What to do?

dhook · March 10, 2011

My situation: I'm looking for my first carry weapon. I have watched so many U-Tubes and read so many different forums about the following guns that I'm no where nearer a decision than when I first started looking.

I have narrowed my choices down to a PM9 - SR9C - Kimber Solo

I realize the solo is hard to speak to because of its relative newness.

Any thoughts, advice, or best yet, real life experiences with any of these would be appreciated. Especially if you have shot or compared any of these.

Edited March 10, 2011 by dhook

luvmyberetta · March 10, 2011

One possibility is to go to a range that rents pistols and try out a few to see what you like. Everyone has a preference toward a certain gun. It's hard to guess until you get to shoot one. Any of these you picked are good quality. What is comes down to is which one suits you and feels best to shoot. Good luck.

Moped · March 10, 2011

Just my 2 cents, but of those three, I'd go with the Kahr. It's light and all the bugs should be worked out by now. The Kimber's new and subject to having some kinks. The Ruger is the heavier of the three and probably would require holster carry, where as the the other two are small enough and light enough to stick in a pants pocket.

Edited March 10, 2011 by Moped

March 10, 2011

If you want to hook up at Southside, sometime I'll let you try anything I have.

You might end up buying some ammo if you fall in love with one, but

I wouldn't worry too much. Tentatively will be at Stones River this Friday, but

may go by Southside in the afternoon. I don't have any of what you may have

narrowed down to, but Glocks, Sigs and a Springfield will be there.

dhook · March 10, 2011

I appreciate your offer 6.8 but its taken me a long time just to narrow it down to these 3.

March 10, 2011

I appreciate your offer 6.8 but its taken me a long time just to narrow it down to these 3.

What was your criteria on which you narrowed down to those three? I see some leaning toward subcompact / pocket tendency.

Of those three, I've owned the Kahr PM9. In fact I've owned three. I carried one tonight actually. My wife carries one every day.

I carry the Kahr in a pocket when OWB of my Glock 19 is not feasible (i.e. church).

dhook · March 10, 2011

Yes Bronker guess I should have said that. All three are great pocket/IWB candidates.

March 10, 2011

I would try my very best to shoot any, or comparable handguns if you can.

Kahrs are fine handguns, but are a very tight fit. They require at least 250 rounds of break-in and more attention to cleaning/lubricating. Further, due to their tight tolerances, they MAY be more likely to malfuntion (Feed, Extract, etc..). That said, I often carry a PM40 as a B.U.G. They carry great and are reasonably accurate once you acclimate to the trigger. However, they are not a "range-gun." You will likely shoot just enough to feel confident with it. Fifty rounds, let alone 250 rounds, is taxing on the shooter.

I also carry a 5" Kimber quite often, and I love it! However, I hear Kimber "suggests" several time in the manual to run "premium" ammunition at all times. To me, that is code for possible feeding issues. Personally, I would hold off on the Solo until some of the first-movers put it through the ringer. It will likely be a nice ultra-compact, but Kimber has had quality assurance issues in the past and there is not much room for error in this tight mouse-gun. Also, it is so new there will not be many options as far as leather to carry it in.

I would go with the SR9c. That is because you can shoot it at the range mostly all day. It is not too taxing and pretty accurate. I carry a G27 about 50% of the time, and for its size (very comperable to the SR9c) it shoots accurately and is fun to shoot. The gun is not stellar in many respects, but it is accurate for CCW, there are some good options for IWB and OWB, accessories are a little more widely available, and Ruger makes some tanks; I would not be as leery about malfunctions with the SR9c as I would be with the smaller and tighter guns. The drawback is pocket carry is out.

That is the way I see. I hope my opinion helps.

Good luck.

