# 1911 Owner Meets Kahr PM9



## Reverendbiker (Mar 24, 2010)

My favorite handguns are a couple of 1911's--a Dan Wesson CBOB and an STI Trojan. After doing a great deal of research on a new concealed carry pistol, I decided to try a PM9. I stripped it, scrubbed it down, lubed it well and took it to the ranch yesterday to get acquainted and fire a few break-in rounds. For the most part, I'm impressed:

At first, the sights and the trigger threw me for a loop. The dot-and-post sight arrangement seemed strange until I stopped thinking about it, then I found that it actually fell to my eye quite naturally. The long, heavy (comparatively) trigger pull took a bit more practice. After years of shooting 1911's, I had to make quite an adjustment to fire this pistol. Though I can't say that I'm fully comfortable with the setup, I did find that I settled in to a good rhythm within a few shots.

The Kahr manual recommends 200 rounds down the pipe for break-in, so I took enough ammo to do the trick. Give the small size of the grip and low weight of the pistol itself, I expected that my hand would be pretty well beat up before the 200 rounds were down range. I was pleasantly surprised; recoil was easily absorbed, especially with the larger 7-round magazine. The ammo box was empty before I knew it!

Not wanting to spend more for ammo than I did for the gun, I brought White Box 115-gr. ball ammo for break-in. During the initial cleaning I noticed that the little PM9 was very tight and stiff, so I anticipated that I might experience some malfunctions during the break-in period with the inexpensive ammo. I'm pleased to report that the little rascal performed flawlessly--not a single FTF or FTE the entire day!

There were a couple of things about the pistol that didn't impress me: First, the first shell can't be chambered by inserting a full magazine and racking the slide--it will jam every time. Hold the slide open with the slide stop, insert the loaded magazine, then release the slide with the stop and the first round slides into place perfectly. Not my usual _modus operandi. The second issue was a head-scratcher. For the most part, I found the PM9 to be amazingly accurate. I am a decent-enough marksman, and I was able to get almost every shot into a nice, tight grouping. About every 20 shots or so, however, I'd get a flyer. Not an off-the-page flyer, but a shot that was 2-3 inches off. I'm inclined to think it was the cheap ammo or my learning a new trigger pull, but it was irritating.

Overall, I'm impressed as heck. :smt023 It's not the cheapest alternative on the market, but it's a handy size, it reeks of good quality, and I believe that it's going to be reliable and accurate. It's a keeper!_


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## Dave James (May 15, 2007)

Glad it worked out for you, when you get one that runs it is a hard pocket rocket to beat, but I have never seen a model that has been more 50-50 when it comes to working right.

Have a 1st gen thats been back to the factory a couple go arounds,and as long as I'm carefull about over all ammo lenght it runs like a scalded dog, get some ammo too long and it locks up tighter than dicks hat band.

One reason I keep looking for a good deal on a steel framed model


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## thug23 (Dec 9, 2007)

Ah a man after my heart...my favorite gun I can't have is a Dan Wesson Pointman Seven.:mrgreen:
I own a Kahr PM9 and love it but to be honest I actually wish I got the PM40 instead just for that extra stopping power but I was talked out of it because someone told me the recoil would be awefull and I wouldn't enjoy shooting it...I should have just bought it right from the start.
Good Luck.


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## recoilguy (Apr 30, 2009)

The Dan wesson and the STI are 2 impressive 1911's in my book.

The PM9 is also a great CCW. You should enjoy the gun, you noticed the difference and once you aclimate yourself to the trigger you will learn to like it a lot!

Good luck and good choices in all of your weapons.

RCG


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