For 2005, the big news at Kahr Arms was the CW9, a compact, polymer frame pistol in 9mm with just enough cost-saving features to bring down the price about 20% below the other Kahr mid-size 9s. For 2006, Kahr took the next step and introduced the Kahr CW40, which obviously is a very similar pistol chambered for the .40 cartridge. The philosophy behind the CW Series is getting a bigger piece of the market share, by offering a well-built handgun with the Kahr reputation, but at a price that's more affordable.
So, just how do you manage that? Well, without really sacrificing performance, you replace a match polygonal rifled barrel with a conventional land and groove riffled barrel, next produce a slide that requires fewer machining operations and has simple engraved marking on the side, then you pin the front sight in place instead of fitting it in a dovetail cut. A more expensive machined slide stop lever is replaced with a metal-injection-molded slide stop. Finally, you pack the Kahr CW40 with only one magazine instead of two.
