At last! Kahr's Polymer-Frame P9

The Kahr's P9 is Kahr's first polymer-frame pistol. It reduces weight markedly compared to Kahr's well-received steel-frame pistols.

The Kahr pistol designed by Justin Moon turned out to be one of the premier defensive handguns of the Nineties. Slim and flat, with a grip angle copied from the famously ergonomic Browning Hi-Power, it sported a double action only mechanism that surprised almost every shooter with its smoothness and controllability. Its uncommonly good accuracy, especially for such a small gun, was an unexpected bonus.
The original Kahr K9 was a compact that fit what I've come to call the “slim-nine” paradigm, holding 7+1 rounds of 9mm Luger and built to handle +P+, which Moon correctly considered to be the most potent conventional defense load available in the caliber. With a captive double recoil spring licensed from Seecamp, it not only handled this round but had a distinctly softer recoil than it should have with any 9mm load.
New versions followed. One was a 6+1 shot in .40 S&W, predictably dubbed the K40. You had to measure it with calipers to tell that it was a tad thicker than the 9mm version. There were the Micro Kahrs, MK9 and Covert K40 and MK40. The Covert was the K40 with shortened butt, while the MK pistols were shortened both at butt and in overall length. Each gun with shortened grip-frame lost one round of magazine capacity, but could be loaded with standard size magazines to gain full round count. The first run of MK9s exhibited reliability problems that the firm quickly solved; other than that, these guns have perked with boring regularity when fed factory ammo.
Here were shootable, ultra-portable, user-friendly 9mm and .40 pistols smaller than a lot of .380s. They made thousands of converts. One big complaint kept coming back from the field: With all-steel construction, a lot of people thought they were heavy for their size. The company tried aluminum frames; it didn't work. They checked out titanium; no dice. At last, they went to polymer frames. Bingo!
I received a polymer framed P9 eight-shot 9mm in the first half of 2000. Here's how it checked out.

PACKING THE P9


Except for its polymer (plastic) frame, the P9 is very similar to the K9 and the other fine pistols in the Kahr lineup.	Front and back straps of this pistol have moulded-in knurling to afford a secure, positive grip.

The first thing I discovered was that the P9 fit all my K9 holsters. A Mitch Rosen 5JR held it invisibly and comfortably behind my hip under a light jacket. I had inherited this rig from the late, great gunfight survivor and instructor Jim Andrews, who had been a consultant to GUN WORLD and some of its staff until his untimely death from cancer in the late Nineties. Draw was just as fast and clean from the latest generation of ultra-thin Kydex inside the waistband holsters from IDPA Master Dave Elderton at Ky-Tac, and from Ted Blocker in the form LFI Concealment Rig. It was perfectly comfortable as a backup in uniform, worn in an Uncle Mike's holster designed to attach to the left side-straps of my Second Chance vest. Next up was the ultimate comfort/concealment test for a small, light hideout gun: the ankle holster.
Since pistol-packers have obviously infiltrated the Yuppie fashion world, we have loose fitting casual pants of the Dockers breed and cargo pants, whose generous legs and cuffs are most amenable to ankle guns. This is particularly useful when the ankle gun is a striker-fired weapon like the Glock or the Kahr, whose slide comes back far enough to create a bulge point that might not be present with a hammer-style auto or a snub revolver whose hammer has either been bobbed, or has been shrouded in the Centennial style.
I strapped on my Alessi ankle rig, the best of its kind in my experience, and found the P9 fitted right in. For me, around 25 ounces passes the point where the weight of a gun strapped to my ankle becomes irritating. I had tried and eventually discarded the 26 ounce K40, 25 ounce K9, 24 ounce MK40, and 23 ounce MK9 as ankle guns. The polymer gun, at 17.7 ounces, makes a huge difference. I found it very comfortable, and still quick to access. The weight differential between the all-steel K9 and the lightweight P9 is approximately 30 percent, and this makes a huge difference in ankle carry.

