Kahr cw45

[Espartis]

Anyone have a Kahr cw45 or have shot one the cares to share some thoughts on it?

I've been looking at buying another glock 30s which was one of my favorite carry and all around .45s (other than 1911) and I've been noticing quite a few of the Kahr cw45s im stainless popping up for $400 and under new. I've never shot one or handled one and was curious what people thought of them.

 

[Leatherhead]

Smallest .45 I've ever had! WAY thin! Easy to conceal, and a breeze to shoot. WELL worth 400 bucks.

 

[Patronus]

Shoots great BUT, and for me this was a big BUT, the one I had did NOT like 230 grain Hornady or Mag Tech JHP's There may have been other 230 grain hollow points it didn't like but those 2 for sure. The hornady's would feed but hand ejecting them was a bear. They functioned ok shooting but not by hand. With the Mag Techs the slide wouldn't go all the way into battery. Just jammed with the chamber partly open. Couldn't fire them at all, well WOULDN'T. I called Kahr and the person I spoke to said they knew and I should use only American made ammo. I guess Hornady is imported....hmmm. I thought it was just the CW45's right up till I got my PM45. Same thing. So, now I carry 185 grain Hornady's. They work just fine. Funny, the Remington JHP's that Wal Mart carrys in the 100 count box work just fine in them as well.

 

[klarktx]

Had one, carried it for about 14 months.

x2 on thin. Barely noticeable as a carry.

Light frame, moderate recoil, but very manageable.

Wish I had it back.

 

[abailey362]

carried a cw40 for a couple of years. great guns...the more you shoot them the better they get.

mine also dind't really like to be hand loaded on JHP ammo, i just got in the habit of riding the slide forward with a little push.

they do work beter if you load from slide lock and use the release and let the springs take it all the way in instead of pulling back on the slide....you reduce the velocity of the slide when you do that

 

[Patronus]

They told me the casing wall was a little thicker on some loads. One thing I noted(and I still have the cartridge) is how one of the Hornady's had the slug pushed back into the casing but about 1/16th inch when I was trying to chamber it. I'm not sure how much impact that would have on the pressure so I haven't tried shooting it, obviously. Besides, it's kind of like proof of the problem. Well that and I just forget it is in the safe for the most part.

 

[Kain8719]

No experience with the .45 Kahrs, but a friend had one in .40 that while it functioned great, either its sights weren't regulated at all or it had a smooth bore barrel, Would hit dirt before target at 7 meters, only one I've ever seen do that, and that was in the hands of four different shooters. Whatever.

Main reason for posting, I've run a lot of .45acp, and with some platforms, and some 1911 platforms/mag combos, chambering the round repeatedly can be very rough on the round resulting in the bullet being deformed and/or being pushed farther into the casing, have never seen an issue as far as pressure spikes due to it, however have seen issues with accuracy as well as expansion in hollowpoint loads. One of several reason that why, for some guns I rotate ammo more often then in others, .45acp and 5.56, are ones that if the rounds are getting chambered the ammo gets used up quicker over guns that aren't as hard on ammo like some 9mms.

 

[Espartis]

Did it just take some breaking in for it to take the 230grn stuff or did it just never like 230grn ammo no matter what? If you can't carry 230 p+ loads in a carry gun then what's the point of having a .45 over a .40? Did it run any 230grn hps?

 

[Kain8719]

Did it just take some breaking in for it to take the 230grn stuff or did it just never like 230grn ammo no matter what? If you can't carry 230 p+ loads in a carry gun then what's the point of having a .45 over a .40? Did it run any 230grn hps?

There are a lot of reasons people prefer .45 to .40. larger bullet being one of the first, if the hollow point fails to perform, and I've seen it more often then you'd think, then all you got is bullet size and shot placement. After that, I honestly think .45acp has a less violent recoil impulse then .40 with the current trend of heavy bullet loading, 180gr and such. I also believe .45acp to be a more accurate cartridge then the .40. Granted, there are a thousand aspects to look at when considering a carry gun, and everyones are different, what works for some is useless to others.

 

[Espartis]

Im in agreeance with you. I've carried .40 and .45 and always have preferred the 45. But if I'm going to carry a 45 I need that firearm to reliably feed 230s. And I guess that is my major concern from what others are now saying. I mean at $400 for the cw45 I have no issue spending another $50 for a used g30. But I've always been curious about kahrs and would be willing to try onefor $400, but not if it's going to make me wish I had the g30