Kahr CW45 review

As some know, I'm a .45 guy.... specifically, a 1911 type .45 guy. I recently sold one of my prized Kimbers for the purpose of generating a little cash AND to get a gun I can carry more often. I've been watching Kahr since they first came out in 94, and always thought they were a great idea but never shelled out the cash. I bought Kel-Tecs instead, and have never kept one more than 6 months. (Although the P11 was a reliable, fine shooting pocket gun).
So I bought the CW45 - a downscaled Kahr, lacking some of the finer points of the P series but an an attractive pricepoint. I bought through GunGenie, (which is an experience in itself) and had it delivered to a Las Vegas range for pickup.
Nevada is one of the weird states that actually requires qualification with your concealed weapon of choice. Weak hand 6 rounds 3 yards; strong hand 6 rounds 7 yards, and two handed 12 rounds at 12 yards. I'm sure my round count is off, but you get the idea.
So- I pick the gun up, and head straight to the store's range for qualification. Got through the left hand set okay, got two rounds into the right hand set and the gun jammed- failed to go into battery. Cleared the
jam and continued. Two rounds into the two handed set, the slide stop fell out of the gun while chambering a round. Imagine the damages if this had happened in full recoil.

Okay.. possibly the slide stop wasn't fully pressed in from the factory. But, I'd checked the gun, racking the slide and getting a general feel before I even inserted the mag. Hmm.
Out in the desert, I loaded it up again. Started firing, and sure enough the slide stop pin worked its way loose again. Besides that, it would not chamber my reloads... something my Kimbers have never done.

Head for home, pretty frustrated and pissed off. A few good rounds with a Kimber doesn't change the idea I might have a POS for a carry gun. Write Kahr an email explaining the situation, and they send me a new SS retention spring. When I install it, I'm unimpressed with the engineering... a 1911 doesn't need any additional 3/8" diameter spring tacked to the outside rail to keep the slide stop in...?
So.
Moving forward on the break-in. I'm about 100 rounds into it, and still had a couple failures to enter battery with my reloads (they cause zero hiccups in the Kimber, and shoot much better than I do). At least the slide stop spring replacement seems to keep the gun together after 70 rounds, but I'm still not too happy about the chambering issue. During cleaning I polished up the ramp and hood with the Dremel and jeweler's rouge, we'll see if that takes care of things.
The Kahr is as accurate as it needs to be in it's intended close quarters situation, and I was keeping 4 yard double taps inside the 6 ring on a B27 target.
The checkering does raise blisters on the palm- either that or it's from loading the very stiff mag. I'll see if that loosens up a bit too, but I doubt it will.

I'm still evaluating, and wondering if I made a mistake. If anyone's interested, I'll continue the thread as I get to shoot the gun.

 

Not that it is the same but I have a K40. It took a few hundred rounds to break in, I started to feel the same way about it being a POS with all of the FTE and FTF but after around 500 rounds all of the issues have vanished. I currently have around 4000 rounds on the k40 and no issues with factory loads Winchester Ranger HP and Ranger FN target rounds are all I use. I did have some FTF with some reloads a while back.

 

I have a CW45 also..same issue with the slide lock pin when I first bought it. After breaking it in, for some reason I don't have that issue anymore. I made a habit of checking it frequently though. Oh, I also put a Hogue Jr slip on grip on it..much better feeling weapon now..