A great many Americans now pack iron as they go about their lives. For many, the right to do so is required or permitted by virtue of their peace officer's credentials. For others - in 33 states where concerned citizens have enacted shall issue laws - a concealed handgun permit comes with legal training, qualification shooting and payment of fees. More and more citizens of the Republic now have the legal right to do what the Constitution guaranteed them the right to do in the first place. The complex inequities of the law are not, however, the subject of this article. We'll look at a pistol in this article, a gun that deserves the attention of every single one of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who carry a handgun on their persons.

The gun at hand is the newest from Kahr Arms. Fans of the Kahrs have eagerly awaited the arrival of a pistol that combines the virtues of small size, lightweight, adequate power and simple operation. They got the latter two features with every one of the company's models, and the introduction of polymer receiver Kahrs cut the weight considerably. But a really pocketable size has eluded them until the announcement of the PM9. I had the privilege of shooting one of the prototypes for a few brief days and I think it is the concealed carry gun of the future.

Gun Details

The PM9 is a recoil-operated pistol chambered for the ever-popular 9mm Luger cartridge. Like almost everything else made for the 9mm round, the new Kahr uses the Browning type of recoil operation, where the barrel is locked to the slide for the initial rearward travel, then disengages from it to allow the slide to continue rearward for extraction, ejection, etc. Kahr's designers did a superb job of miniaturizing the system to work in a compact pistol. And believe me, it is a compact pistol. A PM9 drops into a box measuring 5.3 inches long and 4 inches high. It's less than an inch (.90 of an inch) across the slide. Kahr makes another great little gun with these dimensions. It's called the MK9 and it's a sweetheart to shoot. The major difference between the two models is the weight and when you need a lightweight, the PM9 is the way to go.
Since the PM9 has a moulded polymer receiver that is lighter than steel, it weighs much less. Kahr lists the weight of the pistol with an empty magazine as 15.9 ounces. That's under a pound. When you look hard at the selection criteria for a concealed carry handgun, it becomes immediately obvious that the most important feature is weight. This is simply a function of human nature. A heavy handgun becomes annoying to carry. When it runs to months and years without a need for that defensive pistol or revolver, too many of us begin to rationalize away the need for it. And since Murphy's Law is still on the books, the day you decide to skip carrying the piece will be the day you get into you own personal WWII. It just makes plain sense to choose a gun that is light enough that you'll habitually carry it. In the pistol field, the PM9 is just that gun.

Kahr pistols burst on the handgun scene in 1994. The first gun was a small 9mm auto called the K9. It established the style for the entire Kahr family of pistols. All subsequent models have the same type of trigger action and locking mechanism. This gives all of the various models the same look and feel. The K9 was an instant hit and was offered in several finish and sight options. Stainless steel K9s appeared a few years later and have become the most called-for gun yet. Eventually, the aggressive firm made slightly beefier autos of the same general style chambered for the .40 S&W cartridge. These guns were called K40s and like the K9s, came with 3-1/4 inches slides and butts long enough to take six shot .40 S&W magazines. K9s used a seven-shot magazine. To keep the guns compact and light, Kahr uses (on all models) reliably feeding single-column magazines. In time, the Kahr line broadened to include so-called Micro pistols in both calibers. These were radically abbreviated pistols with barrels and butts around a half-inch shorter than their older brothers. They were called the MK9 and MK40.
Kahr next developed the ability to produce polymer receiver pistols in both calibers, identifying them as P9 and P40. Most recently, they made a hybrid gun in both calibers. These little autos have short polymer butt with full-length slide and are referred to as the P9 Covert and P40 Covert. Although it took some time to resolve some operational problems, Kahr now offers the ultimate in lightweight and small size. Use the short polymer butt and a short Micro slide and you have our subject gun, the Kahr PM9.
The PM9 comes from the factory in a lockable plastic box. There's a well-written and illustrated manual in the lid and a fired case with identifying data in an envelope. There's also a tricky two-piece plastic blocking mechanism that goes around the trigger. Using a small padlock, it is possible to secure the gun completely from unauthorized use. Two magazines are included. One is a six-rounder, which is just as long as the magazine well; its floorplate fits the flush with the base of the butt. The buyer also gets a seven-round magazine, which appears to be the same one used on the longer K9 and P9 pistols. It extends below the butt, so the factory provides a plastic finger rest that surrounds the bottom of the magazine tube. The finger rest also serves as a stop to protect the magazine from damage if it should be over-enthusiastically slammed into place. I have also determined that another magazine might be used in the PM9. The company just announced a bigger pistol called the Tactical 9 (T9 for short). This one has an eight-round magazine, which seems to fit the PM9 magazine well in satisfactory fashion.
Cosmetically, the PM9 is a rather businesslike appearing gun. The stainless steel slide has a dull brushed finish and the receiver is grained polymer. The serial number is on a metal plate in the dust cover area and the company logo is a part of the pattern on either side of the butt. Shooter amenities include panels of checkering on frontstrap and backstrap. All too often, small autos don't get taken seriously as real-world tools, thereby ending up with miserably tiny sights. Not so with Kahr pistols, which are fitted with drift-adjustable sights large enough to be useful. They do have white bar highlights of questionable utility, but proper night sights are available, as are Express Sight Systems or the superb Novak variety.
In a typical gun review, the writer usually spends some time talking about the gun's controls. On a Kahr, there is little need for such a protracted discussion. In the tactical sense, the only control on the PM9 is the trigger. It is a DAO system, so pulling the trigger performs the dual functions of retracting the striker and releasing it. If there's a round in the chamber, the gun fires. There are no intermediate levers, switches, dials or buttons to be manipulated before trigger pressure alone fire the gun. In much the same manner as the trend-setting GLOCK pistol, the Kahr striker is partially cocked or loaded when the slide cycles.
There's a marked advantage to this arrangement. Using the slide movement to partially cock the striker means that the trigger pull is reduced. If the pistol does not fire for some reason, the slide must be manually racked in order to re-set the trigger/striker relationship. That's part of normal automatic pistol manipulation anyway, remember the TRB (tap, rack, bang) drill. Although some alleged authorities have condemned such an arrangement, it is actually desirable. That's because the striker spring has to be fairly strong to reliably fire primers, so using the energy developed by the recoiling slide to partially load it is mechanically efficient. A smooth and fairly light trigger can thus be engineered into the gun. In the case of the sample PM9, we found the trigger system to be excellent.

