Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Kahr CM9

Continuing my series of lectures on the Kahr C series pistols... Tonight the CM9, which I believe stands for Concealed Micro 9mm. FWIW the CW of the other models stands for Concealed Weapon.

Put 125 rounds through this little pistol this past Sunday and just like the CW9 and CW45, it proved itself to be an excellent self defense pistol even though it does give up a few things to the larger models.

For starters, it is definitely harder to hit with than the other two. Here are the very first ten rounds out of the brand new pistol. Winchester white box 115 FMJ, benchrest at 25 yards.



Not quite the impressive group of the CW45. This one spans 3 1/2" which is still considered good "combat accuracy". Anyway, being somewhat disappointed with it, I buckled down, held my tongue just so and fired ten more.



A bit better. The two farthest shots left and right are still 3 1/4" apart, but the middle eight span exactly 2", with that lower six shot cluster spanning 1".

This little gun definitely wants to shoot just like its big brothers and I'd be interested to see what it would do from a Ransom rest. But with only two fingers on the grip and a 4 1/2" sight radius it isn't conducive to benchrest shooting. But then, it's not made for benchrest shooting. I just wanted to establish a benchmark of mechanical accuracy. Seems to me that it has all the mechanical accuracy one could want.

This one hit right on for windage but low. Apparently the Kahrs are sighted for a particular weight of bullet, probably the most popular of the caliber. My handloads with 124 grain bullets hit about 1" high, so this piece is sighted for 124 grain bullets. The CW45 was sighted perfectly for 230 grain ammo, I'll have to try some 200 grainers there to see if they hit lower.

Recoil is easy as one would expect. The loaded pistol with 7 rounds of 124 grain ammo (6 in the mag and 1 in the chamber) weighs 19 ounces. It is controllable for rapid fire and double taps on my 8" gong at 7 yards are not difficult but it definitely takes more concentration on your aiming. More on that in a second.

Basically every good thing I said about the other two Kahrs applies to this one - mechanical accuracy, trigger pull, reliability are all excellent - so I won't repeat that but will give my opinions of this vs. the CW9.

This has a very powerful slide spring. It is definitely harder to pull back the slide on the CM than the two CW's. A grown man can do it but a woman or someone suffering from arthritis or something would have great difficulty chambering a round or locking the slide back. Heck, I lift weights regularly and have to admit it's about all I can do to lock the slide back. Hopefully it will loosen up some but for now it is really tight.

The main difference between this and the CW models is the shorter "two finger" grip. That is the pistol's main strength for concealed carry and also its greatest drawback - both for shooting and for drawing from a concealed carry.

The short grip lets it hide in a jeans front pocket where the CW9 won't. But that short grip is also the thing that impairs shootability. I wear a size Large glove but don't consider my hands too big, and I can only get two fingers around the grip, my pinky curls under it. That third finger is important in maneuvering a handgun around and it was easy to miss the gong when trying for a rapid target acquisition. My misses weren't far, on a man size target aiming center of mass I'd have hit the shoulder or gut, but not where I was hoping.

The short 6 round magazine with a bare metal base plate sticks out about 1/8" or so from the butt. The very first couple of shots it pinched my little finger curled around it. Once I learned where to place my finger that didn't happen anymore, but it's something to be aware of. Kahr makes a 7 round mag with a grip extension which would be nice for target practice but I just don't see the use of it except for a bigger capacity reload. The raison d'etre of the pistol is power in as small a package as possible, if you carried with a 7 rounder in place you might as well get the bigger CW9.

The sights are the same excellent white dot front and white square at the bottom of the rear notch so are easy to line up. If you take just a moment to aim it is easy to hit with. But it seemed I had to take another 1/4 or 1/2 second longer than with the CW models to really find my sight picture to insure a solid hit. Again I blame the lack of a third finger to hold it and the slightly shorter sight radius (only 1/2" shorter to be honest) doesn't help.

But with the slightly greater effort it takes to aim properly, the ironic thing is that it points beautifully. At the end of the day I tried ten rounds of instinctive shooting. I laid it on the bench, glued my eyes on the 8" gong, and as fast as possible picked up the pistol without looking at it, raised it to chest level and fired one round, no aiming at all. I hit that gong 10 shots out of 10 tries. That's a nice feeling. In a self defense situation you focus intently on the threat. It takes great training and mindfullness to focus on the sights if you're surprised and very scared. It's nice to know this thing will hit within a 4" radius of where my wide eyes would be looking.

The short butt makes it even easier to hide in an IWB position. You can keep it close to your side so the butt won't print at all when bending or sitting. But that smaller butt also makes it harder to draw in a fast but controlled manner. You only get two fingers on it as opposed to three with the CW models. I practiced with one and then the other (yes, I'm 60 years old and I do quick draws in front of the mirror - ya got a problem wit' dat?!) and could draw the CW9 a fraction of a second faster and get control of the pistol to point it where I wanted. The CM9 doesn't exactly slip out of your hand but it takes just that moment longer to get it positioned properly to fire accurately.

Now that may or may not be a problem. We don't generally have showdowns on Main Street anymore so each person will have to decide if a 1/2 second delay on a draw negates the greater concealability of the CM. Situational awareness could possibly overcome that 1/2 second.

