surprise.. another PM9 review

[Yosemite]

I recently purchased a Kahr PM9094N (DLC, night sights), after a long search for a potential CCW firearm. I've probably read every GT/AR15/Pistolsmith/THR thread on the PM9 at least twice, and despite all the negative comments I decided it was worth a try. I ordered it from http://www.ordnanceoutsellers.com/ and it arrived 12 days after I mailed the FFL information and payment. The transaction was fast, smooth, and has changed my fear/mindset on purchasing a firearm online. My final price shipped, insured, with FFL transfer fees was $645. I estimated that I saved ~$150 by making the purchase online, although I would caution the impatient types that is hard to wait for a firearm to arrive versus instant gratification of a local purchase .

The PM9 (VC4XXX) arrived just as many described: bagged, well oiled, difficult/rough when racking the slide, and semi-difficult to disassemble (very tight slide stop). Once it was opened up for cleaning, I also noticed the excessive flash on the polymer frame and the grit/dirt/filings on the slide that many also complain about. A little disappointed by the fit and finish for the price, but I knew what I was getting into and was not discouraged.

To prepare my PM9 for the range, I picked up a few suggestions from a few threads and a friend that owned one and planned out my own recipe for success. (*Disclaimer* - I in no way consider myself an expert, I just did what made the most sense to me from the various sources available to me.)



1) I did a general wipe down and cleaning with cotton pads without using any cleaning solution. I took extra time on the rails, since they are the main contact surfaces between the slide and the frame

2) I removed excessive flash by running my fingernails along the surfaces in question and/or using tweezers to pull it off. An area that I've not seen mentioned in any other thread was the underside of the front rails that are below the barrel. There was a lot of flash in this area and I believe was a big contributor to the gritty/jerky racking of the slide.

3) Sparingly oiled the surfaces as depicted in the stickied Lube Diagram thread, + a half of a drop on each of the metal rail pads at the back of the frame and reassembled.

4) Since I was not able to get to the range until a couple nights after the cleaning, I preceded to hand rack the slide probably a total of a couple hundred times as an initial break in. Similar to some people's beliefs in breaking in an automotive engine, I thought that it might help to ease the firearm into its ultimate function, rather than shocking all of the tight/toleranced/new moving parts. (although I've been known to take my race motors straight to a dyno)

5) Disassembled, inspected, quick wipe down, and light oiling.



I took it to the range and the gun performed flawless through the first 175 break in rounds of WWB. No failure to feed, no failure to eject, and no failure to return to battery. Feeling confident, I then decided to see how it would feed the Speer GD 124gr that I was also testing in my G19. The bite of the first round caught my grip by surprise and the slide locked back and kept the action open. I firmed up my grip and shot an additional 25 rounds of Gold Dot and also some spare 15 rounds of Hornady TAP FPD 147gr without any failures.

I have confidence in the Kahr PM9 and it will become my CCW after it continues to prove itself to be reliable into the 800-1000 round range.



Thanks,

Yosemite


p.s. - The PM9 makes my G19 feel like a full-sized, contoured brick in my hand.

[tacticaldawg]

Great review, please keep us updated. By the way, what do you carry now? G19?

I have a PM9 DLC coming to me too....and I can't wait to try it out. It seems to be an excellent carry piece, about as small as possible and very slim. I'd have picked G26, but its width is just too much for my taste.

[Cousin]

Thanks for posting a candid, honest and straightforward revue of your new PM9. Glad to hear that you got a good one. Best of luck with your new Kahr. Enjoy it!

[Yosemite]

Originally posted by tacticaldawg
Great review, please keep us updated. By the way, what do you carry now? G19?

Currently, I don't carry but plan to on occasion when the Kahr has proven it's complete reliability to me. I've had my G19 for about 2 years, but my CCL for only a few weeks.

[Yosemite]

I bought a Desantis Tuck-This holster ($28) after messing with it at shop, took it home, and then promptly traded it back in today. It just sat too low for my taste and I didn't see how a person could reliably draw with any consistency since it sits right at the belt line. Even with the adjustable cant, nothing felt right.

