P45 or cw45?

[O'Dell]

My CM45 [replacement for a stolen PM45] Is my favorite carry pistol. The CW 45 functions mostly as a range gun and HDW. Both have been perfect as far as reliability is concerned.

[BabyMaker_45]

I have only owned the cheaper series, but i have a p45 on the way.
there is no longer a 300 dollar price difference.
just bought the p45 on buds for 425.
since its only a 100 buck price difference id go with the p series now, simply for the nicer slide.
I hate the laser engraving.
also the recoil spring looks captive and steel.
on my cm9, often the recoil spring would actually stick outta the gun if it wasnt put together perfectly.

my point is, when the p series was 600 bucks or more , the cw series was value.
at this new price range.....

[wyntrout]

The P's have a single recoil spring and guide rod, not a captured spring. I prefer this and it's cheaper to replace the single spring.

I got in a couple of the Kimber 1911 officer's mags today from Midway. I didn't spend much time with the mags, but did notice that they didn't seat well with the slide forward. The retention slot needs some metal removed from the top side, otherwise the slide won't fully go into battery because the mag sits too high. After doing that and loading 7 rounds, I cycled them through the pistol and the slide wouldn't lock back on an empty mag, even after tweaking a bit with needle-nosed pliers. I put a Kahr follower in the mag and that worked, but cut capacity to 6 rounds, which will be okay, if the mags work reliably. I just want flush-fitting mags and Kahr steel bases aren't available for the .45, as there are for the 9mm and .40 S&W. I'm looking for maximum concealment and even an eighth of an inch is a help.
I'll have to test these at the range. I have several other brands that I've worked with and wasn't happy with any of them and kind of gave up on the 1911 mags... AGAIN. I had tried to get something to work in my PM45, even though they would protrude from the bottom.
I also want to get some of the extended mag bases to cut down and use with the 6-round mags. I kind of botched one of the "flush-fitting" six-round Kahr bases. I got carried away sanding and it's a bit rough, but smaller.

[gb6491]

The P's have a single recoil spring and guide rod, not a captured spring. I prefer this and it's cheaper to replace the single spring.

I got in a couple of the Kimber 1911 officer's mags today from Midway. I didn't spend much time with the mags, but did notice that they didn't seat well with the slide forward. The retention slot needs some metal removed from the top side, otherwise the slide won't fully go into battery because the mag sits too high. After doing that and loading 7 rounds, I cycled them through the pistol and the slide wouldn't lock back on an empty mag, even after tweaking a bit with needle-nosed pliers. I put a Kahr follower in the mag and that worked, but cut capacity to 6 rounds, which will be okay, if the mags work reliably. I just want flush-fitting mags and Kahr steel bases aren't available for the .45, as there are for the 9mm and .40 S&W. I'm looking for maximum concealment and even an eighth of an inch is a help.
I'll have to test these at the range. I have several other brands that I've worked with and wasn't happy with any of them and kind of gave up on the 1911 mags... AGAIN. I had tried to get something to work in my PM45, even though they would protrude from the bottom.
I also want to get some of the extended mag bases to cut down and use with the 6-round mags. I kind of botched one of the "flush-fitting" six-round Kahr bases. I got carried away sanding and it's a bit rough, but smaller.

Wyn,
With my CW45, I found that the upper profile of the 1911 magazines I use was a bit too tall. To prevent them from hitting the slide, I trimmed some material from the top of the magazines, forward of the feed lips. I can still use these magazines in my Colt CCO. I've yet to find an OEM 1911 magazine follower that will lock the slide back reliably (folks say that the 1911 ACT-MAG will do this), so I do use the Kahr follower and spring in my dedicated CW45 1911 mags.
Here's a shot of an unmodified Officer's magazine, a modified Metalform magazine, and a Kahr magazine:

Unmodified 1991 magazine > Modified 1911 magazine

Regards,
Greg

[wyntrout]

Thanks, Greg. I've done all kinds of mods like that, but wasn't satisfied with reliability. The retention slot wasn't as tall on these SS Kimber mags and caused them to sit higher. The filing away some of the upper part made the mag fit a bit lower and no need to slam the mag in. I still have to do a bunch of testing. I just swapped followers and left the Kimber spring, since it seemed to work.