And that's really the crux of someone's decision. The CW9 is more "shootable" and allows for a faster draw. It also carries one more round if that is important - 8 for the CW vs. 7 for the CM with both fully loaded. The CM is easier to hide. So it comes down to what someone would buy one for and where they would carry it. For a true pocket carry the CM9 wins hands down. For IWB carry I'd go with the CW9.

Either way, though, you'd have a reliable and accurate weapon with the full power of good 9mm ammo on tap.

I've been enjoying your Kahr reviews, thanks for sharing.

Something I forgot to mention are the differences between these C models and the more expensive P models.

The C models have MIM slide stop levers, pinned in polymer front sight, fewer machining operations on the slide exterior and the markings are simple engraving instead of rollmarking - these last two are cosmetic differences only. The C series ships with one magazine instead of two for the P models

P models have machined slide stop levers, dovetailed front sights and the cosmetic differences mentioned.

Finally, and this is something I think is in favor of the C models, the C series have conventional rifling and the P series have "match grade" polygonal rifling. The barrels start out as billets made by Lothar Walther, btw. Heck, if the C models shoot like they do, I'm curious how much better a "match grade" barrel would shoot!

But I like that conventional rifling becuase I shoot mostly lead out of my pistols. Now I don't know about the true harm of firing lead bullets in polygonal rifling, only that there is a controversy about it. There is none of that controversy with conventional rifling and I like that.

Finally, you owe it to yourself to get a Kahr catalog. It has a minimum of sales hype and a lot of good solid information about the pistols.

But mostly, just get it for the pictures. This young lady is featured on just about every page in a variety of outfits and is definitely worth the price of admission.

Jim,

Thanks for the Kahr reviews.... before I saw your reviews I had decided to ditch my CW9 for the smaller CM9. The CW9 was my belt carry pistol... replacing it with the XDs in 45 acp, picking up the CM9 for a pocket pistol. Tried the CM9 at my dealers and I can comfortably carry it in a front pocket.

Thanks,

Jerry

again... XDs, CW9 & P3AT

I'm getting my CW9 tomorrow


ddj

I hope to get a CW9 in the next few days, too.

As have I...

++1 -- Excellent writeups.

As I've mentioned before I have a CW9, 40, and 45 and am a big Kahr fan.

I was considering adding a CM9 (or 40), but your writeup convinced me that for my purposes it isn't needed (or even desireable).

My everyday dress allows me to easily carry/access the CW40 w/laser guard in a pocket holster in my left front pocket.

Thanks for the excellent reviews.

Paul

Thanks, I�m glad you guys appreciate these. As can be plainly seen I�m not a gunwriter, just an average guy who likes to shoot and who tries to keep an open mind and be somewhat objective. No combat or law enforcement experience here but hopefully my efforts will strike a chord with other laymen trying to find a decent firearm amidst all the conflicting opinions floating around. And that my impressions of these will be of use to others in the same boat.

Besides, it�s always a lot of fun to yak endlessly about your new stuff.

I'm just bumping this to the top to see if anybody else has any worthwhile thoughts. I'm seriously considering a CM9 that a buddy has for sale...

My wife bought me a CW9 for Christmas. I finally got to shoot it today and it never missed a beat. I run a couple hundred Winchester white box and some off brand stuff I had in it.

A really nice carry gun for the money.

Dink

I really, really like the kahr pistols that i've used...

I personally,though, would have trouble funding the unification church through purchase of a Kahr...

Mine hasn't missed a beat yet. It's essentially an "economy" version of the PM9. I don't like the cheap, pinned plastic sights, and I have some lingering doubts about longevity, but so far it is a solid little shooter and a good choice for concealed carry.

Trijicon now makes Tritiums for the CW series, $80/set direct from Kahr, Dawson Precision has night sights for the CW's as well.

Jim,

The wife and I each got one in early summer. We really like them.I carried mine a lot in front pocket and recently got a Foxx IWB holster which I'm trying to break-in for both strong and weak side carry. memtb

Wanted to update my thoughts on this a bit. Originally I wrote:

"Kahr makes a 7 round mag with a grip extension which would be nice for target practice but I just don't see the use of it except for a bigger capacity reload. The raison d'etre of the pistol is power in as small a package as possible, if you carried with a 7 rounder in place you might as well get the bigger CW9."

But after thinking about this and carrying both the CM9 and CW9 around, I can really see the value and versatility of getting the smaller CM9 and then an extra 7 round magazine with the grip extension. That way, if your wardrobe or other situation required maximum concealability, you could use the 6 round flush fitting magazine. But if the situation allowed you to conceal a slightly longer grip, you could slip the 7 rounder with grip extension in it and have the shootability advantages of the CW9 without having to go buy another pistol. Sort of the best of both worlds.

"I personally,though, would have trouble funding the unification church through purchase of a Kahr..."

johnw,

I read a couple of years ago (on a gun forum) where he renounced his father's church and does not support it.

All second hand to me, but worth checking out if it may be a stumbling block to someone.

Jerry

Justin Moon can denounce what he wants... Kahr arms is owned by Saeilo, which is a subsidiary of Tongil.
Tongil is 100% owned and controlled by the unification church.

Jim thanks for the review, I like my pm9 a lot, the 45 is tempting as well. As far as the Moonies owning Kahr, as long as they believe in Jesus Christ and not Allah, they don't bother me.