Kahr CW45(and other Kahr 45) WARNING!

[Patronus]

Loaded my recently acquired CW45 with Hornady 230 grain XTP +P's. When I went to unload it the slide would not budge. After considerable effort I finally got the slide back and the round ejected. Thinking this was just a break-in period problem I went to the range asap and fired 100 rounds of 230 grain FMJ's It performed flawlessly. I loaded a mag of the Hornady and it fired them perfectly. Loaded another mag and tried to rack the slide by hand with the same problem as before. Looking at the slug in the Hornady I could see rub marks around the shoulder about a 16th inch in front of the casing.

I went to my local gun store and bought a box of 230 grain Mag-Tech's. First round in the mag jammed the slide with 1/8th inch left before closure. I loaded a mag of Remington 230 grain JHP from Wal-Mart and they function perfectly. I also loaded a mag of 185 grain Hornady Critical Defense FTX and they also function perfectly.

I called Kahr and was casually told that they knew there was a problem with Hornady(they are fat/long and won't feed properly) and that I shouldn't use foreign ammo like Mag-Tech.

Ummm... ooooK

When I asked about Hydra-Shoks I was told that they knew of no problems with them, just not Hornady 's 230 grain.

So...functional ammo I know of for the Kahr CW45( and presumably all Kahr 45's) is Hornady 185 grain FTX, Remington 230 grain JHP and UMC FMJ. If anyone has similar experience or knows of other ammo, especially decent defense loads, I would like to know.

Thanks

Oh! I still LOVE the gun and, while I would prefer it to be as UN-finicky as my Glocks, I will happily feed it what it prefers...Think I'll call it Morris though

 

[Hunley]

I had a Springfield 1911 that did the same thing with the same round. Some polishing work fixed it, but it should be noted that +P brass in .45 acp is of different thickness than standard pressure loads.

 

[Patronus]

Ahhhh! I think the Mag-Tech is +P also.... A light bulb pops on in a very dark place...heh!

 

[kahrshooter]

I had a Springfield 1911 that did the same thing with the same round. Some polishing work fixed it, but it should be noted that +P brass in .45 acp is of different thickness than standard pressure loads.

True, but SAAMI exterior dimensions of the cartridge remain the same.

* Kahrs are somewhat known, in all calibers, to have "tight" chambers, and can have issue with a specific a brand or two of ammo (not usually all types that a single manufacturer makes).

* Shorter barrel .45ACP's, (under 4 incches) at least in 1911 formats, are often found to have feeding issues. This could be the case with the 45 Kahrs, as well.

A very judiscious polish of the ramp and chamber with Green Stainless Steel "rouge" on a felt bob dremel could not hurt.

All Kahrs are "+P" rated. http://www.kahr.com/faq.asp

 

[patio]

Loaded my recently acquired CW45 with Hornady 230 grain XTP +P's. When I went to unload it the slide would not budge. After considerable effort I finally got the slide back and the round ejected. Thinking this was just a break-in period problem I went to the range asap and fired 100 rounds of 230 grain FMJ's It performed flawlessly. I loaded a mag of the Hornady and it fired them perfectly. Loaded another mag and tried to rack the slide by hand with the same problem as before. Looking at the slug in the Hornady I could see rub marks around the shoulder about a 16th inch in front of the casing.

I went to my local gun store and bought a box of 230 grain Mag-Tech's. First round in the mag jammed the slide with 1/8th inch left before closure. I loaded a mag of Remington 230 grain JHP from Wal-Mart and they function perfectly. I also loaded a mag of 185 grain Hornady Critical Defense FTX and they also function perfectly.

I called Kahr and was casually told that they knew there was a problem with Hornady(they are fat/long and won't feed properly) and that I shouldn't use foreign ammo like Mag-Tech.

Ummm... ooooK

When I asked about Hydra-Shoks I was told that they knew of no problems with them, just not Hornady 's 230 grain.