I went home with an $12 Uncle Mike's Open Style Inside-the-Pant Holster Size 1 (8901-1 (http://www.uncle-mikes.com/adtemplate_child.asp?p=3109848&c=9007054&catky=3407251&subcatky1=4548802&subcatky2=2000017)). After fidgeting with the Tuck-This, I figured that the best solution for me was IWB, no cant, with a higher profile so the entire grip was accessible. At 3 o'clock it fits well, conceals well, and is mobile (sit, walk, kneel, etc).

Searching online I also found the $21 Galco Stow-N-Go (STO460 (http://www.usgalco.com/HolsterG3.asp?ProductID=3239&GunID=277)), which I think I'll try out eventually.

[craig_o]

taking out the slidstop the first time felt like giving birth to a bale of razorwire

[Tough Guy Levi]

Howdy:

Still 100% reliable (Kahr PM 9 - VA 59XX) after another 100 rounds "digested" during indoor range (Evans Shooting World - Orange, CA) practice yesterday. My Kahr 9mm lubed with www.microlon.com from the get go has now digested over 7,600+ rounds.

While practicing yesterday, a local LEO was also practicing with his Glock 22 duty weapon. While watching him, his magazine dropped to the floor during recoil. I then noticed he had to hold fingers under the magazine to keep it from falling out. We both finished about the same time and he sought the range gunsmith. The smith told him his magazine release was broken and have it fixed by the PD's armorer. He was relieved his weapon failed during practice, not while on duty!

I then asked him if he carried a back-up? He gave me a look that read, hmmm a very good idea to have one! I asked him to put his "ears" back and follow me back into the range since we were chatting at the front counter. In a shooting lane, I showed him my Kahr and he asked, "what model Glock is it"? Not a Glock I said but a Kahr 9 mm adding Kahr also manufactures .40's. To say the least, he was impressed and I would have had him try it on for "size" but I had plans to meet a buddy of mine.

To sum up our conversation, the LEO had a magazine release failure while practicing, he didn't carry any back-up and wasn't Kahr familiar. I think he learned a lesson that might save a life in the future!!

Tough Guy Levi
NRA Pistol/Personal Defense Instructor

[Cousin]

Originally posted by Tough Guy Levi
Howdy:

Still 100% reliable (Kahr PM 9 - VA 59XX) after another 100 rounds "digested" during indoor range (Evans Shooting World - Orange, CA) practice yesterday. My Kahr 9mm lubed with www.microlon.com from the get go has now digested over 7,600+ rounds.

While practicing yesterday, a local LEO was also practicing with his Glock 22 duty weapon. While watching him, his magazine dropped to the floor during recoil. I then noticed he had to hold fingers under the magazine to keep it from falling out. We both finished about the same time and he sought the range gunsmith. The smith told him his magazine release was broken and have it fixed by the PD's armorer. He was relieved his weapon failed during practice, not while on duty!

I then asked him if he carried a back-up? He gave me a look that read, hmmm a very good idea to have one! I asked him to put his "ears" back and follow me back into the range since we were chatting at the front counter. In a shooting lane, I showed him my Kahr and he asked, "what model Glock is it"? Not a Glock I said but a Kahr 9 mm adding Kahr also manufactures .40's. To say the least, he was impressed and I would have had him try it on for "size" but I had plans to meet a buddy of mine.

To sum up our conversation, the LEO had a magazine release failure while practicing, he didn't carry any back-up and wasn't Kahr familiar. I think he learned a lesson that might save a life in the future!!

Tough Guy Levi
NRA Pistol/Personal Defense Instructor

Was the LEO perhaps a "rookie"? That might explain it.

[Tough Guy Levi]

Howdy:

After the LEO left the range, I asked the instructor behind the counter how long he's been on the JOB and was told more than 6 years.

Tough Guy Levi

[blhar15]

I took my new Kahr PM9 to the range the other night and put 100 rounds of 9mm FMJ and 50 rounds of Federal hollow points through her flawlessly, not one jam.

