After SHOT 2011 I was left disenchanted by the single stack 9mms I saw and I was convinced that there was never going to be a good single stack 9mm. I was wrong and today I stand corrected. All the single stack 9mm hate I dolled out was before finding the Kahr PM9 and now the Smith & Wesson M&P Shield.
Kahr PM9. Photo by JP Visual Design
Now that both are sitting here in Gun Nuts HQ I have to admit the single stack 9mm thing can be done right. They’re both too big for deep concealment for me, that’s what I have a .380 for, but they work much better for regular concealment than say a Glock 19. That being said, if I were a guy (with actual pockets) it would be much easier to use the PM9 as a pocket gun.
For all this talk I can’t help but observe that there still are bad single stack 9mms out there. I’m not saying “bad” as in there aren’t people out there who don’t own them and love them I just wouldn’t trust them, wouldn’t shoot them, don’t like them. The PM9 I carry stands out from many of the single stack 9mms in that I trust it. I have 1,500 rounds through the gun without a hiccup, if I can put another 500 through it it will have even passed Pistol-Training.com’s 2,000 round challenge. I can’t say as much for the other little 9mms I’ve encountered, the LC9 and the Walther PPS that were housed in the West Coast Armory rental case both dissapointed and frustrated me. I’m not saying there aren’t those out there who haven’t had good experiences with them, I fully expect a slew of comments about how awesome their own LC9/Walther PPS/whatever is but based on my experience I wouldn’t trust either of them with my life.
Maybe I’m picky, maybe I’m just a gun snob who needs a $786 MSRP firearm but however you look at it the Kahr PM9 turned me. I no longer blame single stack 9mms for my bad experiences any more than I blame revolvers for the Chiappa Rhino and Taurus Model 44.
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