I am on record as hating small pistols. Except that I don’t. I just haven’t found one that works with the kind of reliability I think a self defense weapon requires. My experience with my Kel Tec P3AT was dismal. The Rohrbaugh R9 I had generally functioned well, but was finicky about ammo, required recoil spring changes and cleaning frequently, had a funky tail hook mag release and it’s slippery as a bar of soap finish made it a difficult gun to enjoy shooting. The R9 is great for its occasional use design goal, but if I own a gun, I want to shoot it. Hopefully frequently . . .
Robert and Ralph keep telling me to get a Smith & Wesson Airweight revolver and be done with it. But I am just not a revolver guy (yet).
With summer on the way, I am finding it a bit more difficult to carry my darling G19, especially as I tuck in the shirt for business casual carry. I again began to think about getting some sort of pocket pistol, but which one? My mind was made up for me when I came across a classified add for a Kahr PM9 at a reasonable price. I went through my mental checklist of things I like in a self defense gun: Light weight? Check. Polymer frame? Check. No safety? Check. High capacity? Nope, but better than a revolver – something has to give to fit one in your pocket. Reliable? TBD – I’ve read mixed reviews on the Interwebs.
I decided to jump on it and got a new-to-me gun with only about 100 rounds on the clock. Will this be the gun to bring me back to the small pistol crowd?
The gun arrived dirty, lint filled and a bit gummy, like someone had shot it, oiled it once and stuck it in a pocket for a year, or two. Takedown was intuitive so I cleaned and oiled it, and proceeded to do some dry practice.
The trigger is long and smooth, moderate weight with a clean break and no noticeable stacking, I thought it very reminiscent of the HK LEM trigger. Reset is subtle, and way forward in the trigger stroke. For rapid fire, plan to move you finger back and forth completely through the entire trigger stroke. I imagine a decent revolver trigger feels the same.
Like most Kahrs, it feels very good in the hand. The grip for me is small enough that I control the trigger with the distal interphalangeal crease rather than the pad of the finger. The gun points naturally for me, but I note that the barrel and slide seem higher above my hand than a Glock. The return spring is very heavy. If I had arthritis or hand weakness, moving the slide could be a deal killer. Racking the slide feels twice as hard as a Glock.
Loaded with seven rounds of Gold Dots, the pistol weighs 19.5 oz. Add a Desantis Nemesis Pocket Holster and weight in pocket is 21.5oz. This bumps it just above my self-imposed 20 oz. limit for pocket carry, but I can’t say as it bothered me much at all.
My R9 came in just under an once lighter with the same set up. I’ll suffer the ounce and take the PM9 all day over the R9 for my purposes. I simply prefer the slide lock, ability to take +P ammo, and more traditional location of the magazine release. The PM9 draws easily depending on the pocket, but certainly not as easy as the various micro .380 offerings out there.
How did it shoot? In my first range session, I shot about 100 rounds each of Speer Lawman and Wolf steel cased 9mm as well as a magazine full of my carry ammo: Ranger SXT +P. I had no malfunctions of any kind with the brass ammo. The Wolf would fail to feed regularly on the second and third rounds of the seven round magazine only. The slide stayed open with this failure. The “tap” of a tap-rack-bang failure drill would regularly seat the unfed round, and I would be off to the races. I had no issues at all with the six round magazine, or any other positions in the seven rounder.
My second range session, I got a box each of Wal-Mart’s best: 200 rounds of relatively cheap ammo from Federal (Champion), Winchester (White Box), Tul-Ammo steel cased, along with a box of Aguila 124 grain. Zero malfunctions at all. I feel this gun is good to go from a reliability standpoint, just don’t use Wolf. All my shooting this session was done primarily one handed with the off hand and I can’t say that my hand feels bruised at all.
I did notice the higher bore axis and light weight compared to the Glock, but it’s not bad at all. Compared to the R9, this thing shoots like a dream. Rapid fire is marginally slower than a Glock simply due to the extra distance traveled by my finger. It is not difficult to shoot six rounds in under two seconds, but I could probably shoot ten rounds in the same time with the Glock.
My range sessions involve movement and plinking rather than bulls-eye stuff and the Kahr was plenty competent at keeping cans bouncing. At least until the ammo ran out and it seemed to run out quickly. I’ve been shooting mostly high capacity stuff exclusively for the last six months, and 6-7 rounds seems to run out awfully fast. I don’t usually carry extra ammo, but this pistol has me reconsidering that. Anyway, I had no difficulty hitting what I aimed at, and the sights came to eye easily. I had no trouble controlling the pistol with one hand or off hand, standing still or with movement. In some ways, I actually enjoyed shooting it more one handed.