IDPA TESTED



	The sample pistol received by Mas Ayoob had tritium-insert sights dovetailed into the slide.

I've become a fan of the International Defensive Pistol Association, largely because its competitions are limited to the kinds of handguns people actually carry for self defense. It's also a good test-bed for comparing new handguns to models whose performance in action is already familiar to you. I took the P9 to a monthly IDPA match at Pioneer Sportsmen Club in Dunbarton, NH and entered in the Stock Service Pistol (SSP) class.
That day's course of fire included picking the gun up from a table and engaging multiple targets under time, once right hand only and once left hand only. There was a stage of multiple target engagement from the holster at targets almost 180 degrees apart, sometimes requiring head shots. There was a tough standard exercise on falling plates that included intermittent reloads, and limited Vickers count, which meant that if you missed a plate you couldn't go back for it with another shot and had to eat a 2 1/2 second penalty. At one point, we had to transition to the sidearm from a Ruger PC-9 carbine that was provided and juggle both guns as we moved to cover to reengage. Altogether, a good test of defensive pistolcraft skill.
There was a good level of competition. I came in second in SSP, behind Scott Reidy of the Nashua, NH police, who was using a Beretta 92FS. (Its wasn't his gun beating mine. It was him beating me. Scott consistently outshoots me even when we have the same kind of guns.) All things considered, the little “plastic pocket pistol” had performed better than expected against a field consisting mostly of full size service autos that were theoretically easier to shoot fast and straight. It was more testimony to the long-standing reputation for accuracy and “shootability” that the Kahr series has righteously earned.
Only two problems showed up. Running at speed, I reflexively went to the fist-like “thumbs down” grasp I normally use for fast shooting, and the tip of my thumb activated the magazine release and got a “bang-click”. This in turn required a “tap-rack-bang”, the standard response. It wasn't enough to cost me the match - Id have come in no better than second if all had gone perfectly - but I was reminded of why I miss the nice Hogue grips that come on the same size all-steel Kahrs. They shield the magazine release button from unintentional release by the shooting thumb or the drumstick of the thumb when the support hand closes into a Weaver-style grasp.

COMPLAINTS

The flat-topped slide assembly is identical to those on other Kahr pistols.
Two areas of criticism were that the sharp edge of the slide stop lever gouged his thumb and that the polymer frame made it easier for the shooter's thumb to disengage the magazine release under recoil.

As is true of all Kahr guns, the chamber is tight and only perfectly crafted, perfectly sized reloads will work. These guns like to shoot factory ammo. That's all I used in my testing. I lent the pistol to a friend, prosecutor Marc Hathaway. He had a shooter's appreciation for the gun's handling, a gun carrier's appreciation for its compactness, and an attorney's appreciation for the double action only design. He found the trigger longer than he's used to on his pet 1911, though, and his reloads jammed consistently. They were 147 grainers made up for target shooting and exceeded factory spec in overall length. They didn't work in a lot of 9mm pistols, Marc noted, and they certainly didn't work in this one.
In close to a thousands rounds of shooting with multiple testers and assorted factory ammo, there was only one malfunction. The casing of a 115-grain Triton became lodged horizontally in the ejection port in the course of the ejection process. The jam was immediately cleared by turning the pistol over and jacking the slide. A good three boxes of the same ammo perked flawlessly through the gun without another problem. This failure occurred during accuracy testing from the bench, and it is possible that I relaxed my grasp, allowing a “limp wrist” failure to occur.
Because the polymer frame has a flatter profile than preceding Kahrs, the magazine release button seemed to protrude proportionally more. If this was my gun instead of Kahr's, I'd see about making that button smaller.
My big complaint with this gun is one in common with the micro-Kahrs: the slide lock lever is way too sharp at its rear edges. This is no problem at all for left handed shooters. For me, unless I curl my thumb down (and activate the magazine release unintentionally) these edges chew the hell out of my right thumb. It stops biting me if I raise the thumbs until they point upward, the shooting grasp popularized by John Farnam. It works for John and I'm sure for a lot of his students, but it doesn't work for me.
I wound up shooting it in the grasp pioneered for IPSC by Rob Leatham and Brian Enos. The thumb of my left (support) hand points forward along the frame, and the firing hand's thumb is away from the gun and resting on the proximal joint of the left thumb. This worked a bit better for me and kept me from getting dinged by that damned slide latch anymore.
Oddly enough, during the course of the testing I ran into John Farnam at the three-gun tactical shoot and training seminar offered by Washington State Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors’ Association in Yakima. John was carrying - talk about timing - a Kahr P9. He loves the pistol, but even with his own thumbs-up grasp he found the edges too sharp, and rounded them off. He mentioned that there is a hollow area inside the part that needs to be filled with weld.
This problem doesn't seem to occur for most people with the regular K prefix Kahrs. The soft Hogue grip that comes standard on them protects the thumbs from the slide stop, just as it seems to protect the magazine release button from the thumbs.

