Comments on: Kahr CW45 review

By: Rip Aycock

Rip Aycock — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 04:31:54 +0000

I’ve posted in this thread before, but I have to report that after another hundred rounds, I have still had no, repeat NO, problems with my CW45. It handles every round that I put through it, from some very old, and not particularly clean, reloads to Winchester hardball, with a variety of leftover Black Talons, Golden Sabers, Supervels, and even some reload semiwadcutters that I have no clue as to where I got them.

One thing that I might include here is that I discovered very quickly after purchasing my CW45 that regular 1911 magazines can be modified quite easily in it, and even that the 6 shot Officer’s model fit without hanging out past the bottom of the grip frame, and with the added advantage of costing only about half what the Kahr magazines cost. Maybe a of the problems that people have been experiencing with the magazines dropping out could be solved by using the modified 1911′s. It’s a cheap fix if it does work, and well worth trying.

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By: Carl Mumpower

Carl Mumpower — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:33:59 +0000

As an owner, I would discourage others from buying this pistol. Though the weight, trigger feel, accuracy, and handling are great – the most important thing for most of us in a weapon is reliability. I fired about two clips before the CW45 jammed with a round in the chamber. The gun shop I purchased it from was able to clear it with some heavy duty hand action. Ater that I fired about three mags and noticed the receiver pin coming out. I would push it back in and it would gradually work itself back out. Took it back to the dealer who’s exam seemed to indicate a broken or defective spring of some sort. The gun had to be sent back to Kahr for repair. Sorry guys, but a gun of this cost and reputation should not be sitting in your repair shop after 50 rounds or less. I read stories of this nature on line before I made the purchase, but chose to assume this were early versions. Mine wasn’t. I have a Kahr CM9 that I liked well enough to prompt me toward the CW45. My experience and the hassle factor make me wish I had stuck with the Glock brand that has performed flawlessly for me over so many years. Sorry Kahr, I understand that nobody’s perfect, but I’m hard pressed to imagine myself as a customer going forward. Reliability and perfect should come a lot closer than this.

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By: Jacob

Jacob — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 02:13:24 +0000

I just finished cleaning my pistol and was doing a search for Hogue Grips for my cw45 and came across this forum. I am surprised at the people who have had problems. I have had my cw45 for over a year and never had a problem. I’ve put several hundred rounds through it and it’s been flawless. I wasn’t expecting H&K quality when I bought it but I did expect it to rival Glock and Springfield and feel that it absolutely does that. I would recommend it any day.

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By: Larry

Larry — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:57:43 +0000

I bought my cw Kahr last week for $359.00 new in the box. I felt like it was too good of a deal to pass up. I allways read ahead about a gun I’m thinking about buying except for the Kahr. So when I came to this review I started thinking I would have to sell it. I went to the range waiting for the magazine to fall out or the slide stop to come out or just blow up in my hands but I was going to find out. I took 200 rounds of Remington 230 gr ball ammo. The first shot I fired at fifteen yards was in the ten ring of a twelve by twelve target. I kept reloading and firing untill the bullets were all gone with no problems at all. If I fire two hundred more rounds with no problems I will be satisified. I’m no macho man but the grips didn’t bother me but I was a brickmason for thirty years so that may have something to do with that. The triger was as sweet as could be. The size of the gun is allmost the same size as the Walther p22 except it’s just a little taller in the grips. Everybody these days are buying 380′s but untill I start having problems with the Kahr, I like the 45 better. I’ll bet Kahr has learned to work out the bugs before they ever sell another gun. I believe the camery is a good car but they got laxed in there quality controll and they had to do a lot of work to get back to where they were before the gas pedel problem. Kahr is going to have to do the same thing. I don’t doubt all the problems mentioned here but I think Kahr will fix them all. I love the way mine shoots and I really like the price. If I had any of the problems mentioned here I would be angry and sell the gun as soon as I could.

