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Kahr CM9 Break In Question

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  • CrankyBuddha

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    Aug 26, 2013
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    Houston, TX
    I bought a Kahr CM9 from Shiloh last month. As per Kahr's recommendations, and my own preference, I put 500 rounds through it as a break-in and to make sure it runs properly. I two failures to load a round and one failure to lock back on a empty magazine within the first 25 rounds but the gun ran flawlessly after that. The last 100 rounds of break in were this weekend and I used Tula BrassMaxx ammo. This has got to be the dirtiest ammo ever. There was residue everywhere even on the outside of the gun. It wasn't that dirty after 200 rounds of Monarch and Winchester. Nevertheless I decided to go ahead and test my carry loads Speer Gold Dot 124 Gr. After round 27 the next round failed to load.

    I didn't make a note of which magazine it was that had the failure but I did find that one magazine had a cracked follower when I was cleaning the gun afterwards (Kahr is sending a new one). I don't feel 100% confident in the gun yet and want to run it a good bit more before betting my life on it.

    Now, with all that said I was curious, how many rounds do you think should be run through it before counting it as reliable? I am thinking another 100 practice rounds and 50 carry rounds but I am afraid I am "cheaping out" on this.

    Thanks in advance

    -Cranky
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    RstyShcklfrd

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    Mar 23, 2011
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    I had a few hiccups with my Kahr CM9 when I had it. After 500 rounds, it ended up doing fine after that.

    At about ~1000-1200 rounds my guide rod broke. Kahr replaced it for free.

    I do have a question though, are you experiencing these FTF during shooting or when you're trying to chamber a round?
     

    Willy

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    Aug 28, 2009
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    I found that my slide locked back half way through the magazine sometimes in my CW9. But that was only with the 8 rd magazine and never with the standard 7 rd magazines. I don't carry the 8 rd magazine.
     

    CrankyBuddha

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    Aug 26, 2013
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    The two failures to load early on (first 25 rounds through the gun) were on the last round in the magazine. The last one was on the third round in the magazine. I'm not sure about the first two but on the last one the round wasn't stripped from the magazine. I racked the slide and it chambered. I thought it might have been because of the fouling from the bad ammo so I was stripping the mags down to clean them. That's when I found the cracked follower. -Cranky
     

    gcmj45acp

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    Feb 2, 2009
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    Welcome to the forum! And great first post. The fact the gun ran "flawlessly" for the last 475 out of 500 rounds (if I read your post correctly) suggests the gun itself is likely mechanically sound. One school of thought is that you have to put at least 1000 rounds through a gun to have a statistically significant sample of ammunition through it but, that's not always practical and I'm not convinced it's always necessary. I usually can get a feel for how well a gun is running within the first 500 rounds because unless you've got a couple dozen mags, you will have cycled through all your magazines at least a couple times within 500 rounds.

    Having said all this, when switching from one brand of ammo to another or even different loads within the same brand, tolerances can stack such that your individual copy of this gun runs smoother with a load that one run at all in another copy of the same gun. I'm curious to know if you cleaned/lubed the gun after that 100 round Tula ammo session you mentioned left the gun so dirty. I guess what I'm getting at is whether or not the gun will run consistently with your chosen carry load if it is at least starting out clean.

    A cracked follower with a gun and new magazines as new as yours should be a warranty issue in which Kahr provides replacements for free. It's a little weird to me to find a cracked follower in what sounds like a new gun. I'd almost wonder if you didn't have a case failure or some other issue that went undetected. With the rush to meet ammunition demands, my experience with all the larger manufacturers has been a reduction in overall quality control and consistency. Shiloh and other ranges have reported seeing a number of cases of factory ammo (even from the big three) that was found to have missing primers, missing powder, or in one case of ammo I had from Remington, a bullet jacket missing a bullet core, case, powder, and primer.
     

    CrankyBuddha

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    Aug 26, 2013
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    Houston, TX
    Hi Gary,

    The gun was not cleaned after the 100 rounds of Tula that's why I thought carbon and crud may have contributed.

    I have called Kahr and a replacement follower is on the way. That won't be a carry mag until I get it out on the range and use it a few times.

    I hit the range again today and 100 rounds of American Eagle bulk 115 Gr., 3 rounds (all I had left) of Hornady 147 Gr. hollow points and 50 rounds of Speer Gold Dot 124 Gr. fed and fired flawlessly. I am really thinking this was either just the cracked follower or the fouling or a combination of both.

    I am feeling pretty comfortable with the gun at this point so I guess I am just looking for a gut check (promise not to sue anyone) that I am not "cheaping out" on break in and testing.

    -Cranky
     

    CrankyBuddha

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    Aug 26, 2013
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    Update on this issue. The problem has never recurred with the Kahr, however, I went to the range today and decided to burn the last 100 rounds of the Tula Brass Maxx through my Glocks, 26 and 19. I had three failures to eject, same issue as I had with the Kahr, between the two guns. I didn't log which magazines it happened with because, at this point, I think it is the ammo!
    -Cranky
     

    hard eight

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    May 8, 2013
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    Richardson
    I bought a new CM9 several years back. On breakin I only had a few FTF with HP ammo, several brands. I used a dremmel buff pad and rouge compound to mirror buff the feed ramp. Runs every ammo great last 400 rounds/500 total. That thing is built like a tank.

    Sent from my ME172V using Tapatalk
     

    Vehemence

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    Jan 7, 2014
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    Cypress
    I carried a Kahr PM9 (similar gun) for several years and experienced a few feeding issues with cheap, FMJ/ball ammo. A friend who had owned the same gun for years suggested I try using lighter (grain) +P ammo (Corbon, Hornady Critical Defense, etc.) because the lighter, faster rounds tend to be shorter in bullet length. This allows easier feeding and prevents feed ramp jamming issues. I shot hundreds of +P's and never experienced another failure. Yes, that's expensive, but I found my pistol to be totally reliable with good +P ammo, not to mention the ballistic advantages. For a CCW, peace of mind is invaluable.
     
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