Kahr PM9 range report and Winchester Ranger/Speer Gold Dot ammo test

[Ford]

went out today to my parents farm and shot my new Kahr PM9. I put 150 rounds of 115gr. CCI Blazer , 25 rounds of 115gr. Speer Gold Dot and 25 rounds of Winchester Ranger ( RA9T) through the gun. The little pistol performed perfectly. Not one single malfunction. This is my second PM9 as some of you know. The first PM9 is a VA serial number pistol. My second is a VB. Both guns have run 100% with no problems. I also put 50 rounds of Blazer through the other Kahr ( my first one ) It also ran flawless as usuall. I am getting ready to give them both a good scrubbing after I finish this report.

For the ammo test I did the old wet phonebook test. I have never done this before and I am not sure what it proves. I did not measure the penetration but the 115gr. Speer Gold Dots seemed to out penetrate the 147gr. Ranger ammo on a fairly consistent basis. I bought the Ranger ammo after reading on different forums about how great it is. After this test ( again, I am not sure that shooting into some wet phone books proves anything ) I am not as sold on the Ranger as I thought I would be. Both brands of ammo expanded well.

expansion pic attached

[BoNoKahr]

Originally posted by Ford
went out today to my parents farm and shot my new Kahr PM9. I put 150 rounds of 115gr. CCI Blazer , 25 rounds of 115gr. Speer Gold Dot and 25 rounds of Winchester Ranger ( RA9T) through the gun. The little pistol performed perfectly. Not one single malfunction. This is my second PM9 as some of you know. The first PM9 is a VA serial number pistol. My second is a VB. Both guns have run 100% with no problems. I also put 50 rounds of Blazer through the other Kahr ( my first one ) It also ran flawless as usuall. I am getting ready to give them both a good scrubbing after I finish this report.

For the ammo test I did the old wet phonebook test. I have never done this before and I am not sure what it proves. I did not measure the penetration but the 115gr. Speer Gold Dots seemed to out penetrate the 147gr. Ranger ammo on a fairly consistent basis. I bought the Ranger ammo after reading on different forums about how great it is. After this test ( again, I am not sure that shooting into some wet phone books proves anything ) I am not as sold on the Ranger as I thought I would be. Both brands of ammo expanded well.

expansion pic attached

It's too bad you did not measure the penetration. I understand that a good defense round should penetrate between 8 to 9 inches in a wetpack which is supposed to be comparable to 12 to 14 inches in ballistic gel. I'm glad to hear the 115 expanded rather than going straight through...seems like I had read a post that the 115 had gone right through in wetpack test.

[Article2]

The purpose of self defense ammo is to stop a bad guy. Permanently. Penetration is important but doing as much tissue and vascular damage along the way is equally important. Notice the sharp little triangular teeth extending from the expanded Ranger-T? Those don't push tissue aside, they fillet it open just like a Rapala through a Bass. This is a good thing if you are the one defending yourself.

[Ford]

oh yes I noticed them. I would have liked to see a little more penetration from the RAT9 though.

[WOD]

I am impressed with with the Winchester 147gr. RA9T. The reason I have been fooling around with 147gr. self defense ammo is that I am extremely concerned with my rounds exiting the bad guy and hitting an unintended target. So the fact that the 147gr. RA9T expanded so well with all them nice little cutting edges and the fact that it did not penetrate as well as the 115gr ammo, I would choose it for a defense round. Now if I were actively seeking bad guys and terrorists and shooting through cars and buildings I may want super penetration, but that is not what I would want for a hold-up or home and business invasion scenario.

I am curious as to how similiar the WWB 147gr.JHP is to the RA9T. I would like to practice with what I carry and the Rangers seem a bit pricey for 200 round sessions.

[Ford]

I bought my Ranger ammo from Smokey on gunbroker for $16 a box of 50. Now I wouldnt want to shoot 200 rounds of that every week but 50 rounds here and there for practice won't be that bad.

[mini14jac]

I settled on Gold Dots a while back for my PM9.
I now purchase 124gr +P Gold Dots from Georgia Arms for something like $14/50 rounds.

Good pics by the way.