Just how good is the KAHR CW45?

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I have one. I like it. I carry it as one of my ccw weapons. I put Talon Grips on it (rubber). They are excellent grips. So the question is. Is it a real keeper? What are my fellow gunners opinions?
 
I have a cm9 and I shoot it as well or better than my full size handguns. The trigger is ridiculously good. I think the kahrs are the real deal.
 
I have a CW45 that is a great little pistol. It has a very smooth trigger and is very accurate. it is one of my winter carry guns along with my Charter Arms Bulldog.
 
If you like it and it is reliable then it matters not what others think. Thats my .02 cents
 
Kahrs...

I've had my Kahr PM9 for going on eight years now, and my Kahr P45 for almost seven. Both get carried regularly, and both are on my "not a chance in Hell of selling" list. As a matter of fact, I'm looking for a P380 or CW380 to add to the collection.

IMHO, Kahr builds the best combination of light weight, size, capacity, quality, and price available in polymer-framed, CCW-sized handguns. Great triggers, too.

Bottom line: they are pretty danged good. :)
 
I have the cw9 and cm9 both of mine have been great. Never malfunctioned yet. Carrying the cm is so easy.
 
Used to be a big fan of the polymer Kahr pistols. I have a cm40, a pm9, and a pm40. My love of them has diminished considerably as I have had multiple issues with them, to the point where I would NEVER consider carrying a polymer Kahr pistol for self defense, based on my experiences.
I don't like having to pick my magazine off the ground after every shot, and replacing the cartridges that flew out on impact...EVERY SHOT. (CW40 magazine release malfuntions, drops mag every shot whether or not you touch the dang thing, have to send the gun back to Kahr.....and this is a COMMON problem with them)
I don't like paying 1/3 of the guns original cost in shipping to have the gun worked on for a factory defect that is a design flaw.
I don't like having to be sure that the little exposed spring in the frame doesn't get caught in the wrong place on the slide stop during reassembly. I don't like that the spring is even there since pretty much EVERY modern pistol manufacturer has managed to not have an easily damaged, fragile spring right where you reassemble the slide stop, that when assembled wrong, which is extremely easy to do and impossible to notice until firing, will render the gun inoperable after one shot.
I don't like polygonal rifling,
I don't like "self defense" pistols with excessively tight, "match tolerance" chambers. Really irritates me watching my Sig P229 feed multiple magazines full of loads without a hiccup, then watching the cw40 fail to chamber a single one of them.

Love the trigger and ergonomics, and my cw40 is very accurate when it does go bang, so I might look into one of their metal frame guns, but the polymer frame guns have been a huge disappointment for me.

Also, not that its the gun's fault, but I shot a ruffed grouse last fall at 10 yards with my CW40 and black talons.... twice....and still had to chase it down a hill and wring its neck. Not very confidence inspiring to watch a 2lb bird soak up 2 .40 rounds and run away.
 
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Sucks to have your guns Silly!

:neener:
Just my Kahrs....I haven't had any problems with the rest so far. Even the High Point gives a better show than the Kahrs.
I'm far from the only one who's had problems with them.

http://kahrtalk.com/archive/index.php/t-99.html

http://glocktalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1419634

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=722807

http://www.defensivecarry.com/forum...ssion/139480-kahr-cw9-magazine-falls-out.html

http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=5&f=35&t=50980

http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=5&f=35&t=49269

http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=5&f=35&t=47095

http://www.shootersforum.com/handguns/73690.htm

http://www.firearmstalk.com/forums/f14/opinion-kahr-compact-handguns-59617/index2.html

http://www.arizonashooting.com/v3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=82018

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/6320720/Re_Kahr_CW40

http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/s...hr-PM40-Perfect-form-factor-imperfect-quality

http://www.topix.com/forum/guns/TB7DAV8UCB9TL510O

http://glocktalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1207961

http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/showthread.php?91123-Kahr-CW40-issues

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=251065

http://www.handgunforum.net/kahr/26437-interesting-different-kahr-issues-have-you-ever-seen.html

http://forums.officer.com/t95040/

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-317271.html

http://www.texaschlforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=30822&start=0

http://www.xdtalk.com/forums/non-xd-handguns/120066-kahr-cw-40-dissapointment.html

http://www.defensivecarry.com/forum/firearm-cleaning-maintenance/101522-kahr-cw40-slide-problem.html

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_5_35/135629_Problematic_Kahr_CW40.html

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-433504.html

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-568817.html

http://www.okshooters.com/showthread.php?49225-brand-new-Kahr-CW40-problems




so you can see...it aint just my guns.
Sorry to rain on anybody's Kahr parade, but it is what it is. Hopefully you'll never experience them, but they commonly have issues, and my opinion on these pistols now that I have a good amount of rounds through them is 180 degrees from where it was a year ago when I had a good idea of how they felt and carried, but not their reliability.
 
