After 10 years of using the G26 as my everyday pocket carry gun, slim-fit (aka "skinny jeans") fashions forced me to retire that pistol and move to something more trim. I picked up a used, blemished, CM9 from the local gun peddlers, and despite having all those strikes against it, the gun runs and runs and runs.
Prior to making a move on the CM9, I had the opportunity to get an MK9 for $350, but passed on it because it weighed as much as the G26 it would have replaced. I have found the CM9 to be reliable, accurate and surprisingly light in the recoil department. The reason for that is a very stout recoil spring, which isn't recommended for the weak-fisted among us due to difficulties in racking the slide. The trigger isn't the greatest, but I describe the overall experience as "a magazine fed revolver with a nice, light DA trigger." Since I own and shoot older S&W wheel guns with regularity, the trigger is not a sticking point for me. At any given range trip, I can shoot 150 rounds without being bothered by either the recoil or the trigger characteristics.
The grip does have a nice checkering (fore and aft) that leaves impressions on my palm, but the small, lightweight gun shoots and it shoots very well. It does not deliver the same performance at 25 yards as my G26 did, but it is leaps and bounds ahead of the old S&W Airweight J-frame that I foolishly carried for a couple of years. I learned the hard way that a lightweight, hard-to-handle .38 with a heavy trigger delivering 5 rounds of .38 SPL with a slow reload was not enough, but I have much more confidence in 7 rounds of bonded 9mm +P JHPs with a smooth, light trigger in a lighter recoiling polymer gun with a fast reload on tap. An individual's comfort level with a gun is a very personal decision, but in my case, mine was decided at the hands of an armed, drug-dealing POS.
For the longest time I was a Glock hater. The G26 proved itself to me as the king of the sub-compacts. I still believe this to be the case. The PM9 and CM9, however, fall into a different class of "micro" pistols. That they would prove to be reliable, accurate and dependable is pretty darn impressive. Even though I am a Glock convert, I am keeping my CM9 and will let the masses feast on the bigger, heavier G43.
I would never use either the MK9 or the PM9/CM9 as a belt carry gun. If you are going through the trouble to belt & holster up to carry IWB, then you might as well throw on a loose fitting button down shirt and carry a compact double stack.
Here's my CM9 with brushed flats and the Trijicon front sight offered by Kahr...
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