Initial Impressions of the Kahr CM9

[C0untZer0]

I have been to the range twice with the CM9, shooting "NATO" ammo.

When I say NATO - I mean 124gr FMJ rated at or near 1200 fps from a 5" barrel. That is a little hotter than the average and quite a bit hotter than the rather anemic 124gr Blazzer Brass rated at 1090 fps.

Fifty rounds of the Winchester Ranger RA9124N (NATO) and 150 rounds of the Georgia Arms 124gr "NATO"  I haven't had  a failure to ignite, FTE, FTF or anything in the first 200 rounds.  I am going to shoot another 50 rounds of Georgia Arms "NATO" today and then try some premium SD hollow points.

I have a box of 147gr bonded Golden Sabre which gave my R9 fits, I'll try that in the CM9 today

[JoshA]

Watching to see your range results Count.

I'm finding my little cheap  CW380 very accurate for such a little gun.

Keep us posted. This may be my next purchase. What did ya have to pay for it?

[C0untZer0]

$320.00 plus $6.00 shipping

[C0untZer0]

Palmetto State Armory had the CM9s on sale yesterday for $299.99 plus free shipping - I hate when something goes on sale right after I buy it.

Well anyway here is the deal with my CM9, I keep calling Kahr and telling them that the barrel  broke the follower in the magazine and they keep sending me new followers.  The way the barrel breaks the followers doesn't stop them from functioning so I'm using two mags with broken followers.

Today I put 50 rounds of Georgia Arms 124gr NATO, 10 rounds of 147gr Federal HST and 40 rounds of 115gr Winchester "Target" FMJ, through the CM9 without any problems.

I am at 300 rounds through the CM9 with no problems other than the followers being broke.

I did have an instance on my first time out with the gun where the slide didn't lock back on the last round but I think now that it was because my thumb was pressing down on the slide stop.

I like the fact that it will eat cheap 115gr practice ammo - it shoots it pretty accurately too.  For some reason that I don't know, I make fairly large shot groups with Federal HST.

I've shot all "NATO" 124gr FMJ through it up till now - (meaning 124gr FMJ rated at or near 1200 fps from a 5" barrel) and today was the first day I shot premium SD ammo from it.  I got very different results from the 147gr Federal HST.  I know the HST target is a 10-round shot group, but even still, my first 3 shots made a 3" triangle.

I don't know what to think - my CM9 doesn't like 147gr Federal HST ?

[tracker]

Targets don't lie.

[C0untZer0]

I shot 124gr FMJ, the 147gr HST and then the 115gr Winchester FMJ - I am sure I didn't change anything during my shooting, but you can see the Federal HST has significantly larger spread.

But anyway, the gun goes bang when I pull the trigger.

[tracker]

Comparing apples to apples I would be very interested to see the 124 gr HST groups against the HST 147 groups.

[MRC]

With the longer bullets leaving with considerably less velocity, the short barrel may not be stabilizing the 147 gr bullets completely.

Shoot some at 50 to 75 feet and look for key holing.  I am just guessing.

[C0untZer0]

Comparing apples to apples I would be very interested to see the 124 gr HST groups against the HST 147 groups.

Must...

Use..

Gunbot...

[JoshA]

May be just a coincidence, but I couldn't hit well and I had a few more problems with the federal range ammo out of my cw380.

I was shooting at 8" steel at 50 ft and plinking it like clockwork with the Remington and Winchester range ammo. I then went to the federal and could not get routine hits on that steel.

I reloaded took a more careful aim and had the same issue.

It was noticeable. It wasn't their premium SD stuff, but it was federal and it was in a Kahr.

Perhaps coincidence.

?

[C0untZer0]

I was debating sending the CM9 in to get the feed ramp fixed / shortened or doing it myself.  I thought I would call Kahr just to get another follower and Ian at Kahr told me to send the whole gun in.  They e-mailed me a pre-paid air waybill.  I shipped it to Kahr and I got it back yesterday, it took them 10 days.

Most Kahr owners who fixed the problem themselves would just grind a little material off of the feed ramp until they had clearance between the feed ramp and the follower.  They just took off a little bit of material.  But Kahr really shortened the feedramp, they weren't fooling around.

They must have test fired it and I'm guessing they use cheap and fairly dirty ammo because my CM9 came back dirty, it had more carbon on it than I see after 50 rounds of shooting and I doubt they'd put more than a dozen rounds through it - though I could be wrong.

A few weeks ago I lost the locking plate from my magazine.  The locking plate on my CM9 mag seemed loose, and without depressing the locking plate detent, I gave the baseplate a little nudge to see if it was locked in place or not.

It wasn't.

The baseplate and locking plate flew across the room ( just barely missing my computer monitor)

I was able to find the baseplate but I never did find the locking plate, and it retails for $8.80 if you buy it off of Kahr's site.

I sent the mag with the broken follower in sans locking plate and they gave me a new one

Well, I am taking it back to the range this morning, we'll see how it shoots.  I was so snxious that Kahr might affect the functioning of the pistol with their "fix" that I was tempted to just keep it and use it with broken followers.

We'll see how it goes.

[C0untZer0]

Also - I got fried egg primers and light strikes in my R9 with Remington 147gr Bonded Golden Sabres.

I am going to try them in my CM9 this morning and see how they work in the Kahr.

[C0untZer0]

I shot ten 124gr Lawman TMJs, ten 147gr Bonded Golden Sabres and forty rounds of 115gr Winchester FMJ through the CM9 with no broken followers and no other problems.  Two of the Golden Sabres I shot were the two that my R9 nicked but didn't ignite.

I did get a jam when I tried to chamber the first round by slingshoting the slide, but Kahr tells you to lock the slide back and use the slide stop lever to load the gun. I've never had a problem when loading the gun via hitting the slide stop (slide release) lever.

It looks like Kahr fixed the feed ramp and the CM9 is still shooting reliably.

I sort of want to carry the Golden Sabres in the CM9 but I don't have any short-barreled tests to confirm how they'd do.

I do know the 147 HSTs perform well and my CM9 shoots cycles them reliably.

[tracker]

Thanks for the report; HSTs are superb, in my limited experience.

[C0untZer0]

I wish ShootingTheBull410 would test the Winchester Ranger "T" Series RA9T out of a 3" barrel.  I have 200 rounds of that stuff.

I only have 1 box of the Federal 147gr HST.

I only have 1 box of the 147gr Golden Saber but it is not as hard to get.  I could buy 10 boxes of it right now