I carry a Taurus Millenium Pro 40, its an awesome shooting compact pistol. The recoil on this gun is not bad at all. If you shoot +P 9mm out of the Kel-Tec, the recoil is probably similair to the 40. I'm not trying to bash the 9mm, its my personal preference to carry the 40, I've mastered it, so why not.
I love Taurus handguns, have a couple of revolvers I won't part with. People bad mouth 'em for this or that and I hear about bad ones, but have no personal bad experiences with them. My two revolvers are tack drivers.
When I bought my KT, the PT111 Millennium hadn't come out yet. It was Taurus's answer to the P11. At the time, CCW laws were the new thing and companies were busy developing sub-compact carry 9s since they'd hold 10 rounds in a pocket sized or nearly so package and guns couldn't legally hold more than 10 back then, anyway. The Kahr K9 had come out, but I didn't like it, heavy, too light a trigger to suit me (wanted true revolver like DA), and not pocket sized. I haven't fired a PT111, but I'm sure it's a good firearm. I'd get it in 9mm, though. While the .40 may be equal in felt recoil (and speed) to the lighter Kel Tec in +P 9, that's apples and oranges. The pay off for the KT is it's lighter to carry and more compact in a pocket. KT made a .40, but all the limp wristing gave it a bad rep. Friend of mine had one and it shot fine for me. The recoil doesn't bother me, but I shoot faster with less muzzle flip and I consider the 9 quite acceptable for self defense, almost .357 magnum power, actually more than most .357 loads when you compare apples and apples, .357 out of a 2" pocket gun vs 9mm out of a 3" pocket gun. Most .357 loads out of a two inch barrel are sub 400 ft lbs. and most people opt for a medium power cartridge out of those guns anyway, little more than .38+P, because of all the flash/bang/recoil of the full power loads in those tiny, light revolvers. The 9 is much more controllable.
It's a matter of personal outlook, to me. If bigger bullets makes you confident in a mythical "one shot stop", great, go for it. My 9 gives me lots of firepower for follow-ups. That .357 revolver not only is slower with follow-ups, it only holds five rounds to my 11, 13 if and when I ever order those 12 round magazines for it that are available now. I don't have a problem shooting it fast and accurate, even shot it at IDPA shoots a couple of times and scored pretty well, though I'm faster with a bigger gun with a longer sight radius and less muzzle flip (and won't fit in a pocket). I don't feel the extra foot lbs and bullet diameter of a .40 is worth it for me, but that's my personal decision/opinion. I've carried less, .380ACP. That's my personal basement in power for a carry gun. The .32 just don't do it for me, but others are fine with .32. Others have other priorities. It's a personal decision. Heck, I HAVE in my life carried a .25ACP for various reasons none the least of which was that at the time it was about as tiny as a pocket gun got. Carrying a gun wasn't legal then and I didn't wanna get caught with it unless I actually had to use it. Guess what, I had to pull it on a guy once who was armed with a kitchen knife, street bum in broad daylight in Galveston. All I had to do was grab the gun in my back pocket and draw while jacking a round into the chamber and all I saw of that guy after that was his bouncing butt running down the alley from which he'd emerged, and without my wallet, which is what he was after.
He ran pretty fast for a wino. My wife never gave me any lip about carrying after that, she was with me when it happened and on our honeymoon no less. LOL! Got the marriage off on the right foot.
