Kahr CW9 FTE x2

[JNMAR]

My employer has owned this pistol for about a year or a little over. 100 or so rounds down the tube and he has a FTE and feels something hit him in the chest. The head of the round partially separated, broke the ejector and dislodged the rest of the ejector piece, forward ejector pin and accompanying spring. He took it to his gunsmith in Fort Worth who wouldn't order the parts so my boss ordered them online then took it back to the gunsmith to install the parts. All was well until last weekend. He was shooting with my wife, actually she was shooting several of his guns to help her decide what she might like for a carry gun. Same thing happened. Head of last round in clip,,,oppppps, I mean magazine lol, partially separated and blew out the broken ejector, pins, and spring. Oddly enough again something hit her in the chest when it broke. At this point the gun probably has had less than 300 rounds fired since new.

This time he asked me to order the parts and install, then shoot it until I was satisfied that it wasn't a gun problem or perhaps an ammo problem. I'm not sure what ammo he was using either time. He did have a stash of very old FMJ stuff that I had told him to get rid of, he thought he got rid of it all but isn't 100% sure. I had had one of the old stuff completely separate on me a year or so ago so I was pretty sure the old ammo was unstable at the least.

Today I installed the new parts and fired a couple of magazines of Rem FMJ and everything worked perfectly. I'll give it some more exercise when I have more time but for now at least it works as it is supposed to.

My question is: are any of you aware of any ongoing issues with the CW9 regarding case separations and/or ejector blow outs. I've done a couple of searches with Google and have only come up with one other such complaint. I think this gun is rated for +P ammo but there's not one +P 9mm round on the property. Also all of the old ammo I mentioned had really darkened cases and bullets so I would think one mixed in with new ammo would be quite obvious. Any ideas, suggestions, or knowledge to share with me? Oh I've already told him that if it happens again it's going back to Kahr to let them check it out but until then any help would be appreciated.

Jerry

[mrvmax]

I just picked up a used one from my brother. He had about 300 rounds through it and I put another 100-200 with no problems.

[mr surveyor]

Those incidences sound like ammunition failures. The CW9 is an extremely stable and durable platform, and not known for any history of malfunctioning. If this happened with clean factory ammunition I would suggest sending the gun to Kahr to check for timing issues though.

surv

[Scott in Houston]

$20 he's shooting reloads.

[AEA]

[Capt Jeff]

A CW9 is my EDC. Have had it for a couple years now and have maybe 800 rounds through it. Since the initial break in (approx 200 rds), I have not had any problems shooting a wide variety of different factory brand ammo - FMJ and JHP self-defense rounds.

I agree about sending it back to Kahr for a check-up.

[Excaliber]

It's too much of a coincidence that it's happening with the last round in the magazine each time.

Check the gun to make sure its fully in battery (slide fully locked closed) on each round for a while.

Out of specification ammo is the most likely cause, although not the only one.

Although it is unlikely, it's still possible that there's some interplay between the slide follower and the slide, complicated by a disconnector issue that allows the gun to fire with the slide slightly out of battery. That's a lot of very unusual things coming together, but if they do, it would be a very bad thing.

[Sputz]

I just bought a cw40 for summer carry and ran 150 rounds of reloads through it without a problem. The gun runs like a champ. Might try polishing the ramp and throat the chamber. I did that to mine before even taking it to the range.

Nemesis

[JNMAR]

$20 he's shooting reloads.

That's a very foolish bet Scott, if I had any idea you'd pay up I'd send you my mailing address. It has never had a reload fired through it unless it was at the factory and I seriously doubt they mess with reloads either.

[JNMAR]

It's too much of a coincidence that it's happening with the last round in the magazine each time.

Check the gun to make sure its fully in battery (slide fully locked closed) on each round for a while.

Out of specification ammo is the most likely cause, although not the only one.

Although it is unlikely, it's still possible that there's some interplay between the slide follower and the slide, complicated by a disconnector issue that allows the gun to fire with the slide slightly out of battery. That's a lot of very unusual things coming together, but if they do, it would be a very bad thing.

