As previosuly mentioned, I purchased a PM9 from Impact Guns last Tuesday. It arrived at KS&E on Friday.
I had been weighing my choices for a new carry pistol for awhile, and had settled on the PM9. I'd had an opportunity to shoot both the PM9 & PM40, so I wasn't expecting any surprises.
My first impression of the new pistol was that it was tight. Between all of the oil and the very tight fit of the slide, it was pretty tough to lock it back. I was very pleased with the external finish. I took it apart Saturday for a thorough clean & lube, and the tooling is very clean. There are very few, if any, visible marks. It's not a cheap pistol, so that's to be expected, and I wasn't disappointed. I was a little disappointed by the way that the extended mag looks. I can't complain about its function - it provides a purchase for one's pinkie, but it seems like they could have added a pearce-like grip to the front edge.
After cleaning it all up I applied a little regular Slide Glide. At this point it was still very tight, but was easy to manipulate.
As you probably know, Kahr instructs a 200-round break-in. This morning I put together a little bit of everything to run through it, and dragged it and my notebook out to MCFG.
Ammunition:
100 rounds S&B FMJ
100 Rounds WWB
50 rounds S&B JHP
50 rounds Hornady Critical Defense
Based upon all of my research, I fully expected the pistol to fail to go into battery a couple times, and the occasional FTE until things got broken in. I had all of the ammo organized so that I could document any failures. I figured I'd start with some FMJ, start mixing in the HP, and finish up with the Hornady. In the end, it was all very academic. I had nothing to document. The PM9 ate everything I threw at it without hesitation.
All magazines were inserted with the slide locked back, and the first round was chambered using the release. My habit is to chamber by pulling the slide back on every other autoloader that I have, but Kahr instructs that you utilize the release. It's not that much of training issue given its intended use, and I do have to give some credit to the slide release. It's very functional, although I may have to bevel the edges just a little.
My main range impression is that it's definitely a shootable little pistol. There are only a few out there that are pocketable and fire 9/40/45 rounds. After 300 rounds in 70 minutes my hands were getting a litte tired, but that was as much from stuffing the 300 rounds into the 6-rd mag than actually shooting. My next smallest pistol is a Glock 30SF. I love that little 45, but putting 300 rounds through it is not on my "things I love to do on a Sunday" list. Definitely an apples to oranges comparison, but I thought that it might help offer a qualitative opinion about how it shoots. I know that Kahrs are a little unique in that they utilize an offset feed ramp. You definitely see it when you pull it apart. It looks like the type of thing that you see and you think to yourself, yeah, that's not gonna work. This supposedly allows the trigger mechanics to be higher and allows the grip to be higher, which reduces felt recoil, global warming, encourages teenagers to wear their pants around their waists instead of their thighs, and makes people driving down my street slown down to a reasonable pace.
I find that it points very naturally, and has very nice, very real and usable sights. Mine has night sights - I'm not sure who makes them, they seem fairly bright, but they're prominent and easy-to-use. I think that my P226 Elite and Kimber Pro CDP both have Meprolights which I really like. The PM9s aren't quite that nice (either because it's a different manufacturer, because they're far smaller, or both).
I think I've read that the trigger is about 7 lbs. That seems about right. The 9093 has no external safety; instead it has a fairly long, fairly heavy trigger. Assuming that you're using a pocket (or other) holster that completely covers the trigger guard, I think that this is a great set-up. The trigger is extremely smooth. I don't think that progressive is the word that I want to use to describe it, because it doesn't start out light and then progressively load up before the break. It's just a fairly long smooth consistent pull.
The pistol I take to the range the most is a P226 Elite that has the short reset trigger. Its reset is, well, very short. If you're used to a very short reset, then the Kahr's may take a little adjustment. There were two instances when I didn't release far enough for it to reset befire trying to fire another round. On one hand I felt a little dumb, but on the other hand, I think it's a credit to the PM9 as a whole that you really can forget that you're shooting a 16oz 9mm pistol. Usually there are trade-offs when you move to a gun that small/light, whether it's a smaller cartridge, small sights, a short grip, or a polymer frame (for those who eschew such things). I think that the PM9 occupies a sweet spot.
I'm thinking of the PM9 this way - I've had great wines and beers in my life, and on a given occasion I might try something fancy or different, but I always have a fallback, the one that I'm most likely to pull out at the end of a long day at work. That's the PM9. It's not the fanciest, but it does lots of the important things very right. So far.
One other note - it really did break in after 300 rounds. It's really filthy right now, but the slide action is extremely smooth. There no side-to-side play at all.
