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CK Thunder in 9mm......


MikieM

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I recently purchased a new CK Thunder SS steel grip in 9mm. Black with silver controls.

After 2000 rounds I find I am not all that impressed with the gun, considering it's cost.

Ejection of spent cases mostly comes back into my face. This is especially annoying when one hits my shooting glasses. Accuracy is mediocre (my best off-hand groups at 15 yards are about 3 and 1/2 inches), and the finish looks like it came from a spray can.

Does anyone else share these opinions, or am I being unfair? 

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I have three CK Arms handguns and all have been running flawlessly.  You might want to give Bobby a call and talk to him about the issue you are having.  I have spoken to Bobby on several occasions and he has always been very helpful to me.

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23 minutes ago, JMike said:

Have you contacted the builder with your concerns?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Yes, but I think Bobby thought my gun was a Thunder Open (it's a Limited) and suggested I up my power factor. I was then passed off to Matt Cheely who, after finding out it was a Limited gun, suggested I change recoil springs. It's all kind of hanging in the air at this point.

I may be naïve here, but for $3200.00 these guns IMO ought to doing everything but pick up the spent brass.

 

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3 hours ago, MikieM said:

 

1.  Ejection comes back into my face.

 

2.  my best off-hand groups at 15 yards are about 3 and 1/2 inches

 

I have never seen a CK, but have heard nothing but good things.

 

1.  doesn't sound right - may need an adjustment (how are you holding the gun?)

 

2.  I'd try some benched groups at 25 yards - accuracy should depend on YOU, the gun and the AMMO.

      Very possible it's the ammo not working great in that particular gun -  How large are your 15 yard

      off hand groups with any other gun you have?

 

Have you tried different ammo?   or, having someone else shoot it?

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5 minutes ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

 

I have never seen a CK, but have heard nothing but good things.

 

1.  doesn't sound right - may need an adjustment (how are you holding the gun?)

 

2.  I'd try some benched groups at 25 yards - accuracy should depend on YOU, the gun and the AMMO.

      Very possible it's the ammo not working great in that particular gun -  How large are your 15 yard

      off hand groups with any other gun you have?

 

Have you tried different ammo?   or, having someone else shoot it?

 

The only thing I have to compare it to is an Edge I used to own and the 15 yard groups are near the same. I'll try some different loads in the future, but I need to spend more time practicing at the moment.

The problem with the gun ejecting cases into my face and the bill of my cap is the biggest annoyance. I can fix that problem, in time, but that gets back to my original complaint about the cost of the gun. To my way of thinking when a person pays over 3 thousand dollars for a handgun there are no petty grievances. Everything should be first rate, including finish. This gun looks like it was painted satin black from a spray can.

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First off, offhand groups at 15 yards are no way to test accuracy. That much should be apparent. Get some bags or a rest and shoot some slowfire groups at 25, then report back.

As far as the brass hitting you in the face, that is poor ejector tuning, plain and simple.

I don't know about the finish, do you have pictures?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

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11 minutes ago, Gooldylocks said:

First off, offhand groups at 15 yards are no way to test accuracy. That much should be apparent. Get some bags or a rest and shoot some slowfire groups at 25, then report back.

As far as the brass hitting you in the face, that is poor ejector tuning, plain and simple.

I don't know about the finish, do you have pictures?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 

 

I agree that 15 yards off-hand is a poor indicator of accuracy. KKM barrels said their 9mm bull-barrels were good for 1 inch at 50 yards from a fixture.

My complaint is from the perspective of a shooter, and knowing what groups at 15 yards are like, I assumed they'd be better.

There are no flaws in the finish. The appearance is simply that of a painted on finish.

I tend to agree about the ejector. I'm just wondering what to do about it without sending the gun back.

Remember. My chief complaint is what the heck did I get for $3250.00.

Edited by MikieM
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If you could post pictures of the finish that would help others to see the finish flaws that you're seeing. 

 

Also, it looks like a "painted finish" but pvd/dlc just looks like that. Are there areas that shift color slightly where others don't or some other flaw in the finish? Otherwise, thats just how it looks.

 

 

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Well, to be totally honest I am going to say the accuracy (or lack there of) is probably totally on you. At least 95% of the time bad groups are operator error.

 

What is the finish? DLC/PVD? It just kind of looks like that, it has a matte-satin finish unless the surface was specifically polished to a high polish before applying. 

 

As far as the ejector, your only choices are either file the one that is in it, fit a new one yourself (easy) or send it back. Make sure to make them pay for the shipping.

 

The "what the heck did I get for $3250.00?" is a question I have wondered about for a long time with expensive guns in general. Even a factory STI at 2500 should be perfect. I can go buy a glock for 500 bucks and it will be entirely free of tool marks, shoot straight, and have a good finish on it. If they can do it for that much, what makes it so much for them to make one that probably doesn't even run? 

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26 minutes ago, KrymSIX said:

If you could post pictures of the finish that would help others to see the finish flaws that you're seeing. 

 

Also, it looks like a "painted finish" but pvd/dlc just looks like that. Are there areas that shift color slightly where others don't or some other flaw in the finish? Otherwise, thats just how it looks.

 

 

I would like to see some pictures of the gun also.  As I said earlier in the post I have three CK Arms handguns and two Freedom Gunworks handguns which shoot great and the finish on the guns looks pretty good to me.  I would guess that this is your first high end handgun.  I said the same thing when I left the Glocks and begun purchasing higher end handguns.  The first ones were STI's and each one had to be tweaked a little to get them to run just right. 