Unlike my Kel-tec P3AT which has over 200 rounds through it and still occasionally jams.

My money and life is with the Kahr

[Tough Guy Levi]

Howdy:

My Kahr PM 9 (VA 59XX) now has "digested" 7700 rounds after Saturday's practice session at Evans Shooting World in Orange, CA. My weapon has been 100% reliable (mfg June 03, purchased new June 05) from day one including the 200+ rounds break-in session. Lube my weapon with www.micrlon.com "gun juice".

Tough Guy Levi
NRA Pistol/Personal Defense Instructor
SASS# 61430L

[Cousin]

Originally posted by blhar15
I took my new Kahr PM9 to the range the other night and put 100 rounds of 9mm FMJ and 50 rounds of Federal hollow points through her flawlessly, not one jam.

Unlike my Kel-tec P3AT which has over 200 rounds through it and still occasionally jams.

My money and life is with the Kahr

Good to hear that you got yourself one of the better-performing PM9's right out-of-the-box. Best of luck with it! Enjoy it and may you never HAVE to use it!

[Yosemite]

I finally got around to detail stripping the slides on my PM9 and also my 1200 round Glock 19 this morning. Having never done it before and not thinking, I worked on the more complicated Kahr first.

Working on these 2 firearms, one after the other, really cued me in on the pure ease, simplicity, and engineering of the Glock design. Everything about it is "loose" by comparison, but fit and finish of all it's parts are excellent. It is a purpose built and crafted brick that goes bang everytime you pull the trigger. Too bad it's a big heavy brick.

[Cousin]

Originally posted by Yosemite
I finally got around to detail stripping the slides on my PM9 and also my 1200 round Glock 19 this morning. Having never done it before and not thinking, I worked on the more complicated Kahr first.

Working on these 2 firearms, one after the other, really cued me in on the pure ease, simplicity, and engineering of the Glock design. Everything about it is "loose" by comparison, but fit and finish of all it's parts are excellent. It is a purpose built and crafted brick that goes bang everytime you pull the trigger. Too bad it's a big heavy brick.

While in a gun store today, I was chatting it up with several of the 9mm semi-auto CC pundits there. In the mix of the discussion were the Glock 26, Springfield XD-9 Sub, Kahr PM9, S&W MP Compact, Kel-Tec P-11 AND PF9 and also Taurus PT111Ti.

All decent-to-good-to-excellent guns, of that I have no doubt. Although each had at least one superb strength that set it apart from the others, it still came back to where most felt that the Glock G26 was the best value for the money paid and the overall best functioning over the long run. Reliability, dependability and length of service life won out over size and weight.

Hardly a scientific study but it does make one wonder why Gaston Glock has opted to NOT craft a 9mm gun smaller than the G26. Perhaps it's because he already knows - through his own trial and error - that reliability, dependability and service life may possibly all begin to suffer past a certain point. I can't say. Just speculation.

[VWTim]

I believe Glock does/did make a gun that's small then the 26's but can't import it due to some law.

I also have a VA prefix PM9 that just keeps running great. Shot another 350 round in training last weekend and it kept going. It sure does beat me up more after prolonged shooting that my other pistols :)

[Yosemite]

Today's range report:

+175 WWB
+50 Speer GD 124gr

Problem free even with some one handed shooting (6rd mag), which I had never done before. I also loaded all the first rounds by racking the slide, with no hiccups. I'm starting to really, REALLY like this thing. A couple more succesful trips to the range and I might start CC'ing it.

The Gold Dots have a little more recoil and quite a bit more muzzle flash than the WWB did, but it wasn't uncontrollable by any means.

If anyone has a relatively new 6rd mag that they would like to trade for my basically brand new 7rd mag (maybe loaded up 5 times), send me a PM or post in the thread. I plan on making this my CCW and don't plan on using the 7rd mag, not even at the range to keep it consistent.


Thanks,

Yosemite!