Got a Kahr PM9 - CRAZY Price!
Preface - pistol is for my wife, but due to majority reading being men I figured I'd post pics with my hands to show other how the pistol fits into a medium sized brohand. I have a conceal/carry permit, and my wife and I have visited the range where she was fully capable of firing (and chambering rounds, locking the slide open, etc.) my .45 GAP Glock (pictured later below) so please let's not turn this into a debate on the merits of my wife carrying a pistol in 9mm, or carrying a pistol at all.
So as some of you might know I own a Glock 39 .45 GAP sub compact pistol. It is currently the smallest (not thinnest though) framed Glock offered. The sub compact Glocks come chambered in 9mm luger, .40 S&W, 10mm auto, .357 SIG, .380 auto, and .45 GAP. They all have identical dimensions size-wise. Different calibers yield different capacities. I carry this pistol daily either holstered on my right hip, or inside the waistband just offset below my belly button for a quick draw.
The Glock sub compact frame is pretty damn small as it is. The grip is so short that I HAD to add a pinky extension, which greatly increased control.
I'm going somewhere with this, I swear...
So my wife and I have been discussing getting a carry pistol for her. I did a LOT of research and after seeing that EVERY single .380 pocket pistol has a pretty high rate of malfunctions from failure to feed, failre to fire, and stovepipe jams we eliminated the .380 auto. Besides I'm not a fan of the .380 auto as it seems to truly be a pansy round.
So we were down to a select few pistols, and it was between the 9mm luger and .40 S&W caliber.
There are some pretty boss choices for the smallest, thinnest, conceal carry pistols - unfortunately Glock doesn't offer ANYTHING in the single stack, sub compact/light weight arena. Closest thing they have is either the "baby" Glock frame, which is fatter than we wanted, or the G36 which is a touch thinner than the baby Glock, but definitely longer and taller.
We narrowed our search down to the 9mm luger due to felt recoil in such tiny-ass polymer pistols. I read a ton of direct comparisons for the same frame being shot in 9mm and .40 versions, and the verdict was that the .40 was markedly "snappier" which IMO is not good for my wife. What good is extra muzzle velocity, hole size, and overall "damage" if she cannot put as many on target?
So after deciding on 9mm there were really only two choices that stuck out:
Kel-Tec PF-9:
Kahr Arms PM9:
The Kel-Tec was the clear first choice as it is offered as cheap as $333.00 MSRP for the blued slide with choice of color (black, grey, or OD green) poly frame. I was quoted $320.00 out the door with tax included from a local pawn shop, brand new. After reading a ton of reviews and owner testimonies it seemed like their pistols were literally "hit or miss" in terms of quality out of the box, but evidently Kel-Tec's customer service is second to none. It's a $300.00 pistol from rough edges, obvious seams in the plastic including on the trigger itself, and the suggestion from Kel-Tec owners to "fluff and buff" the feed ramp for the barrel right out of the box. It has a cult following though, and some people report over 1,000 rounds through without a single malfunction of any kind.
The Kahr Arms PM9 was the other option. With an MSRP of $798.00 and the cheapest quote being $640.00 out the door it was going to be a tough sell for me. After reading many reviews, and after seeing a clear cut quality/build quality/fit and finish advantage over the Kel-Tec we had a really tough choice on our hands...
...that is until I stumbled across a PM9 at a local pawn shop.
I will not name the shop for obvious reasons. I went to this store to look for a magazine pouch that I could clip to my belt to carry an extra Glock magazine on my person. A co-worker told me to "take a look at this Kahr they have over here" and to my astonishment it was a Kahr PM9 with a price tag of just $459.00!!!
WTF?
I had to call Dave/buetang (good friend who owns a Kahr and was looking at a PM9 or PM40) to double check the going rate of the Kahr PM9 in stainless matte silver slide with regular sights. Cheapest it was going for was buy it now of $645.00+shipping+$20.00 transfer fee since they only ship to FFL (I think?) gun dealers who charge to do the transfer papers. The usual going rate was easily $700.00+ from most vendors.
So this was a $700.00 pistol being shown at $459.00 - what's the catch?
Was it used?
No.
Why was it so cheap?
After asking to handle the pistol I realized why the price was so cheap:
The store had the pistol marked as the less expensive, larger CW9 model!!!
This was like getting one of those community chest cards in Monopoly that says "Bank Error in Your Favor of $200.00" because this was just a stupid deal. I immediately asked the guy at the store (I know him in a round about way) if he could "hold" the pistol for me, and he agreed to. He said I needed to put 20% down by one week from that day. I could not wait, and for fear of it being sold from out from under me my wife and I busted out the dusty credit card and we charged that bitch today. I had the balls to ask the guy if he could work anything else on the price, and he DID ring it up at $435.00+tax which came out to $465.00 out the door. Un-freaking-believable.
So anyways enough yappin' - here's some pics.
Pistol is sold in a nice hard case that includes one +1 7 round magazine, 1 standard 6 round magazine, a trigger lock, and some literature:
I have to admit that the +1 magazine doesn't flow worth a damn, and it's ugly, but for my hands (my wife can pretty much grip it without nrhe extension) it provides that extra bit of grip and comfort:
I plan on buying the Pearce Grip extension for the standard magazine - not my pic:
Rear sight is pretty good, but I prefer three dot - we will probably add Trijicon night sights sooner or later:
Front sight is dovetailed in for an easy switch to another sight:
So how does the Kahr stack up against the smallest frame "Baby Glock" you may ask?
There is no comparison really - keep in mind the +1 extension on the Glock makes it's grip longer, but IMO it cannot be fired reliably (IMO) without the pinky extension:
With mag extension in the Kahr:
True difference in slide/overall length:
Here is where it really counts though - thickness. It may not look significant, but after carrying the Kahr tonight it's a huge comfort difference when carried inside the waistband:
So how well do the pistols fit on my hand? The Glock is definately a sweet shooting pistol, and the extra bulk is not at all bothersome when holding it - note I'm posting shots with my hands since the majority reading this will be dudebros:
The Kahr is noticeably smaller in-hand - mag extension serves a pinky rest until I get a proper one:
No pinky rest = probably not very fun to shoot:
Now the next few pics are more to illustrate the differences in my own G39 and PM9 in terms of caliber. This is where the extra size of the Glock can be overlooked, because the .45 GAP rounds I carry are 230 grain, while the carry ammo for the PM9 are 124 grain - I'd say the damage done would have to be much in favor of the Glock. The thing is that Kahr makes this tiny-ass pistol in a .45 ACP!!! WTF?!? That thing would have to kick like a mule!!!
One punches bigger holes:
We plan on running at least 200 rounds for break-in as suggested by Kahr Arms. Unlike a Glock, which can be taken out of the box and loaded with every ammo imaginable and fire every time without a hitch, the Kahrs have been reported as being finicky until at least 200 rounds are fed through it. It is a much smaller frame so I'll tolerate a break-in period so long as it is a noticeable difference in chambering rounds and firing.
I'll be sure to post my findings after breaking this little bitch in.
...and remember when I said this Kahr was for my wife? it is, but I'll be carrying it until she gets her conceal/carry permit. I have a feeling that this will prompt me to possibly sell the Glock and pick up one of the Kahrs in either a .40 S&W or maybe even the retarded idea .45 ACP in such a tiny frame. I do love the idea of the Glock and it's "never clean it and it will fire every time forever" ability - that's a hard thing to give up.
We'll see how the Kahr works out at the range...
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