Cleaning the gun after the first range session, I noted that it probably didn’t need the cleaning at all. I found minimal gunk, debris or stickiness. I think I could safely go 1000 rounds between cleaning if I cared to.
All in all, despite the seven round magazine’s rejection of cheapo ammo, I think the PM9 is a shooter, and a keeper. I certainly enjoyed running it and it could be the gun that changes my mind about small pistols. I now find myself a bit intrigued by the P380. I will run some more ammo flavors through the pistol and report back.
Specifications:
Caliber: 9mm
Capacity: 6+1, 7+1 (magazine with grip extension)
Operation: Trigger cocking DAO; lock breech; “Browning – type” recoil lug; passive striker block; no magazine disconnect
Barrel: 3.1″, polygonal rifling; 1 – 10 right-hand twist
Length O/A: 5.42″
Height: 4.0″
Slide Width: .90″
Weight: Pistol 14 ounces, Magazine 1.9 ounces
Grips: Textured polymer
Sights: Drift adjustable, white bar-dot combat sights
Finish: Black polymer frame, matte stainless steel slide
Magazines: 1 each: 6 rd flush floorplate & 7 rd extended grip
Ratings (out of five stars):
Ratings are based on other similar firearms. Final rating is not calculated from the constituent ratings.
Accuracy * * * *
Dead on. The PM9 is as accurate as the user and ammunition allow.
Ergonomics * * * *
Fits me great. Delightful to hold and shoot.
Ergonomics Firing * * * *
Fun to shoot. That’s saying a lot for a small nine.
Reliability * * * *
Chokes on Wolf ammo. Reliable with all other ammo tested so far (seven brands).
Customization * * *
Lasers, grips, mag extensions etc are available.
Overall Rating * * * *
The best pocket pistol I have tested to date.
I used to carry a PM40. After about 500 rounds the thing started jamming with every brand of ammo. Needless to say I no longer own the PM40.
did you change the recoil and mag springs before you got rid of it? That was probably all it needed.
No I just bought a Glock 27.
I was considering one of these, but I think now I’ll try a Shield.
I’m no S&W salesman, but I do know that I like small pistols about as much as you do.
However, I am rather excited to get my hands on the 9mm Shield. It looks like a fantastic little pistol (given the provenance of its bigger brothers), and I can’t wait to shoot one. Moreover, it’s not as ugly as this (to my eyes), and has the added bonus of a whole extra round. Seems like a good deal to me.
I have a PM9 but also have an interest in the S&W Shield. I don’t, and wouldn’t, consider looks when shopping for CCW guns. If it’s concealed properly it won’t be seen by anyone so you don’t have to worry about carrying an ugly gun. Secondly, I find the PM9 to be more generic-looking than ugly. There’s almost no detailing on it; it’s just a very plain gun.
FYI – since this doesn’t seem to be getting passed around about the Shield right now…
I own a PM9 and just go a Shield on Thursday and got 500 rounds through it over the weekend. The Shield absolutely BLOWS the PM9 out of the water, in every respect, save one:
The PM9 is a pocket pistol. The Shield is – by design – a weapon intended to be worn in a holster of some sort (IWB, Appendix IWB, a belly band, etc). The Shield will not fit well bare in a pocket. It absolutely won’t fit in a pocket with a proper pocket holster (negated slightly by S&W’s inclusion of a manual safety). So if pocket carry is something you are really after, the PM9 or a J-Frame is the way to go.
Having said that, I gave up on pocket carry long ago; it is a dumb way to carry a pistol.
The smart man learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Get the J-frame.
“…and 6-7 rounds seems to run out awfully fast. I don’t usually carry extra ammo, but this pistol has me reconsidering that.”
I’ve been carrying an XD(M) .40 (16+1) as my EDC for over a year, but decided I wanted something smaller. I picked up a Sig P238 about a week ago, and I really like it so far, but I’ve also noticed that boy, those 6 round magazines get empty fast. It only came with one magazine, so it looks like I’m going to have to invest in at least one more.
Matt, consider the 7 round magazine with the pinky extension. Works for my big hands. 7 + 1.
Why no Glock 26? That will eradicate your jamming problem.
+1
Replaced my Kahr PM9 with a G26 about a year ago. This was after Kahr had been telling folks with PM9′s that the polymer bulging outward away from the slide right near the front of the barrel was merely aesthetics and wouldn’t affect gun function. I had a few jams, but after 500 rounds through it and my frame bulged out, got rid of that overpriced not gonna rely on this gun to save my life piece of _____.
I have a Glock 26 that I love. It doesn’t fit in the pocket so well. I wanted a pocket gun for those times when I’m not holstered up.
The PM9 fits the BUG role well.
something is wrong with the P3at link comes up with a login for wordpress
Ditto.
