Seabee
09-10-2006, 17:49
My Mindset:
I've been looking for the perfect "every day" gun for quite some time. I have a Glock 23 and a SIG P229, which I love, but are a bit large for me to carry day in and day out. I have a S&W 642 which I love and was near perfect for every day carry but just did not make me feel totally "confortable". I know that .38 is a great round, I just wanted a little something more I guess. Plus, I love semi autos. I wanted a Micro single stack 9mm. After searching the net and asking questions, I decided on the Kahr MK9 Elite 03.
I went with the MK9 series for several reasons. First, I dont mind the weight and figured that the extra heft would tame the 9mm +p on such a small pistol. Second, I live in SE Louisiana. It's hot, real hot 8-9 months out of the year. And then there is the humid weather factor. This gun would be moist most of the time here, and I figured the stainless steel would hold up better. I went with the Elite model for the upgraded trigger, beveled mag well and the polished look (hey, no sence shooting an ugly gun, right). I went with the standard bar/dot sights for now, thinking that if this was a keeper, I would get night sights for it in the near future.
Range Report:
It arrived on Friday afternoon and I took it out to the range this morning. The manual recommends that you should run 200 rounds through it before considering it reliable. After a few stops at Wal Mart and Acadamy, I was set.
I arrived at the outdoor range at about 11 AM and began loading up my two mags, one a six round and the other, an extended 7 round mag, and off I went.
Rounds 1-50 Remington UMC 115 Gr. FMJ - Two hand hold. I had one FTE on round 8. I was using the extended mag at the time. Not sure why it didnt eject, but ejected the mag, jacked the slide and the casing fell out. Reinserted the mag and shot the remaining rounds with no problem. Other that that one round, I had no other problems.
Rounds 51-100 Winchester White Box 115 Gr. FMJ - Two hand hold. All rounds functioned flawlessly.
Rounds 101-150 Remington 115 Gr. JHP - Two hand hold. All rounds functioned flawlessly.
Rounds 151-200 Remington UMC 115 Gr. FMJ - Two hand hold. All rounds functioned flawlessly.
Rounds 201-250 Winchester White Box 115 Gr. FMJ. Alternating hands. 25 rounds left hand only, 25 rounds right hand only. All rounds functioned flawlessly.
Rounds 251-300 Remington UMC 115 Gr. FMJ. 25 double taps firing from one sight picture, two handed. I did this mostly because of the long double action trigger pull. I wanted to see how easy or hard it was to pull accurate double taps. From a range of 10 yards, all rounds landed in the black. While not super great, I think a lot of it had to do with the bar/dot sights. I'm just not use to them. All of my other handguns have three dot night sights. The fact that all rounds landed in the black was good enough for me as they would all be considered COM shots on a human sized target. All rounds functioned flawlessly.
Rounds 301-320 Federal 124 Gr. Hydra-Shok JHP. Two handed. My MK9 REALLY likes this round. I was not worried about group size with the first 250 rounds. That was mostly to test for reliability and to get to know the gun. Rounds 251-300 were to test if the trigger would allow double taps. These rounds were to test my carry load both for reliability and accuracy, and I could not be happier. 20 rounds of slow fire resulted in pretty much one ragged hole dead center of the target at 10 yards. Very impressive. All rounds functioned flawlessly.
It should also be noted that I did not do a full cleaning before or during this test. I took the NIB pistol out of the box, broke it down and oiled the rails and certain other points. The only thing I did during the test was take the gun down after each 100 rounds and put a little oil on the rails. That's it. It should also be noted that all 320 rounds were fired between 11AM and 12:30 PM. That's 320 rounds in about an hour and a half with no cleaning. When I took it apart after arriving home, it was filthy. There were somewhat large pieces of unburned powder in the barrel and all aronnd the inside. I assume it was from the shorter barrel not allowing the power to burn out. Being stainless steel, it was VERY easy to clean and took about the same amount of time as any other firearm I own.
What I will change: Well, not a lot. I plan on getting some night sights. I'm not sure if I will go with 3-dot, or go with a bar/dot like is already on there. I have to admit, the bar/dot took a bit of getting use to, but it was fast and decently accurate for the short range that this gun will be used for. I'll have to do some thinking on that issue. Another thing I will probably change is the grips. The stock plastic grips feel great, but I really like the looks of the wood grips that Houge is offering.
Conclusion: I'm really happy with this pistol. I was leary of the bad reports that some Kahrs were getting, but decided that the risk was worth it. It's perfect for what I wanted, an all day/every day gun that packs a decent round. I just have to find a few good holsters (IWB, OWB, Ankle and pocket) and I should be all set.