The PM9 is a very flat pistol. Designer Justin Moon was after a highly concealable design that demanded a flat gun. In order to accomplish that goal and have the kind of pistol that stands up to rigorous service, he had to re-arrange the interior of the gun. If you look at almost any other kind of auto with a DA trigger, you'll see some kind of drawbar of pushbar used to route trigger pressure back to the hammer or striker. The most desirable location for this trigger bar is inside the gun, particularly in a concealed carry pistol. Some full-size service pistols put the bar on the outside of the receiver, then cover it with the grips. It's always best that this part of the operating mechanism be protected from dirt and moisture. Kahr pistols have interior trigger bars. It's also important to observe that no part of a Kahr pistol is flimsy or light and that includes a sturdy trigger bar. To get that bar inside, Moon came up with a nifty idea.
Most automatic pistols feed their cartridges from an internal magazine that lies pretty much on the geometric centerline of the gun. Kahr pistol barrels have an integral feed ramp that is offset to the left. Cartridges coming out of the magazine go slightly to the left in their route upward and forward into the chamber. The barrel hood is also configured to ensure that the individual rounds make it into the firing chamber. The feed ramp is part of the barrel's underlug, which works against the cross shaft of the slide stop in order to regulate the upward/downward locking and unlocking of the barrel to the slide. The inside of the receiver is obviously a crowded place, so moving that feed ramp to the left leaves room for a strong trigger bar on the right inner side of the pistol. The end result is a slim receiver that contributes to an overall flat and concealable little auto.
It's really small, small enough to drop into the chest pocket of a Levi's jacket or into a woman's evening bag. Most fanny packs are of such size that you could lose a PM9 inside. I can't think of any pocket in my normal clothing in which I couldn't carry a PM9 if I wanted to do so, except maybe the watch pocket of my jeans. As small as the gun is, it is still its weight that distinguishes it for the concealed carry role. Empty, a PM9 with magazine weighs 15.9 ounces. Depending on the weight of bullet used in your pet 9mm defensive load, you may add something like three ounces for the weight of the ammunition. That is a darned light little package of defensive power. Also, that is a full power 9mm pistol load. There are plenty of similar size guns in what I believe are marginal or worse calibers, but the full 9mm is itself a compromise. When you are struggling to get the weight and size of a handgun down to everyday carryin' size, the 9mm remains your best bet. Even in the short barrel of the PM9, 9mm ammunition of the common variety still performs decently.

Shooting Impressions

To see just how well the PM9 would do, I had a quick range trip with a variety of ammo. Most of all, I wanted to determine the level of reliability in the gun. Using the widest possible array of bullet weights and styles, all the way from Remington's old 88-grain JHPs to a number of the 147-grainers that I prefer, I fired a quick magazine of six with each. They all fed and functioned without a problem. That's exactly what should happen, but often doesn't. I am including data to show you what typical ammo will do. My subjective impression of the lighter, newer gun is that it jumps around a bit more, particularly when the 147-grain loads are used. At as much as 15 yards, I had no great difficulty keeping fast pairs about four to six inches apart. Okay, I had to slow down just a trifle.
In my opinion, this is the answer to a lot of peoples' requests. The PM9 is simple to operate and has adequate power. Most of all it is small enough to easily conceal and light enough to habitually be carried. There is nothing quite like the Kahr PM9, a pistol that I believe is the best pocket auto ever.