Shear_stress
Member
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2005
- Messages
- 2,728
Late last week I finally ransomed a lightly used Kahr K9 Elite 98 that had been languishing on layaway since early summer. Money is tight right now, and the gun would have stayed in the store longer had gas prices not driven up the real cost of each payment. Ironically, the day I finally picked up the gun, there was an identical Kahr (serial number within 200 of mine!) in the case marked for $20 less. At first, the dealer wouldn't lower my price to match. This bugged me. I told him that not only should there be some consistency to their pricing, but I was standing there, cash in hand. Finally, he agreed to knock a sawbuck off my price and add one to the gun in the case. Better than nothing, but I don't think I should have needed to push so hard.
The gun itself is gorgeous. Frame and slide are stainless, and the flats on both are buffed to a high polish that connotes "eliteness" or something. Yes, it has heft compared to some of the flyweight aluminum and plastic offerings out there, but no more so than a steel J-frame Smith. Besides, the Kahr wears its weight well. With its thin slide and excellent, S&W M39-like grip frame, the gun has a very balanced and elegant feel in my hands. That feel was what clinched the deal for me.
At the range: I shoot all my other guns in single action, and being deprived of that option took some getting used to. Fortunately, the "Elite" trigger helped the transition. It has a short, smooth, and light pull. Although originally skeptical of the partially cocked striker design, my experience with Kahrs and Glocks tells me this is a "have-your-cake-and-it-too" way to get a decent trigger pull out of a double-action auto. Other folks realized this twenty years ago, but I am a slow learner.
Anyway, I ran about 120 rounds of WWB through the gun. No problems whatsoever. This is despite the fact that the gun was in like new condition, possibly even within the dreaded 200 round "break-in period".
Recoil is a non-issue, thanks to the "pistol-whipping-good" weight.
Offhand at 25 yards (the closest available at my range), I could keep maybe 45 out of fifty rounds in the six-inch bull. With some people raving about "target pistol accuracy", I was a little dissappointed at first. Eventually, my accuracy began to improve as I became accustomed to the trigger and the action smoothed out a bit. The accuracy I saw is plenty good for what this pistol is designed for. Still, after dry-firing this gun extensively since my range trip, I think it will do a lot better next time out. No tin can will be safe from me.
Overall, I am pretty impressed with the Kahr. I never understood in the hype surrounding these guns until I owned one. A very fine piece.
The gun itself is gorgeous. Frame and slide are stainless, and the flats on both are buffed to a high polish that connotes "eliteness" or something. Yes, it has heft compared to some of the flyweight aluminum and plastic offerings out there, but no more so than a steel J-frame Smith. Besides, the Kahr wears its weight well. With its thin slide and excellent, S&W M39-like grip frame, the gun has a very balanced and elegant feel in my hands. That feel was what clinched the deal for me.
At the range: I shoot all my other guns in single action, and being deprived of that option took some getting used to. Fortunately, the "Elite" trigger helped the transition. It has a short, smooth, and light pull. Although originally skeptical of the partially cocked striker design, my experience with Kahrs and Glocks tells me this is a "have-your-cake-and-it-too" way to get a decent trigger pull out of a double-action auto. Other folks realized this twenty years ago, but I am a slow learner.
Anyway, I ran about 120 rounds of WWB through the gun. No problems whatsoever. This is despite the fact that the gun was in like new condition, possibly even within the dreaded 200 round "break-in period".
Recoil is a non-issue, thanks to the "pistol-whipping-good" weight.
Offhand at 25 yards (the closest available at my range), I could keep maybe 45 out of fifty rounds in the six-inch bull. With some people raving about "target pistol accuracy", I was a little dissappointed at first. Eventually, my accuracy began to improve as I became accustomed to the trigger and the action smoothed out a bit. The accuracy I saw is plenty good for what this pistol is designed for. Still, after dry-firing this gun extensively since my range trip, I think it will do a lot better next time out. No tin can will be safe from me.
Overall, I am pretty impressed with the Kahr. I never understood in the hype surrounding these guns until I owned one. A very fine piece.
