in stock for a decent price. Thinking of trying one out again.

Lot of bad reviews on the internet but, I would still like to try one again.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Especially any thoughts or experiences on the newest ones.

Thanks,

Trooper Joe

[orionengnr]

My PM9 is currently the only 9mm I own, and that is not likely to change any time soon.

The PM9 is also (currently) my only pocket pistol, well, except for my j-frame, which is an on-again, off-again thing.

The PM9 would probably be one of the very last handguns I would ever part with. I shoot it 5x as well as a j-frame, it has been perfectly reliable for years and years.

If I were in the market today, I'd be looking at the CM. Back when I bought my PM (2005 or so) there was no CM, and the PMs were a bit more affordable (or the dollar was worth a bit more).

Just my .02.
Merry Christmas, Rich

[BigD_in_FL]

I own and carry a CM9 and have had no issues - as long as you use the 6 round mags, NOT the 7 rounders AND you clean them and take them apart to make sure the spring was installed right (there are many stories about the spring being in backwards and it causing the issues you had). There are you tube and Kahr forum threads about this you might want to check out

[Fishbed77]

I have a CM9 and it's been perfectly reliable through several thousand rounds at this point. It's currently my go-to carry pistol.

As mentioned before, stick with the the 6-round mags. The baseplate design of the 7-rounders is exceedingly flimsy, which is odd, considering how well-made the rest of the pistol is.

[dean1818]

I did a poll on another board about the reliability of Kahrs and asked for trust in their weapon

A full 25% came back as not trusting their Kahrs.

But...... Obviously its non "scientific" and I imagine that there were some "haters" just taking some shots on kahrs

Kahrs ARE decent guns....

For me, I had a K9, that was 100%

I had a CM9 that went back to the shop once, they replaced it.


The Kahr is very slim and light. I dont like the extremely long (but smooth) trigger pull and "reset". With that trigger, true double taps werent that easy to do.

I also was a bit uncomfortable with the mag design and the exposed slidestop spring. The longer mag had many reported failures and many people having to tweak the mag to make it more reliable. I tried some of these tweaks, and then thought.... What the heck am I doing?.... This should be 100% from the factory.

I bought the CM9 thinking I would pocket carry.

After seeing how slow it truly is to pull a semi auto from a pocket standing up, and then sitting down and trying to access the pistol from the front pocket left me a great deal of concern.

I ended up doing to IWB only and settled on the M&P Shield 40 and the M&P45C
For my CCW rotation. They just seem a bit better built.

Neither M&P needed any break in and were 100% from round one. The kahrs bobble many in the first 100 rounds.

Thats a bit unsettling for me.

Sold the kahrs

If you are set on pocket carry, I found the LCR pulls faster than a semi auto from a front pocket

[JERRYS.]

with Kahr you either get a very good gun (75%) or a complete POS (25%). there seems to be almost no middle ground with them

[IdahoG36]

Over the years, I have owned 3 Kahr 9mms. I started with a PM9, which I sold to a friend. Then a CW9, which I traded in for a CM9. All 3 were 100% reliable right out of the box. I fired at least 500 rounds through each of them without issue.

My fiance liked my CM9 so much that is it now her EDC gun. I gave it to her and bought a Springfield XDs .45 to replace it. I wouldn't let her carry it unless I trusted it 100%.

The only thing that I did to it was polish the feed ramp. It looked a little rough when I got it, and I used 1000 grip sandpaper, then 1500 grit, to smooth it up to a mirror finish.

I see people badmouth Kahr on forums, but the truth is that they aren't for novice shooters. Just like all very small guns chambered in a substantial cartridge, they are prone to failures caused by limp wristing, and are also more picky about ammo. Not saying that this is the cause of all of the issues people report with Kahr, but I'm sure it is a lot of them.

A lot of people buy and expensive gun, and then shoot the cheapest junk ammo through it and wonder why it has issues. Kinda like taking your Porsche to Walmart for an oil change.

[el_chupo_]

I bought my CM9 a couple months after they started shipping, after getting on a waiting list at Cabela's. Took it home, cleaned it and played with it a bit, and then hit the range with 4 boxes of ammo.

No, not because I think 200 rounds makes it "carry worthy", but I know from experience how many rounds I can shoot through a sub-compact comfortably...

Went without any issues with the gun. I have since put quite a few rounds down range, including lots of my carry ammo before I was "satisfied" with its reliability, but one thing still bothers me - It still doesnt like me doing a "sling-shot" for the reload on a new magazine. If I use the slide release it is flawless, if I slingshot I often get a failure to load the top round in the magazine.

[Safestuffer]

I admittedly hate kahr polymer pistols.
That's after having a pm9, a pm40, and a cw40. Over $1000 later in kahr products I should have gotten at least one good gun, even by the sad odds that kahr seems to have.
None are reliable. All are past their 200 rd "break in". None of the issues are due to limp wristing. All need a trip back to the factory for reliability issues, and the cw in addition to having feed issues has developed a defective magazine catch that causes it to drop the mag on recoil.
The design is defective, period, and kahr wont recall it. The magazines are garbage. The exposed slide stop spring is a joke. The amount of owner problems and dissatisfaction is ridiculous compared to other pistols, when you consider the relatively few kahr pistols out there in comparison, causing so much grief.
I've come to that conclusion after my experiences and reading soooo many threads about owner dissatisfaction and problems with the guns.

Super disappointed, as I really liked them and picked up three within a few weeks of each other because they are about the best feeling pistol for me I've ever held, and I love the trigger. Getting fixed and away they go.