SUBJECTIVE FEEL

Ayoob describes petite Sheree La Marca's reaction to the feel of the Kahr in her hands as "love at first touch"! (Author-supplied photo)

If you don't mind small size, the P9 seems to immediately impress most people as simply feeling good in the hand. For petite Sheree La Marca, who love the Glock but finds it a tad thick for her hand, the P9 was love at first touch. Another tiny lady, whose name I don't have permission to use, also tried my polymer test Kahr. She turned to her husband and said in a tone not to be denied, “You will buy me one of these!” Since he has for some time been desperate for her to carry something bigger than a mouse gun, the words were barely out of her mouth before he blurted an enthusiastic, “Yes, dear!”
On the other end of the scale is my friend Bob Schwartz, whose paw seems large enough for Fay Wray to lounge in. The plastic Kahr almost disappeared into his hand, but he remarked, “Hey! This feels pretty good for a little gun!” He was able to make everything work, despite the huge disparity between size of hand and size of pistol.

ACCURACY

Ayoob shot this outstanding group on the B27 target in a PPC-style course with most of the shooting at 25 yards. Pretty darn good for a "pocket" gun!

My experience with Kahr is that, while they're accurate, they have definite ammo preferences. The P9 was no exception. This gun was tested per this magazine's standard protocol: five-shot groups from bench rest position at 25 yards, measured inclusively farthest shot to farthest shot, center to center of the bullet holes.
I think PPC is a good test of accuracy plus shootability. At seven yards, NRA's Service Automatic pace of draw, fire six, reload, and fire six more resulted in eleven rounds in one hole and the twelfth just above it, still in the center. The errant shot was my fault, no the gun's. I then shot “stage 5a,” which is that drill plus six kneeling, six left hand, and six right hand from the barricade at 25 yards. Time was 75 seconds. Only two shots escaped the “10” ring into the “9” of the tight-ringed B27 target. I'll take that with a pistol this size any time.
Also like most Kahrs, this gun exhibited “four plus one” syndrome. That is, the first, hand-chambered round would go to one spot and the next four out of five would cluster at another point. Only two of the nine cartridges by six manufacturers did not do this: Black Hills +P 115 grain and Winchester OSM subsonic 147 grain.
The “4+1” thing tore up the group sizes. A good example was the hot Triton Hi-Vel 115-grain hollowpoint, rated for 1325 fps from a full size service pistol's barrel. The second through fifth shot were all in a 1.9 inch group, the best three in 1.35 inches, but the first shot ruined what would have been a primo performance and resulted in a five-shot measurement of 3.9 inches. This is still within what gun-writers euphemistically call “satisfactory defense gun accuracy,” but it understates what the design is capable of.
This was also the first 9mm pistol I've shot that didn't group well with Pro-Load ammo. Tactical Grade 115-grain and 124-grain Gold Dots from this factory, the former from a lot which had given me 1.5-inch five shot groups from a Beretta, did no better than six inches for five shots. It wasn't just the “4+1 thing,” either. Nor did it care for currently trendy lead-free training ammo, grouping 3.9 inches with the CCI version and 3.5 inches with Winchester's. Things were a little better with Winchester's regular copper-jacketed USA brand 115 grain ball, with a 3.1-inch five shot group. The best three of those were in an inch and a quarter.
The three best performers were all copper jacketed hollow points. Winchester's subsonic 147-grain OSM started the trend to that bullet weight for 9mm police guns, and its designation stands for Olin Super Match. I've always found it among the most accurate 9mm loads, in the Kahr as well as other pistols. It was the third most accurate in the test pistol, putting five evenly distributed shots into 2.75 inches.

