Well, I bought the PM9.
One of my most trusted gun shop buddies HAD a PM40 and felt the recoil was brutal and this guy loves mag behind his calibers. He switched to a PM9.
So ... her is my range report on my newly purchased Kahr PM9.
First, I got an awesome deal on mine. Around Seattle some dealers actually thought they could sell the base PM9s for as high as $579. I bought mine at Ben's Loans in Renton, WA for $529. My favorite gunshop since they ahve a great selection of new and used guns. YMMV on the purchase price though. Glenn my fav saleman there warned me to make sure I had a firm grip on that PM9.
Second, a Kahr rep told him that many of the PM9 failures were due to limpwristing and a poor grip on the gun so the slide didn't operate as designed and FTE, FTF result. And another part of the failures was due to out-of-spec ammo either too long or too short. I know I cannot fit the 115 grain Powermax Gold Dot +P+ ammo in my PM9. But with the possibility of slide peening - no way. So I'm only shooting standard velocity with occassional +P carry loads in my PM9.
Third, I took it home and did the usual fluff and buff. Cleaned it. Mirror polished the feed ramp which was no big deal since it was 85 percent there from the factory. Added Tetra gun grease to the rails and the barrel's locking lug and the inside of the slide near the top barrel opening. Thin coat of BreakFree and wipe off.
Finally, took it to the Seattle Police Range and practiced outdoors. Light misty rain. But covered shooting positions so no big deal.
Absolutely no failures in 400 rounds shot in one two hour session at 8 yards. All ammo delivered tight COM groups within 3 inches even with fast fire and slow double taps.
100 rounds of 147 grain copper plated Berry's bullets with 3.8 grains of TiteGroup at 1.14" OAL. Very accurate and extremely light recoil. Pleasurably.
100 rounds of some old Winchester white box 147 grain FMJ. Accurate and pleasant.
100 rounds of some 115 grain Montana Gold JHPs loaded with 4.5 grains of Universal to 1.13" OAL. Some good recoil and thump to those rounds. Accurate but not as pleasant as the 147s.
40 rounds of some 147 grain standard velocity Hydrashoks - very accurate and a plasure to shoot. About 1.15" OAL.
40 rounds of some 124 grain standard velocity Hydrashoks - pretty pleasant to shoot. About 1.13" OAL.
20 rounds of some 124 +P Gold Dots - my planned carry load. Accurate, easy to COM, pretty tight groups. I'll carry that load.
But for my next box of carry ammo I will look at the 147 Gold Dots standard velocity since I seem to prefer shooting the 147s out of my PM9.
So that was my break in session.
Five different bullet profiles
Three different bullet weights
Different overal length loads
Standard pressure ammo
+P ammo
Reloaded ammo
Factory ammo
Different rates of fire
No issues - no problems!
Just cleaned it up. No slide peens, just normal break in wear on the metal parts.
My only wish would be that the slide rails to have more metal on them. Oh well.
So that is my report on my PM9 from the Fall 2003 crop.
Glad I have it - yes!
It's a keeper.
Plan to slap some XS big dot tritium 24/7 night sights on it soon. Anybody have any feedback on those?