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19 minutes ago, Gooldylocks said:

Well, to be totally honest I am going to say the accuracy (or lack there of) is probably totally on you. At least 95% of the time bad groups are operator error.

 

What is the finish? DLC/PVD? It just kind of looks like that, it has a matte-satin finish unless the surface was specifically polished to a high polish before applying. 

 

As far as the ejector, your only choices are either file the one that is in it, fit a new one yourself (easy) or send it back. Make sure to make them pay for the shipping.

 

The "what the heck did I get for $3250.00?" is a question I have wondered about for a long time with expensive guns in general. Even a factory STI at 2500 should be perfect. I can go buy a glock for 500 bucks and it will be entirely free of tool marks, shoot straight, and have a good finish on it. If they can do it for that much, what makes it so much for them to make one that probably doesn't even run? 

 

Such is life.

I bought this gun simply because several of the posts here spoke highly of the CK guns. That and the pictures on the Shooters Connection website were all I had to go by. Perhaps I am being too picky. Who Knows.

However, I believe that by airing my dissatisfactions someone else who is looking to purchase a new gun for Limited division, might spend a bit more time in researching the options.

 

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2 minutes ago, S&W686 said:

I would like to see some pictures of the gun also.  As I said earlier in the post I have three CK Arms handguns and two Freedom Gunworks handguns which shoot great and the finish on the guns looks pretty good to me.  I would guess that this is your first high end handgun.  I said the same thing when I left the Glocks and begun purchasing higher end handguns.  The first ones were STI's and each one had to be tweaked a little to get them to run just right. 

 

Like I said earlier there are no flaws in the finish. What I'm saying is it looks painted. Maybe powder coated is more appropriate.

This is my third high-end gun.

Personally, I don't think a three thousand plus dollar gun should be tweaked at all, other than adjusting the rear sight.

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1 minute ago, MikieM said:

 

Like I said earlier there are no flaws in the finish. What I'm saying is it looks painted. Maybe powder coated is more appropriate.

This is my third high-end gun.

Personally, I don't think a three thousand plus dollar gun should be tweaked at all, other than adjusting the rear sight.

Yea, that is just how PVD finishes look unless they are specifically prepped to look different. Just know that for your next gun, and consider a different finish like hard chrome, cerakote or high quality bluing. 

 

I agree on the $3k gun comment. 

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2 minutes ago, tha1000 said:

If you want one to actually look decent after hard use, stick with hard chrome or stainless.  

 

Yes, indeed. The next one will be hard chrome, and it may be soon if this damn thing keeps spitting brass in my face.

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One other rant and then I'll leave this post to the archives.

You would think a gun as expensive as this would come with a Dawson tool-less guide rod. Well it didn't. Just a common guide rod with a hole in it. I had to supply my own paper clip to make it work.

But, here's the kicker. When the guide rod is in the gun you can look closely at the unfinished end of it and see tool marks.

That's it. I'm done.

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27 minutes ago, MikieM said:

One other rant and then I'll leave this post to the archives.

You would think a gun as expensive as this would come with a Dawson tool-less guide rod. Well it didn't. Just a common guide rod with a hole in it. I had to supply my own paper clip to make it work.

But, here's the kicker. When the guide rod is in the gun you can look closely at the unfinished end of it and see tool marks.

That's it. I'm done.

 

My SV that cost twice what your CK did has a plain ol guide rod. It's always a gamble buying a high dollar gun sight unseen. Every body puts out a lemon now and again. 

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25 minutes ago, MikieM said:

One other rant and then I'll leave this post to the archives.

You would think a gun as expensive as this would come with a Dawson tool-less guide rod. Well it didn't. Just a common guide rod with a hole in it. I had to supply my own paper clip to make it work.

But, here's the kicker. When the guide rod is in the gun you can look closely at the unfinished end of it and see tool marks.

That's it. I'm done.

I don't have or want tooless guide rods in my guns. 

Send me your address and I'll send you some paper clips.

You can polish out tool marks. I have done it.

if you don't like the gun, sell it. If you expected an SV for half the price that's your fault.

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Ok just some thoughts, DLC is usually a flat finish just like hard chrome unless the metal is polished before finishing. I would say the ejector was tuned but ejection will be different with different ammo, you problem is easily fixed. I am sure they will tune it for you. The tooless guiderod is a matter of preference, personally I dont really care for it.

I do not own a CK but they seem to be decent guns, I think once you reach 3k price you need to just have a custom built and that way yoi get it the way you want it.

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1 hour ago, Sarge said:

I don't have or want tooless guide rods in my guns. 

Send me your address and I'll send you some paper clips.

You can polish out tool marks. I have done it.

if you don't like the gun, sell it. If you expected an SV for half the price that's your fault.

 

Did you miss the whole point of this discussion? Why in the hell would I want to polish out the tip of a guide rod when it should have been polished out in the first place.

Not only would I have a tool-less guide rod, which I do, I can't imagine not having one. Why screw with paper clips, or whatever.

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6 minutes ago, MikieM said:

 

Did you miss the whole point of this discussion? Why in the hell would I want to polish out the tip of a guide rod when it should have been polished out in the first place.

Not only would I have a tool-less guide rod, which I do, I can't imagine not having one. Why screw with paper clips, or whatever.

Polish it out to look better instead of bashing the builder on a forum?

 

Guide rod is a personal preference. If you bought a stock gun without one and you want one, put one in it.

 

I did not miss the point of your OP. It was to bash a gun builder. Pretty obvious.

You should have sent emails to or called CK and worked it out.

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