As some of you may know, I am a HUGE fan of the all steel Kahr pistol. My favorite gun of all time is the Kahr K-9. I mean that, I have had many rifles, shotguns and pistols over the years but the Kahr K-9 is my number one fav. So, with that in mind, let me say that the Kahr P-9 was something of a let down.
It is not up to par even for plastic framed pistols. Glocks and XDs are sort of the benchmark to judge poly guns and the Kahr falls well short of that plastic frame quality. I really hate to say it but it seems like kahr cheaped out with the P-series guns. I wish they had kept their upscale rep and went to a titanium frame or at least an alloy frame instead of the cheap plastic. I think it has hurt their rep for making top notch guns. If the P-9 was my first Kahr, I would not buy another based on the lack of quality for the price. I wish the lack of quality was confined to the frame but sadly it wasn't.
The feedramp was not the smooth even feedramp I have come to expect from Kahr, it was uneven and looked almost like it was hand carved with a pocket knife. I tried to polish it but I could only do so much. It never gave me any feeding problems, maybe because I did the chamber and feedramp polish before I shot it.
The reliabilty problems I had were based on the trigger not resetting after a shot was fired. It happend mostly with the 8rd mag but it did it with the 7rd mag once in a while too. It seemed as long as I didn't use the 8rd mag, the other mags would work but if I used the 8rd mag to try out, I would have the trigger problems for a while even with the 7rd mags. I think the 8rd mag was somehow spreading or bending the frame and causing the malfunctions. Recently I noticed another problem that I didn't like, when i dry fired the gun and pulled the trigger to the rear after the striker had tripped, the trigger would make a load cracking noise and move back another 1/4". I know that is not supposed to happen and the first time it did, I thought I had broken the gun.
The frame need to be cleaned up with a razor because there was plastic mold lines and shreads of plastic everywhere. It looked cheap and nasty. You would think that with all the money Kahr is saving with the plastic frames, they could at least make them look halfway decent. I hate to say it but the Kahr frame was more like Kel-Tec quality than like SA XD quality. I know picking between which plastic gun is better is a little like picking the best looking turd but some turds are better looking than others. I like my XD but it is still a turd in the looks dept. It is a better looking turd than the cheap plastic in the Kahr or Kel-Tec but it will never be stainless steel.
A titanium framed Kahr would cost more but I would pay it and so would many others. I think kahr has hurt their rep as a top of the line pistol maker for a while. They may not be able to get $1000 for a pistol now that some have seen the plastic junk they made.
I traded it off at a lose at the last gunshow and will never regret it. I still have my two K-9s to keep me warm on the cold nights.
It is not up to par even for plastic framed pistols. Glocks and XDs are sort of the benchmark to judge poly guns and the Kahr falls well short of that plastic frame quality. I really hate to say it but it seems like kahr cheaped out with the P-series guns. I wish they had kept their upscale rep and went to a titanium frame or at least an alloy frame instead of the cheap plastic. I think it has hurt their rep for making top notch guns. If the P-9 was my first Kahr, I would not buy another based on the lack of quality for the price. I wish the lack of quality was confined to the frame but sadly it wasn't.
The feedramp was not the smooth even feedramp I have come to expect from Kahr, it was uneven and looked almost like it was hand carved with a pocket knife. I tried to polish it but I could only do so much. It never gave me any feeding problems, maybe because I did the chamber and feedramp polish before I shot it.
The reliabilty problems I had were based on the trigger not resetting after a shot was fired. It happend mostly with the 8rd mag but it did it with the 7rd mag once in a while too. It seemed as long as I didn't use the 8rd mag, the other mags would work but if I used the 8rd mag to try out, I would have the trigger problems for a while even with the 7rd mags. I think the 8rd mag was somehow spreading or bending the frame and causing the malfunctions. Recently I noticed another problem that I didn't like, when i dry fired the gun and pulled the trigger to the rear after the striker had tripped, the trigger would make a load cracking noise and move back another 1/4". I know that is not supposed to happen and the first time it did, I thought I had broken the gun.
The frame need to be cleaned up with a razor because there was plastic mold lines and shreads of plastic everywhere. It looked cheap and nasty. You would think that with all the money Kahr is saving with the plastic frames, they could at least make them look halfway decent. I hate to say it but the Kahr frame was more like Kel-Tec quality than like SA XD quality. I know picking between which plastic gun is better is a little like picking the best looking turd but some turds are better looking than others. I like my XD but it is still a turd in the looks dept. It is a better looking turd than the cheap plastic in the Kahr or Kel-Tec but it will never be stainless steel.
A titanium framed Kahr would cost more but I would pay it and so would many others. I think kahr has hurt their rep as a top of the line pistol maker for a while. They may not be able to get $1000 for a pistol now that some have seen the plastic junk they made.
I traded it off at a lose at the last gunshow and will never regret it. I still have my two K-9s to keep me warm on the cold nights.