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Arizonagunrunner It will probably depend more on how You break in to it and how well you feed it. My dentist has a cw45 and it has been reliable for him. I got to shot it a little and now may put a cw45 on my want list. I have 3 kahrs in my rotation to 9mm's and a 40 for carry and have not had any issue in the 3 1/2 years and few thousand rounds fired from them.

Many guys can't figure out how to deal with small heavier recoiling pistols and only can manage to shoot heavyweights even if they are kinda smaller in size. Then they hunt for reasons to bitch about it. Guess they forget how many of a single design pistol kahr has sold over the last 18 years. Even the sig some speak so highly of has had to fix issues with with different handgun designs over the years but note that as gun value goes up,, whining goes down. I wonder if a certain whiner had a les baer 1911 that can cause issues during the first 200 round break end would whine about the tight match tolerance as many carry them as defense pistols. Or having to pay to send it back . Kahr will send you a shipping label if you ask and don't come off as a but head.

I bought my first kahr from a guy that could not make his work for him. Got it cheap and its been a very good pistol. But I have 16 different makes or models of handguns and only had one that needed CS and that was brand new , fixed and not a kahr.
Any how I think you have a good defense pistol.
 
Many guys can't figure out how to deal with small heavier recoiling pistols and only can manage to shoot heavyweights even if they are kinda smaller in size. Then they hunt for reasons to bitch about it. Guess they forget how many of a single design pistol kahr has sold over the last 18 years. Even the sig some speak so highly of has had to fix issues with with different handgun designs over the years but note that as gun value goes up,, whining goes down. I wonder if a certain whiner had a les baer 1911 that can cause issues during the first 200 round break end would whine about the tight match tolerance as many carry them as defense pistols. Or having to pay to send it back . Kahr will send you a shipping label if you ask and don't come off as a but head.

Uh, OK.....I guess you missed the 20+ threads I linked discussing the same common issues with the polymer Kahr pistols.
Though there is always room for improvement, I can shoot smaller, heavier recoiling pistols just fine, thank you...and I'm discussing specific, documented problems with the pistol, not hunting for reasons to, as you say, bitch and whine about a pistol I can't shoot well. My Kahr pistols shoot very well...they just don't run reliably, and the magazine falls out every shot in 2 of 3 of them.
You seem to be quiet a fan of Kahr. I wonder if you would still be singing the same tune if your pistols started having the same problems as mine...rendering 2 of 3 unfit for shooting, and the remaining one unfit for self defense...then you looked it up online and found many many threads detailing the same issues....
Kahr metal frame pistols are AFAIK comparatively trouble free. The complaints about the design that I know of started as soon as they started using polymer, and they are well documented and common.

I never said anything about the 200 round break in period. I am well past that with each of my Kahrs, and the problems I've had all arose well outside the break in period
Break in period or not, my CW40 and PM40 will not feed rounds at all, let alone reliably, that my P229 will feed all day long without a hitch. To clarify....NOT A SINGLE ONE. NOT A SINGLE ROUND that the P229...or steyr M40....will eat all day long without issues. This isn't an "issue with the 200 round break in period". This is due to a tight chamber. This is NOT a good thing for a serious defense gun. Maybe for a match or target gun, but it's not meant to be taken to a match....
My main concern is the poor design of the slide stop spring, and the poor design of the magazine release. Both are KNOWN issues with Kahr pistols that other manufacturers don't have, and IMO are both serious flaws in the design of the pistol that AFAIK every other modern manufacturer has managed to NOT have. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
If I had a Les Baer 1911 I would also be upset if it dropped the magazine every shot. That's something a $2000 pistol should not do any more than a $350 pistol should. Really, expecting the magazine to stay in the gun until the magazine release is depressed isn't THAT much of a stretch.
The OP asked the opinion of people who have had them. I have, and gave my opinion and experiences, and backed up my experiences with other testimonials to prove it is not just me or my guns, and so the OP could reference KNOWN problems with the guns. Other people have had the same experience as I have...many other people. Glad your polymer framed Kahr pistols work for you. Mine don't work for me, and they don't work for a lot of other people. Bottom line - I think there are aspects to the Kahr design that did not translate well into polymer, there are aspects that are simply poor design features, and I think there are better designs out there that don't require break in periods and don't have the issues I mentioned.
Sorry, I'm not on the Kahr bandwagon, but I have given valid, documented, and reasonable justifications as to why.
 