March 10, 2011

The one thing i don't see, is the presence of any Springfield xd subcompacts, or smith&wesson m&p subs..... any particular reason? I think you may want to search sr9c and check the most recent thread on it... there some valid points made both for and against it. Me personally, my XD.40 subcompact is a dream....and I have had a pleathera of different IWB carries. the solo... ehh, its hard to say, but you know the quality will be there because it's a kimber. It's kinda of pricey, but if you've got the money to spend, it's going to be a kimber or kahr over the ruger any day of the week. Just keep in mind, while on the topic of money, that a $800 weapon and a $450 are going to be significantly different in quality, some more than others....and that's the nature of the beast.

March 10, 2011

So many people when wanting to find a carry gun start off by looking at all the different spiffy guns. I highly suggest before you look at any specific gun, you first right down your requirements for it. From there, we can tell you which guns meet your criteria. I have always found that once you specify everything that you want before looking at specific guns, you often end up finding that only a very small few actually meet all your criteria. You may not care on some of these issues, but most of them you should. I so often see people comparing a few guns that are all so completely different.

Answer these questions for us (assuming you want semi-auto. I guess really that’s the first question):

1) Price Range

2) Action (single, double, double/single, stricker-fired, LDA, etc)

3) safeties (prefer non, prefer a thumb safety, don’t care if it has a thumb safety but do want something (such a trigger or backstrap), or if you want a thumb safety, do you care if it flips up (beretta) vs flip down (1911))

4) doublestack vs single stack: double stacks are thicker and harder to conceal, but hold a lot more bullets

5) barrel length (you probably can conceal anything, but a 3-4" is easiest)

6) weight (the heavier the lesser the recoil, but also... the heavier)

7) material (mostly related to above. steel is heavy. both Al-alloy and polymer are light)

8) grip length (more important than barrel length or thickness for concealability)

9) overall size- related to grip length, thickness, and barrel length- but its more than juts that. some gun just overall are a lot more smaller and concealable, but for a price)

10) caliber (smaller = quicker to shoot and more accurate for a lot of people. smaller = more ammo for everyone. bigger = more bang. just depends on what you like best)

11) color -(yes this really can matter. Some people want shiny bitone, some require all back for a carry gun, some just love that OD green)

12) other tidbits - do you want a chambered indicator? Do you want nights sites (you can get for any, but some come with them)? Are you going to want a laser grip? Do you want a rail to attach a laser or light to?

13) trigger (similar to action, but is different. can it be a long pull as long as it has a short reset, or can it be long as long as its consistent, or do you want short and crisp, or long light followed by a short crisp at the end... some people really have a big preferance here... I happen to be one of them)

14) tolerances - i put this here instead of accuracy and reliability. In my opinion, the tolerances are the difference here. When you are talking about a well made gun (which of course some aren't, but most people here wont be recommending them), they are all.. well made of course. Some guns (1911) have tighter tolerances. This means they are more accurate, but sometimes that also means more finicky. A looser gun (glock) is known to be more reliable, but less accurate. Keep in mind however, that with any well made gun, it is probably a lot more accurate than you are. Don't think that a 1911 is going to jam up on you... thats not true. Its more just that you may need to know what ammo doesnt work, and make sure your gun in clean. This is simply a preference thing. Both options are good options, and the large majority of guns out there are somewhere in between.

Once you have all these questions answered, most likely you will have it narrowed down to a very small amount of very specific models of guns. From there, go feel them. See what fits best in your hand, and if you can, shoot them and see which you shoot best.

March 10, 2011

So many people when wanting to find a carry gun start off by looking at all the different spiffy guns. I highly suggest before you look at any specific gun, you first right down your requirements for it. From there, we can tell you which guns meet your criteria. I have always found that once you specify everything that you want before looking at specific guns, you often end up finding that only a very small few actually meet all your criteria. You may not care on some of these issues, but most of them you should. I so often see people comparing a few guns that are all so completely different.

Answer these questions for us (assuming you want semi-auto. I guess really thatâ€™s the first question):

1) Price Range

2) Action (single, double, double/single, stricker-fired, LDA, etc)

3) safeties (prefer non, prefer a thumb safety, donâ€™t care if it has a thumb safety but do want something (such a trigger or backstrap), or if you want a thumb safety, do you care if it flips up (beretta) vs flip down (1911))