CM9 Light Strikes: Update

[hardscrabble]

I'll put this right at the top with an edit, so anyone interested doesn't have to do the entire enchilada again.

New CM9, prepped and lubed as per tech section before firing. Test fired, 50 S&B + 50 M855 Nato + 10 Federal Hydra Shock. 7 misfires appeared to be light primer strikes. All fired second time around, primer indents looked identical to primers that fired first time through.

Ceased fire. Stripped and cleaned pistol, including removing striker, striker spring and cleaning striker channel. Everything appeared well-finished and clean. Reassembled with "dry" striker channel.

Test fired 50 S&B + 100 or so M855 Nato + 15 Federal Hydra Shock + a half box or so of cheap Win stuff and had 8 more mis-fires.

So I sent the darn thing back to the factory.

Ian was polite and cooperative and sent me a shipping label. They had the pistol 14 days. The repair report stated "replaced slide. Tested good."

They also replaced the barrel.

The pistol was dirty, obviously test-fired numerous times. (That's a good thing.) Dry-firing the pistol produces a different "click" than before service, when it was pretty anemic compared to now. I can't imagine what was out of spec with the slide that produces a harder strike.

I can't test-fire the pistol until later this week. I'll post again if there are continuing issues.

Here's the original post:

Hi, all.

I did a lot of research while looking for the "right" pocket pistol. I'm a die-hard 1911 guy, but would rather carry something a little less obvious. Which led me to this site and all the good advice here. Luckily, I had the lube chart and break in advice all printed out well before I ever bought the pistol.

The research all led me to the CM9, and it's about what I expected: a well-engineered, well executed compromise among the important variables: finish vs. price, size vs. usability and function, weight vs. materials, etc. I'd be well satisfied, except:

Out of the first 300 rounds fired, I've had 15 misfires that appear to be light striker hits. I'm trying to decide what to do next, and I thought perhaps someone here could speak to possible solutions. The 300 rounds included 100 rounds of S&B. Those boxes were 7 or 8 years old, properly stored and appeared new. Also included were 150 rounds of M855 Nato 9MM produced by Federal. M855 is a high velocity (1200fps or thereabouts) cartridge, the ammo is also 7 or 8 years old (in terms of when I purchased it) and appears new. Both the S&B and the Nato have functioned flawlessly in the past, but I can't test it at the moment because my only other 9MM (a P226) is getting a tenifer face lift. I also fired 50 Federal hydroshocks, and I don't recall any issues with those. All misfires fired the second time around (after a cool down) except one S&B, which exhibited a badly deformed primer after the second attempt. The strike on the primer of the misfired cartridges did not appear to be different from the strike on the brass that fired the first time around.

Firing occurred in two sessions. The pistol was thoroughly cleaned. I removed the striker, spring, etc. after the first session and ran it dry during the second, which did not result in any improvement. A close examination of the striker and the striker channel did not turn up any burrs, tool marks, residue buildup, etc. The pin looks perfectly normal, the channel, while not high polish, is nicely finished, as is the breech face. The trigger pull is smooth and without hesitation.

So: nothing looks amiss. It's misfiring badly with two types of normally reliable ammo, but not the third. The pistol is clean and correctly maintained. That only leaves these:

-it's malfunctioning in a way I can't detect, such as weak spring, short stroke, interference with the pin in some way, etc. (has to go back for service)

-or the ammo has a "hard" primer, and this pistol is not designed or intended to fire all types of ammunition (in that case, it's going to be sold and I'll wait on the new Sig 9)

-or the ammunition has somehow deteriorated

With all the experience here, I'm really hoping someone has had a similar experience and can relate the outcome.

Thanks.

[hardscrabble]

Ah, well.

Spoke to CS at Kahr this morning right after I posted this and they are sending me a shipping label.

I'll let them (hopefully) sort it out.

I'm not disappointed. I've learned over the years that if you buy from a reputable company, and you're forced to send their product back to them due a problem, what you will get back is typically far closer to "spec" and much more reliable than what you bought off the shelf to begin with.

Silver linings, and all that.

CS at Kahr very helpful and didn't hesitate/speculate/interrogate...just "send it back we'll fix it for you".

[PYROhafe]

Welcome to the forum!
Hope they get it figured out for u. I hate to hear of a cm9 goin back to kahr, cause mine has been perfect from day one. (Haven't tried a whole lot of ammo types tho) let us know how it goes when u get it back.

[zamboni]

I would have gotten a box or 2 of new ammo to shoot through it before calling kahr. If your striker channel is nice and clean, I'm betting the problem is with the older ammo.

[ripley16]

I had light strike problems with a CW9 that I never could figure out. Kahr claimed they were caused by hard primers, but the one and only gun that this ammo ever had a light strike with was the Kahr. I suspect either the striker was a tad bit short, or the chamber a tad bit deep. This is the only Kahr I had this problem with... all the others are very reliable. I've never had problems with S&B, it's good ammo, and I shoot a lot of NATO ball 9mm, and I've never had one fail. Having this happen once is explainable, but over and over, IMHO, indicates a gun related deficiency. Good luck with the fix.

[hardscrabble]

Pretty much what I'm thinking. These same ammo lots functioned 100% in a couple of Glocks and couple of Sigs (some pistols mine, some owned by others) in the past year or so. Hard for me to believe it's because the ammo isn't new.

I'm betting something is out of spec and hoping whatever it is is obvious the first time around. If I have trouble when it comes back somebody is going to get to be the lucky owner of a very inexpensive CM9 that shoots almost every time the trigger is pulled.

Too early to bet on that, though. Too many good comments on Kahr service to think that they won't find it/fix it the first time.

[Replay13]

I have been shooting a lot of S&B ammo lately and its been 100% in my PM9.

I hope they get it sorted out for you, its a good pistol. Was the firing pin coming out of the bolt face far enough? It sounds like you checked out the striker and the channel really good.

Keep us posted,
James

[jocko]

being the gun is headed back to kahr it is a mute point for allof us to give suggestions. I don';t buy the hard primer stuff either. that IMO is a cop out. a good way to test things out is to buy new american brand ammo and test out. Light strikes can actually be an out of speck barrel even,, we can't test that out. light strikes are also caused by an out of spec trigger bar, which has happened more than any other light strike issue. We have seen though where kahrs have had barrel replacements and the light strikers went away. doesn't take alot to put the gun out of time and then "nothing" works, so probably best tolet kahr have it back . They wll get it right. ur attitude is positive so that helps alot. I wuld think 7-8 year old ammo should be OK but again we don't know that either, so always best to change brands and retest. Hell the military probably has 45 ammo in crates over 30+ years old and I am told that they even have thousands of 45 1911 mags loaded in crates that have vbeen that way for year. Kahr willget u right.

[DKD]

Now now JOCKO, although I am inclined to agree with you, over the years I have run into a few hard primers. Recently I ran into one that was of S&B manufacture. Upon examining the primer it was well struck and did fire when reloaded the second time around, which would in my way of thinking look like a hard primer. This also occurred during my break in on the second box of FMJ ammo being run through my P380. I feel your doing the right thing to send your CM9 back and let the pro's determine the problem and help correct any potential problems.

[jocko]

and did I not say to change to another brand and retest and buy American brand ammo and test out. anything is possable. If it doesn't do it with other brands, then IMO get away from S & b ammo.