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I'm with sili, the CW9 I HAD was never reliable, nice trigger, comfy to carry, but never trusted it. buh-buh . :barf: I'll never have another one.
 
Uh, OK.....I guess you missed the 20+ threads I linked discussing the same common issues with the polymer Kahr pistols....

Sorry, I'm not on the Kahr bandwagon, but I have given valid, documented, and reasonable justifications as to why.

I did a short search on Glock 17 woes and got several pages of such threads.

Pick a gun... any gun... and you can find the same. My search doesn't mean Glocks suck... just means the internet makes short work of finding complaints.
 
I did a short search on Glock 17 woes and got several pages of such threads.

Pick a gun... any gun... and you can find the same. My search doesn't mean Glocks suck... just means the internet makes short work of finding complaints.

Hmm...funny...I have two glocks, a G19 and G21, that have had 0 issues, and three Kahrs that have had 3 issues. Wish the Glocks felt as good in my hands as the Kahrs...


the Glocks will also feed everything I've put through them. Not so with the Kahrs.

Kahr also sells MUCH fewer guns to get a comparable amount of complaint threads.
Glock had their own share of issues with early guns as well, issues that I would consider a dealbreaker. Whether overdramatized or not, I don't own an early gen glock .40 for a reason. Glock fixed those issues, for the most part, AFAIK. When/If Kahr does the same with their polymer framed guns, they will be a much better gun.

I wish I could like the guns. They fit better than just about any other handgun in my hands, and they are very concealable and accurate for their size. Hell, I bought three of them.
They are, however, a flawed design that is more prone to failure than its competition, that utilizes materials in certain applications that are not up to the task. (When you send your gun in for dropping mags, they replace the factory polymer magazine release with an upgraded metal one)....Its a gun that I would not trust my life to until they make changes.
My $0.02.
 
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I own, and carry daily, a P45 or a P380. My brother carries a CW45 as does a close friend, none of us have ever had a single issue.

So in my view they are well built, and reliable pistols.

If others haven't had the same experience...........well there are plenty of other brands to choose from.
 
Hmm...funny...I have two glocks, a G19 and G21, that have had 0 issues, and three Kahrs that have had 3 issues. Wish the Glocks felt as good in my hands as the Kahrs...
Yep, that is known as anecdotal evidence.

I have had three Kahrs that worked fine, and am currently looking for a fourth. I've had two Glocks and currently have none, nor any desire for another.

Doesn't mean my experience is right and yours is wrong, or vice versa. Just means that of all the millions of people on this Earth, we have had different experiences.

Let me conclude with this: most of the "bad Kahr" threads I have read have been a) with .40 subcompact Kahrs (which two of yours were) and b) with earlier models. Most "bad Glock" threads I have read have been more recent (cough cough Gen 4). some would view this as a trend. I view it as another random circumstance, and do not condemn Glocks for this (check my posts if you don't believe me).
 
Don't know about all the problems others have had and don't care but I can say I have had mine for several years and it has been flawless. I trust what I can see and feel so I don't take too much stock in what others have had issues with.
 
Yes, you can find threads and disgust for every model of just about every pistol out. That's not important and can't be used as a yardstick about quality.

What's much more important and can be generally ascertained from reading through forum threads is customer service. Any pistol of any brand can have problems... the question is if you do encounter a lemon can you get the manufacturer to fix it without much if any out of pocket costs??

I don't believe Kahr ranks high in that regard, at least when compared to Glock, S&W, and Ruger. That being said, I really liked my Kahr but traded it in toward my Glock. I don't regret doing so, but I really want another Kahr for pocket carry... plus I shot it better than any other pistol I've ever owned.
 
...They are, however, a flawed design that is more prone to failure than its competition, that utilizes materials in certain applications that are not up to the task. (When you send your gun in for dropping mags, they replace the factory polymer magazine release with an upgraded metal one)....Its a gun that I would not trust my life to until they make changes....
FWIW, all current production Kahr pistols have a metal magazine catch.
Regards,
Greg
 
I had one for a month or so and loved everything about it except it's tight chamber. It didn't like my cast boolits which feed in every other 45 I own.
This simple fact diminishes my faith in the gun. If they would make a little looser chamber it would be perfect in my opinion.
It's not a target gun so why the match chamber?
 
First off, let me say I have a PM9 and it is a flawless daily carry pistol. People tend to complain more than praise in gun forums. I have a Kimber Ultra CDP 3" that if I believed what I read on the internet, it would never have come home with me. A perfect pistol right out of the box and now five years old and still running perfectly.

The tight chamber issue does seem to come up on the Kahr .45's. I have seen this more than once. One of my fellow RSO's has one of those and it is a finicky ammo eater. He sent it back to Kahr and the problem was solved.
 
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