I’ve thought about a P3AT: smaller, automatic. But I’ve decided to stick with the LCR. It’s [i]almost[/i] that J-frame that you’ve been avoiding.
How’s the machining on yours?
I can clearly see machining marks within the slide serrations, around the ejection port, on the breech face, etc. The machining on my Glocks looks much nicer.
I actually had two PM9s and just traded one of them for a G26. The one I traded had some pretty bad machining on the part of the barrel lug where the recoil spring contacts. There is supposed to be kind of a shoulder machined in there so that the round recoil spring plug thing has something to sit on. The shoulder was barely visible and it looked the metal had been attacked with a rough file rather than machined.
I never had any problems with the gun but for the price they charge I expect a little better quality machining. Maybe they don’t change their bits often enough?
Jason
I have a “Talon” grip wrap on mine. Makes the thing like a part of my hand. Amazing grip.
Good review.
I had FTFs with my PM9 only when using any of my 3-7rnd mags( both good and cheap ammo). Kahr thought it was how my pinky pushed the magazine forward on the mag extension and traded all my mags out for 6 rounders. I Have not had a FTF since getting rid of the 7 rounders. While I Beleive this is a design issue and I should not have to settle for 6 rounders only , I love this gun and would not trade it in for a glock 26……I will purchase a glock 26 in addition though!
Khars are built pretty tight. I’ve had a lot of complaints from customers of FTFs and such with brand new guns. Wolff and other really cheap ammo tends to bring problems like that out of the woodwork.
I wouldn’t trust them for carry until i’d put about 500 rounds through it.
In my experience, though, they’re great little guns. I don’t own one, but my friend I go and plink with does, and for being so small, they’re mighty accurate little guns. They seem well built.
However, banish any thoughts of 1000 round uncleaned reliability from your mind. They don’t like to run dirty, and they like to run wet.
My problems with the PM40s didn’t start until about 250 rounds. Most of these rounds were Ranger SXT 180gr. After the 500 round mark, the pistol would throw at least 1 FTF per magazine no matter which of my 5 magazines I used. It took a thorough cleaning before it would run more than 1 magazine without an FTF. Clean and repeat.
While I realize the average gunfight is 3-5 rds, the Kahr should have performed a little better for the price.
Kahr does make an 8 round 9mm magazine that fits in the PM9 which brings your total count to 9…which is approximately half what your G19 carries and basically rules out pocket carry cuz it sticks out so far. Ya can’t have everything.
Note:
I added my second range session to my initial review above. This gun runs great (so far). I will let you know if it chokes.
Nice review, Eric. I had a chance to fire a PM9 recently, courtesy of a stranger at the range who saw me eyeballing it and asked if I wanted to give her a try. Who am I to say “no?”
It was comfortable to shoot and pretty accurate for such a little gun. It looks good, too. While I didn’t have an opportunity to tear it down or wring it out, it seemed like a fine and well-made shooter.
Still, what I want in my pocket is a snubby.
Thanks Ralph. Thoughts on how it compared to the Sig 290?
Another use for this gun for me is something to wear in the belly band while running. The larger heavier guns with more ammo tend to jiggle around more. I did a technical trail run today with the PM9 and a full spare mag and didn’t notice either. The lack of an aluminum frame is a plus for this application as the gun gets a bit sweated up.
All in all I am a very satisfied customer of a nice used firearm right now. It has a place in my life for sure.
I didn’t have enough trigger time to make a fair comparison between the PM9 to the SIG P290. I did a full test of the 290 and thought that it was an outstanding little gun. I only shot one mag from the PM9, but I sure liked it.
Frankly, the state of the art in small pistols is amazing.
The PM9 is my EDC in the summer months. Always in an OWB holster – I don’t pocket carry. Sounds like someone did you a favor and broke in the gun before you bought it. Brand new, the little Kahrs usually need about 200 rounds to reach carry reliability, and there is a break-in ritual described on the Kahr Talk site.
It’s worth it, though. This pistol is perfect for concealed carry with the obvious exception of capacity. So go bigger or double stack if you must, but I feel fine with 7 rounds of +P Golden Sabers that I know will go bang if I need them. The trigger pull and reset are obviously designed for defensive use and revolveristas will feel right at home.
My only complaint is the ugly larger mag. It just hangs out there like an afterthought. This is a 3 finger gun so having a shaped pinky rest and a mag base that looks like it belongs with the gun would help.
Add to that the ugly smaller mag. I hate how that galvanized gutter metal hangs out the bottom. Why can’t it fit flush?
Yep, there have been numerous complaints that both mags don’t live up to the standard of the pistol itself. I also forgot to mention that not all the mags will drop free when released. Some do, some don’t. Go figure. I’m hesitant to modify anything, so if I’m carrying an extra mag, I just make sure the one in the gun will drop free.
