Last time I listen to online: My CW380 is bigger than my DB9

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wild cat mccane

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Yep. I purchased a Karh CW380 and a Diamonback DB9.

I was going to for the smallest pocket gun I could after regretting selling my P3AT. I was of course torn between 9mm and .380.

Guess what? lying each next to each other, the CW380 is wider than the DB9. That difference is still larger than the difference between the slide to slide (ignoring the Kahr's huge take down lever).

In every dimension, the DB9 is smaller or equal to the tiny cw380. All except for the longer barrel.
 
My DB-9(s) have been pretty darned good. The older model has trouble with certain HP ammo but the newer model, 2014, has been almost flawless with all ammo. I did have one FTE two weeks ago with some Winchester 115 FMJ but it seems to have been an anomaly. Certainly not a gun I want to fire 100 times at the range but the recoil isn't as bad as some of my other pocket guns.
 
In every dimension, the DB9 is smaller or equal to the tiny cw380. All except for the longer barrel.
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Another way of saying this is that that CW380 is wider than the DB9 and the DB9 is longer than the CW380 by about 7/10th of an inch, how many other dimensions are there?

Well the CW380 is 3.9" in height and the DB9 is 4.0" in height but if you want to call that equal that's OK we're only talking about 1/10th of an inch.

I was going to for the smallest pocket gun I could
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The P380 is smaller than the CW380 - even Kahr's website shows the P380 is smaller.
 
The TCP keeps going on sale for $169.99 + $6.00 S&H - that's Hi-Point territory price-wise.

I think the biggest thing that has kept me from purchasing a TCP is that I'm holding out for the RM380.
 
If Diamonback's .380 and 9mm had the reliability track record of other manufacturers, I would have no problem paying for one, but I've heard disconcerting things about Diamonback guns. There are more reliable pocket guns that cost less and have a larger user base.
 
kokapelli Quote:
Originally Posted by dogtown tom View Post
What this forum needs is a Pocket Auto Comparison Chart.
Mods could sticky it at the top of this subforum.

:rolleyes:
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There already is one, it' stone second sticky at the top.
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I know......that's why the sarcasm face.;)
 
[I thought sarcasm goes in these?]

The Kahr P380 was maybe what your looking for? Not sure if it's smaller, but it's pretty darn small. Too small for a gun fight. But it's sights are better than Keltec's, so is the trigger.
 
Another way of saying this is that that CW380 is wider than the DB9 and the DB9 is longer than the CW380 by about 7/10th of an inch, how many other dimensions are there?
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There are plenty of other measurements that can matter. Width, girth at different points, trigger reach, guard dimensions, finger room below the guard, to name a few.
 
Here is another observation I have about small pistols, and this is just my own opinion, but whatever... It seems to me the human hand itself limits how small pistols can be. At some point, you're trying to hand on to a firearm by just gripping between your middle finger and palm with your ring finger and pinky under the butt for support, and that's only going to work for some smaller caliber guns. I think its especially true when you add controls. The P380 has a slide stop lever that gouges me on the inside of my shooting thumb, with a full sized pistol that lever is usually forward of my thumb. On almost all full-sized pistols that have them, I can easily work a flip-down, slide-mounted safety with a normal grip. To work the manual safety on ultra-compacts and pocket nines, I have to change my grip and bring my thumb way back to reach the safety. Disengaging the safety on the PM9 for instance, is a real exercise in dexterity, I did it two or three times at the gun counter and decided that, for me, no matter how much I practiced and trained with it, I'd never be able to use it under stress. I'm just using the PM9 as an example, I think the DA trigger on the PM9/CM9 is safe enough as is.

I think the number one thing that people overlook when selecting a gun is controls. And then people end up trying to EDC a gun that has controls that are difficult for them to work or they have a gun with a trigger that makes them leery of actually carrying it loaded.
 
Yes. Wild Cat has owned them all.

The TCP has a great trigger! However, it is taller than the others. Enough so that I didn't look back after returning it. I want a small pistol that hides in the pocket.