I had been weighing my choices for a new carry pistol for awhile, and had settled on the PM9. I'd had an opportunity to shoot both the PM9 & PM40, so I wasn't expecting any surprises.
My first impression of the new pistol was that it was tight. Between all of the oil and the very tight fit of the slide, it was pretty tough to lock it back. I was very pleased with the external finish. I took it apart Saturday for a thorough clean & lube, and the tooling is very clean. There are very few, if any, visible marks. It's not a cheap pistol, so that's to be expected, and I wasn't disappointed. I was a little disappointed by the way that the extended mag looks. I can't complain about its function - it provides a purchase for one's pinkie, but it seems like they could have added a pearce-like grip to the front edge.
After cleaning it all up I applied a little regular Slide Glide. At this point it was still very tight, but was easy to manipulate.
As you probably know, Kahr instructs a 200-round break-in. This morning I put together a little bit of everything to run through it, and dragged it and my notebook out to MCFG.
Ammunition:
100 rounds S&B FMJ
100 Rounds WWB
50 rounds S&B JHP
50 rounds Hornady Critical Defense
Based upon all of my research, I fully expected the pistol to fail to go into battery a couple times, and the occasional FTE until things got broken in. I had all of the ammo organized so that I could document any failures. I figured I'd start with some FMJ, start mixing in the HP, and finish up with the Hornady. In the end, it was all very academic. I had nothing to document. The PM9 ate everything I threw at it without hesitation.
All magazines were inserted with the slide locked back, and the first round was chambered using the release. My habit is to chamber by pulling the slide back on every other autoloader that I have, but Kahr instructs that you utilize the release. It's not that much of training issue given its intended use, and I do have to give some credit to the slide release. It's very functional, although I may have to bevel the edges just a little.
My main range impression is that it's definitely a shootable little pistol. There are only a few out there that are pocketable and fire 9/40/45 rounds. After 300 rounds in 70 minutes my hands were getting a litte tired, but that was as much from stuffing the 300 rounds into the 6-rd mag than actually shooting. My next smallest pistol is a Glock 30SF. I love that little 45, but putting 300 rounds through it is not on my "things I love to do on a Sunday" list. Definitely an apples to oranges comparison, but I thought that it might help offer a qualitative opinion about how it shoots. I know that Kahrs are a little unique in that they utilize an offset feed ramp. You definitely see it when you pull it apart. It looks like the type of thing that you see and you think to yourself, yeah, that's not gonna work. This supposedly allows the trigger mechanics to be higher and allows the grip to be higher, which reduces felt recoil, global warming, encourages teenagers to wear their pants around their waists instead of their thighs, and makes people driving down my street slown down to a reasonable pace.
I find that it points very naturally, and has very nice, very real and usable sights. Mine has night sights - I'm not sure who makes them, they seem fairly bright, but they're prominent and easy-to-use. I think that my P226 Elite and Kimber Pro CDP both have Meprolights which I really like. The PM9s aren't quite that nice (either because it's a different manufacturer, because they're far smaller, or both).
I think I've read that the trigger is about 7 lbs. That seems about right. The 9093 has no external safety; instead it has a fairly long, fairly heavy trigger. Assuming that you're using a pocket (or other) holster that completely covers the trigger guard, I think that this is a great set-up. The trigger is extremely smooth. I don't think that progressive is the word that I want to use to describe it, because it doesn't start out light and then progressively load up before the break. It's just a fairly long smooth consistent pull.
The pistol I take to the range the most is a P226 Elite that has the short reset trigger. Its reset is, well, very short. If you're used to a very short reset, then the Kahr's may take a little adjustment. There were two instances when I didn't release far enough for it to reset befire trying to fire another round. On one hand I felt a little dumb, but on the other hand, I think it's a credit to the PM9 as a whole that you really can forget that you're shooting a 16oz 9mm pistol. Usually there are trade-offs when you move to a gun that small/light, whether it's a smaller cartridge, small sights, a short grip, or a polymer frame (for those who eschew such things). I think that the PM9 occupies a sweet spot.
I'm thinking of the PM9 this way - I've had great wines and beers in my life, and on a given occasion I might try something fancy or different, but I always have a fallback, the one that I'm most likely to pull out at the end of a long day at work. That's the PM9. It's not the fanciest, but it does lots of the important things very right. So far.
One other note - it really did break in after 300 rounds. It's really filthy right now, but the slide action is extremely smooth. There no side-to-side play at all.
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