Try a Ruger LCR in .38
It is the revolver that Glock would have made.
Thanks for the great review. I had the same issue with the 2nd rnd FTF with 7 Rnd mag. Even after 500 rnds, the 2 rnd in the mag would be nose-dived under the feed ramp. I only had the problem using FMJ Winchester (rounded nose) ammo. It never jammed using hollow point ammo. I found that when a round is chambered, the next round slides forward in the magazine as much as 1/4 inch. I compared this to my XD40 sub-compact and found those rounds do not slide forward in the magazine at all, that I could tell.
Kahr said rounds sliding forward is normal but I might have an issue with my 7 Rnd mag. They offered to replace it with either a 6 or 7 rnd mag. I’m waiting for a replacement 7 rnd but I now think I should have gone with the 6.
I bought my pistol new but was not impressed with the supposed “precision” machining. Had a number of curly-q tailings and lots of metal flakes that washed out from the striker cavity when I used an aerosol spray cleaner like someone recommended on-line. Although the 6 rnd mag has never jammed, the2nd and following rounds do slide forward with it, just not enough to jam, so far. I will only use JHP ammo for self-defense and probably only use the 6 rnd mag for CC but it concerns me a little. I really like the size, weight and performance of the PM9 when it works but I have to know I will get more than 1 shot if I ever have to use it. Otherwise I will also look at the S&W Shield.
I really wish Springfield made a small single-stack, I have never had a problem with my XD40 and like the “automatic” trigger and grip safeties, just the right balance for me between no safety and a thumb safety
Beware!!! (or at lease aware…) One thing to consider before
thinking of purchasing a PM9 is that if you put it together wrong
it’s just about impossible to get it apart again. It’s a very easy
mistake to make. If you’re not careful installing the slide stop
you can hose yourself to the point where you have to send the gun
in to have it disassembled. I was putting mine back together after
a long day and then cleaning the pistol and pushed the slide stop
in too soon and seized up the slide. I tried every tick I found on
the internet but nothing worked. To me this is a major issue. I
could tell by the way Customer Service handled me that this happens
quite a bit. It is still the smallest 9mm and I will end up keeping
it. With the amount of frustration and hassle this issue caused me
I’d like to think I won’t make this mistake again.
Update; I just received my PM9 back from the factory. The Smith noted that the Barrel and Slide were ” Peened”. That must mean FUBAR as they replaced the slide, barrel and recoil assembly,(the entire top end of the gun).
Great customer service though, this was all free of charge. I’ll be sure to get those index marks lined up right next time I re-install the slide block.
I’m sorry you were forced into buying a glock27! My condolences
My EDC is a Kahr P9 Black w/Night Sites with Hornady Critical Duty +P. Love it. I carry it IWB appendix with the 8 rd extended mag in a FIST kydex holster. I carry the normal 7 rd in my pocket. I shoot this gun VERY well. It handles the +P load great and seems to love it. I held a PM9 today for the first time with the 7rd mag with grip extension. I was very impressed. But not enough to leave the P9. The P9 is not cheap, nor is the PM9. That being said, I am always amazed at how much firepower I have on tap in an astonishingly compact system. You have to shoot the p9 to appreciate the advantages over a Glock. I can’t speak to the Shield as I have only held a plastic model of one, but it is similar to the P9 in width, etc. The p9 trigger is outstanding, and this is from a guy who also has a Kimber 3″ .45 which I will still carry sometimes. With my large hands, the p9 fits so well especially with the extended grip, and shoots so well with the Critical Duty +p loads, that it’s hard for me to strap on the extra weight of the Kimber. The p9 is not a pocket gun, and I was un-impressed with the SigSauer p938. Yes, the Kahr extended grips showing bare metal are not a work of art. HOWEVER I can easily grip it and extract it for a jam if needed. If you can’t get a grip on it to strip it out, you know what will happen next. A bit long on the narrative here, but there you have it.
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Well….I don’t have a PM9 but I am seriously considering one. I’ve carried (or attempted to carry) several Glocks (19, 26, 30, 32, 36), several Colts (Commander, New Agent 9mm and .45 variety) and various other brands (Kel Tec PF9, Ruger LCP) and I am hoping the Kahr PM9 is the one I have been looking and hoping for. Concealability, shootability, reliable, durable, and something in at least 9mm Luger. I was able to handle one yesterday and on first impressions, I’m impressed. I liked the grip which is a big complaint I have with the very tiny 9′s I have handled. Here’s hoping it lives up to expectations.
I’ve been carrying a cm9 for 6 months, usually iwb. It’s comfortable to carry, is accurate and always goes bang when I pull the trigger. I like it.