Kahr pistols employ a modified Browning locked-breech design. Stripping is a fairly simple procedure.

Firing 12 shots in 20 seconds, including one reload, resulted in this (almost) one-hole group at seven yards. Ayoob shoulders the blame for the solitary "flyer." (Author-supplied photo)

Second most accurate was “Big Green's” clone of the same round. The Remington 147-grain subsonic JHP put all five shots into a 2.4 group. But for the “4+1” syndrome, the Remington load would have done even better: The best three shots were in a 1.1-inch cluster.
Hands-down winner of the Kahr P9 accuracy sweepstakes was the Black Hills 115-grain EXP round, a JHP loaded to the +P velocity of a nominal 1250 fps. All five bullets, produced by Remington and carefully loaded by Black Hills into virgin brass, were in a snug cluster that measured 1.4 inches. There was no four plus one, and the best three were in three quarters of one inch. No question about it: the fastest Black Hills 115 grain hollow point and the Kahr P9 - this one, at least - were made for each other.
Discussion of the pistol's accuracy would be incomplete without comment on sights. My sample shot low left with everything at 25 yards, but Kentucky Windage didn't become necessary until about ten paces from the target. Elevation problem was solved by aiming with the front dot of the excellent fixed Trijicon sights instead of the top edge of the front post. (On virtually all such pistols, since the dot sits below the top of the front sight, using the dot instead of the post-in-notch sight picture to aim will elevate point of impact.) Windage? You can drift the rear side in its notch as easily with the Kahr as with some other pistols. I strongly recommend the compact, rugged adjustable sight that MMC sells for the Kahr.
Slimmer than ever overall, thanks to the reduced girth of the polymer grip-frame, the Kahr P9 is a joy to carry concealed. Even with the plastic frame against bare skin, I had no discomfort, and of course I didn't have to worry about gunmetal corroding from salty sweat.
Your hands may not have the problems my hands did with the magazine release button, which I haven't had on any other Kahr. They may, however, have the same problems with that damnably sharp-edged slide stop lever. If your sights don't hit point of aim, point of impact, welcome to the Planet Earth; that's more the rule than the exception with factory-new fixed sight handguns today, across the board, with the exception in large part of HK brand.
At a suggested retail of $527, this pistol is a good value for the accuracy and reliability it provides. Thousands upon thousand of off-duty cops and private citizens with concealed carry licenses have found the Kahr is the gun for them. With the slim, good-feeling polymer frame taking away the weight bugaboo, it's safe to say that many thousands more will make the Kahr commitment with the new K9.
The Kahr is hugely and deservedly popular. The P9 will expand the envelope of that popularity considerably, now that it has brought the light weight factor to the table along with the many other desirable Kahr qualities. I will not be at all surprised to see the polymer-framed P9 vault to the forefront as the most popular handgun in the entire Kahr design series.

The Kahr is a double-action only semi-auto: Racking the slide brings the striker to a semi-cocked position and pulling the trigger brings the striker to its rearmost position before releasing it to fire the gun. Trigger pulls are typically in the vicinity of seven pounds.