The Kahr’s issue initially was with the first round out of the magazine. When loading from slide lock, the slide would not close to chamber a round unless it was pulled back and released three or four times. Once that round chambered, the PM9 chugged right along. Later, I spoke with a representative from Kahr who explained that the pistols are held to such tight tolerances, a break-in period is often necessary. He advised me to use the slide release until I hit 500 rounds, and the problem would disappear. I tried it, and after one more extended range session, the problem vanished.

With the reliability work out of the way, I moved back to 15 yards for some accuracy work. I did all the accuracy testing to ensure consistency. Once again, all four pistols shot very well, especially given their compact sizes and fighting-gun configurations.

The Kahr and Walther pistols were the accuracy champs; both produced 1-inch five-shot groups with their respective favorite loads. But the Glock and Para were right behind, with the Glock’s 1.5-inch best-load average accuracy being the biggest of the lot. That’s outstanding accuracy in anyone’s book, but it is especially good when you consider the intended role of these subcompact pistols.

Shooters’ Impressions
The Glock was the favorite pistol of the two police officers who helped me conduct the shootout. But that was no surprise because both carry Glocks every day. However, their prejudices showed; though they rated it their favorite pistol overall, they rated other pistols higher in terms of individual qualities like accuracy, trigger, and ergonomics.

I liked the Glock, but I thought its slide and grip were too wide compared to the other pistols. I wasn’t crazy about the trigger, either, which felt a bit too mushy to me. Our lady shooter dismissed it out of hand for being “too fat.”

She liked the Kahr the best and raved about its tiny grip and smooth trigger. But she opined that recoil was more considerable with it, the smallest test pistol, than with the other three pistols. I would have to agree, though I did not find its recoil objectionable.

My only complaint with the Kahr was with the loading issue mentioned previously. Now that it runs 100 percent, the PM9’s compact size, light weight, and smooth trigger make it tough to beat.

Our police officers’ opinions were mixed. The shorter officer felt the same as me about the PM9, but the taller officer thought the pistol was actually too small for his hands. He shot well with it but would prefer a pistol with a slightly meatier grip.