Kahr PM9

A detailed description of this pistol can be found here.

Specifications

Caliber: 9mm Luger (9x19)
Capacity: 6+1, 7+1 (magazine with grip extension)
Operation: Trigger cocking DAO; lock breech; "Browning - type" recoil lug; passive striker block; no magazine disconnect
Barrel: 3.0", polygonal rifling; 1 - 10 right-hand twist
Length O/A: 5.3"
Height: 4.0"
Slide Width: .90"
Weight: Pistol 14 ounces, Magazine 1.9 ounces
Grips: Textured polymer
Sights: Drift adjustable, white bar-dot combat sights
Finish: Black polymer frame, matte stainless steel slide
Magazines: 1 each: 6 rd flush floorplate & 7 rd extended grip

Operation

The PM9 is Double Action Only, locked breech passive block striker. The result is a very smooth, though a bit long, trigger pull. The PM9 has no second strike capability - if a round doesn't go off you can't try again by pulling the trigger.

Surprisingly for a 9 mm Luger caliber pistol of this size recoil is very mild and manageable. The gun is pleasant to shoot.

Accuracy

The PM9 has very good sights and a smooth trigger. The relatively short sight radius and the fact that only two fingers hold the grip with the 6 shot magazine installed work against its accuracy. The best groups we could achieve in the 6+1 configuration were about 12" at 15 yards. Not bad for a small pocket gun. With the 7 round magazine accuracy improved dramatically to about 6". The gun comes with both a 6 round and a 7 round magazine. The 7 round has a grip extension that improves the hold significantly - hence the improved accuracy.

Other Features

The PM9 has an octagonally rifled barrel. This makes cleaning it very easy - there are no ridges and sharp corners inside the barrel to hold dirt and residue.

The take down pin requires a tool (a small screwdriver) to remove. Otherwise the gun is easy to disassemble. When reassembling care must be taken to install the recoil spring correctly. If it is inserted backwards the gun may be damaged and it may be dangerous, so pay attention to the take down video on Kahr's web site and the instruction manual.

There are no protrusions on the gun (except for the take down pin and the sights). This makes fast presentation easy and snag proof.

The grip is a polymer compound with steel inserts to accommodate grooves on the slide. All the metal components are stainless steel. The slide can be had in either brushed natural stainless or blackened stainless.

Reliability

The manufacturer recommends shooting at least 200 rounds before carrying the gun for self defense. Our gun went through 200 rounds of UMC and Winchester white box ammo with no problems. It also works reliably with +P+ hollow points and FMJ ammo. We don't recommend using the +P+ ammo for practice - it stresses the pistol. We also tried the least expensive ammo on the market: Blazer aluminum cased. There were no problems.

The only problem we encountered was with Russian ammunition. We tried Wolf, Silver Bear and Brown Bear. All of them have primers that are marginally to hard for the PM9. At least two out of 50 rounds would not ignite. Since the gun has no second strike capability each case has to be treated as a hangfire - time consuming and annoying. Just for reference, we tried shooting the same rounds from a Baby Eagle, which digested them without a hiccup.

We encountered no other problems in more than 600 rounds shot to date.

Safety

Since the Kahr PM9 is a DAO gun it has no other safety. If a round is chambered and the striker spring is set (which happens when a round is chamber) pulling the trigger will discharge the round. There is no magazine or grip safety.

Variants

Kahr sells several variations of this gun, but the differences are either cosmetic (black slide) or different sights, including tritium night sights.

Conclusions

The Kahr PM9 is an excellent choice for either concealed carry or as a backup. It is small, not too heavy and offers respectable performance in an efficient caliber.

Highly recommended. Just don't use ammo with hard primers.