Kahr PM9........ yea, or nay?!?

[Stradawhovious]

I'm looking for a summer carry, and am considering the Kahr PM9. Can anyone give me reasons not to buy? Feed issued? Reliability issues? Anything?!? I'm a little skeptical of such a small firearm (I know, Freud would be laughing his arse off at that one.) but the 45 is a little sweaty on the hot days.

[Aftrshck]

best advice...go try one at Bill's...without knowing anything about you...i.e. size...likes....dislikes...that is a truly hard answer to give....shoot it...then decide....I personally do not like them much for shooting....they are too sharp in the hand on shooting....personally....

~Aftrshck

[cobb]

Which Kahr 9mm?

I own both a PM9 and P9. I have 1000's of rounds through the PM9, mostly Corbon 115gr. with zero problems. The P9 only has had a few hundred, mostly ball ammo for training. There is also the all steel MK9 and K9, which I know nothing about, and a couple even larger models have been introduced lately.

So what is your fancy?

[mnlitig8r]

As long as you aren't planning to use it for target shooting, it's a great gun. I love mine, and you can't find a smaller, more reliable 9 mm (at least that I know of).

I use it at the range, but just to stay sharp for carrying it. I use different guns to shoot for fun as the complaints about the PM9 being uncomfortable are accurate.

[DeanC]

you can't find a smaller, more reliable 9 mm (at least that I know of).

One word: Rohrbaugh.

[aviator]

My PM9 has been reliable but as previous posters have stated, they have a rather sharp kick. They have them to rent at Bill's. I shot one of their's before buying mine and havn't regreted it. Know your target, Hank.

[Sorcerer]

I hace the Kahr CW9, it's the least expensive Kahr. I rented the Kahr P45 at Bills north a while back. I think it needed to be cleaned real bad as it would fail to go into battery all the way and jam so bad that you could not move the slide and shot waaay left. The Kahr in 45 was no fun to shoot. The 40 must be nasty.

[Stradawhovious]

Thanks for the tips everobody, I will wait until I try one, (of course) but by the sounds of it, it may be a bit jumpy for me. Maybe I'll just stick with the wheel gun.

[tt3]

I hace the Kahr CW9, it's the least expensive Kahr. I rented the Kahr P45 at Bills north a while back. I think it needed to be cleaned real bad as it would fail to go into battery all the way and jam so bad that you could not move the slide and shot waaay left. The Kahr in 45 was no fun to shoot. The 40 must be nasty.

The P40 is actually pretty sweet, its what I have. BUT I also have a Hogue grip on it, and its a necessity!
"snappy" is what I believe it was referred to at Bill's.

[mnlitig8r]

Thanks for the tips everobody, I will wait until I try one, (of course) but by the sounds of it, it may be a bit jumpy for me. Maybe I'll just stick with the wheel gun.

As with everything, it just depends what your use will be. If you are looking for a small, concealable, reliable 9mm, the PM9 fits the bill. If you're looking for something more enjoyable to shoot for longer periods of time, or something for target shooting, this probably isn't the one for you.

[cobb]

As with everything, it just depends what your use will be. If you are looking for a small, concealable, reliable 9mm, the PM9 fits the bill. If you're looking for something more enjoyable to shoot for longer periods of time, or something for target shooting, this probably isn't the one for you.

Pretty much what he said. I would just add for a dependable and easy to carry weapon, I love my PM9, which I call my work weapon. If you want something to go shoot 100 or 200 rounds for fun, the PM9 would maybe not be the best choice for that.

So I guess, ya, what he said.

[lewsid13]

I have limited experience with the Kahr PM9, but I have shot one before. It is not super enjoyable to shoot, then again, I don't think that is the reason anyone would buy one. I must say that when I was handling it, it sure felt a lot like a 300.00 gun. On that note I think they are WAY over-priced. However, they do fill a nitch. Good luck.

[brotherslims]

The PM9 is a handfull to shoot but it's hard to beat the size and weight for summer carry. If you're in the market for a pocketable Kahr, check out the MK9 side by side with the PM9.

[sigdoc]

I vote yea. I have had a PM9 for a couple of years and it has become my almost everyday carry, especially in the summer.

Reliability - it is a tight gun out of the box. I have had no malfunctions after the first 200-250 rounds and now have close to 1000 rounds through it. The only idiosyncrasy of the gun is that to chamber the first round reliably it works best to lock the slide back before inserting the mag and then use the mag release instead of slingshotting it to release the slide. This is mentioned in the manual. With my Corbon 124 gr HPs the top round in the short magazine does tend to drift forward after a few days if I forget to check it (shame on me). But if you do a daily magazine and chamber check it is not really an issue. Early on, some of the polymer Kahrs had issues with peening of their barrels, but that seems to have been resolved by the time I bought my gun new 2 years ago.

Concealability - it is really a flat, thin gun and hides well in a front pants pocket. I use a DeSantis Nemesis pocket holster. It is also phenomenal in a SmartCarry. I prefer it for concealability in my front pocket to my 642.

Shootability - although its double action trigger is long, it is one of the smoothest I have ever felt. I found the checkering on the front and back straps a little sharp for my taste and added an AGrip adhesive grip which changed the feel of the gun in my hand very much for the better. With this grip I can shoot a 100 rounds at the range without a problem (usually WWB 115gr). Pearce makes a magazine baseplate replacement for the six round (short one) magazine with an extension on the front to accommodate the pinkie finger. The gun is quite accurate for such a short sight radius.

Cost - Kahrs are not cheap. But they are well made and fill a niche quite well. I am seriously considering one of their stainless models in .45 or .40.

I agree that before spending this much money on such a gun it would be good idea to rent one to shoot at Bill's. I also tried the PM40 which was really a handful. But the PM9 was just right.

Noel

[W0THK]

I've got a Kahr CW9. I like it. It's small and light and shoots nicely. Like most everyone else, I like the trigger feel. It's the first (and only) DOA I've owned, and I'm impressed with it. The only problem I have is hitting anything with it. I can't seem to get the right sight picture with the combat sights. I'm accurate enough to adequately perforate a bad guy at short range, but I'd purely embarass myself with it at a steel shoot!

TomK
Mpls, MN