Riomouse911
Member
For my 9mm EDC I’ve carried a Ruger LC 9 since the first days they became available. It’s a big brother to my LCP (now LCP II) that I carry when I’m wearing shorts without a belt or otherwise “going light” due to attire.
A local LE only store had a really good internet deal on stainless Kimber Micro 9 pistols a couple of months back ($400,00 OTD) so I bought one sight unseen. Naturally, Covid crap has kept me away from the range until yesterday so here are my impressions.
The gun is stainless with an alloy frame and rubberized grips. The fit and finish was first rate, not a rough spot or machine mark to be seen. The sights are pretty good for such a small auto, a big 3-dot system that was easily seen indoors at my usual range (it’s kind of dark in there). I painted the Ruger front sight orange because those weren’t too easy to pick up.
It’s like a mini 1911 without a grip safety. The SA only trigger pull wasn’t fantastic, posting a 5 lb 1.7 oz average over 8 pulls on my Lyman gauge. The pull is a little bit gritty, so I will hope it smooths up over time as I dry fire and shoot it more.
I shot 50 Winchester White box 115 gr fmj and another 30 Winchester 115 gr JHP through the gun. Recoil was a bit snappy, as is expected in a very small 9mm pistol. The initial shots were a bit high for my usual hold on B-27 targets so this gun uses a true 6 o’clock sight picture. After shooting the B-27s I settled down to shoot a group using a 25 yard slow fire B-16 type target with an orange bullseye. This was 15 of the JHP two-hand hold, 1 round per second at 7 yards;
The good:
Fit and finish was flawless. The sights are easily seen and snag-free. The gun fits the hand well, and the beaver tail allows for a high hold even if you have a chunky hand. The gun is small, flat and easy to hide with a IWB holster. Here it is compared to my LC 9:
Function was perfect. The 7 rounds loaded into the magazines easily, and all shots fired without a hiccup.
The fair:
The gun was brand-new so the trigger grittiness isn’t all that unusual. It is a bit heavy for a SA pistol this small, making precise shots very tough. I get the idea of a micro SA defensive pistol not having a “Gold Cup” light trigger as it’s probably more likely to be used under great stress and a light trigger pull weight may be an issue when fine motor skills leave the body. This being said, the gun is so small that I found it will wiggle a bit as you progress through the trigger press until it breaks.
The right side thumb safety was very stiff, which makes the narrow lever pad even more difficult to use. It really does require some attention when deactivating it, which is a bit of a distraction.
The floor plate is “backwards”, with the overhang pointing to the rear rather than to the front. None of my other semi autos has a floor plate like this, they all have a hook or overhang to the front. So, if you’re used to feeling for the lip on the front of the mag as you index your finger on the mag when reloading this could result in the mag being flipped around subconsciously and you’ll try to insert it backwards until you get used to this. On a carry gun I will recommend a LOT of familiarization / dry-fire practice as this little nuance can be a real problem under stress..
The not so good:
I found that the thumb safety lever sits back far enough to irritate my thumb joint as the metal edge of the lever pressed against the joint. I put the web of my shooting hand up high under the beaver tail, so after about 35-40 shots the thumb joint got a little blister that ultimately wore open when I was done shooting this gun. (I was also shooting revolvers and a Ruger Mk IV that day but none of these touched the area that this gun did.) The LC 9 doesn’t have a SA type safety like the Micro 9 has, so this isn’t an issue with the LC 9 at all:
As was earlier stated the thumb lever is stiff and the shelf is very thin, so this combination of rubbing on the joint and a hard lever to move made taking it off safe to shoot decidedly unfun very quickly.
This gun only came with one magazine, so I had to buy more. I get the idea of a low price point being the hook, but adding 20 bucks to the price to add a second mag still would’ve been a great deal. I bought two of the seven rounders off of eBay and one eight rounder from CDNN (this mag I just got in the mail so I didn’t shoot it).
I like the Micro 9, I think that with some breaking in it will loosen/smooth up a bit and be much more friendly to use than it was out of the box. Kimber offers a bunch of different models and fit/finish styles that can get sort of pricy, but you are getting a solid, reliable micro compact 9mm for the price,
Regarding defensive ammo: Once I get more Federal 150 gr Micro HST I will shoot them through the Micro 9 to determine reliability. These are now my go-to rounds for these small guns but finding them during this rush isn’t very easy.