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By: Erik

Erik — Tue, 31 May 2011 12:17:33 +0000

Well After the first trip back from Kahr, The pistol had a trigger bar issue and still had stove pipes. So I had to send it back for a second trip to Kahr. Now after 250 rounds of Flawless range FMJ Shooting. I can now call this a reliable pistol. I was just very disappointed that I had to send the pistol back 2 times for service right from purchase for a pistol that was born on March 2011.

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By: Aaron

Aaron — Fri, 27 May 2011 18:45:06 +0000

I just purchased a Kahr CW45 last week and I love it. I was torn between the Kahr and a Glock 36. I shot 150 rounds without any malfunctions. This is a great self defense weapon and has become my gun of choice. The gun is accurate right of the case and well balanced. The sights make it easy to acquire your target quickly and I love the grip. I would definately recmomend this weapon.

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By: chilipepper

chilipepper — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 00:09:28 +0000

I just love internet forum fights.

They make me giggle.

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By: Erik

Erik — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 02:13:48 +0000

GB,
Gun was picked up today , hope the factory can make it right.

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By: GB

GB — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 12:59:18 +0000

Erik,
Slide stop -Try tightening the slide stop spring screw a slight amount.
Kahr will send you a new magazine catch to fix the magazine drops.
…or contact Kahr (make sure to ask that they pick up the shipping costs).
On kahrtalk.com, members are reporting turnaround time considerably less than what you say your dealer advised.

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By: Erik

Erik — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 19:23:53 +0000

Just bought a new CW45 and after 1st mag clean every shot after would jam, mag would drop & slide stop was coming apart from the gun , I even had an instructor look it over and said it’s not safe to keep shooting. Wow I’m so pissed, went str8 to dealer after range and they advised a month turnaround back from kahr! Wow all that for nothing… So sad

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By: Frank

Frank — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:26:54 +0000

Love my new CW45 over 300 rounds through it without one manfuntion. In fact I shoot it better than my CW9. No trouble with the grip and great to carry. Can’t go wrong for $439.00 out the door. Gave up my brick like Glock’s for this great carry and shooting pistols. I now have three CW45, CW9 and PM9 all great shooters with 0 malfuntions.

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By: Geoffrey to the Toughguy

Geoffrey to the Toughguy — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 18:42:23 +0000

Dude what are you talking about? Nobody I know that carries a weapon wants to get in a situation where they have to use it. It is a legal nightmare even if it is justified. As far as my experience I am four years USMC 0311 and five year LEO. I am also an experienced grappler who helps train Pro MMA fighters. You comments calling me a pussy are not justified and make me giggle. I don’t do much well except shoot and fight. But I can tell you that I am not anything close to a hothead looking for trouble. Fighting and shooting people also gets you into legal trouble whether justified or not. I believe in the old motto “The best fight is the one that was never fought.”

Now back to the subject. The Kahr CW45 I had was a piece o’ crap that the manufacturer admits to having a defect out of the box. That is a fact no “tough guy” or “pussy” can dispute.

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By: The Tough Guy

The Tough Guy — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 07:03:36 +0000

Geoffrey…

you’re an obvious pussy and the sole purpose of you carry a gun is so that you can act like a hot head. but sure enough, if you act like a hot head with the wrong person, you’ll find out what a pistol is really worth when you can’t deploy it or you can’t hit your target because he’s moving to fast. before you know it, you’re on the ground and your gun is used against you; and there’s nothing bullshido about that, it happens all the time. there are plenty of people who bring a gun to hand fight and the gunfighter loses.

therefore Mr. Pistol Pussy, calm down. and learn some real hand skills before you start carrying a gun; it’ll make a real man out of you. no one was trying to be tough. someone was just making a comment on the mag and the gun. but leave it to a gun toting worm like yourself to take it the wrong way.

lastly, if you are the type of person that starts sweating bullets in a confrontational situation YOU SHOULD NOT BE CARRYING A GUN!! a well trained person will see and use it; it’s called butterflies in your stomach and you ain’t going to hit shit. trust me

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By: highplainsman

highplainsman — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 14:10:37 +0000

Yeah! I would probably whine myself if the one I bought had caused me problems. My whine is the skinney grip but realize it would probably work fine for someone with smaller hands. As it is the Hogue grip will likely fix my problem. Failure to feeds and dropped mags would be unacceptable.

