Kahr PM9 just approved by CA DOJ!

[PenHolder]

The Kahr PM9 is now CA-legal, and listed at http://justice.doj.ca.gov/safeguns/safeguns_new.taf .

The Great State of California has deemed this pistol -- with the stainless-steel finish only -- to be "not unsafe", and hence legal for handgun-safety-certified subjects who also purchase a firearm safety device approved for this pistol (or who own a DoJ-approved gun safe) to purchase, as of 06/24/2003. The variant with the matte black finish exceeds the maximum allowed tacticality factor, and hence is not listed as not unsafe; expressing a preference for not not unsafe models is strictly forbidden.

In addition, the DoJ has also gone so far as to certify that the Kahr PM9 is also "not unsafe" when purchased with factory-installed night sights. Glory be!

-PH

Disclaimer: may not be legal in all areas of the state, preemption laws be damned. Check local listings for details. Not valid in conjuction with any other offer; one per customer, while supplies last.

 

[Sven]

Hot damn!

 

[BerettaNut92]

What's that green stuff, did the Tritium vials break?

 

[PenHolder]

What's that green stuff, did the Tritium vials break?

It's the anti-gun aura that permeates most everything from places like MA! Or, it's the Hulk-grade dose of radioactive ooze that comes free with the first 10000 guns sold.

For anyone that doesn't know, the green border is there so that the area surrounding the gun itself (the shadow, especially) looks smoothly blended with the background; the edges of the green part are solid green, to blend with the background color of Kahr's web page. (I guess they don't want to change that anytime soon!)

Wouldn't it be awesome if there was an image format that had, say, an 8-bit alpha channel for doing transparencies? Perhaps with efficient, lossless compression, and the ability to represent "true-color" (or better) images? A standard, free image format, supported by browsers and graphics applications far and wide?

Ahh, I can dream. We now return you to our regularly scheduled PM9 discussion with our crappy 1-bit transparency, 255-color GIFs.

-PH

 

[Gordon Fink]

I noticed this the other day. I’m strongly considering ordering one this afternoon.

~G. Fink

 

[10-Ring]

Very cool! I've been wanting to at least fondle one for awhile! That green glow looks kinda cool too. I bet it makes it easier to find in the dark

Has anyone heard if the reliability issues w/ the poly Kahr been addressed & taken care of?

 

[PenHolder]

Has anyone heard if the reliability issues w/ the poly Kahr been addressed & taken care of?

I called Kahr (at 508-795-3919) a while back and asked them about this. They told me that, since the introduction of the P9, there have been three updates to the design:

1) A retaining cross-pin was added to keep the trigger pivot pin from walking out the left side of the gun under recoil. It's just a little piece of spring-wire that's been stuck into the frame and covered up with a bit of epoxy. This isn't necessary on the steel-frame guns because the pins are press-fit very tightly.

2) The slide stop was replaced with a lower-profile one which only protrudes from the left side of the frame about 1/8". (The polymer Kahrs don't have grip panels adding to their width, so I guess the steel-Kahr slide stop lever stuck waaay out on those.)

3) The slide stop spring retaining method has been changed; the original design used a plastic tab to retain the spring, while the new design uses a little screw and washer.

Kahr will upgrade old pistols for free (or, at least they did at the time). You have to pay the shipping on the way in, though.

So that's what I heard, from the horse's mouth. I believe that all of these upgrades pre-date the introduction of the PM9. If you're concerned about any further changes, you can always call them up and ask. I have read that the PM9 can fail to cycle after the first round in a mag if the slide was released by hand, versus using the slide stop lever.

-PH