Stay safe.
A local LE only store had a really good internet deal on stainless Kimber Micro 9 pistols a couple of months back ($400,00 OTD) so I bought one sight unseen. Naturally, Covid crap has kept me away from the range until yesterday so here are my impressions.
The gun is stainless with an alloy frame and rubberized grips. The fit and finish was first rate, not a rough spot or machine mark to be seen. The sights are pretty good for such a small auto, a big 3-dot system that was easily seen indoors at my usual range (it’s kind of dark in there). I painted the Ruger front sight orange because those weren’t too easy to pick up.
It’s like a mini 1911 without a grip safety. The SA only trigger pull wasn’t fantastic, posting a 5 lb 1.7 oz average over 8 pulls on my Lyman gauge. The pull is a little bit gritty, so I will hope it smooths up over time as I dry fire and shoot it more.
I shot 50 Winchester White box 115 gr fmj and another 30 Winchester 115 gr JHP through the gun. Recoil was a bit snappy, as is expected in a very small 9mm pistol. The initial shots were a bit high for my usual hold on B-27 targets so this gun uses a true 6 o’clock sight picture. After shooting the B-27s I settled down to shoot a group using a 25 yard slow fire B-16 type target with an orange bullseye. This was 15 of the JHP two-hand hold, 1 round per second at 7 yards;
The good:
Fit and finish was flawless. The sights are easily seen and snag-free. The gun fits the hand well, and the beaver tail allows for a high hold even if you have a chunky hand. The gun is small, flat and easy to hide with a IWB holster. Here it is compared to my LC 9:
Function was perfect. The 7 rounds loaded into the magazines easily, and all shots fired without a hiccup.
The fair:
The gun was brand-new so the trigger grittiness isn’t all that unusual. It is a bit heavy for a SA pistol this small, making precise shots very tough. I get the idea of a micro SA defensive pistol not having a “Gold Cup” light trigger as it’s probably more likely to be used under great stress and a light trigger pull weight may be an issue when fine motor skills leave the body. This being said, the gun is so small that I found it will wiggle a bit as you progress through the trigger press until it breaks.
The right side thumb safety was very stiff, which makes the narrow lever pad even more difficult to use. It really does require some attention when deactivating it, which is a bit of a distraction.
The floor plate is “backwards”, with the overhang pointing to the rear rather than to the front. None of my other semi autos has a floor plate like this, they all have a hook or overhang to the front. So, if you’re used to feeling for the lip on the front of the mag as you index your finger on the mag when reloading this could result in the mag being flipped around subconsciously and you’ll try to insert it backwards until you get used to this. On a carry gun I will recommend a LOT of familiarization / dry-fire practice as this little nuance can be a real problem under stress..
The not so good:
I found that the thumb safety lever sits back far enough to irritate my thumb joint as the metal edge of the lever pressed against the joint. I put the web of my shooting hand up high under the beaver tail, so after about 35-40 shots the thumb joint got a little blister that ultimately wore open when I was done shooting this gun. (I was also shooting revolvers and a Ruger Mk IV that day but none of these touched the area that this gun did.) The LC 9 doesn’t have a SA type safety like the Micro 9 has, so this isn’t an issue with the LC 9 at all:
As was earlier stated the thumb lever is stiff and the shelf is very thin, so this combination of rubbing on the joint and a hard lever to move made taking it off safe to shoot decidedly unfun very quickly.
This gun only came with one magazine, so I had to buy more. I get the idea of a low price point being the hook, but adding 20 bucks to the price to add a second mag still would’ve been a great deal. I bought two of the seven rounders off of eBay and one eight rounder from CDNN (this mag I just got in the mail so I didn’t shoot it).
I like the Micro 9, I think that with some breaking in it will loosen/smooth up a bit and be much more friendly to use than it was out of the box. Kimber offers a bunch of different models and fit/finish styles that can get sort of pricy, but you are getting a solid, reliable micro compact 9mm for the price,
Regarding defensive ammo: Once I get more Federal 150 gr Micro HST I will shoot them through the Micro 9 to determine reliability. These are now my go-to rounds for these small guns but finding them during this rush isn’t very easy.
Stay safe.
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, inspect the extractor hook and breech face for rough surfaces-- not usually a problem, but possibly an issue.
