Kahr CW40 .40S&W           

 

Years ago, a few friends of mine had bought nifty little Star Firestar 9mm pistols for use as carry pistols. It was a neat little compact pistol with enough pop to dink the bad guys plenty bad. I passed up on buying one at the time, and wished I had gotten one ever since. The years passed, and I tried various pistols as self-defense carry pieces. Almost all of which were too big to really forget they were there during normal activity. But they did the job. By and by I forgot all about the little Firestar pistols. I eventually bought a PA-63 in 9x18mm, and used it as a small carry piece. It was about the same size and design as the Walther PPK, and the 9x18 cartridge was a little stouter than the .380ACP so I was happy. This combo worked for a dozen years, and I carried the PA63 without incident happily all that time...which is really the way we all hope it should be...have it, but don't need it. Eventually I bought a new Walther P99 and then my FNP-40 to act as carry arms, and I sold the trusty old PA-63 to a pal for about what I had bought it for ten years earlier. (I eventually got it back!)

Almost immediately I began regretting this decision. For as fine a firearm as both the P99 and the FNP are, they are much bigger and massive than the little PA-63 was. None-the-less, I persevered and carried the FNP when ever I felt the need to carry, again without incident.

Then one day, I was playing "soldiers" with my two little boys, and one of them gave me a little, scaled down 1911A1 looking toy pistol. It was about half scale, and fit in my hand just so. I looked at it, and played with it, and realized it was just the size I was looking for. I was inside and on the internet in seconds looking up on gunbroker for used Firestars. I found a few, but found a whole bunch of other tiny weapons at the same time. One of them was the new Kahr CW9. The more I read, the more research I did, I realized I'd better get my tail down to the gunstore and take a look at some of the new generation little carry pieces.

As soon as I handled the Kahr I knew my search was over. I had read about its excellent accuracy and reliability on the internet, and, after actually handling one and finding it to be exactly the same size as my kids toy gun that had started this quest, I knew I had found the winner. I paid the man, and took it home. It served as my primary "carry" weapon for several years. My wife was quite fond of it, and has shot it on several occasions. I had worried a little about recoil in a small alloy and polymer frame, but it is negligible, and very comfortable.

Then one day I decided 9mm was just too dad-burned small. I sold the CW9 to a co-worker, and after several months delay, eventually picked up another in .40S&W.

I had used that time in between to examine several other choices, such as the Walther PPS, The S&W M&P 40c, and the...uh...other one I looked at but forgot what it's called...

In the end, I just couldn't get past the ergonomics, simplicity, and dollar value of the Kahr. I bought a new one in .40S&W. The only issue I have had with the .40, is that it is difficult to unload a live cartridge from the chamber. It takes three hands to unload an unfired round. It seems the ejection port is sized for spent brass, and the loads I have (with bullet still in place) are just a tad too long. I haven't heard of anyone else reporting this issue. Apparently I'm the only one who carries "hot".

This is only an issue if you never actually 'fire' the weapon. It works great when the trigger is pulled.

One day, I'll get around to replacing the photos here with those of the actual .40.

Rest assured they are so similar in apperance, you're not missing anything.

It's an excellent little pistol, and I think dollar for dollar and ounce for ounce an excellent package.

                                               

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