Newbie with CM9

[foggy1111]

Hi everyone. Long-time shooter / reloader....mostly rifles, shotguns and wheelguns.....and I've owned a few pistols over time. Like to say I was teethed on a Daisy and a Crescent wrench. I've done considerable varmint and target shooting as well as big and small game hunter.

Got into CC a few years ago and increased my interest in smaller sized pistols at that point. Got a Glock 19 and decided smaller was needed for carry....thus my Kahr CM9.

Started with the CM9 a year ago....and have had some struggles with it. I've got 400 or more rounds thru mine with a few of the noze dives I have read about here. (gonna work on one magazine).

After fooling with the CM9 for a while I decided I did not feel comfortable carrying it until I got thru some issues. Instead I carry my Ruger LCR with nite sites and a laser right now. And....I pretty much put the Kahr away for some time....until now.

I came back to this site and registered after some frustration with this gun. I have a particually stiff slide / spring. I've racked the gun ALLOT and have stored it with the slide locked open for several days. Still....its hard to rack and lock open for me and almost impossible for someone new to auto-loading pistols.

After reading most everything I could.....I decided to shorten the spring. I started with a 1/3 coil and then checked it. Took nearly a full coil. Slide still seems quite stiff....but it is more manageable than before.

I've really tried to like this CM9.....and if it wasn't for the extremely stiff slide I could get past some of the other issues - to which there seem to be good solutions on this site. I know these small guns push the envelope a bit. (Still....I'm with others that say better QC should be solving some of these issues before now on this brand.) <-- hope this isn't too harsh from a newbie.

I'm going to try some standard loads in it at the range soon. See how it performs. Anyone have any further words of wisdom for me? I'm trying to like this gun.

[yqtszhj]

Welcome to the forum. On the nose dives check the feed lips on the magazine and make sure they are really SMOOTH. Rounds would hang a bit on my CM9 when feeding before I smoothed them out really good. It would "scar" the casing rim when loading it was so sharp.

Also the recoil spring is stiff and mine is still that way after close to 1000 rounds. Let us know how that works out snipping a coil from the spring. I'm interested in how that does.

Good Luck

[HalfCocked]

Welcome to the form. It took me a while before I believed in my CM9. Some folks here just take them out of the box and shoot them with no problems. Mine was a little fussier. But after 300 rounds or so it smoothed out and settled. I still have occasional problems with a 7 round mag. But carry with 6 round and it has never failed. I have sanded on the follower of the 7, cut some of the spring, etc. and it is much better but still once and a while nose dives. Give it a little more time, and rounds. It has the potential to be the best EDC weapon you will own.

[wyntrout]

There's a bit of slop in the mag well/ magazine and how you grip the pistol and the pressure you put on the magazine can vary where the rounds strike the feed ramp. If the round hits the right edge of the feed ramp, it can stick and jam.

I had to replace a follower after trying to use a 9mm 7-round mag in my P40... the front skirt broke off. When I tried the new follower/mag in my pm9/P9... I use 8-round extended-grip mags in my K9 for home defense... every round would hit the right edge of the feed ramp and hang there. I took some pliers and tried to tweak the forward part of the feed lips to the left to direct the rounds more towards the actual ramp. The pliers slipped off both the right side and the left, and the material is very hard, so I wondered if I had done any good. With a glove on my left hand for VIGOROUS overhand racking, I had no more nose dive/hangups on the right side, so I used 400-grit sandpaper and lightly sanded the feed lips to remove any possible burrs... problem solved.

Wynn:)

[sharpenit]

Hi everyone. Long-time shooter / reloader....mostly rifles, shotguns and wheelguns.....and I've owned a few pistols over time. Like to say I was teethed on a Daisy and a Crescent wrench. I've done considerable varmint and target shooting as well as big and small game hunter.

Got into CC a few years ago and increased my interest in smaller sized pistols at that point. Got a Glock 19 and decided smaller was needed for carry....thus my Kahr CM9.

Started with the CM9 a year ago....and have had some struggles with it. I've got 400 or more rounds thru mine with a few of the noze dives I have read about here. (gonna work on one magazine).

After fooling with the CM9 for a while I decided I did not feel comfortable carrying it until I got thru some issues. Instead I carry my Ruger LCR with nite sites and a laser right now. And....I pretty much put the Kahr away for some time....until now.

I came back to this site and registered after some frustration with this gun. I have a particually stiff slide / spring. I've racked the gun ALLOT and have stored it with the slide locked open for several days. Still....its hard to rack and lock open for me and almost impossible for someone new to auto-loading pistols.

After reading most everything I could.....I decided to shorten the spring. I started with a 1/3 coil and then checked it. Took nearly a full coil. Slide still seems quite stiff....but it is more manageable than before.

I've really tried to like this CM9.....and if it wasn't for the extremely stiff slide I could get past some of the other issues - to which there seem to be good solutions on this site. I know these small guns push the envelope a bit. (Still....I'm with others that say better QC should be solving some of these issues before now on this brand.) <-- hope this isn't too harsh from a newbie.

I'm going to try some standard loads in it at the range soon. See how it performs. Anyone have any further words of wisdom for me? I'm trying to like this gun.

How many magazines do you have? Do you experience problems with all of them? If you've only got one, and the fixes suggested above don't help, maybe a new magazine would be worth a try.

[foggy1111]

How many magazines do you have? Do you experience problems with all of them? If you've only got one, and the fixes suggested above don't help, maybe a new magazine would be worth a try.


Most of my magazine issues are with the seven rounder....and I have read about some solutions on this forum to give that a fix (thanks). I think I can get past the magazine issues.....I've made them drop free now.

My main complaint has been with the unusually stiff sllide. I really had to apply ALLOT of grip (all I have) and a good technique to rack the slide and operate the slide lock. This seemed unreasonably tough even after break in....so I have taken to clipping my slide spring. My gun would NOT be a reasonable choice for most women or those not familiar with operating a slide.

I wont get a chance to shoot the gun for a few weeks (after doing the spring clip) as I've gone deer hunting. :D

I will report my results after about 2 weeks when I get back from a hunt. Thanks for the ideas and support!