Kahr CW9

[9Cal_OC]

I found a Shield in the marketplace for a good deal locally. Came with extra mags. I?m gonna go with that and save $125 plus tax at the FFL.

Good grab

[Dan_Eastvale]

Reading about the two it just occurs to me that there are significantly more satisfied Shield owners.

Not biased as I own neither

[IVC]

Not CW9, but close (enough) PM9 is my everyday pocket carry - Kahrs are quite underrated guns, so pick one up from a friend and go shoot it before you make a decision.

Here's my 2c on Kahrs in general. They have revolver-style trigger, long but very smooth and light. Trigger feels like competition-tuned revolver DA trigger. These triggers are different in design and philosophy from other combat guns as they are not trying to mimic SA triggers with short and light pull (which requires striker pretension that can be pushed way beyond reasonable limit, as we've seen with early P320s). These triggers might feel strange to someone who is only shooting traditional combat handguns, but it will feel very natural and very good to someone who knows how to shoot revolvers.

Accuracy of polygonal rifling in PM9 is excellent. I shoot regularly at steel at 50+ yards and it holds amazingly well. Sure it takes a bit more effort to line up the sights because it has to be more precise, but shooting at longer distances is much more about holding the gun steady then about lining up the sights. And holding the gun steady is not directly connected to the size of the gun.

Follow-up shots are the same problem as with any sub-compact, where it all comes down to how well you can hold the gun, which in turn depends quite a bit on the size and shape of your hands. Small guns like PM9 are best held with only two fingers and not trying to use the pinky - trying to squeeze it in will just mess up the grip.

The problem I see quite a lot with people shooting smaller guns is inability to separate the long movement of the trigger finger from the two fingers holding the gun, which is where the support hand hold comes to play, together with conscious separation of finger movement in the strong hand. This limits accuracy at any distance since the gun tends to move just before the sear releases due to sympathetic finger movement. Eliminate this, and you can shoot small guns very accurately.

But the main reason I love my PM9 is that it's the size of a phone and with a good kydex holster it goes everywhere with me. Sure it's cute to talk about strapping up G19 and being "properly armed," yet a gun that is not on you is useless. PM9 goes with me literally everywhere, including being in my pocket while skiing, hiking, or doing any chore outside the house. The holster I have has a hook for drawing from pocket, but more importantly, it has a slight thumb ridge so I can remove the holster with a thumb while pointing the gun at a target. My draw is to grab the gun and bring it out, while using the thumb to remove holster along the way whether the holster hook catches on the pant pocket or not.

[BigPimping]

I really like the CW9. Everything I read about it was really good. One issue I had was it only came with one magazine. The other issue I had was it had no external safety.

[stormvet]

What type of Shield did you get, early pre-California specific or a California model. Many don’t like the small manual safety on the Shield, I like it. Very small and out of the way, if you don’t want to use it you can just ignore it. But it’s there if you want it.

[BigPimping]

I got the California model. I?m not really interested in paying a huge amount for SSE off roster. It came with extra mags. I?m pretty happy with it.

[9Cal_OC]

I really like the CW9. Everything I read about it was really good. One issue I had was it only came with one magazine. The other issue I had was it had no external safety

Neither does Glock

Did you want a MS?

[dave85620]

Since you are such a big Glock fan, why not the Glock 26? I know it's not a slim single stack, but it holds more rounds and is still small enough for ccw. I regret getting rid of mine.

[BigPimping]

For a firearm that I?m going to carry locked and loaded, all safety seems appropriate. We will see how things pan out. Maybe I?ll change that.

[morrcarr67]

For a firearm that I?m going to carry locked and loaded, all safety seems appropriate. We will see how things pan out. Maybe I?ll change that.

That's one school of thought. Though keep in mind that you need to train with each safety. If they differ in operation you'll need to make sure you can manipulate it while you're stressed.

Firearms with no safeties are going to have one less thing to try and deal with under stress.

Which is why companies like Kahr make the firearms they do. Only one firearm I have carried has had a safety. Though its design let me carry it with the safety off and still be safe.

I personally wouldn't want to have to remember about what safety is on the firearm I'm carrying. I want to be able to draw and fire.

Sent from my LE2115 using Tapatalk

[DoNotReply]

Currently carrying a G26. I'd rather carry a thinner single stack.

[IVC]

Since you are such a big Glock fan, why not the Glock 26? I know it's not a slim single stack, but it holds more rounds and is still small enough for ccw. I regret getting rid of mine.

G26 is too thick and heavy for pocket carry and carrying it in an IWB holster makes it very similar to G19 which is quite a bit more versatile. If anything, G43 might work as a direct competition to sub-compact Kahrs.

[IVC]

For a firearm that I?m going to carry locked and loaded, all safety seems appropriate. We will see how things pan out. Maybe I?ll change that.

Handgun and holster are a system that defines overall safety. A modern DAO in a model-specific kydex holster with level 1 retention is carried by millions of people and validated daily as a safe system to carry a self defense gun. There are no additional external safeties, only what is built into the system, and what is built into the system is that without trigger being pulled the gun won't fire.

Generally, external safeties are required for SA guns and guns that have enough energy stored in the springs to fire without additional trigger input. Theoretically, if such a gun malfunctions, there is a possibility of an AD. I would also consider external safety on any DAO gun that has light *and* short trigger, as it implies there is a considerable pre-tension of the striker when in battery.