The P3AT really might be the best, or the LCP with the improved sights. I would sell them all for an LCP Custom in steel. This is because of the ratio of weight and size.The DB9 is essentially just a longer P3AT/LCP in 9mm, but the bad feedback keeps me worried about it.

All and all, I think the CW380 has the longest trigger (no, it isn't good because it is long and curvey at the end) and the worst width due to the take down lever that seems to be forgotten about in all the reviews.
 
I always list the width at the slide stop but I don't think many people care.

Kahr only lists slide width and the measurements they have on their site are off anyway.

Kahr gives the overall length of the CM9 as 5.42” If you measure just the slide from the rear to the muzzle end, the slide is 5.4375” So it is closer to 5.44” than it is to 5.42”. But that isn't really the OAL of the CM9. Putting the gun in a box, and putting the top of the slide against one wall of the box and sliding the gun until the rearmost part of the pistol touches another wall of the box, and measuring from there, the Kahr is actually 5.625” long. This is similar to how guns are measured with the IDPA box test, and I think its more useful if you're trying to figure out if you can realistically pocket carry it.

The BD9 is occasionally going on sale for $199.99 so I was hoping that you'd have a few thousand rounds through you DB9 to give us a range report.:)
 
Maybe so But I would trust the Kahr over the other any day of the week .
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Given the problems Kahr has had with the .380 models, methinks that might not be a sound choice.

I own a 2nd gen DB9, have put quite a few rounds through it. I did break the camming block early on running 135 gr. Hornady critical duty, but DBFA took care of it, even though they advise against >124 gr or +P ammo in this tiny 9mm. They actually sent me two new cam blocks, and a trigger.

After that, I decided to stick to 115 gr. standard pressure ammo, and the gun has run flawlessly for hundreds of rounds.

Some like to bash the DB9 for it's inability to run heavy or hot loads, to which I say, look at the dimensions of the gun. It is a .380 mouse gun sized pistol, yet able to fire standard 9mm ammunition. So, in a package roughly the same size, would you rather have 6+1 .380 or 6+1 standard pressure 115 or 124 gr. 9mm? And even if it could, would you really want to run hot +P ammo in an 11 ounce gun that is already quite lively in the hand with standard pressure ammo? I can tell you that those 135 gr. CD rounds were very energetic in the recoil department.
 
I run 147gr Ranger "T" Series and HST through my Rohrbaugh R9. The HSTs did shear the barrel pin, but I just put another barrel pin in the gun and it runs fine.

There is one 115gr round that penetrates 12" to 14" through 4x denim and that is Hornady 115gr Critical Defense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKE4VKPRFTQ


I'm thinking the DB9 could run forever eating 105gr Gaurd Dog or Hornady 100gr FTX Critical Defense Lite. I sort of think of the DB9 as firing 380 +P+ :)
 
I sort of think of the DB9 as firing 380 +P+
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Pretty much! Like I said, for basically the same package, I'd much rather have standard pressure 115 gr. 9mm than the hottest of .380 loads.

The R9 is a nice gun, but it's a little bit heavier and wider, and a whole lot more expensive. I don't really care if my $280 DB9 gets beat up from daily carry.
 
C0untZer0 said:
I run 147gr Ranger "T" Series and HST through my Rohrbaugh R9. The HSTs did shear the barrel pin, but I just put another barrel pin in the gun and it runs fine.

There is one 115gr round that penetrates 12" to 14" through 4x denim and that is Hornady 115gr Critical Defense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKE4VKPRFTQ


I'm thinking the DB9 could run forever eating 105gr Gaurd Dog or Hornady 100gr FTX Critical Defense Lite. I sort of think of the DB9 as firing 380 +P+ :)
Click to expand...
For the record, Winchester White Box 115 gr JHP also penetrates to similar specs and it expands reliably. I know the denim bullets don't look flawless, but as has been stated repeatedly, the denim test isn't meant to simulate a real scenario. In summer, most people are wearing thin shirts and I wouldn't hesitate to rely on WWB to protect me. Besides, it's half the price of pretty much every JHP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVQNJoo08a0&index=18&list=PLgNSGOEQko_M90AMdRCDMgd-w4Yozc27i
 
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