I need to get to the range this week after a bit of work preparing these two mags.

I have several others that other people have used, but every time I think that I have the solution, testing with carry ammo muddled the results and trying to get other things working smoothly was just driving me nuts... too many things at one time, so I just stuck with the Kahr mags and tried making one base smaller.

I need to order some more mag parts followers and extended bases to cut down. I've tried using 9/40 mag springs, too. I find it strange that I'm the only one to ever complain about the extended .45 mag springs being the same ones used for 5, 6, and 7-round mags now... the 14-coil springs. I had all of those replaced several times, but in sending my mags back for splitting Kahr replaced them with the 14-coil ones instead of the 18-coil ones. When ordering more extended mag springs, I could only get the 14-coil ones now.

I had some Wolff springs for the 9/40 and put those in several extended mags... seem to work okay, sure strong enough. The 14-coil ones are pretty wimpy for the larger .45's.

Dang! It's 80 degrees here already at a quarter to 11am! Gonna be hot today!

Wynn

[BabyMaker_45]

Coulda sworn id posted a reply on here already.
just wanted to point out that there is no longer a 300 dollar price difference.
U can get the p45 for just over 400 new now on buds. 100 bucks more for the premium model now is a good deal!

[wyntrout]

Yes. That's great! I paid $825 for my PM45 8 years ago and got an extra 6-round mag and a cap for that online. That was about $200 off retail! I was happy to do that and after 6 trips over the next 7 years or so back to Kahr, they let me swap for a new P45 last year. My PM45 had a lot of problems and at least 3 times was destroying magazines, even after a new frame. When it did it again last year the former head of Customer Service said maybe it was time to think about replacing the pistol. The only thing original was MAYBE the slide lock lever, and they did send me two of those, but SS ones that I returned one time.
I think the P-series is the perfect size, as easy to carry as the PM's, since I use the same holster for PM9 through P45, my Crossbreed Minituck that I bought for the PM9.

With the price drops, Over a year ago I upgraded my SS P40 to a DLC one and bought the 4" ported barrel for it. I finally starting to carry the P45 instead of the P40 just recently. I use the Winchester 230-grain Ranger-T ammo for carry. That was the number one for expansion and consistent penetration in the Lucky Gunner concealed pistol ammo testing, so I really feel well-armed now.

Wynn

[BabyMaker_45]

I have carried a glock 21 or a colt commander for several years.
carried a 5 inch kimber a few times this week, and i suddenly remmeberd why i wanted a smaller gun.
I picked up a shield, and its reliable, but the trigger leaves alot to be desired.
its not crisp, like some others and is mushy.
now I Realize its a carry gun and not meant to be a range piece, but i remembered how smooth the trigger was on the kahrs, and when i saw the price drop on buds, i went for it.
hoping that the new p45 can fill the role of my go to gun. my gf likes the shield and wants it anyway.

i almost went with the pm45 myself and might still get one in the future if this p45 turns out to be a great shooter.

while i had issues with my cm9, it was accurate. Very accurate.

I grew up with a revolver so the kahr trigger is right up my alley

[BabyMaker_45]

Took posession of the p45 today.
as described above, it has the single non captured recoil spring.
it came with 3 magazines, 2 6 rnds and 1 7, and a nice case.
wasnt expecting 3 mags so thats a nice touch.
the rollmarked slide(i think) looks much nicer then the laser engraving i had on my cm9.

I must say i think this is going to replace the shield.
the trigger on it is just nice.
smooth and crisp.

prolly cant go wrong either way.
i havnt been able to shoot it yet, as iv had it for 2 hours, but i will soon

[wyntrout]

The trigger on my P45 is really smooth and light. I know it's over 5 pounds but I have to find my trigger scale and check it again. i know it's in one of my gun show bins, but buried a bit and I was hurried the other day, having to cook dinner.
I have a big problem with trying to stage the trigger on follow-up shots. Quite a few times I have premature shots, usually hitting the letter-sized paper at 7 yards, but perplexing to me. It's just such a smooth trigger with no "step" or resistance to warn let off.