Endrant

[KyJim]

With the small Kahrs, it is important to break-in the gun (200 rounds) and then to replace the recoil spring regularly (every 400-600 rounds). You also have to keep them clean and lubricated. I regularly carry a CM9 and have never had an issue past the break-in period. If you are one of those who don't believe a gun should need a break-in period, a small Kahr is not for you.

[Mrgunsngear]

My CM9 has been awesome. Runs like a top. The trigger's long but smooth so I can't complain too much there.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

My PM9 never ran and I switched out for a Glock 26. My pocket guns are J frames.

[wpsdlrg]

I'll probably get jumped on for this (it has happened before)..... but here goes.

The feeding problems with the smaller Kahr pistols are easy to understand.....and usually easy to solve, in actuality. For some reason (I can't for the life of me figure out why) nobody seems to really get the problem. I have heard of people trying all sorts of fixes, from polishing the feed ramp and chamber to altering the magazine followers (in order to change the angle of the top-most round in the magazine).

The truth of it is usually MUCH simpler. The fact is, on every example of the Kahrs I have ever handled....that the MAGAZINE SPRING is usually at fault. How ? For some reason, Kahr (or their spring supplier) specify magazine springs with too many coils - too long, in other words. So, they have a tendency close completely (with the coils stacked solidly against each other) at the point at which the top-most round is being inserted (in a FULL magazine). This, if it is even possible to get the last round in, causes too much pressure against the rounds, jambing the top one against the magazine lips. Thus, the top round from a full magazine will not strip smoothly out of the magazine - and tends to nose-dive. If it nose dives, it will jamb into the bottom portion of the (extremely steep) feed ramp. With some examples of these pistols, the 2nd round also hangs up. On these very small pistols, the feed ramp is so vertical (set at so steep an angle) that it is basically useless for guiding the round into the chamber. There simply is no room in these little pistols for a more relaxed feed ramp angle.

But the REAL problem, as I have seen in every new Kahr magazine I have ever tried (to date, about 15 of them)....is that the mag spring is too long. The fix couldn't be simpler. All that is needed is to remove 1 or 2 coils from the 6 round mag springs.....and 3 or 4 coils from the 7 round mag springs. (The 7 round Kahr mags are even worse about jamming than the 6 rounders). That's it - as I said, couldn't be simpler.

Obviously, one should not remove any more coils than necessary. So, the plan is to start by removing ONE complete coil, then test.....then a second one, if needed, etc. There is some variation with the mag springs, but I have only seen one 6 rounder, to date, that needed only one coil removed to ensure 100 % reliability.

However, oddly enough, I have never run into anyone (on the net of in person) who has come up with this, except myself. I have no idea why - I am by NO means an expert - NOR do I consider myself any smarter than the average Joe. I am baffled as to why. I have even had people assert all kinds of nonsense as to why this solution "couldn't possibly" solve the problem - but it HAS been successful in every case, so far.

I arrived at this solution after suffering major problems with MY Kahr CM9 in the beginning. I read everything I could find on the net about this issue.....and studied the problem carefully, as it pertained to my pistol. Finally, I arrived at this (ridiculously simple) solution. After making the alteration to the springs in my magazines - I have had NOT even one malfunction. I now have about 1200 rounds through my CM9.

I have performed this simple fix on two other Kahr pistols, as well, both belonging to friends (a PM9 and another CM9). Neither friend would believe me - but after I altered their mag springs (i had to offer to PAY for new mag springs, if the fix didn't work) - those two pistols have never malfunctioned since.

I know that it sounds too simple. But, I am telling you, it WORKS - at least for every magazine I've tested so far.

[dean1818]

I think limp wristing is an over diagnosed solution to a poor quality pistol regardless of the manufacturer.

Like it or not...... I hear of more Kahrs malfunctioning than the much put down HiPoint

CCW pistols are NOT like target pistols..... IMHO
They HAVE to be 100%.. Most Kahrs are.... Some arent

[Cheapshooter]

My CM9 has been 100% reliable with any ammo I feed It. Very accurate as well.

[baddarryl]

Funny, I read pretty much nothing but positive reviews before getting my CM9. Mine has been great through 300 rounds. The only thing I don't like is you have to use the slide stop to load to battery. If you don't 1/2 the time it will hang requiring a tap on the bottom of the mag to load. Manual recommends using the slide stop to load.

[KyJim]

I hear of more Kahrs malfunctioning than the much put down HiPoint

But the Kahrs people have complaints about are small, light pocket pistols and the Hi Point is a larger, heavy pistol. The Kahr CM9 has a three inch barrel and weighs 14 ounces. The Hi Point has a longer barrel and weighs more than twice as much. Apples to oranges.

[Tom Servo]

I was an early adopter. I had an MK9 which ran great until the slide cracked at 150 rounds. It took Kahr almost five months to fix, during which point they were less than communicative.

The replacement ran well, but I never quite had confidence in it (or the company), so I sold it.

[KyJim]

I was an early adopter.

You mean a beta tester. Ruger, S&W, Sig, Glock and others have all had issues with new models in recent years.

[Ruger45LC]

Had a CM9 and it was a really good pistol, probably should have held onto it, but got a CM40 instead since I have more .40 than 9mm. Both are small and pocketable and very accurate.

[Ibmikey]

My friend has a compact model...second time it went back to the factory they sent a new gun, says he loves it now. I will keep my Sig.