Range Report -- Kahr PM9 9mm sub-compact (ongoing)

[SemperGumby]

A buddy of mine has a PM9 that is great other than he often has FTFs much of the time he fires it, usually the first or second round of a magazine. If I fire it I never have any FTFs so I'm thinking it was his grip as he has much smaller hands than me. I've tried to replicate his grip but could not for the life of me get it to jam. So I may just buy it off him. I'm a big guy and it would be a great pocket gun for winter when a belt holster isn't practical under all the layers we have to wear up here in the 802. Love the ease at which it points and it's always shot flawlessly for me. I hope CCW9mm is able to post more about his soon, as it seems he had similar issues as my friend. Great reports, great reading!

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Breakdaddy]

Ive put about 600 rounds through my PM9 as of this afternoon and have had zero problems of any kind. As of today, this pistol is no longer solely a BUG and I feel confident in it as a EDC for those times when only a small form factor pistol can be carried.

[conservaDude]

Nice review and I hope everything works out. But I myself can not see buying a pistol that needs that type of break in to hopefully run right someday. Chewing/gouging of the frame rails, 1000 plus rounds break in, mulitpule FTF! the plus side is you are not have any FTE that you are reporting and that is a plus. I would like to see the next reports and final report, maybe this will work itself out?


Ti

I've heard of the plastic issues, but the consensus seems to be that it does not affect the gun's operation. My PM9 had no such problems and was clean as a whistle from the factory and stayed that way, and removing the slide is not a problem. I do get FTFs with Gold Dots now and then but Corbon works fine all the time, so that's what I shoot. Cheap PMC stuff always works. Sometime, I may get the feed ramp polished as it would be a very tiny thing to do and it'd fix the Gold Dot. Looking very closely at Gold Dot, you can see that profile of the bullet is slightly sharper than the Corbon and it's this slightly-sharper turn that sticks to the bottom end of the feed ramp now and then. A tiny polish right at that spot would cure it. This is not unusual. Might even cure itself if I went ahead and shot a couple of thousand Gold Dots through it. Overall, the gun shoots quite accurately and feeds/ejects just fine. I have no complaints.

Brian

[conservaDude]

Yes, I'm curious if you resolved your PM9 problems. Mine's never had a FTF, but I've had difficulty loading the first round in. Sometimes it doesn't want to lock forward. It's never had a problem though other than that & it's not as accurate as I would've hoped.

The factory told me to lock the slide back, insert the mag, then release it to snap forward to load the first round ...not to sling-shot it. I say BS. Sling-shotting works fine on a PM9 as long as you do it properly ...let your hand slide off the back end of the slide all in one smooth motion. If your method causes any kind of hang and doesn't let the slide snap forward naturally from the full back position, then you may have issues. But that could be true for any auto.

Brian

[conservaDude]

Just got the PM9 back from Kahr. The extractor and various springs were replaced, plus the ramp and extractor edges were polished. We'll see if this does anything for the reliability. I love the PM9's fit and balance in the hand, even when shooting extremely hot 9mm DoubleTap loads (511 ft-lbs in 4" barrel pistol). Hopefully it will do well.

Kahr used to say that the recoil spring was designed for heavier rounds and that you shouldn't use the light (115gr) rounds in it... I wonder if they still say that? All weights work fine in mine.

Brian

[Breakdaddy]

I don't really know what Kahr says on the subject of 115gr loads, but my target loads are entirely 115gr and I've never had the slightest malfunction with any of them, nor have I had a malfunction with my chosen defensive loads: the cor bon DPX 115gr +P or the golden saber 124gr +p.

[KellyCooper]

I bought my Kahr PM9 about a month ago and since then I have shot approximately 1200 rounds through it. Of that 1200, I have had one Failure to Fire, and even that was not the guns fault (heavy dimple in center of primer, it just didn't go off.....I have had not a single instance of failure to feed or eject since I have owned it) As for lighter loads, I am currently using 100gr PowRBall +P rounds without a problem at all. (I admit, I haven't shot MANY of them but a total of about 60) Overall, I am EXTREMELY confident in this gun.
edit: after reviewing my actual range time and shooting, I realized that my estimate of 1200 rounds through this gun was actually very low. I am updating that number to approximately 1600-1700 (although all failures remain the same at zero)

[ccw9mm]

Kahr used to say that the recoil spring was designed for heavier rounds and that you shouldn't use the light (115gr) rounds in it... I wonder if they still say that? All weights work fine in mine.

And all weights of bullet in mine (115gr, 124gr, 147gr) seem equally unhappy. Though, I have yet to get it back onto the range for a full thrashing, since getting it back from Kahr. Way too busy with other things, this Spring.

Soon. Soon.

[utarch00]

Any updates on this. I am looking at a PM9 for pocket carry at work.

[razz]

any updates?

[ccw9mm]

The Kahr PM9 has been sold.

After getting it back from Kahr earlier in the year, I sent it through its paces over a couple of hard sessions at the range. The last session included 120 rounds of various ammo without a failure of any kind. The minor work and adjustments that Kahr did resolved the issues.

But in the meantime, I decided that the KelTec P3AT was a better match for the deep-cover, go-everywhere need to which it's being put. Anyway ... the PM9's off to another owner who can better appreciate its features.