Kahr PM series

[Remington 51]

At about 1000 rounds, mine has been fine. 2 yrs old. No problems, ever.

[Bandit]

0 problems with my PM9 to date ar ANY of the Kahrs I own (P9, P45 and PM9)...

[ckd]

I will never purchase another Khar.

Had a PM9 that got worse with volume shooting, regardless of loads used. One of the strangest but true factory recommendations was not to sling shot, but only use the slide release, regardless of circumstances; that improved but never solved slide return hangs. Two other IDPA shooters became equally fustrated with the their PM series Kahrs and the non-customer serivce. Since we were all high volume shooters, I suspect we uncovered problems that most would not. None of use felt we could trust it for SD. We all spent more time and fustration trying to get an otherwise comfortable, accurate, great night sights, compact single stack semi-auto weened, because it was unique.

It sounds like a coin toss, you get a good one or a lemon; just don't think time and attention will convert a lemon to lemonade.

[Playboypenguin]

It sounds like a coin toss, you get a good one or a lemon; just don't think time and attention will convert a lemon to lemonade.

No, it does not sound like a coin toss. That is a gross misrepresentation. A coin toss would be a 50/50 situation. It seems like the majority of people that own them have had no issues what-so-ever and only a few actually have. Just as with any gun.

So far around 20 people have confessed to actually owning a Kahr and all but three of them have used the words "flawless" or "perfect" to describe the performance of the guns. A couple noted the need for a break in period and a couple needed repairs which they say were done well. Only two have said the guns do not work properly and one was an older model and another person did add that the .45acp was a bit of an issue for them. This all pretty much supports the finding I mentioned in my first post. Stay away from early models (a recommendation I make of any polymer gun) and avoid the .45acp versions and you will most likely be fine.

Also, anyone that would say Kahr has poor customer service would be on the receiving end of a bucket full of doubt from me about their story since I and many others that have dealt with Kahr know different.

[hdawson228]

Add one more completely satisfied Kahr owner. The entry level CW9 has been perfect out of the box.

[Halifax270]

Ditto... really falling in love with my P9.

[redrick]

I didn't vote sense I have a P9 and it is not through the break in period yet. I have had it 2 weeks now with 100 rounds through it, with 1 FTF and 1 fail to lock. Both failures were at the end of the first box of ammo and with different mags. There were no failures on the second box of ammo. I hope to put another 100 through it this week. I really like the size of this pistol so I really hope it is going to be reliable after break in.

[headbangerJD]

My Kahr P40 is my baby. I'm not sure a gun could be more perfectly sized. This gun fits great in my hand, yet disappears when i'm carrying. Its a pleasure to shoot as well.

[Jeremiah/Az]

My PM9 is my carry gun. It had 3 FTF in the first couple of mags,but with a slight bump of my off hand on the back of the slide, went into battery. It has been flawless since. Accuracy is unbelievably great!

[djc]

I had 3 FTF in my PM9 during the first 150 rounds. None during the last 150 with mostly JHP's.

I like it a lot. I need more holsters.

[Bigjim3]

I have owned 6 kahr pistols Pm's and k models. And my thouse are the guns I wished I had never got rid of. never one failure to feed missfire nothing. I cant say that about the others ive owned. (kimbers, Glocks, sigs. Les bare,) But thats just me and my luck. Maybe ive been lucky.

[Martlee]

Have an early PM9 bought new in April 2003. Not one FTF in all these years. Use all kinds of ammo. I trust it with my life.

[Van55]

Just for the record, I bought mine about 6 months ago (PM9) and had to send it back to the factory to get it to feed.

I specifically asked only people who have actually owned a Kahr PM to vote, and I would hope that the poll answers are honest from actual experience.

If, as the poll currently reflects, nearly 1 in 4 PM's has to get sent back to the factory due to problems, that certainly suggests that Kahr puts out more lemons than other manufacturers.

[Playboypenguin]

If, as the poll currently reflects, nearly 1 in 4 PM's has to get sent back to the factory due to problems, that certainly suggests that Kahr puts out more lemons than other manufacturers.

But the poll is not representative of reality. Just like none of these brand based polls are on these forums. The first hand accounts in this thread show lemons to be less than 1 in 10.

[lefteye]

No PMs (so I didn't vote), but my P40 is a fine gun. It fits my small hands; its a little too big for my small pockets but carries nice in the Mitch Rosen OWB; trigger is very good (but can't really be "staged" like a Para-Ordnance LDA); accuracy is excellent; and - yes - I'd rely on it in a close encounter. Also have a P45. It may just be too light weight for my small hands, but I haven't really shot it much (yet).