So...functional ammo I know of for the Kahr CW45( and presumably all Kahr 45's) is Hornady 185 grain FTX, Remington 230 grain JHP and UMC FMJ. If anyone has similar experience or knows of other ammo, especially decent defense loads, I would like to know.

Thanks

Oh! I still LOVE the gun and, while I would prefer it to be as UN-finicky as my Glocks, I will happily feed it what it prefers...Think I'll call it Morris though

I am having problems with Remington 230gr jhp locking up in the chamber. I am suffering the same problem of having a hard time getting the slide open.

In anyones opinion will this go away after more than 200 rounds of round nose use or should I look at gold dot hollow point.

thanks

pat olvey
swohioccw218@yahoo.com

 

[FredAlert]

I hoped that these got better over time but I had a couple of these early on. A CW9 and a CW45 and when they were both duds for a variety of reasons I even tried one of the higher dollar P9s. Still experienced mis-fed rounds, double feeds and FTE ....

They say that they require "at least 100 rounds of break in" before they will even work on them if they don't appear to work which I find absolutely ridiculous. For the price that you pay for the P series guns (alot more than a glock and close to an HK) you should be able to assume that the gun will work when you want to use it. I understand the idea of breaking in a gun in general, seasoning the barrel etc but to say that a gun requires that you put 100 rounds through it before it will even operate reliably is absolutely absurd. If glock, hk or sig said this on their box starting tomorrow people would laugh the whole way to their car from the dealer on their way to go buy something else.

I really, desperately wanted the kahrs to work out because the formfactor is so fantastic but in my experience all but the all metal ones have been 100% crap. This doesn't mean that they haven't gotten better in the last 2ish years since I got rid of my last one ..... I love the feel of them but I won't carry a gun that isn't 100% reliable with decent ammo out of the box. (I won't fault the gun for failures with crap ammunition like WWB)

Loaded my recently acquired CW45 with Hornady 230 grain XTP +P's. When I went to unload it the slide would not budge. After considerable effort I finally got the slide back and the round ejected. Thinking this was just a break-in period problem I went to the range asap and fired 100 rounds of 230 grain FMJ's It performed flawlessly. I loaded a mag of the Hornady and it fired them perfectly. Loaded another mag and tried to rack the slide by hand with the same problem as before. Looking at the slug in the Hornady I could see rub marks around the shoulder about a 16th inch in front of the casing.

I went to my local gun store and bought a box of 230 grain Mag-Tech's. First round in the mag jammed the slide with 1/8th inch left before closure. I loaded a mag of Remington 230 grain JHP from Wal-Mart and they function perfectly. I also loaded a mag of 185 grain Hornady Critical Defense FTX and they also function perfectly.

I called Kahr and was casually told that they knew there was a problem with Hornady(they are fat/long and won't feed properly) and that I shouldn't use foreign ammo like Mag-Tech.

Ummm... ooooK

When I asked about Hydra-Shoks I was told that they knew of no problems with them, just not Hornady 's 230 grain.

So...functional ammo I know of for the Kahr CW45( and presumably all Kahr 45's) is Hornady 185 grain FTX, Remington 230 grain JHP and UMC FMJ. If anyone has similar experience or knows of other ammo, especially decent defense loads, I would like to know.

Thanks

Oh! I still LOVE the gun and, while I would prefer it to be as UN-finicky as my Glocks, I will happily feed it what it prefers...Think I'll call it Morris though

 

[jwhited]

they are fat/long and won't feed properly

I know that feeling all too well.

 

[mtgldr]

Had the same issue with Black Talons in my CW45. Changed to Ranger SXT's and they cycle fine.

 

[jglenn]

from the one CW45 I saw the barrel basically has no "lead" or real throat leading to the lands...very different from most 1911 barels you will find


this is the main cause of those "fat" 230 grs not chambering correctly I believe

 

[Ken Ford]

Had a 1911 that would do the same thing with Hornady Tap.