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By: GB

GB — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 03:29:55 +0000

Calling someone’s review “whiney” (I think you meant whiny) makes it no less pertinent than a fanboy’s review. The CW45 is a good handgun, but some have had real issues with them on an individual gun basis.

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By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 03:05:56 +0000

I just bought a CW45 this past Thursday and then read all of the whiney reviews of some of the guys on here. I must say – this was a great purchase. I put 150 rounds through the pipe yesterday (without cleaning the gun). Not a single problem. No mag drop, no misfeed, no problems whatsoever. I’m looking forward to shooting it again soon.

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By: highplainsman

highplainsman — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 21:18:22 +0000

As stated I like mine and if were the only pistol I had I would not hesitate to make it my primary carry. Still don’t have that Houge grip or spare mags yet so it sets home with my other non carrys. These are, in my opinion, good pistols.

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By: PColton

PColton — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 21:16:34 +0000

I am glad you are happy with your purchase. For me it was an expensive mistake. I had mine about 3 weeks and could not jettison it quickly enough. Fortune smiled upon my, as I was able to fian a Glock 30 to replace it at the same gun show I sold this POS off. Maybe those of you with tiny hands don’t have a problem with a CW45, for me it torqued in my hand and was hard to hold on to. And as for the 200 rounds, Kendall…have you read the manual? It is a required break-in…I realize what this gun is for (and yes, extended range sessions aren’t it) but since I don’t have a range in my back yard, I decided to follow the manufacturer’s break-in session all at once. What a mistake. So don’t consider it whining, Kendall, consider it absolute insistence that the firearm I trust my life to be 100% reliable, be it 50 rounds at a time, or all 200, or just 1. Malfunctioning weapons are not tolerated by me, and the reason why is immaterial. If it doesn’t work, I make it someone else’s problam.

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By: Kendall

Kendall — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 20:30:14 +0000

I bought a new CW45 yesterday. I read all the old-timey (2009) comments about falling mags, jams with different ammo, my hands hurt, etc.
I fired 50 rounds Remington 230 grain without a stoppage or the mag falling out. I dusted out the carbon with Q-tips and fired another 50 rounds with the same excellent results.
(As a CW I only expect to have to fire two rounds or at most one mag)
Several suggestions:
Quite whining.
Shooting 200-300 rounds at the range? You are using the wrong gun.
Mag falls out? Keep your thumb up and off the mag release button.
Kicks too much? – What did you expect? Get a .22
Grip hurts your hand? An economical solution is to send me a money order for $29.95 plus $6.95 S&H and I will send you a $7.00 golf glove.
This is a fine gun for its intended purpose.
Thanks Kahr!

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By: highplainsman

highplainsman — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 01:48:34 +0000

Bought one of these used (looks like new) at a gunshow last Saturday kind of as a replacement for the Ultra Carry I got rid of in a moment of weakness. Federal hardball seems to work 100% as does WW 230 gr hollowpoints. Compared it side beside with my G 27 Glock. I have shot Glock pistols a lot during the past ten years and it is my favorite carry so far. The Kahr is just a hair thinner about the same same heigth with a G23 mag with spacer in place. 7 rounds of 45 against 14 rounds of 40 with the G23 mag or10 with the regular 27 mag. Not sure this is a good trade off since size and weight are comparable. Street results seem to indicate te 40 with good 155 to 165 gr bullets is just as effective as 45ACP of any weight. That being said yes I like the 45, just not sure I like it well enough to take half the rounds plus the tacticle advantage of using G 22 (15 rounders) as backup mags. I found the CW 45 reliable (so far) Accurate when I take the time to master the long but smooth trigger. The only down side for me is the shape of the grip, I have long fingers. May try the Houge Handel as some others have indicated here and see if that helps. All and all I like the GW 45. It is a good looking pistol with a smooth action in a fighting caliber. It may be a keeper if I get some extra mags.

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