Kahr P45....anyone have one?

[fishAK]

I just picked one up that was on sale. Really wasn't planning on it, but it felt good in my hand, is small enough to comfortably conceal on my skinny frame, and it was a good deal so I figured what the heck. Anytime I can get a new weapon from the factory with night sights for less then MSRP without night sights I call it a good deal.

Anyway, wondering if anyone has any experience with this and what your impressions are. I'll have to run a couple hundred rounds through it this weekend, which should give me a good feel for it.

[fishAK]

Ooook....

So, has anyone shot one? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

[FiremanMike]

I was giving one a lot of though, but I'm going the Glock 36 route instead..

[jwise]

FishAK, looks like you're going to have to pull the job of evaluating that specific model for us, and posting an exhaustive review!

Glad you got such a good deal on it. That always makes owning more enjoyable....

[jswwjw]

I have the CW 45 and like the feel of it as well as the concealability. Down side was it had to go to Kahr twice to work correctly.

[County222]

Kahr Owner

If you buy one new, follow the directions and shoot at least 250 rounds before putting it into service. I have a P40 and its was not failure resistant until the initial 200 rounds went down the barrel.

Just my .02

[55-502]

I have a Kahr PM-9, and I will risk my lifetime membership in the "Tuff Guy Club" and say that I can't even imagine the amount of recoil with a .45 in that small frame. I tried a Glock 26 the other day, and it had half of the recoil of my PM-9.................having second thoughts!

502

[amw315]

i have a CW40 and it has had to be taken back to Kahr once already....when it works properly, it is quite accurate for a small, lightweight pistol...but the recoil on the .40 is pretty crazy, can't imagine for a .45

[K40]

I have had both a CW45 and now a CW40. The CW45 was completely reliable over about 500 rounds, both FMJ and JHP. I sold it to a fellow officer back when I needed some $$, and he is completely happy with it. It is his daily carry on and off duty now.

Having decided to go all .40 caliber for my semi auto pistols, I just picked up a CW40. It had 1 FTF in the 200 round break-in period, and that was easily cured by tap/rack. The recoil on the .40 is actually a bit more stout than the .45 ACP. .40 is a higher pressure round, and the recoil is snappier than the lower pressure .45. However, I have found no Kahr pistol in 9, 40 or 45 to be unmanageable.

As a matter of fact, I would take their smallest, hardest recoiling pistol (PM40) over a J frame revolver with .38 +P loads any day of the week. While the recoil does flip the muzzle a good bit in the larger calibers, it doesn't smack the hell out of your hand like a .38 J frame does. If you are recoil sensitive, I highly recommend a Hogue Handall Jr. grip sleeve. It makes 100 round sessions in my CW40 fun. Otherwise, the front and backstrap grip checkering is a bit sharp for comfort in extended sessions.

Having owned several Kahr pistols, all of which I was satisfied with, I found that racking the slide manually 200 times before putting the first round downrange really loosens the pistols up a bit and makes for smoothness and reliability. Kahrs are special purpose pistols, they are about as light and thin as you can make a pistol in a service caliber. They have excellent triggers and real, usable sights. For an absolutely concealable, "forget it's there" lightweight pistol that packs a real punch, I don't think they can be beat.

[fishAK]

My 200 round review

Alright, I got out and got to play a bit today with the new P45.

Before I start my "review," my disclaimer is that I am not a weapons expert and don't claim to be. I have, however, done a fair amount of shooting with a variety of weapons, so I'm not totally clueless, either. I'll keep this fairly short and to the points.

Reliability: So far it was good. No FTF's at all, no jams or stovepipes. I was using both FMJ and JHP 230grain and had no feed or firing issues. I lubed it before firing, but not during. Exactly the 200th round fired, but the slide did not lock back. That was the only malfunction, and that is probably due to the other 199 rounds with no cleaning or lubing.

Recoil: Yes, it has a lot, but I found it surprisingly manageable. I also have a Kimber Ultra CDP II, which is roughly the same size and weight, and I have more difficulty with that recoil. It's interesting to note that the Kimber and Kahr have completely different recoils. The Kimber kicks up and twists, which is where I have difficulty rapidly re-acquiring the target. The P45 is an entirely vertical recoil, which keeps you essentially lined up with the target; you just need to lower the barrel straight back down, which allowed for some pretty accurate high-speed shooting.

Accuracy: From about 10 yards I could hit pretty much whatever I was aiming at. I was in a gravel pit and didn't have any official targets or measurements, so that is just an estimate of distance. I honestly can't say exactly how accurate on a point scale it is because I was shooting empty pop cans, empty auto oil bottles, etc. I wasn't really trying to be super accurate or technical on the accuracy as my main concern was getting as many rounds through the little pistol that I could in a short period of time to break it in. I'll work more on its and my accuracy later.

Overall impression: I like it. Once familiarized with the amount and type of recoil, I was quite relaxed and comfortable shooting the P45. I need to put some more rounds through it before deciding how trustworthy it will be in the long-run, but so far I am impressed and pleased with the purchase.

Other notes: The grip quickly chaffed the skin on my thumb knuckle, so I had to put some shooting gloves on. This is not designed to be a high-volume plinker. Custom grips are probably coming as an addition soon, if I can find some. It did not take much time to get used the long pull of the double-action trigger. I was a little concerned about this at first, but it turned into a non-issue for me.