Kahr CM9 Range Report

[dbeardslee]

I noticed something else about the Kahr last night when I put it to bed. I had it loaded with a full mag and one up the spout, and when I pulled the slide back to get the round out of the chamber, it really came out of the chamber. Even though I was pulling the slide back relatively slowly the round ejected like it was spring loaded. The Kahr's extractor is kind of like Para's power extractor, and it really works well in conjunction with the ejector.

If I had to describe the CM9 in three words they would be 'elegant, ingenious simplicity.' They've kept the parts to a minimum which is always a plus for reliability, but the parts that are there are very intelligently designed. The Kahr has no double strike capability, so if the striker lands on a dud your immediate action is to clear the dud round. And Kahr has allowed for that too. If you notice the front of the ejection port is rounded to accommodate the ejection of live/dud rounds. That's a small piece of frame sculpting that can be a huge benefit if you ever have to clear a malfunction when the heat is on. If you look at the front of the ejection port you can also get an idea of how thick the metal is in the slide.




Now if my new recoil spring assembly will hurry up and get here I can cover up the unsightly hole in the muzzle. Then I can get to work fabricating another nut for this guide rod, and then I'll have two complete units .



They call Kahr pistols the Glock's that Glock doesn't make. Personally I think that's selling Kahr short. They're not the clunky, utilitarian pistols that Glock's are. They're a more elegant design, with well thought out touches throughout - right down to the smooth aluminum trigger. Personally I can't stand trigger safeties. IMHO they limit your ability to adjust your trigger pull and I just don't like them. I've heard of instances of Glock's going off when pocketing them (probably due to the short pull) and I just don't see that happening with the Kahr - even without a pocket holster. It's got a squared off slide like the Glock, it's ultra reliable and very accurate - and that's where the similarity ends.

The more I look at this little pistol, the more impressed I am. It's more than worth the $430 I paid, and as I look in my crystal ball I'm starting to see the fuzzy image of a CW45 in my future. If that one is anything like the CM9 (which I'm sure it is), I don't think you can go wrong for $366. Kahr does it right.

[bchboy1206]

Hmmmm, Excellent report thanks!!!

[dbeardslee]

I got tired of looking at this -




So I took a nut with the right threads, ground the corners off with my dremel tool, red loctited it on, and now it looks like this -



This should hold me until the replacement unit from Kahr arrives. And now I'll have a complete spare .

[BigSkiff]

Aha! So that's what a gun nut looks like!

[dbeardslee]

Aha! So that's what a gun nut looks like!

[NativeTexan]

Sounds like a nice carry. I totally agree with you on the 25 yard thing, sights, etc. I want my guns to shoot POA if possible at 25. You might fish around and try some hotter ammo, not sure I saw what you were using. If you can use +P, I've found that different loads in 115 grain in my Kel Tec P11 shoot up to 5" high at 25 yards, but my carry (a handload, so sue me) shoots a 115 grain XTP to POA at 25. I don't shoot it much as the KT is rated for +P limited use, but it's accurate. The gun is a GREAT little 25 yard plinker, grouping about 3.5" at 25 from bags.

Another thing that rubs me is when someone says they have an accurate gun, groups 2" at 3 yards off hand. I guess they figure they'll be shooting at 3 yards, but that tells me ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the accuracy of the gun. BENCH that thing at 25 and then tell me. Unfortunately, a lot of times, the guys typing this on the net can't shoot good enough to hit anything at 25 yards, probably couldn't with a shotgun. So, they make excuses for their inadequacies by stating the gun is "a belly gun" intended for "handshake range" and not a target gun. That might be true, but I still don't know how accurate the GUN is by their description. When they say these things about snubby revolvers, I REALLY have a hard time with 'em cause most snubbies I've ever fired can at least hold a 3" group at 25. My old SP101 could shoot TWO inch groups at 25! Don't tell me it can't be done! The gun can if they can't.

I've noticed that the little 9s seem to be a lot more accurate than the little .380s, though, another plus for carrying a gun maybe 2 or 4 ounces heavier and a half inch longer, never mind the more powerful round. I've shot an LCP, a TCP, my old Grendel, and a Walther, and they are good to groups maybe 6" at 25, many times they're worse. That's fine, I guess, for self defense, but you're not working with a lot of horsepower there. It'd be great to be able to place it a little more precisely.

Just me, but I really like these little 9s as carry guns. Sounds like you got a good'n to work with.

[dbeardslee]

I had to diddle around with the sights on my PT145 to get the elevation right, and it was time well spent. If I take well aimed shots, it definitely shoots minute-of-tin-can at 25 yards. I think this one will too, but I really need to get the sights on target to find out. First thing I need to do is exactly what you suggest - I need to shoot some paper at 25 and see exactly what's going on. I was making my adjustments on the last trip from where the dirt was jumping, and I really hate taking Kentucky windage.

Some people may think if it's hitting on target at 5-7 yards, then the sights are properly adjusted, which is absolutely wrong. A proper zero is going to be where the round crosses the line of sight on it's way down - not up. I'd guess this thing is actually zeroed somewhere in the 75-100 yard range to be as high as it was hitting at 25. I like them zeroed at or near their maximum effective range, and for this little pistol I would say that's about 25 yards. Get it tuned in there and it will be close all the way back to the muzzle - particularly with a flat shooting round like the 9mm.

It did seem to be somewhat sensitive to bullet weight and velocity in terms of its effect on elevation. The 147 grain JHP's actually seemed to be the closest to zero at 25, even though they were the slowest rounds I fired. Before I diddle with these sights I need to test on paper with a number of different bullet types too. I also want to run some +P's to see what that does to POI, and also to see how the Kahr handles a little stiffer recoil. Recoil absorption seems to be this little pistols strong suit, so I'm real curious how it will act with the hotties.

If I have to make a change to the sights, I figured out how to do it. Both the front and rear sights are polymer, and I can get another rear sight for $11 - maybe for free by the time I get through telling my sob story . I figure I can cut the rear down in such a way that it will still look good while affecting the needed adjustment. That will keep the sights as low as possible, and I think that's a good thing with the pinned in polymer front. I don't want a real tall front as it would provide more leverage and a greater chance of snapping the polymer. And the lower I keep the sights, the less likely they'll be to snag. Additionally the rear is dovetailed in, so it will be much simpler to swap the sights out. Now I just need to do the shooting and measuring part, and figure out what change I want to make.

[MilProGuy]

It looks like a really well-made pistol!

Congrats!

[dbeardslee]

I looked at a bunch of different pistols - Kel Tec, Ruger, Sig, Kimber, and Taurus to name a few. I'm really glad I picked the Kahr, but it was kind of like what Nancy Pelosi said about Obamacare - I really had to buy it first to find out what was in it . I was really surprised by how comfortable it was to shoot for such a small pistol. That combined with the accuracy and reliability it exhibited have me believing I made the right choice. And due to the patents, you're only going to get that Kahr trigger on a Kahr - and it's perfect for a pocket pistol. It's maybe a bit more expensive than some of the competition, but you get a lot for the extra bucks. Course if you're comparing it to Sig and Kimber it's less expensive - and you still get a lot more. Yup, I'm a pretty happy guy .

[dbeardslee]

I called Kahr about the missing nut last Friday while I was standing at the counter at my FFL. The took my name and address, as well as the serial number from the pistol. I asked them if they needed a phone number or e-mail, and they said name, address, and S/N were all they needed. The guy on the phone did things so fast I was kind of wondering if he was really listening. Turns out he was just very efficient - the new recoil spring assembly arrived today, and I have to say I'm pleased with Kahr's customer service response. Here's what it looks like with the real McCoy installed -