I've been looking for the perfect "every day" gun for quite some time. I have a Glock 23 and a SIG P229, which I love, but are a bit large for me to carry day in and day out. I have a S&W 642 which I love and was near perfect for every day carry but just did not make me feel totally "confortable". I know that .38 is a great round, I just wanted a little something more I guess. Plus, I love semi autos. I wanted a Micro single stack 9mm. After searching the net and asking questions, I decided on the Kahr MK9 Elite 03.
I went with the MK9 series for several reasons. First, I dont mind the weight and figured that the extra heft would tame the 9mm +p on such a small pistol. Second, I live in SE Louisiana. It's hot, real hot 8-9 months out of the year. And then there is the humid weather factor. This gun would be moist most of the time here, and I figured the stainless steel would hold up better. I went with the Elite model for the upgraded trigger, beveled mag well and the polished look (hey, no sence shooting an ugly gun, right). I went with the standard bar/dot sights for now, thinking that if this was a keeper, I would get night sights for it in the near future.
Range Report:
It arrived on Friday afternoon and I took it out to the range this morning. The manual recommends that you should run 200 rounds through it before considering it reliable. After a few stops at Wal Mart and Acadamy, I was set.
I arrived at the outdoor range at about 11 AM and began loading up my two mags, one a six round and the other, an extended 7 round mag, and off I went.
Rounds 1-50 Remington UMC 115 Gr. FMJ - Two hand hold. I had one FTE on round 8. I was using the extended mag at the time. Not sure why it didnt eject, but ejected the mag, jacked the slide and the casing fell out. Reinserted the mag and shot the remaining rounds with no problem. Other that that one round, I had no other problems.
Rounds 51-100 Winchester White Box 115 Gr. FMJ - Two hand hold. All rounds functioned flawlessly.
Rounds 101-150 Remington 115 Gr. JHP - Two hand hold. All rounds functioned flawlessly.
Rounds 151-200 Remington UMC 115 Gr. FMJ - Two hand hold. All rounds functioned flawlessly.
Rounds 201-250 Winchester White Box 115 Gr. FMJ. Alternating hands. 25 rounds left hand only, 25 rounds right hand only. All rounds functioned flawlessly.
Rounds 251-300 Remington UMC 115 Gr. FMJ. 25 double taps firing from one sight picture, two handed. I did this mostly because of the long double action trigger pull. I wanted to see how easy or hard it was to pull accurate double taps. From a range of 10 yards, all rounds landed in the black. While not super great, I think a lot of it had to do with the bar/dot sights. I'm just not use to them. All of my other handguns have three dot night sights. The fact that all rounds landed in the black was good enough for me as they would all be considered COM shots on a human sized target. All rounds functioned flawlessly.
Rounds 301-320 Federal 124 Gr. Hydra-Shok JHP. Two handed. My MK9 REALLY likes this round. I was not worried about group size with the first 250 rounds. That was mostly to test for reliability and to get to know the gun. Rounds 251-300 were to test if the trigger would allow double taps. These rounds were to test my carry load both for reliability and accuracy, and I could not be happier. 20 rounds of slow fire resulted in pretty much one ragged hole dead center of the target at 10 yards. Very impressive. All rounds functioned flawlessly.
It should also be noted that I did not do a full cleaning before or during this test. I took the NIB pistol out of the box, broke it down and oiled the rails and certain other points. The only thing I did during the test was take the gun down after each 100 rounds and put a little oil on the rails. That's it. It should also be noted that all 320 rounds were fired between 11AM and 12:30 PM. That's 320 rounds in about an hour and a half with no cleaning. When I took it apart after arriving home, it was filthy. There were somewhat large pieces of unburned powder in the barrel and all aronnd the inside. I assume it was from the shorter barrel not allowing the power to burn out. Being stainless steel, it was VERY easy to clean and took about the same amount of time as any other firearm I own.
What I will change: Well, not a lot. I plan on getting some night sights. I'm not sure if I will go with 3-dot, or go with a bar/dot like is already on there. I have to admit, the bar/dot took a bit of getting use to, but it was fast and decently accurate for the short range that this gun will be used for. I'll have to do some thinking on that issue. Another thing I will probably change is the grips. The stock plastic grips feel great, but I really like the looks of the wood grips that Houge is offering.
Conclusion: I'm really happy with this pistol. I was leary of the bad reports that some Kahrs were getting, but decided that the risk was worth it. It's perfect for what I wanted, an all day/every day gun that packs a decent round. I just have to find a few good holsters (IWB, OWB, Ankle and pocket) and I should be all set.
