I wanted a slim, and lightweight 9mm, or possibly a 380, and handled a bunch of them a few months back. The Beretta Nano, Ruger LC9, Kahr PM9, Taurus 709 Slim, etc. The Kahr PM9 and Ruger LC9 felt best in my hand, and I read a bunch on both. It seemed the Ruger had less reports of malfunctions, or other issues, and I just couldn't get myself to "accept" the off set feedramp of the Kahr. And the big hang up on the Ruger seemed to be complaints of the long trigger pull, and safeties on it. I wasn't put off by the trigger pull reports because I'm used to my J-frame long trigger pulls, and I do believe less is more, and the more safeties, the more stuff there is to break.
But I found an LC9 locally with the LaserMax for $399, so I got it. I'm not a fan of lasers, and I ended up selling it seperate for $60. I took the gun apart, cleaned, and lubed it with CLP, and I bought a second magazine. I kept one mag with the finger extension, and put the flat bottom on the other. The gun felt solid, and I could definately do without the pop up loaded chamber indicator, and mag disconnect, but o well.
I went to the range, and fired about 60 rounds, most of which were Blazer Brass ball ammo, and I fired about 10 rounds of 115 grain Speer HP ammo. The gun had no malfunctions, and I was suprised to find the recoil was not bad at all. A little "snappy", but my grip did not need to be re-adjusted, and it did not sting/hurt my hand. Spent casings flew about 4-5 feet to the right, and the sights were fine. The mag with the finger enxtension makes it so you feel like you have a better grip on the gun, but I alternated between the 2 mags, and did not notice any better actual control, or grip with one over the other. So in the interest of keep the gun as small as possible, I later put the flat floorplate on the other. The trigger pull was smoother and lighter than any stock J frame I've ever shot, and did not bother me at all. I did 75% or so of my shooting at 21 feet, and kept all shots on a legal sheet of paper, and I put it out to 50+ feet for about 10 shots, and I missed the legal sheet with 2-3 rounds, but only by about 1-2 inches.
I've only got an Uncle Mikes "generic" fit holster for now, but I have a good leather one on order. So overall I give the gun a thumbs up, and its a step up for me from my Airlite .38 J frame. I used to have 5 rounds of 110 grain 38 special going about 950 FPS, and now I have 8 rounds of 115 grain 9mm, going about 1150 FPS. I plan to stick with the 115 grain standard pressure ammo, as this provides for easy follow up shots/good balance of recoil vs power. The gun at 17 ozs unloaded with mag seems to be a "sweet spot" of weight, and mating to the 9mm. I have shot a Rohrbaugh 9mm, and it wasn't that fun, and those can be really picky with ammo. I imagine the Kel Tec PF9 is even worse.
Well I need to put some more rounds through it, but so far so good.
But I found an LC9 locally with the LaserMax for $399, so I got it. I'm not a fan of lasers, and I ended up selling it seperate for $60. I took the gun apart, cleaned, and lubed it with CLP, and I bought a second magazine. I kept one mag with the finger extension, and put the flat bottom on the other. The gun felt solid, and I could definately do without the pop up loaded chamber indicator, and mag disconnect, but o well.
I went to the range, and fired about 60 rounds, most of which were Blazer Brass ball ammo, and I fired about 10 rounds of 115 grain Speer HP ammo. The gun had no malfunctions, and I was suprised to find the recoil was not bad at all. A little "snappy", but my grip did not need to be re-adjusted, and it did not sting/hurt my hand. Spent casings flew about 4-5 feet to the right, and the sights were fine. The mag with the finger enxtension makes it so you feel like you have a better grip on the gun, but I alternated between the 2 mags, and did not notice any better actual control, or grip with one over the other. So in the interest of keep the gun as small as possible, I later put the flat floorplate on the other. The trigger pull was smoother and lighter than any stock J frame I've ever shot, and did not bother me at all. I did 75% or so of my shooting at 21 feet, and kept all shots on a legal sheet of paper, and I put it out to 50+ feet for about 10 shots, and I missed the legal sheet with 2-3 rounds, but only by about 1-2 inches.
I've only got an Uncle Mikes "generic" fit holster for now, but I have a good leather one on order. So overall I give the gun a thumbs up, and its a step up for me from my Airlite .38 J frame. I used to have 5 rounds of 110 grain 38 special going about 950 FPS, and now I have 8 rounds of 115 grain 9mm, going about 1150 FPS. I plan to stick with the 115 grain standard pressure ammo, as this provides for easy follow up shots/good balance of recoil vs power. The gun at 17 ozs unloaded with mag seems to be a "sweet spot" of weight, and mating to the 9mm. I have shot a Rohrbaugh 9mm, and it wasn't that fun, and those can be really picky with ammo. I imagine the Kel Tec PF9 is even worse.
Well I need to put some more rounds through it, but so far so good.