Thanks for the sound advice, Excaliber. When I get around to shooting it again I'll be sure and check to see that it's going into full battery after each shot. It was puzzling to me that it was the last round in the mag each time also.

I'm not sure what ammo he was shooting the first time, I wasn't at the ranch when he was there. This last time they were shooting 115 gr Rem FMJ. Some of the cheaper stuff but I wouldn't expect it to be out of spec...but maybe so.

[Excaliber]

It's too much of a coincidence that it's happening with the last round in the magazine each time.

Check the gun to make sure its fully in battery (slide fully locked closed) on each round for a while.

Out of specification ammo is the most likely cause, although not the only one.

Although it is unlikely, it's still possible that there's some interplay between the slide follower and the slide, complicated by a disconnector issue that allows the gun to fire with the slide slightly out of battery. That's a lot of very unusual things coming together, but if they do, it would be a very bad thing.

Thanks for the sound advice, Excaliber. When I get around to shooting it again I'll be sure and check to see that it's going into full battery after each shot. It was puzzling to me that it was the last round in the mag each time also.

I'm not sure what ammo he was shooting the first time, I wasn't at the ranch when he was there. This last time they were shooting 115 gr Rem FMJ. Some of the cheaper stuff but I wouldn't expect it to be out of spec...but maybe so.

If the ammo is factory stuff, I wouldn't be looking at it as the most likely issue. If it's reloads, the reverse is true. Remember that some folks will put reloads back in original factory boxes, so the packaging many not mean anything.

[JNMAR]

If the ammo is factory stuff, I wouldn't be looking at it as the most likely issue. If it's reloads, the reverse is true. Remember that some folks will put reloads back in original factory boxes, so the packaging many not mean anything.

He buys the ammo for both of us but he don't go to gun shows and neither do I. He doesn't buy form individuals or order online. Neither of us reloads. I think he usually buys it at Walmart, Cabela's, Bass Pro, or a couple of his favorite gun dealers over in the Fort Worth, HEB, Grapevine area but I'll ask when he gets back from Canada next week. I would be really surprised it it wasn't original factory ammo as packed and sold at the retail shops.

He said he'd never had any issues with the gun outside of these two events. It's been perfect every shot till it's not. He always cleans his guns after each use. The gun was basically clean when I took it apart. I think they shot two mags through it before it blew the ejector out. Of course there was plenty of powder residue from the case separation but other than that it was clean.

[Excaliber]

If the ammo is factory stuff, I wouldn't be looking at it as the most likely issue. If it's reloads, the reverse is true. Remember that some folks will put reloads back in original factory boxes, so the packaging many not mean anything.

He buys the ammo for both of us but he don't go to gun shows and neither do I. He doesn't buy form individuals or order online. Neither of us reloads. I think he usually buys it at Walmart, Cabela's, Bass Pro, or a couple of his favorite gun dealers over in the Fort Worth, HEB, Grapevine area but I'll ask when he gets back from Canada next week. I would be really surprised it it wasn't original factory ammo as packed and sold at the retail shops.

He said he'd never had any issues with the gun outside of these two events. It's been perfect every shot till it's not. He always cleans his guns after each use. The gun was basically clean when I took it apart. I think they shot two mags through it before it blew the ejector out. Of course there was plenty of powder residue from the case separation but other than that it was clean.

You've got a good mystery going here. I'll be very interested to see what the cause finally turns out to be.

[mr surveyor]

If not the ammunition, and not a timing issue, the next place to look is an out of spec barrel. The Kahr barrels are designed to handle any and all (+P included) SAAMI spec ammunition, but is is always possible a bad barrel slipped through the process. I have a CW9 that's had a little more than 1k rounds through it in two years and never the first hiccup. If it is a gun related issue that a parts change don't fix, I would strongly suggest a trip back to the mother ship before someone suffers an injury. Kahr has excellent CS.


surv