P.S. Internet forum polls are not scientific "random" polls, and therefore, show little more than the opinions of the respondents, including those who have NO personal experience upon which to base an opinion. This is not a criticism of respondents - it is merely an observation of fact. This pole proves nothing about the quality or reliability of Kahr arms.

[2DaMtns]

I got one from a fellow member on this board and I love it. It's big selling point is that it is so small, concealable, reliable, and relatively accurate for such a small pistol. I posted a brief range report on mine, and like I said there, one of my favorite things about it is that I shoot better with it with instinctive type firing than with slow, aimed fire. When I just lift the pistol from waist height and aim and shoot as fast as possible, I can put all 7 or 8 rounds out of it (depending on the magazine size) into a 3 or 4 inch group at 7 yds. Not great, but fine enough for what I need. I have not regretted the purchase once since.

[JohnPaul]

..and so far both have been 100 %. They are both newer. I have well over 1K thru the little guy and only several 100 thru his big brother. You can tell by my little colage that I really love my guns especially my KAHR's

[redstategunnut]

My PM9 has been perfect, out of the box. I count on it regularly.

[goldduster]

I have a CW40 which had 3 fail to return to battery near the end of my 200 rd break-in, which I did all at once. I just hit it with the heel of my hand and it went right into battery and fired properly. I attribute this to the fact that I did the 200 rds at the one time and it became very dirty and warm (ran out of lube), I fired 100 rds of Win JHP and 100 rds of UMC FMJ. After cleaning I fired two separate courses of 100 rds each without any problems. I do not feel the malfunction was the pistols fault and it has worked flawlessly ever since. I know it isn't the PM model, but everyone seems to be talking about Kahr's in general.

[2cooltoolz]

Van...I'm sorry you've had problems. I really like Kahr after owning three, but I am aware there have been problems. Please keep this thread alive when you get yours back. Tell us about your experience with Customer Service and how the gun performs when you get it back. Good luck! Hope it works out great for you!!

[HKFan9]

Honestly I don't think anyone could really say it better than PBP. I mean not only him being a true senior and respected member here, I think he at one point at least owned one of everything. I did the same thing he did when interested in the PM-9 and did some research, turns out all the bad things you hear are mostly false when it comes to Kahr. My local shop owner is a police shooting instructor and recommended, ordered, and sold me my Kahr because he carries a few different ones. I honestly could not be more pleased.

This is what I think of my PM-9...

Built like my H&K,
Reliable as my Glock,
And smaller than either.

If anyone wants to buy into poor rumors about Kahr I feel bad for them, I don't like making broad statements, but IMHO you can't find a better all time carry gun out there between the price, size, and caliber, as well as how well its made and performs.

[Van55]

Please keep this thread alive when you get yours back. Tell us about your experience with Customer Service and how the gun performs when you get it back. Good luck! Hope it works out great for you!!

I didn't mean to mislead. I did get the gun back from Kahr within two weeks. However I had communications issues with Customer Service (e.g. on hold for 15 minutes awaiting a human to respond; long delays in responding to emails.) I had to ship the gun to them at my own expense
($40.00). I have put only 100 rounds through it since I got it back and have had no further failures to feed. I'm not 100% confident in the gun yet.

However, as satisfied Kahr owners have indicated, it's almost the perfect size, weight and caliber for a pocket carry weapon -- which is what convinced me to invest in it in the first place.

To PBP: Maybe you're right that the poll overstates the problems. But what other gun manufacturer do you know of that turns out one lemon out of every ten of a given model?

[Playboypenguin]

Maybe you're right that the poll overstates the problems. But what other gun manufacturer do you know of that turns out one lemon out of every ten of a given model?

If you pay attention to threads on these forums Smith & Wesson, Colt, Glock, Kimber, Ruger, Sig, and Taurus all have at least that bad of a track record...usually worse.

You are not going to find a handgun made that does not get sent back to the manufacturer from time to time. Here is another little secret. Many of the guns received back by manufacturers have nothing wrong with them. People send guns back to be "fixed" for all kinds of issues that are not fixable. Like being a poor shot, not knowing than you cannot load 10 rounds into an 8 round magazine, not knowing the gun barrel is supposed to point up slightly with the slide back, etc.

[Van55]

Glad you got one of the good ones, PBP. Wanna trade for mine?

[Playboypenguin]

Glad you got one of the good ones, PBP. Wanna trade for mine?

Actually, I got three good ones from Kahr.

PS: You had to pay your own return shipping for a defective gun?

PPS: You say you sent a gun back and got it back fixed in 2 weeks and you are representing that as a bad experience?